Categories: Articles

There Is A Bigger Picture (And It's Worth Thinking About)

I had not seen Steve Garfield in a long time.

That’s not entirely true. We schmoozed a little bit when I spoke at the Radian6 user summit a few years back in Boston. I first met Steve in 2006 at the first-ever PodCamp Boston. Since then, I always pegged him as the video podcasting guy (and the author of the excellent business book, Get Seen). We caught up over dinner this past week at HubSpot‘s incredible Inbound 2013 event in Boston. I was surprised to hear that he doesn’t do much video podcasting anymore. He invests in startups. In fact, he’s had some interesting exits in the past few years as Qik got acquired by Skype (for $150 million) and MakerBot got acquired Stratasys (for over $400 million). As we munched on chicken and waffles (don’t ask!), I asked him how he got involved in such amazing startups. He answered in two words: social media.

Thinking differently about social media.

Everybody wants everything right now. Today. Instantly. Steve doesn’t think like that. He gives abundantly. He shares. He connects. He brings people together. He makes himself available to people interested in the space. Whether it was video podcasting, blogging, running a new media meet-up or being active on Twitter, Steve isn’t always looking for his next play or how much money he’s making from the videos that he used to post online. He took his time. He built trust. He helped others and look what happened. He put in the time. He still puts in the time. People always ask me how to make money from blogging or podcasting or if there’s any money in blogging and podcasting? Well, when Steve told me about his life, how it has unfolded and how all of this investing came from relationships he made via social media, it occurred to me that he is a another shining example of what can happen when you embrace social media for what it truly can be.

The good stuff isn’t always directly connected.

There are a lot of stories similar to Steve’s. Did you hear the one about Michelle Phan? She’s 26 years old and has been creating YouTube tutorial videos about makeup. Currently, she has over 4.5 subscribers to her YouTube channel, and some of her videos have cranked past 40,000,000 views (not a typo). This week, Phan announced her own cosmetic line, em michelle phan, backed by L’Oreal. Yes, that L’Oreal. Mashable published a great story about Phan and her cosmetic line with L’Oreal: Michelle Phan: Behind the Makeup of YouTube’s Fairy Godmother.

Seeing the bigger picture.

With each and every passing day, we’re seeing more and more people build networks of trust through the creation of content that adds value and – by doing so – wind up in some pretty spectacular positions. It’s easy to be negative and see these individuals as some kind of exception to the rule or an anomaly, but that is shortsighted. These individuals are doing what most brands (and individuals) don’t have the ability or integrity to do: spend the time to actually build the trust first, instead of looking for that quick, big fix. It also speaks volumes to what the future holds for those eager to become entrepreneurs.

When you think about social media and what you’re doing online, these stories may give you pause to think about a much bigger picture.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.