Speed:

building an engaged Alpha Audience through insanely great content and my undivided attention.

If most of the value creation on the social web is driven by emotion, ego, insight, and personal fulfillment—not discounts and coupons—what does that mean for your marketing strategy in an information dense world?

In the long term, people will probably make decisions about your true influence based on your opinions and content. But in the short term, badges are an important part of social proof and a factor of content transmission.

You’ve talked often about how hard you’ve worked to grow your audience, which is one of the things I like most about your blog {grow} (and you): You share your lessons learned openly and honestly, without minimizing all the hard work you’ve done. And one of the wonderful consequences of this hard work is that your audience—of which I am one—trusts

Strong social proof makes you more confident that you’re in the right place and the content before you is share-worthy. Weak social proof is like walking into a restaurant at 7 p.m. and being the only customers there.

9. Join a content-sharing club.

Sponsored content

Not only did the effort generate content and buzz, but the effort was a good way to identify new Alpha Audience members.