The Small Army Strategy

by Srinivas Rao

Table of Contents
1. Introduction- The Most Valuable Currency on The Web .................................................... 2 2. The Paradox of Popularity ............................................................................................................ 4 3. Following the Leaders is Not a Recipe for Success ................................................................ 6 4. The Evolution of a Blogger ............................................................................................................ 8 5. Whats Your Intimacy Strategy for Social Media? ............................................................... 10 6. The Most Undervalued Asset on the Social Web - Emerging Talent ............................ 14 7. The Most Dangerous Metrics in Social Media ...................................................................... 16 8. There is No Formula for Viral Content ................................................................................... 19 9. Attention Must Be Earned .......................................................................................................... 21 10. A Multidisciplinary Approach to Creating Content ......................................................... 24 11. Reinventing Your Network ...................................................................................................... 28 12. Why a Larger Body of Work is Essential to Building a Tribe ....................................... 31 13. How to Turn a Small Audience into a Small Army ........................................................... 35 14. People Can Feel What Youre Thinking ............................................................................... 38 15. Conclusion - The Cumulative Effect of Building a Small Army .................................... 41

1. Introduction- The Most Valuable Currency on The Web

Today we live in an age of non-stop distractions. Text messages, status updates, tweets, and an endless stream of information battle for a share of the most valuable currency we have, our attention. Audacity and interruption may get somebody's attention, but they won't keep it.

Long term attention is captured on an emotional connection. People who tug at our heartstrings, those who we miss when they're gone, and those who touch our lives in a way that we can't help but talk about are the ones who will win in the battle for our attention. It's those who chose to make friends and connect with fanatics, instead of raising the number of fans and followers that will thrive in the connection economy.

"A guy sent me an e-mail today about someone who posted a paragraph on Facebook about finding twenty bucks and then giving it the next day to someone with a puppy, which is somewhat of a perfect Christmas feel good paragraph. And he got sixty thousand likes in one day. And the question is, what do you do to with that? The answer is, well you cant do anything with it because you have put a meme out to the world but you dont have a connection to go back to those people again. They dont remember who wrote the post. They just remember the story." - Seth Godin

This book isn't about how to get more traffic or increase the number of subscribers to your blog. Those things are potential byproducts , but not the goal. The goal is to treasure and nurture the attention you already have. That's what I believe causes blog readers to turn into tribes and content to turn into movements.

How to Use This Book

There is no right way to use this book. It's open to interpretation. Some of the ideas will work for you. Some of them won't. Discard that ones that don't and repeat the ones that do. Although it's called The Small Army Strategy, it's really about a mindset. It's a way of showing up in the world. If you have one takeaway from this book it' this, GIVE A DAMN. Give so much of damn that people depend on you and rely on you. Give so much of a damn that strangers feel compelled to share their challenges and struggles. You can't put on a ROI on giving a damn.

The Few That Matter We've entered a fierce battle for attention. You won't be the next Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin or Chris Brogan. The world doesn't need more copycats. It needs you to be you. The only way you've got a shot at winning this war for attention is to give all yours to the few that matter. The most important people in the world are the ones who show up for you. Take such good care of them that they have no choice, but to recruit a small army. I've used many of the ideas in this book over the course of the last 4 years. I've failed at building a massive audience. However I have succeeded in building a loyal one. That's what this is about. It's about building an army, no matter how small that will show up and fight with you every single day to win whatever battles youre fighting. You could be battling the demons of depression, career catastrophes, or the loss of love. This is about about building an army that will help you fight those battles and much more.

2. The Paradox of Popularity

The paradox of popularity is that it can create a paralysis that inhibits you from creating the work that made you popular in the first place! The fear of how people will respond to you can start to creep into your work until it becomes so watered down that you become part of the echo chamber. In some ways, isnt it liberating to be an early stage blogger with a few readers? For those of you trying to build an audience I know that might sound ridiculous. But youre free to say anything. Youre not necessarily biased by how the audience will respond. That is a powerful place to create from if youre willing to embrace it. Are you addicted to the glow? As your blog grows in popularity, its not uncommon to become addicted to the glow of audience response. Pretty soon, you start to approach every piece of content with the question What will they think? I waited 3 years to interview Seth Godin for this reason

If you create something they love, you feel good, and you want to get that feeling again. I usually dread it when one of my posts does well here at Marks blog because Im afraid that I wont be able to replicate that glow. If you create something they hate, and it upsets a few of your readers, you start to hold back and quit taking risks. At the same time, you begin to avoid the risk of creating something remarkable. Dont Try to Replicate Success

Every single time Ive written something with the intention of making it as good as a post that went viral or was a big hit with my readers, it falls flat! Thats simply because its not authentic. Im trying to apply a formula to authenticity. It's an oxymoron. The simple act of applying a formula to authenticity makes you inauthentic.

Dont forget that just because its words on a screen, people cant feel whats coming across. If youre trying to replicate the previous positive response from an audience, youre doomed before you start. At best youll create a pale imitation of your best work. Its what I think of as the sequel syndrome. Most movie sequels are terrible. Remember the Karate Kid?

Try Whats Never Been Tried

We all know that lists posts get shared a lot. But the point isn't to inflate meaningless metrics and your ego. It's to make an impact on the person reading it. If one person is moved by your art, it trumps a thousand who blindly share it, without giving it a second thought. To accomplish whats never been done, you must try whats never been tried. Look at the so called best practices adapt and break a few rules. It will change your work.

