And Now an "Ad" from One We Trust and Follow!

I think most people will agree that Influence is maintained with trust. Chris Brogan and Julien Smith's new book "Trust Agents" blueprints the impact of "Trust Agents" and is a great primer. A fairly large conversation is developing around platforms that will enable those of Influence, celebrities, and bloggers, for example, to attract marketers willing to compensate those of Influence for "tweeting" their messages to followers, fans, viewers, and customers. Influence holds value for "messaging" and is worthy of being compensated for, if the "messaging" is relevant to the followers, and not disguised. One of the platforms that look very promising is Likes.com which launches in December. and claims that a "revolution" is coming to online advertising. Lots of people will react adversely to the concept of advertising messages being "tweeted. Tweeting Ads" makes me queasy, and certainly does not connote success. That being said, I believe we will see a version of endorsement, where influence will attract compensation, and those of us who are following will be receptive if the product and service fits our shared values, and it is not spoken loudly. "Tweeting Endorsements" suggests a deeper connection, and requires an investment by the "influencer" to qualify that the the product or services being promoted are relevant. Followers will respect that.

Stay tuned. This topic will be gather momentum in 2010.