Stumbling onto 800-CEO-Read, and their top books feature, I found Brogan and Smith’s work.  Brogan’s blog intrigued me enough so I walked down to the Strand here in NYC to pick up a copy.

What I found was an excellent introduction to the nebulous world of social media marketing, where you find all sorts of advice and suggestions on how to engage your target audience.  If you’re feeling like an ignoramus on matters of social media, Trust Agents is a great place to start and will give you ideas of how to ‘humanize’ your digital connections.

The authors illustrate the Trust Agent idea with Comcast Cares for example and how they engaged customers, and what worked so well for them.  Or Gary Vaynerchuk and his game changing Wine Library TV about wine.  He also emphasizes that building relationships online is a lot like building relationships in the real world a la Keith Ferrazzi of Never Eat Alone fame.  Engage in meaningful ways with people, don’t market to them. Share valuable tidbits, and the community will reward you tenfold.

A ‘trust agent’  lives by six principles:

1. Make your own game – be willing to take risks and break from the crowd
2. Be ‘One of Us’ – be part of the community by doing your bit and contributing to it
3. The Archimedes Effect – leverage your own strengths wisely
4. Agent Zero – position yourself at the center by connecting people and groups
5. Human Artist – learn how to work with people; help others and be conscientious of etiquette
6. Build an Army – you need allies to help spread your ideas

The book is excellent.  Put it on your holiday list.