The reaction isnt yours; it belongs to them. The art is yours - Seth Godin

3. Following the Leaders is Not a Recipe for Success

If Brian Clark and Darren Rowse (some of the biggest names in blogging) started their blogs today and followed their own advice, they would fail. Its tempting to look at how successful people have made their reputations and copy their techniques. You may even get some results.

But what made them successful was originality. If you want to get results that other people havent, you have to do things that have never been done before. In order to do that you have to take everything youve learned and adapt it to your unique skill sets. You are not going to stand out by simply regurgitating what youve read elsewhere.

Experimentation In my very first conversation with Mark Schaefer, he said something to me that has been fundamental to how I approach the online world. The courage to experiment is at the heart of originality, and originality is the heart of success on the social web. The beauty of the social web is that experimentation is cheap and, in many cases, free. You just have to have the courage to do it. I look at other blog posts and advice I read as ingredients in a dish that Im cooking. If you want to create mouth-watering content that makes your audience salivate, you have to mix up those ingredients and add your own flavor.

Best Practices Might Be Hurting You

Everyday I watch so many brilliant people with invaluable life and business experience come to the blogosphere and approach it all as if theyre starting from scratch. You may not know much about blogging and social media, but if we could look inside your head and your heart, I think wed find they are bursting with insights and wisdom that you may take for granted. Many of us remain blind to our greatest strengths. We take what we already know for granted!

As a result we become dependent on repetitive best practices and formulas. We forget that our most natural abilities give us the greatest opportunity to be outstanding in a world full of noise. Ive had conversations with hundreds of bloggers, authors and entrepreneurs and if i have learned anything, it is that there is no one formula for success. Just because its a best practice, it doesnt mean its best for you. Originality is Underrated

Im always a bit irked when somebody who is new to the blogosphere tries a few things that don't work and starts "blogging about blogging". Its such a tragedy that leads to the death of their own authenticity before they even start the journey. What makes any blog unique or interesting is the person behind it. Thats why its essential to infuse your personality into everything you do. What makes any blog memorable is the authors ability to invoke emotion in their readers and tell a good story.

If youve been following formulas, best practices, and scripts, and your results have been less than stellar, mix things up a bit. Try something youve never tried. Try something no one has ever tried. Start by breaking one of the so called rules of successful blogging. You might become the next big thing.

4. The Evolution of a Blogger

As Ive observed bloggers from all walks of life, writing about every subject imaginable, and as Ive taken the journey myself, Ive found that there is an evolution that takes place. In each phase of the evolution we develop essential skills, but without the courage to stay the course and go through all the phases of the evolution, were unlikely to unleash the creative genius within all of us. While its tempting to see ourselves as marketers, what were really doing is creating art. Through our digital footprints were attempting to create our personal masterpieces and leave a mark on humanity.

The Novice As a novice you look to experts, mentors, and those who have come before you for advice. You follow that advice, almost to the letter and it actually works. You also bring to your work a naivet and a much needed fresh perspective that comes with a lack of experience. The Mechanic

As a mechanic youve mastered the basics. You can do things with a certain precision and youre sold on the notion that repetition is the mother of skill. So, rinse, wash and repeat is the formula you follow. And this formula works to a certain degree, until you realize that being a mechanic isnt particularly unique and youre just part of the echo chamber. The response to your work is either lukewarm or positive. Its not long before the formula that allowed you to make the transition from novice to mechanic stops working and youre forced to evolve into the next phase.

The Artist

As an artist you start to find a voice. You stop looking to the mentors, experts and people who came before you. You realize that to be seen as an artist you must become one of those people. You realize that following formulas and prescriptions designed to create a similar result for every person who uses them is a recipe for mediocrity. The linear process which you have followed to the letter falls apart and you finally come to terms with the fact that creativity is not linear. You take bigger risks with your content and the response is polarizing. People either love you or they hate you.

The Entrepreneur

The entrepreneurial evolution takes place when you realize that simply being an artist isnt going to pay the bills or turn your blog into a business. Everything that came before was necessary to get to this point, and now you embrace experimentation because its at the core of growth. You detach from outcomes, focus on process and let the chips fall where they may. You find it inside yourself to watch everything fall apart, pick up the pieces and start all over again, now as, part novice, part-mechanic, part-artist, all of which combined turn you into an entrepreneur.

So, now I have a question for you? Which one are you and what are you going to do to make it to the next phase in your evolution?

5. Whats Your Intimacy Strategy for Social Media?

Youve probably heard to no end just how important relationships are in the blogosphere. The truth is in todays age where the evolution of competition has a completely different meaning, you cant operate inside a bubble. Connecting with people is fundamental to how your business runs. However, building relationships is a delicate and somewhat complex matter that we have to really take the time to understand before we can master the art of connecting.

Perhaps the most complex aspect of how we build relationships in the online world today is the numerous platforms that we have at our disposal. The key really to having mad game when it comes to connecting with people in the blogosphere is being able to understand each platform according to its level of intimacy. Lets give each channel an intimacy rating on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being in the most intimate.

