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Mitch Joel: Focus on the who not the how many
March 30th, 2010 by Mike Knutson
Trust and connections. These themes ran deep in the presentations of Mitch Joel, Julien Smith, and Chris Brogan whose Trust Summit kicked off the OTA Sessions last Friday.
We get the importance of trust at the Rural Learning Center. Building strong social capital is at the root of our beliefs for creating strong rural communities. The Trust Summit guys, however, were talking about building trust through online relationship. It begs the question: what does this all mean for rural communities?
Hoping to better understand that issue, Lindsey and I interviewed Mitch, Julien, and Chris. Today, I’m posting the interview with Mitch Joel, but more will follow in the next few days. I hope you’ll share any thoughts that inspire you as well.
Mitch Joel Interview
The key takeaway from Mitch’s talk was “find the people who are interested and build a relationship with them.” So what does that mean for small, rural towns with virtually no marketing budgets? I think it suggests the importance of creating a Facebook Page or a blog and writing about the interesting stuff that happens in your community. If you don’t know where to start, take a look at my favorite community Facebook Page showcasing Miller, SD or maybe check out a blog like Lost Fort Collins. And remember key to your success is your ability to be interesting.
Tags: Mitch Joel, OTA 2010, social capital, Trust Summit
Posted in Community Engagement, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (
3 )
March 30th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
A thought that Mitch Joel shared at the OTA sessions that inspired me was the idea that social media enables and empowers you to have real interactions between real people. You don’t have to connect with all of the thousands/millions/billions of people who are out there online in order to build a community around a cause or organization or activity that’s meaningful to you. Mitch said, “My audience is 6.” That idea is liberating for me and inspires me to become more engaged in social media and see the value of building an online community.
March 30th, 2010 at 10:28 pm
Nice touch incorporating video … that’s one thing we keep saying we need to use as a local newspaper w/ our website; but just haven’t jumped that hurdle yet.
Thanks for sharing
March 31st, 2010 at 4:04 am
Julia,
“Find your passion” has become a bit trite, but the idea connecting that social media helps connect you with people who share your passion is real. The number of people who share my passion about rural communities is pretty small in the grand scheme of things. But I wouldn’t be able to connect with many of them if it weren’t for ReImainge Rural. And the best part is, they are doing some pretty cool stuff that I can learn from.
Jessica,
Do I see some video “teasers” in the future of your facebook page? And as for my comment above, you’re one of the people doing some pretty cool stuff. Keep it up.