Afternoon With A Citizen Marketer

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Jackie Huba in person.  Jackie of course is co-author of Citizen Marketers and Creating Customer Evangelists not to mention co-owner of Church of the Customer along with Ben McConnell.  OK, now that I got all the formalities out of the way--here is what you really need to know.  Jackie and I had a really nice, relaxed conversation at a local Starbucks in north Chicago.  Obviously we chatted about our respective blogs, Jackie and Ben's books and our personal experiences in the space, but mostly we just talked about what was going on in our lives.  I even got to see a picture of "Mini", possible the cutest toy poodle pup around (having owned a Boxer in the past, I'm more of a big dog guy--so this is a huge compliment).

But here's the thing.  I've been fortunate enough to meet lots of folks lately at conferences and stuff.  Designers, bloggers, designers who blog, journalists, businesspeople, city representatives etc.  I've been "networking" as they say.  But there is one thing I've discovered through all of this.

There is no substitute for one-on-one conversation.

What do think my biggest take away from our afternoon was?  Did I "pick Jackie's brain"?  Did I find out the secret to writing a successful business book? 

Nah. Not really.

My favorite part of the afternoon was that Jackie and I unplugged for a bit and talked about whatever was on our minds at that moment.  Well, there was a very brief demo of Twitter mobile performed by yours truly--but that was the only time either of us looked at a screen.  Today I found out that Jackie loves her Mini (both car and canine), Ben loves the color Silver (Jackie likes Red) and one thing that we have in common aside from blogs and time spent at interactive agencies is that we're not the most effective self promoters.  But that's where the idea of citizen marketers comes in.  Create something that is worth talking about and you don't have to market yourself. Your community will do it for you.

Well, I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know.  But the nice thing about having your community do your marketing is this: 

When you don't have to market yourself, it frees you up for the things that actually matter more.  Like sitting down and enjoying a cup of iced coffee over some casual conversation in good company.  I'll take that over marketing any day.

Comments

[CK]

So glad you got to hang with Jackie. She's one of the most relaxed, genuine people you'll meet. Ben's that way too--and has a terrific sense of humor.

I love this pic, btw. Jackie you look good, girl.

DA: I hope you're enjoying some time off for yourself.

[DA]

CK,

Absolutely enjoying the time off. Got the parents coming in over the weekend and ended the day with my favorite combo (Frangelico and Fire) :)

Figure I gotta take it easy while I can...

[Ryan Karpeles]

"When you don't have to market yourself, it frees you up for the things that actually matter more."

Awesome quote. Goes for people, as well as products/services/companies.

Enjoy the short break and congrats once again on your "change of direction." :)

[Valeria Maltoni]

You go ahead and enjoy the time off. We'll be busy marketing you ;-) When in person is not possible, the phone can be good too. I take a long walk every night and usually call someone to catch up.

I've never met Jackie in person. Everyone who has says many same great things about her. My favorite color is also silver, and I believe we're both wearing some.

[Bruce Nussbaum]

I was just reading David's blog when he called (from a train?) and I missed it. Fascinating reaction--I was really pissed that I missed that personal connection even though I was online with his blog.

Nothing like that connection. And if you are checking your blog, David, what the heck is your number? Give me a call.
Bruce

[Kevin]

Nice bike, David! Nice to see that there are fellow bloggers out there who ride. Congrats on the new gig! Did you and jackie race? Who won... mini or motorcycle?