Does something’s value really increase because of a recommendation from a trusted source or association with someone else or with some organization?

I’ve been thinking about the idea of how someone’s recommendation, sponsorship, or support can make you seem better than you might actually be. Conversely, name recognition is a form of social proof. I’ve been reading Seth Godin’s Small Is The New Big which includes one of his blog posts, Placebo Affect, The. The post contains the following phrases which triggered some more thinking:

“Why do some ideas have more currency than others? Because we believe they should.”

We’re going to talk about the power of context, reputation, and sponsorship in this blog post because if you don’t believe that they have a meaningful effect on bolstering your social media profile, or your profile in any field of interest, you need to think again.

Godin provides examples of credibility through celebrity/presence/reputation:

  • People trust that Chris Anderson and Malcolm Gladwell will always write excellent things based on their previous work.
  • Arthur Anderson audits used to be a powerful sign of approval (pre-Enron, of course)

I’ve personally seen the “star” effect in play with some of my own work. My examples:

My Problogger guest post from earlier this month drew more comments at Problogger.net than any of my own posts have. Granted, it was a good post, but I don’t think it was my best. The fact that this post was on Darren Rowse’s blog was the reason that it got more comments than on my own blog. Darren has created a strong brand, through great content and hard work, and most of those blog comments were as much to get the attention of his audience, and Darren himself, as to get my attention. But that’s fine, it’s part of the game.

Another example: a few days ago, Rob Diana included my blog in his list of required social media reading (and thanks again, Rob!). I got a couple of visits to my blog from his article, which was cool. Then Rob’s post went popular on Digg. As of the time that I’m writing this post, I’ve gotten 174 visitors to my blog from his blog. That is the Digg effect in action, dear reader. Plus, I only got a fraction of the visits that Rob’s blog would have gotten. Digg popularity is a form of social proof, even when it’s fleeting.

(And by the way, if you’re a new or returning visitor who found me via Rob’s blog: hello and thanks!)

My first big break in social media, though, was when Jay White (editor/publisher of Dumb Little Man) linked to one of my articles at Socyberty (about five different ways to tell if you’re being manipulated), praised it, and helped to throw over 5000 views to my article. [BTW, I much prefer Dumb Little Man to other good blogs like Lifehacker or 43 Folders – it just seems more personal. OK, maybe I'm biased, but it's a great blog, really.] If Jay hadn’t linked to my article, it’s hard to say whether I would have maintained the motivation to keep writing, then later focus on blogging.

The thing is, any content stands on its own: it’s either good, bad, or mediocre. However, getting that magic link or endorsement does two things:

1) Tells the world that your content is out there

2) Tells the world that your content is valuable

In the three examples that I’ve provided above, I profited from the following:

Context: having a guest post at a highly respected blog (Problogger.net) placed my writing in the context of a well-known and successful blogger.

Reputation: my blog’s reputation was indirectly bolstered through the hopefully permanent boost to Rob Diana’s blogging reputation due to his article hitting Digg’s front page.

Sponsorship: Jay White did not overtly sponsor me, but linking to and praising my Socyberty article gave me a boost early in my social media career, an early vote of support. I felt like Jay thought I was a good writer and that helped.

Now, here’s the million dollar question: do these examples of social proof really matter? Are they really valuable? Did they improve my work by association with them?

No. They did not improve my work, just as Arthur Andersen’s audits didn’t appear to lead to any improvements at Enron.

However, these three scenarios promoted and validate my work. At the risk of sounding trite, that’s important.

Seth Godin brought the phrases “purple cow” and “remarkable” to the marketing masses by pointing out the obvious opportunities of products that are so noteworthy that clients can’t help but talk about them. Do client testimonials actually improve the products?

No!

Instead, client testimonials and referrals draw the attention of a receptive audience to those products. This is important in an era where the number of blogs and user generated content works continue to grow and grow and grow. Everybody needs a way to stand out. Even a purple cow doesn’t really seem remarkable until the first cow or color enthusiast sees that cow.

Of course, it’s important for something to be genuinely good as well as remarkable. But that doesn’t help if no one knows that that great restaurant, novel, movie, or blog post exists.

My point, after all of this explanation, remains the following: endorsements, referrals, testimonials and other support are damned valuable. This should not come as a shock to anyone. I’ve personally experienced this effect during the three examples that I noted above and in other situations.

I used to hate marketing, advertising, and promotion. I still have a love/hate relationship with it, because I’m not the type of person who likes to brag. However, I can’t deny that it makes growth a hell of a lot easier. And growth of this blog is my main priority in social media.

The takeaway is this, dear reader: the secret to success in social media, based on my experience to date, is finding people who will support you and who you can support. In my own way, and in several other posts in this blog, I’m trying to acknowledge the people who have helped me in the past while pointing out other people who are doing good work.

If I’m going to link to something, I’m giving it the same seal of approval that someone else has given me. I believe in that thing enough to share it with someone else, just as other people do for me. And THAT is the real currency of social media.

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