Twitter Intimacy Rating 1: Twitter truly is the cocktail party of social media. Some people are popular. Some people are not. Some are off in the corners in groups of five. But, you can walk up to anybody and say hello. However, when it comes to really deepening relationships youre stuck in the boundaries of 140 characters and a conversation that the whole world sees. While the DM does facilitate a bit more private conversation, youre still bound by the character limits, making it a bit challenging to form a truly deep relationship. Twitter in many ways is where relationships start and are sustained, but its not where they are deepened.

Blog/Blog Comments Intimacy Rating 3: Commenting on a blog is where relationships with other people start to take on a bit more depth. If we considered dating as an analogy, a comment is kind of like a first date. In some ways this is the true first impression that somebody will have of you. If you come across as a troll, its safe to say there wont be a second date. But if all you do is leave a great post comment its like showing up for a date and saying you have a nice

smile and going home. Perhaps the best way to put it is that you will get out of a comment what you put into a comment. People like Marcus Sheridan and Ingrid Abboud really get this and all we have to do is take a look at the comments on their blogs to see how true this really is.

Email Intimacy Rating 5: If you think email is dead, think again. What email offers beyond twitter and blog comments is 1 to 1 conversation with no character limits or content restrictions. Youre free to send somebody anything you want in an email and flattery will get you quite far when its done right. Email is actually quite intimate in the context of the online world. Its a conversation that took place via email that resulted in the formation of BlogcastFM. You simply dont know where an email will lead you.

Facebook Intimacy Rating 7: Facebook is an interesting one. Some bloggers choose to refer people to our fan pages, while others will allow people who read their blogs to add them as a friend. It seems to be constantly evolving. What Facebook offers that some of these other tools dont is a very visual glimpse into who you really are as a person. Look through my pictures and youll see at least half a dozen albums of surf photography and a handful of pictures of me surfing. Facebook in many ways allows people to put together the story of who you are as a person.

Skype/Chat Intimacy Rating 8 How often do you chat with your readers or twitter followers via Skype, telephone or a medium that is not technically social media? In a world where were all defined by our avatars and status updates, the power of chat is highly underrated. These conversations are the ones that result in the kinds of online relationships that put you in a position where you have a couch to sleep on in any city in the world. When you put a voice or a face to the avatar and status updates the relationships you have online are taken to a whole new level of intimacy.

Hand Written Notes/Snail Mail Intimacy Rating 8 In an interview with Gini Dietrich, she made mention of the fact that Mark Schaefer actually sent hand written notes to people he wanted to build relationships with. Consider for a moment the impact that would have on you if somebody sent you a handwritten note or snail mail. I have a friend who to this day sends me a handwritten birthday card. While most of the

world is wishing me a happy birthday on my Facebook wall, she actually emailed me to ask for my address in Costa Rica so she could send me a card. I look forward to her cards every year. My friend and fellow blogger Maria Brophy sent me a care package before I left for Costa

Rica that included: The Surfers Guide to Costa Rica, a Fodors Guide Book, and a note that said Im so stoked for you. Youre going to grow 10 feet taller this year.

Theres something about making this kind of effort that just has an innate ability to cement your relationship with somebody. These days when you send somebody something in the mail they take a picture and put it on instagram (an added bonus)

In-Person Meetings Intimacy Rating 10 If you ask anybody what the real value of conferences like Blogworld, South by Southwest, and meetups is, theyll say the networking. Some people say you could just stand in the hallway at some of these conferences talking to people and there would still be tremendous value in that. There is an intangible value to in person meetings. After all before we lived in an age where we were all connected thats how real relationships developed. At our root were social creatures.

When you start to understand the varying degrees of intimacy offered by all the platforms at your disposal, how you approach building relationships with people in the online world becomes a more powerful and different ball game.

6. The Most Undervalued Asset on the Social Web- Emerging Talent

In the earliest days of my blogging career well, to be honest that was just 36 months ago! people taught me about getting my name out there by commenting on well-known blogs and guest posting at big blogs. While the guest posting strategy definitely had a strong pull for new readers, it became clear that commenting on the biggest blogs was a desperate attempt to get your voice heard in a place where there was a bunch of noise.

I want to suggest an alternative strategy. Instead of focusing on the A-Listers, look at emerging talent as a way to grow a loyal blog community. My friend Stanford Smith said that one of his strategies is to kiss lots of digital babies. I think that is a smart perspective. The blogosphere is like an unlimited NBA draft with tons of talent accessible to anyone who can shed their ego and look for an opportunity to connect.

New Bloggers Need Encouragement. When people start their blogs, it can be demoralizing when nobody is reading or commenting. How often do you look at the blogs of the people who comment on your blog? Baby bloggers become big bloggers. Can you take just a moment to see what theyre up to? Join their tribes and invite them to join yours.

New Bloggers are Looking For a Lifeline: As an established blogger you have a chance to become a lifeline for a new blogger. My friend Bernardo Ramirez recently started a personal development video blog. It was a week old and he commented on one of my posts. So, I decided to see who he was and what he was up to. I was so blown away by the quality of video blog posts that he had, that I invited him to do a guest post, initiating what I hope will be a long relationship. He also hired me to do some consulting for him

New Bloggers Become New Readers: Most new bloggers are looking for additional blogs to read, while established bloggers tend to have a set reading list and occasionally add new feeds to their RSS reader. New bloggers are looking to learn from established bloggers and as a result they end up becoming loyal subscribers. Id say the majority of people who comment on my blog these days are digital babies on the rise.

