Those of you that follow me closely (oh, you poor people, please get out more) know that for some time I have been raving about Simon Sinek’s book Start with Why, and recommending that you watch his excellent TED presentation. I follow Simon on Twitter. I read his blog. Few business development people have ever spoken to me as clearly as Simon does.
An aside here: I’ve read everyone I can get my hands on. Tony Robbins, Stephen Covey, Napoelon Hill, Tim Ferriss. Everyone (yes, I know, that’s not everyone, that was meant to be a range). Some have things that I was improved by (thank you, Jim Collins), and some not. This really doesn’t mean anything, except to me. You will find that some systems work for you, and some don’t. Some women/men are attractive to you, and some not. My preferences are mine, and your experience may will vary.
I read an excellent post of Simon’s last week and commented on it. I have checked back a couple times to see if there were responses, since my comment is by far the longest on the post, and even though I wasn’t expecting much.
Aside #2: I LOVE LONG COMMENTS. I know some people are embarrassed that they write novels, but as long as you’re not threadjacking, I’d rather have a real conversation with you than have you post “Great post! Keep it up!” Not that I’ll be sad about those, either, but I like talking with interesting people, even if they don’t agree with me. So comment away, and don’t spare the electrons. You will always get a response.
Well, shoot. Nothing there. No response from Simon, even though I called myself his biggest fan. In the comments section of his own blog.
Whoops. Today I got a response. He called me.
Right. As in, on the phone. Now, my article on the Six Channels of Marketing has not come out yet in the Scotsman Guide (due in September), so I’ve not posted anything on that here for fear of letting the cat out of the bag. Suffice it to say, then, that the more personal time you invest in a contact, the more powerful it will be. I hoped (didn’t really expect) that Simon would comment back. I didn’t even hope that he’d click through to my profile and see who I was. I never thought he’d email me. Or visit my website. And here, he went all the way through the whole thing and then CALLED ME.
In one action, here is how you take a fan and make him a fanatic. If you thought I was excited about Simon Sinek and the things he has to say before, just wait. I’m going to review the book, the video, all of it. First, I think his message is excellent, right on target, and exactly what I needed to hear. He’s concise, his explanations make sense, and what he says works. And second, he acts the way he says you should. If his why really is to change the world, then personal, one-to-one contact is the only way to start. It is the only way to make a lone nut into a leader of a movement.
Consider me enlisted. Much more about this as time goes on. And doesn’t it always?
Tags: Simon Sinek, Six Channels, Why
Posted on Monday, 2nd August 2010 by chrisjones
Posted in Blog & News, General | Comments (1)
August 2nd, 2010 at 8:40 pm
You never call me after I comment. Maybe you should and I could be YOUR legion of fan.
PS the first one of us to need some sort of organized fan club gets to call it “[whichever one of us's] legion of fan.” (Unless it’s you that needs it first.)