It’s Seth Godin’s term, not mine. I call it a following (sounds like a cult leader), others use different terms.
All in all, a tribe is vital in this digital age, especially if you intend to become a person of influence and sell products or services (or even garner interest in the humanity you serve with your non-profit).
So, how does one build a tribe?
I think Godin’s book on the subject is the best approach to it, but I have a few ideas myself.
1. Be who you are. No more can you run around without caring what people think of you. I don’t mean you need to be completely caught up in it, but you need to be aware. What comes up when you Google your name? Is that what you want people to know about you? Change it up. This is where all that social media really comes into play. What do you post on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Squidoo? What does your blog talk about? It better be you. It better be what you want people to see.
2. Be smart with your strategy. It’s great to learn from the best. I learn from Seth Godin, Michael Port, Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse, Chris Pearson, and Penelope Trunk. That is good. Have mentors, have people who know what they are doing and have written books or have blogs you can follow and learn from. But don’t rush around trying to follow every single self-proclaimed “expert” out there. Don’t follow the pack online. There are a lot of people moving really fast out there. It’s good to move fast, but I would suggest you move a bit slower. You know what they say “hire slow, fire fast.” (It’s HR, but apply this to who you allow to influence you.) Find out if you really want to do it their way. If so, follow them. If it’s not working, fire them fast.
3. Make as many mistakes as you possibly can. It sounds backward, but it’s actually the best way to find out what your tribe wants from you. You can sit and dither about what to say to them, but sometimes you just have to throw something out there. If they like it, you MAY be on the right track. I say MAY because in the long run, the initial response can’t be used to determine how successful the message was. If they don’t like it, you know right away and you haven’t wasted time building everything to rest on this angle. Plus, if someone makes a mistake and acknowledges it to me, I’m more interested in what they have to say. Others’ mileage may vary.
4. Slow and easy wins the race. The rushing and freaking out of everyone out there online right now drives me batty. Sure it’s fine to move fast, but remember, those who are steadily making progress will win. The more you find out what your tribe doesn’t want from you is slow and steady progress and takes the pressure off. Running around like a chicken with its head cut off is just embarrassing.
5. Look at yourself. I like to begin and end with a good look at what you can offer to your tribe. What are you hiding from them? What are you not wanting to talk about? What things do you gloss over because it’s easier to just not say anything? Those may be the very things that will build you the strongest, most loyal tribe. It’s the people who talk about the hard things, who face the hard things, that we most want to track with. Isn’t it?
Now go forth and multiply that tribe.