New Bloggers Can Teach Us Things We Dont Know: The beginners advantage is that they have no preconceived notions of how things should be so they tend to be more open to new ideas, take more risks, and play like they have nothing to lose. When you think about it, we really need new bloggers to keep starting blogs because we need fresh ideas to keep making progress.

As you think about how to grow your tribe and build your network over the next couple of months give some thought to what emerging talent you may be neglecting. Then, start reading their blogs and providing a lifeline to them.

7. The Most Dangerous Metrics in Social Media

A while back I said that metrics and measurements have a tendency to limit our potential. What I failed to realize was that this is only the case when we measure the wrong things. As bloggers its really easy to get caught up in comparison and competition. As a result we end up measuring the things that dont have a strong impact on our business. 3 Metrics That Dont Really Matter Much 1. Traffic I had a post that went viral on Stumbleupon. It sent over 160,000 visits to my blog in a week. If theres anything Ive learned its that all traffic is not equal and traffic doesnt necessarily equate to revenue. Do you need traffic? Absolutely. But if theres anything Ive learned its that quality trumps quantity . You dont need 100,000 visitors, just a tribe who actually cares. 2. Tweets, Likes, Fans and Followers Marcus Sheridan wrote an interesting post , which I thought was really reflective of this. The posts that have made him the most money from his pool business are not necessarily the most popular. Just because a post is popular on social media it doesnt necessarily mean its valuable for your customers or your business.

3. Comments Talk to Dan Andrews and youll realize that the people who comment on your blog are not an accurate representation of your readers. The people who comment on your blog are usually other bloggers, and there is a silent majority who read everything you write, but dont comment. While its nice to have comments on your posts, its not as important as you might think.

Metrics that Matter

1. Email Subscribers Theres not one person who is successful that wont tell you that your email list is what generates your money. A few months back I made a very conscious decision to focus on this group of readers, and interestingly enough I have a much deeper connection with my readers. My traffic is higher than ever before, and my blog is growing faster than ever before. This is your silent majority and this is who you need to cater to. 2. Conversion Rates Many people get caught up in writing guests posts at the most popular blogs. Other than bragging rights a post on a really popular blog might not do much for you. On the flip side a popular personal development blog that I write for sends me anywhere between 50-60 new subscribers per guest post. The key is of course to write great content and use a well written custom landing page. 3. Open Rates Its nice to have a list, but if nobody is opening your emails than it doesnt matter. A list of 50 people who talk to you is better than a list of 5000 who ignore you. I recently decided to clean house on my email list and deleted almost 350 people from the list because they hadnt opened any of my emails in the last 4 months. Dont be afraid to let some of your subscribers go. 4. Revenue If youre in this to make money, then this is the only metric that ultimately matters. When I recently spoke to a business coach she told me something really interesting. There are people who make plenty of money online that youve never heard of. Do you actually measure the revenue you generate? Even if its $100 make a point to measure it.

Measuring all the wrong metrics can make it really difficult to turn social media attention into income. Unfortunately many early stage bloggers get caught up in the trap of all these metrics. Whats been your experience with this?

8. There is No Formula for Viral Content

Every now and then I will write a post that meets the following formula: It has a clickable headline (i.e 7 ways to increase traffic, 5 ways to get more followers, etc) Its something I think will get shared plenty Its a safe topic that has probably been repeated 1,000 times before

It usually sucks. You Cant Manufacture Authenticity And yet, were all looking for that magic viral formula right? In the past when Ive had a blog post go viral, Ive tried to make an effort to write something that will catch fire again and can rarely reproduce that effect.

A conversation with Danielle Laporte made me realize why. When you approach producing content this way, its not authentic. Its manufactured. It loses the personal touch that makes people read your blog. To quote Scott Stratten, what people spread is emotion. When you write a post in the hopes of getting tweets, traffic, and likes, you filter your voice through that lens. Its a bit like adding artificial sweetener to your dessert and wondering why it doesnt taste as good as real sugar.

Stop Trying to Fit In People who fit in rarely make history. They get lost in the echo chamber. What makes you human is that there is no other person on this planet like you. Infuse that into every blog post you write. Social media amplifies your competitive advantage, so make sure you leverage it.

Take a Stand If youre afraid to offend people or fear people disagreeing with you, get over it. If you want to write something that makes an impact, its unlikely it will appeal to everybody. If you lose some people because of what you write, they may not be the right members for your tribe. As youve probably heard before, if you try to appeal to everybody youll appeal to nobody.

Create Art, not Marketing Material

One of the things that holds most business blogs back is that most of their blog posts read like PR puff pieces that promote their products. But weve entered an age in which everybody is in the publishing business. Everybody is a creative business owner. So you have to create art, not marketing material. Entertain and inspire.

Ditch the Scripts and Formulas

Scripts, formulas and best practices will only get you so far. You might even be the most popular person in the echo chamber. But if you ever want to get out of the echo chamber you have to ditch the script. Id recommend taking a week off from reading any other blogs so you can reconnect with your own voice.

