Thursday, October 22, 2009

How To Cash In On Chris Brogan's Fame For Your Own Gain

Chris Brogan had a link on his Twitter stream to the blog of a guy named Adam Kmiec. I have never heard of Adam before, and the title of the blog post Chris was pointing to was titled "Why I Hate Chris Brogan", which struck me from the start as a gimmick for Mr. Kmiec to cash in on the fame of Mr. Brogan.

Adam clearly has a chip on his shoulder that Chris, and many others, have achieved the top of the food chain in the social media world (He called Chris the Barak Obama of the social media world.... to which I have to disagree. You see, Chris is a nice guy... but he has not ever been elected by to the highest office in the land).

I have met Chris twice, once at SXSW and once at a marketing conference. He is a cool. He is fun. He is genuine. He is working hard to help others. He is not fake. We went and had drinks (with a group of people) on both occasions. I have seen how he engages people and cares deeply about them. His position as an "expert" in the eyes of many has nothing to do with the "number of followers" or any hocus-pocus.... it is because he is real. He does not pepper people with questions about what makes them a success.... he lifts them up and encourages them to be all that they can be.

Adam is unhappy that there are several people who have achieved "fame" and "expert status", and has invited Chris to defend his elevated position in life on the stage at an industry conference in Las Vegas.

Chris has declined that invitation. By not accepting the battle royal or giving into meeting him for a beer, Adam is attacking the authenticity of Chris's status. I do not understand how someone as busy as Chris Brogan can be expected to answer every invitation for beers. The logic of the argument makes no sense to me. By refusing to talk to Adam, apparently you are phony. Adam keeps claiming his ability to ask questions as his key to his own authenticity... but it perplexes me who said he is the inquisition master of the social media world. I missed that memo. Of course I am just jealous because Adam is not questioning me about my existence.

I think Adam's whole issue is fake and designed to get eyeballs on his blog. It worked, as most of his posts have zero or one comment... but the "I Hate Chris Brogan" post has 39 comments so far (including Chris Brogan's and my own). He has proven that if you challenge a celebrity and get them to Twitter about you, then your own 15 minutes of fame will follow.

But it is not real. So what if he has 39 comments if everyone thinks he is a "tool" (which is what one comment says"). He thinks he has legitimacy... but it is the market place that determines legitimacy and authenticity. Currently the marketplace has named Chris Brogan the king.

I have no idea how someone achieves long lasting fame and expert status other than by being consistently true to yourself.... In my opinion Chris has it... Adam does not. Time will tell. Two years from now we could be lining up to listen to Adam at every conference on the planet.... today that is happening with Brogan.

I have a great idea. The new way to prove if a person is really authentic, legitimate and a true "thought leader" should be based on if Chris Brogan has ever invited you to join him at Happy Hour after a conference. If it has happened twice to the same person, they are clearly a rock star!!!

Have A Great Day.

thom

4 comments:

Mary Pat said...

I find it interesting that Adam replies to most of his comments with "to each his own". I have found that someone who says that often is usually insecure about themselves.

Adam Kmiec said...

Mary Pat-

I just happen to believe in the old saying that while I may not agree with what you say, I will defend to the death your write to say it. That's why it is to each their own. I'm not looking for people to agree with me. I'm not looking for fans, followers, or the like.

Thom-

What value do I get from driving traffic to my site? I'm not selling anything or trying to drive a conversion. I'm not looking to line up speaking gigs, book deals, or guest post opportunities.

I'm not the master of social media, but neither are you or Brogan :)

Adam

thomsinger said...

I am not sure if Chris is a "master" of social media or otherwise,... but he has certainly mastered something... as the marketplace is rewarding him.

I am not sure that you don't care about driving traffic or selling anything. You clearly do something for a living that involves advising clients on who is worthy of receiving their social media money. And your post went out of its way to capitalize on SEO.... so you must care that people read your words. Besides, to drive a conversation, you must have someone listening.

By the way, it is okay to want people to hear you... but stop acting like you don't care. The whole reason to have a panel in Vegas with Chris Brogan would be so that people would listen to your side. If that is not true, why not just pass out fliers?

I am still confused about what your gripe is about. If someone is a fraud, the marketplace will discover it on its own. Nobody can save the world, people have to discover the truth on their own (unless they are just sheep... and I don't believe the marketplace is stupid).

Chris L said...

Thom,

Your link to Adam's post is broken.

This will be exhibit A in my upcoming blog post "Why I Hate Thom Singer"

I expect you to link and tweet appropriately. :)