"For the first time ever, we live in a time where ideas can spread based not on who created them and how important or rich that person is but instead on how good the idea is." ~Chris Brogan & Julien Smith, The Impact Equation: Are You Making Things Happen or Just Making Noise?
The Impact Equation is a book about getting a larger audience to see and act on your ideas. The book explains how to build ideas, how to communicate them through platforms so that they will be seen and discussed, and then how to build a strong human community around those ideas.
The Impact Equation = Contrast X (Reach + Exposure + Articulations + Trust + Echo)
The equation helps you better understand how attention and visibility work not based in technology but in people.
Overall I give the book a 2.5 out of 5.
I was engaged for the first quarter of this book and then quickly lost interest. And I can't quite put my finger on why but my focus and highlighting tanked after the first few chapters. But despite the disinterest, there was still plenty of key learnings.
15 Insights For Idea Impact
- A good idea now gets less resistance from media, because there are no longer 5 channels but 5 billion.
- We care very little about where an idea originates and very much about who shared it with us.
- Small words are a way to seed ideas in anyone's mind without creating unnecessary barriers.
- We have an opportunity to own something that no person in our families has ever had - great visibility, huge reach and massive access.
- We are the first generation who are not only mass consumers of media in multiple formats but also mass creators of media.
- Developing a channel is about more than expression. It's about strategy, and it's an important step for your personal life, your business, your career and your ideas.
- Writing proper, excellent copy is going to be one of the most important tools in your attempt to conquer the world with your ideas.
- Writing is now one of the few skills you must have for the 21st century.
- Nothing worth doing is easy. Simple, sometimes. Easy? Never.
- When we see something that's a year older than our discovery of it, it's believed to be no longer relevant. Keep creating.
- Creating today's garbage is an important aspect of creating tomorrow's gold.
- It is the end of the era of mass and the beginning of the era of niches.
- The future is as unimaginable to us as Google was to medieval peasants.
- People tune in to passion.
- Brevity rules.
Favorite Quote: "Bravery comes from realizing that mistakes are their own education."
Accept your new role as a media creator and idea generator and go make an impact.
Question: How do you get your ideas to resonate with others?