Writing anything formulaic with the intention of inflating vanity metrics is a recipe for mediocrity. Forget the traffic, tweets, likes and comments for a while. For some reason when you stop keeping score it goes up on its own. Write as if youve got nothing to prove and youll resonate with your audience in a way you never have before

9. Attention Must Be Earned

As the social web gets flooded with content creators, the supply of attention is decreasing while the demand is increasing. If youve ever taken an economics class, then you know that this causes the price of attention to rise. Attention isnt available at bargain basement prices. Even if you manage to get it cheap, it wont last long. Theres a big difference between building a tribe and getting an audience.

Attention is a form of currency on the social web. Ive always said that attention is a form of currency on the social web. When people choose to spend theirs with you, treat them accordingly. Embrace the nature of social conversations. And the attention of an audience can be bought! Anybody can get the attention of an audience. You can buy ads, and drive tons of traffic to your blog or company web site. But its one thing to get somebodys attention and something entirely different to keep it. Characteristics of a Tribe 1. The Attention of a tribe must be earned The attention of a tribe is something that grows over time. Its created through a combination of great content, relationships and trust. It must be earned. 2. Members of a Tribe Will Defend Their Leader I wrote a post that really hit a nerve with one of my readers. He went so far as to say that I should be ashamed of my content and was doing a disservice to humanity (not exactly a light criticism). This was after my reply to his original comment. Rather than engage him, I decided to direct my energy towards something more positive. A few days later I went back to check on the comment thread out of curiosity and noticed that a number of my readers had come to my defense. When youve truly built a tribe theyll become loyal, theyll sing your praises and defend you.

3. A Tribe is There by Choice Unlike an audience who you can force to end up at your blog through ads, or a blog post that went viral, a tribe is there by choice. A tribe keeps coming back every single day. A tribe looks forward to your insights, products,ideas, and content.

4. Members of a Tribe Recruit Other Members If you talk to anybody who has built a sizable audience, they will tell you to get really clear on who your audience is. It may seem counterintuitive. But once you figure who your message is not for, youll attract the people who it is for in droves. Existing readers and tribe members will recruit the others. You dont need millions of people following your work, just the ones who really care.

The Ultimate Sign That Youve Built a Tribe

If you want the ultimate test for your whether or not youve built a tribe, disappear for a week without telling anybody. A tribe will notice if their leader is missing. If nobody notices that youre gone, youve probably got some work to do.

So, now you have to ask yourself: Are you building an audience or a tribe? Theres a big difference. It takes time, effort and a genuine desire to make a difference in order to build a tribe.

10. A Multidisciplinary Approach to Creating Content

Over the last two years Ive read more books than Ive read in my entire life. But theres a slight problem with my reading. Every single book falls into one of these categories: Marketing/Business Self Help/Psychology Entrepreneurship/Careers

There has been no fiction, not a single memoir, or any book that falls outside of my field. I dont think Im alone considering most of these books are New York Times Bestsellers and they show up on the recommended reading list of every blogger. But theres a problem with this. As Zig Ziglar once said Your input determines your output. Your output determines your future. If were not careful, it wont be long before the entire blogosphere turns into a giant echo chamber.

Ive heard two best-selling authors emphasize the importance of reading books over blogs. One of the unfortunate byproducts of our ability to rapidly create content is an incredibly short attention span. Short form content is rapidly flooding the Internet. Its easier to read 20 different blogs on a daily basis than it is to read an entire book which could take a week. But sit down and read a bestselling authors book, even when it falls into the self-inflicted genre bubble, and youll notice numerous references to books from multiple disciplines.

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Creating Content

In his latest book, Mastery , Robert Greene studies masters from multiple fields (athletes, entrepreneurs, pilots, artists and more). One of the things that every single master had in common was a diversity of input and influences. Their best work was shaped by knowledge from

a variety of fields. They avoided tunnel vision which well all become a victim of if were only reading marketing blogs. How to Diversify 1. Read Fiction One of the easiest ways to start diversifying your input is to start reading fiction. The beautiful thing about fiction is that its the byproduct of imagination. As a result it will get your imagination going and enable you to start creating things that dont exist.

2. Read Childrens Books

This might seem a bit silly to some of you. But one place where children have most of us beat is in their creativity and imagination. Just talk to a 5-year-old and youll wonder if maybe he or she should be the next creative director at your organization. Another book that I discovered on Maria Popovas site thats more like a creative workbook is Keri Smiths How to Be an Explorer of the World . Pick up a copy of a Dr. Seuss book and pay attention to how it inspires you.

3. Read Content Outside Your Field

Our obsession with authority has too many people reading nothing but blogs about their industry. But by reading content that falls outside your field you can pull ideas and insights from other disciplines into your work. I recently was asked to write a guest post for a really popular blog on the subject of taking risks. So the other day I returned to my personal love for surfing and picked up a copy of Saltwater Buddha, which enabled me to use riding waves as a metaphor for taking risks. Additional Sources of Inspiration

Written content is not the only place youll be able to find inspiration and break molds. In Tina Seeligs book inGenius: A Crash Course on Creativity , she writes about the power of keen observation and how it can lead to creative breakthroughs.

4. Photos In case you havent figured it out yet, a lot of people are starting to love Instagram. Its amazing how much inspiration you can find for creating blog content within your Instagram feed. Spend a day documenting your life. Then write a blog post that tells a story based on the pictures.

5. Music Another great source of inspiration for your content is music lyrics. Wake up in the morning, create a playlist on Spotify of your favorite songs and just listen to them for an hour. At first it might seem like youre wasting time, but sit down with the intent of coming up with new ideas for content and youll be amazed what happens.

