I encountered Julien Smith while attending the first annual TribeCon during Voodoo Fest here in New Orleans.  Julien was asked to speak about ideas expressed in his then new book Trust Agentsco-authored by Chris Brogan.

Initially, I had my doubts about his speech, thinking it was simply a rehashed Tribes, yet as Julien further explained the concepts outlined in his book, I became enraptured by his take on our generation’s experience with the birth and rise of the Internet.  Julien appropriately discusses today’s young adults, those ‘most familiar with the digital space’ as digital natives.  Digital natives recognize how the incessant proliferation of the Web creates a previously untouched level of transparency among humanity.  Every individual now has the resources to research just about any topic, group, or theory on their own. Previous gatekeepers such as research labs, private universities, and other bottlenecks’ separation from the rest of society is diminishing rapidly.   Each individual with a laptop and internet access now has the power to change opinions, rules, industries, simply with an idea and the promotional tools available.

For businesses, this means two things:

Traditional top-down management companies, pyramid schemes, etc. can no longer operate in the same manner.  Each individual in a company can “go public” with inefficiencies, corruption, poor management.  With the proper understanding of the internet and its effect upon communication anyone can now put together an entire proposal without being rejected by a boss or lofty manufacturing and promotional costs.

Secondly, it means an individual or business can now ‘leverage the way the web connects us and ties our information together to help turn transparency into an asset for doing business.”

The focus of Trust Agentsis identifying the qualities of a “trust agent” and how to leverage the Web to your advantage in this completely new era of business.  Trust Agents posses these six characteristics:

Making Your Own Game

The idea is to create your own rules for your job, passion, or industry.  Oprah is a great example of a woman who redefined the idea what having your own TV show could create.  The goal is to standout among your peers in your industry.

One of Us

Being “one of us” is a quality which a particular interest group will look for before deciding to accept the individual and their opinion. Do you possess similar qualities and interests of the group you are trying to reach?

The Archimedes Effect

The goal is to use the web and all the tools available to enhance and promote your skills as a business. Use the web to leverage your skills on an unprecedented plane. How do you use the web to leverage your business?

Agent Zero

Putting relationships first, before any work is done, is the key to becoming Agent Zero.  Create and establish relationships and open doors, which in turn creates access.  Are you a connector?

Human Artist

Often called “soft skills” this idea touches on what often goes unmeasured in companies. It is the aspect of interpersonal skills and communication which occur everyday between people.  Companies which overlook the importance of a human artist are ‘doomed to failure.’  Who in your business possesses these qualities and how?

Build An Army

Establishing a strong and active network of individuals willing to work together towards a common interest is what can set your business apart on the Web.  The key is to coordinate a mass of workers with a set goal, because no matter how talented an individual is, teams must assemble in order to make a difference in the seemingly vast and muddled internet.

The book gives you these six characteristics as a framework within which to work.

As with many emerging business/tech books, Chris and Julien give examples of Trust Agents in today’s society and how each possessed particular characteristics of Trust Agents.  A key difference for the reader is that the book has actionable steps listed in each chapter. These actionable steps are a great way in which the authors successfully teach the reader by showing them examples and giving them instructions to follow.  The authors gracefully “straddle” their concepts between traditional publication and online mediums.

Essentially the book emphasizes the importance of creating, developing, and furthering social capital across as many different avenues as possible. The importance of owning your own website, blog, and having control of any and every other web outlet where your name can be listed cannot be stressed enough.

For anyone wanting to establish a web related business (which is just about every business today if they want to keep up with the drastic changes occurring in marketing and social interaction) should read Trust Agentsand not take it lightly.

-David B

david@rabbitholeconsulting.com

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