6. Sleep You may have heard before that many of Albert Einsteins best ideas came to him in his sleep. Believe it or not the entire last section of this post came to me after falling asleep with some headphones on (a great way to use sleep and music at the same time). Every day do something to step outside of your content bubble to find new sources of inspiration and youll start to ignite the voice inside you. Words will flow and youll escape the echo chamber and never return.

11. Reinventing Your Network

Chances are youve never heard of Oliver Starr. But youve probably heard of many of the people below: Julien Smith Mike Stelzner Jay Baer Chris Guillebeau

This may seem odd to you, but Oliver, a successful blogger and Michael Arringtons first employee at Tech Crunch, had never heard of these people when I mentioned their names. The only reason I learned who he was is because hes the product evangelist for Pearltrees, a tool for organizing information that I really love. My interaction with Oliver was eye-opening because I just assumed that if youre in the biz you would have heard of most of these folks. It made me realize just how narrow our view of the web is.

Mark Schaefer wrote about his observation that there is nothing new in blogging. Im willing to bet if most of Marks readers put the names of the blogs they read on a regular basis into a hat, they would all have a very similar list. Our natural tendency is to gravitate towards people similar to us, and the result is a self-imposed lens through which we view the social web. Maybe it isnt that theres nothing new in blogging, but that weve been stuck in an incestuous circle of social media marketers, lifestyle designers, and personals development bloggers. Just so were clear, Im not pointing fingers. I fall into those same incestuous circles! Innovation and new ideas cant diffuse throughout the social web when experts spend all their time talking to experts. Thats why I believe its important we not only embrace new and emerging talent, but also take steps to get outside of our comfort zone and expand our horizons. Here are five ideas on how to do that

1. Purge your blog reader and start from scratch Every few months I literally unsubscribe from nearly every blog I read. This enables me to accomplish a few things. First Im able to prioritize which blogs have become the most important to me. Second, it forces me to look for new blogs and creates an opportunity to connect with new people. As a result my network continually expands. Subscribe to a few blogs that have nothing to do with your industry but that you just find interesting. 2. Pick 5 new people to follow on Twitter and build a relationship with them Ive never particularly cared too much about the number of followers I have on Twitter which might seem sacrilegious, but its been a big part of my philosophy on building relationships. What Im more interested in is who is actually following me. Every few days I read the bios of my new followers and pick a few to engage with. The amazing people Ive found by doing this include successful entrepreneurs, artists, published authors, literary agents, and many other people who are doing amazing things online. This has been a great way to broaden my own horizons and connect with exciting new people.

3. Attend a conference outside your industry

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received about leveraging public speaking was from Michael Port. He said that rather than speaking at a social media conference go speak to an association of dentists because in that environment youll be the go-to person on your subject matter. This could lead to additional speaking engagements and consulting opportunities. By attending or speaking conferences outside your industry, you not only have an opportunity to grow your network substantially, but you could also tap into a significant source of opportunities. Additionally you may find that youll be exposed to a wide variety of new ideas. The one speaking gig I had the led to paid consulting work was in the Travel Industry.

4. Go to smaller conferences

Our general tendency is to attend the biggest industry conferences each year so we can see as many people as possible. This creates a highly competitive environment for peoples attention and limits what we can get out of the conference. I think conferences like Social Slam, which is devoted to opening up speaking and networking opportunities for diverse new talent, drives opportunities to meet thought leaders outside the echo chamber. One additional suggestion I have for conferences dont hang out with the people you already know. Seems obvious, but not always easy to do.

5. Dont go to conferences. Attend a retreat instead A 5-minute conversation and business card exchange during happy hour at a conference has its limits in terms of building long-term relationships. This is why I think a 5-6 person retreat of some sort that involves more than just talking about business could be much more powerful than a typical conference. Imagine how well youd get to know each other if a small group of people spent three or four days together.

If were going to discover whats new in blogging and social media marketing, then we have to keep opening up ourselves to new people and new experiences by trying things weve never tried.

12. Why a Larger Body of Work is Essential to Building a Tribe

"Every major religion has a text. A Manifesto is that for your blog or business." - Jeff Goins

Many of our greatest thought leaders on the web have cemented their authority through producing larger bodies of work. This includes e-books, free guides, and traditionally published books. In Tribes, Seth Godin even cites writing a manifesto as one of the most important things you can do to build a tribe. Creating a larger body of work results in a deeper emotional connection to your work that simply can't be established with an individual blog post.

When you share something bigger with the world, people become invested in your body of work. They connect with your philosophies and what you stand for They go from being spectators to tribe members and raving fans.

Bodies of Work that Have Transformed Tribes

1. World Domination Manifesto

Chris Guilleabau cites his world domination manifesto has one of the major turning points in his journey. The manifesto has been downloaded over 100,000 times. He's gone on to publish two books, become a household name on the social web, and is working on his third book. It's hard to argue with those kind of results.

2. Life and Times of a Remarkable Misfit AJ Leon launched his blog two months ago. But he did something quite unusually. His second blog post was an incredible manifesto. It's been downloaded over 50,000 times and create a cult like loyalty to his work.

3. The Extraordinary Achievers Manifesto This is shameless plug for my own work, but I can tell you that it has transformed the SKool of Life tribe and resulted in a band of fanatics keeping up with my work. Its been downloaded over 1000 times. A girl I had a crush on in college sent me a message saying you seem to have a cult following. I found that amusing.

In each of the three cases above. a larger body of work resulted in a significant impact.

The Shelf Life Social Media Results in a Minimal Impact

You'll never hear somebody say "that status update changed my life." Tweets and status updates don't change lives. The shelf life of social media is far too short to have a meaningful impact on people you connect with.

Tweets and status updates are like televisions commercials. Blog posts are like episodes of TV shows and larger bodies of work are like movies.

You probably don't have a clue what commercials were on the air a couple years ago. We don't ever talk about a particular episode of a TV show 10 years after it's been on the air. But the movies, have a very different quality to them. Have you ever ever heard of any of the following movies?

Top Gun Ferris Bueller's Day Off The Godfather

We talk about movies decades after they've been released. They have an evergreen quality to them. They are larger bodies of work. We refer back to them over and over again. Sometimes they change lives.

Chances are every one of those movies triggered an emotional response of some sort in you. Great content triggers an emotional response in the person who consumes it. A larger body of work is much more likely to create this kind of impact than an individual blog post. Think in terms of creating movies instead of commercials and tv shows. A Simple Secret for Creating Larger Bodies of Work

Take a closer look at many many manifestos, e-books, and books. The creators aren't afraid to leverage existing content. Find common threads in your work and you'll notice seeds for larger bodies of work. However, this is not an excuse to slap things together. It's an opportunity to polish and refine your best work. * I used alot of existing content to write this book Develop content in a way that it serves your ultimate needs. Publish content with the intention of packaging and keep an end in mind.

Design for Impact

If you take a look at the Manifestos that I mentioned above, you'll notice that the design work is impeccable. Even though they are completely free a great amount of attention was given to the details. You might wonder why anybody would invest so much in something they are giving away for free. It sets a standard and amplifies impact. The value of good design can't be overstated. Same words and bad design will reduce the effect. Think of this way. Imagine your favorite action flick minus the special effects. The dialogue and the storyline are the same, but it won't have the same impact on you.

Why invest so much effort in something you give away for free?

Analogies to prostitution are sometimes uncomfortable to make, but theres a difference between free and paying for it- Seth Godin on BlogcastFM (yes I got him to say that)

It's simple. It enables ideas to spread. Maybe you can charge 20 dollars and sell 20 copies. You earn $400.00. Let's say you give it away for free and 10,000 people find out. You can't measure the ROI on that because it's simply too great. Look where it lead for the people I mentioned above. Your manifesto is designed for impact not income.

13. How Turn Small Audience into a Small Army

Every single day we focus on how to get more traffic to our blogs, increase our conversion rates, and sell more. The result is an obsession with raising our Klout scores, increasing the number of followers we have on Twitter and inflating every metric we can in hopes that well become the next insert famous blogger of your choice.

Lets get real for a moment. Im not going to become the next Zen Habits, Chris Brogan, or Seth Godin. Neither are you. They had a substantial head start and dont appear to be slowing down. But the good news is that you have an edge that you may be overlooking. When your audience is small you can run your blog like a VIP experience. If you only have a few readers, treat them like the most important people in the world because they are. Chris Guillebeau Email Each Reader Personally

I have to give credit where its due for this idea. Chris Guillbeau told me he emailed every single newsletter subscriber personally for his first 10,000 subscribers. While each one may not have had an impact, the cumulative effect was incredibly powerful. You cant really argue with his success. Ive made this part of how I treat my email subscribers and I recently received this email in response. Thanks for your email! Of all of the resources that I subscribe to, I dont think I have ever received an actual personal email that wasnt an obvious use of email marketing personalization features. Your content is awesome, and I am finding it really helpful!

Just to be clear, while this is a tactic, if somebody does respond to you, that provides chance for you to take that relationship further. Youve just discovered a super fan. Be genuine and engage them.

Write a Post Specifically for Each Reader A friend mentioned to me in a conversation that he only had 25 readers. I told him to contact each one of them. If you have a small group of readers imagine the impact you could have if you wrote a post dedicated to each one.

Phone or Skype Your Readers

Although we live in an online world, we cant forget that 95% of communication is non-verbal. When somebody who reads your content hears your voice you go from that person who writes that blog to a real person. Let your readers to get to know the real you.

Host a Fireside Chat This is where an audience becomes a community. Its no longer a tribe leader communicating with a tribe member. Its how you become a facilitator of conversation between the members of your tribe.

Visit Your Readers in Person

My friend Mark Lawrence, who was and still is a relatively unknown blogger, runs a start-up called SpotHero. He used all his frequent flyer miles to visit every single person he connected with online. He used his connection with me as an excuse to visit California and to this day were friends. His blog is more or less dead, but here I am telling you about it 2 years later. For the A-list bloggers to emulate this theyd have to spend their entire year, every dime they have and possibly their whole life to accomplish this.

The Cost of Failure is Minimal When Youre Small

One of the great things about being relatively small and unknown is that the cost of failure is not that harmful. That gives a blogger with a small audience a tremendous amount of leverage. When youre small you can take some bigger risks with your creativity. Im convinced its one of the reasons small companies are so innovative, while big companies lose this capability as they grow.

Dont forget attention is a form of currency on the social web. When people spend theirs with you, give them more than they paid for. Nurturing a small audience is essential to converting a small audience into a small army. So take that small audience and turn into a VIP experience that has people lined up around the block for an opportunity to be part of your army.

14. People Can Feel What Youre Thinking

Have you ever been approached by somebody on the street who wanted to sell you something or ask you for money? It doesn't matter how well they're dressed or if they're homeless. The detector in your head immediately goes off and you can just feel that they want something before they even open their mouth. They give off energy. If you're a woman this has probably happen to you in a bar, club or even the grocery store when a guy approaches you. You know he's there to hit on you.

If the only purpose of your interaction with somebody is that you want something, they will know.

You might as well just be blatant about what you want, although that's unlikely to lead to a positive outcome. Just walk up to a woman and tell her you'd like to have sex with her and you'll see what I'm taking about.

So what does all this half to do with building a small army? You may think that just because you're sitting at home behind a computer, that people can't' feel what you're thinking. Your words carry an energy wit them. Every tweet, every status update, and every blog comment are painting a picture of what you're like as a person. If you're not careful the picture you're painting could be that you're a douchebag.

Walking blindly through universe, I might have left this earth without a trace of my existence. But then I was just living, not alive. What was the point of having been there? Sure, the credit card companies, and financial insinuations might have had records of my existence. As would the DMV. But do things even matter? Are those really signs that you've lived? I don't think so; They're just proof that you existed. Existing is not living and there's a difference between living and being alive.

Will your mark have mattered? Thats the more important question to be asking yourself. Would you be missed when you're gone. Has your existence touched lives. IT doesn't' have even have to be the lives of 1000's. It could be the lives of your friends and loved ones. What' the impact that you've had on them? Is there an opportunity to have more of an impact on them than you have so far? SO why not take that chance, and do what it takes to have your impact. DO what ever it takes to leave your mark.

I have a friend that I only see once every several months. Every year on special occasions I receive a card from her in the mail. It's simple, but it's her mark on the world. She's made an impact, at least on me. And now i'm telling you, and maybe you'll tell somebody else.

On other end of the screen is a person going through their own battles, their own challenges, and their own bullshit. You must never forget that. You can feed them with disagreement, criticism, and subtle knocks at their work. Or you can feed them with encouragement, inspiration and courage. You're the general of this army. But they still choose which one they'll join. If you had to choose between an army where they were serving filet mignon or one were they were serving bread and water, which one would you join? It should be pretty obvious.

You simply don't know who is on the other end of the screen. But reducing these people to fans, likes, followers, subscribers, and listeners complete dehumanizes that magic that leads to connections and the growth of small armies that make dents in the universe, pick you up when you fall, and come to your defense when you're attacked. They let you into their homes and hearts, send you unexpected gifts in the mail, and shower you with their greatest treasure, their attention. Don't squander that in the pursuit of vanity metrics that do little more than provide a temporary inflation of ego.

Underlying the technology is what really makes it magic, people. GIVE A DAMN. Give so much of damn that people depend on you and rely on you. Give so much of a damn that strangers feel compelled to share their challenges and struggles. You can't measure that.

16. Conclusion- The Cumulative Effect of Building a Small Army

The small army strategy is not based on big actions with big results. It's based on small actions that add up over time. What you'll find is that many of your interactions won't lead anywhere. But it doesn't really matter. You have to remember that there is a cumulative effect. When Chris Guillbeau told me about how he personally thanked the first 10,000 subscribers of his newsletter for signing up, he said not every effort was hugely meaningful. But the cumulative effect was incredibly powerful.

One of the questions the time management ninja in you will be tempted to ask is "Will this approach scale." But you're asking the wrong question. The question is have you reached a point in building your army where it won't? Chris Guillebeau emailed his first 10,000 subscribers personally Seth Godin still replies to your email (It's a safe bet that he gets more email than you or I)

You might wonder how you can get bigger if you can't scale. First you must remember that bigger isn't always better. Inevitably as something gets bigger the quality tends to diminish. The magic that made the army fall in love with its leader dissipates. I've seen conferences grow to a point where they're so big, that they lose the touch that made them so special in the first place Companies get so big that they stop the innovation that made them so successful in the first place.

Seth Godin made a rather wise observation when he said that mass culture doesn't reward the long tail. For those of us building armies, our goal is to build them in the long tail.

- Your mom might not read your blog (mine still does I think :)) - Oprah may not call - The literary agent may not choose you - The Publisher may not buy your book - The moguls of Silicon valley may not acquire your little army (beginning to wonder if that's even a bad thing)

But here's the real magic. None of this has to happen for you to share the truth of who you are with the world. When you do that audiences become armies. Followers and fans become fanatics. Content turns into a movement. And you become a leader and the person the world was meant to see. Just ask Kamal Ravikant who self published the most successful self help book on Amazon. So don't worry about how it will scale or how it will grow. Focus on how you can care more, how you give more and how much more value you can create. I've made less money than I ever made at a "real job" in the last 3 years. But I have no doubts in my mind that I've created more value than I ever did in my 10 years as a corporate misfit.

So go on and star building your army. Not everybody will follow, but that's ok. You don't need everybody. Just the ones who believe in you so much they'll do whatever it takes to hold you to the highest standards imaginable.