Mills Apartments is hosting our first bloggers’ summit less than two hours from now and I thought we would share our underlying premise for day and for the future of our blogging efforts. It’s also an effort on my part to flesh out my thoughts – real truth be known. And, to answer the one question that I know will be on everyone’s mind – Why do we have to blog? There are four major reasons as I see it and they are as follows.

It’s All About People, Stupid

We are going to start the day by discussing the introduction chapter of the book Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements. Likely one of the best books I have read this year. The goal here is to help our team capture the true essence of the word engagement, a term that has and will continue to illicit a healthy amount of good and bad debate. I am of the camp and a firm believer that it exists and that if a team of writers can truly capture it – the result will be game changing. I think the authors of Brains of Fire give real tangible meaning to engagement and as such we hope to model their call for being igniters in an effort to engage our communities in a movement(s).

People Buy People

It does not matter if you are in a B2B or B2C business – people buy people. They don’t buy fancy brochures, marketing speak, fancy promotions, ads or campaigns. In fact, the Brains on Fire authors describe brochures as “pretty trash.” I can’t say I disagree with them. It is a waste of money that can be otherwise invested in the growth of people.

I have long suggested that organizations are born into the world to serve the people that serve it. Take the money you are thinking about investing in creating a fancy brochure [don't forget to include the time your team devotes to the creation] and invest it in growing someone. Our blogging summit is about just that. We are taking the time to help people to become  better writers. And, in turn the hope is that they ignite like kind passions in other people.

Part of Something Bigger Than Self

It’s been said before and it will be said again; people just want to be a part of something bigger than self. You can debate the point from the perspective of religion, politics, social change agents or even Maslow’s hierarchy. It’s just fundamental to who were are as humans. Look at some of the movements in Brains on Fire, look at the Susan G. Komen movement or simply watch an episode of Extreme Makeover. People would trip over themselves to be a part of that experience. And, I would wager that it goes beyond some of the otherwise shallow reasons we could easily come up with.

In short, it taps our need to feel valued and important.

Stop Being A Marketer – Instead, Be an Igniter

The first part of that sub-title has been written about more times than I care to count. The second part however, is a topic that I think needs some traction as it relates to businesses leveraging their innate need to provide the platforms and support for movements to take place. Brains on Fire [can I call it B of F?] is a great catalyst for the discussion.

We live in a crowded world and, to borrow a term I fell in love with a number a years ago, an Attention Economy. I can’t recall the stat off the top of my head but I am sure it is well North of 1,000 marketing messages cross through our brain on a given day. Whoa! That is crazy to think about. North of 1,000 so I am sure it would suffice to say that your message [our message] is likely lost in the sea of bobbing billboards, print ads and aging signage.

Many companies are shifting gears and making their businesses more social in nature. More open in nature. More compelling in nature. And, it all starts with the Igniter. It starts with the person that Cares as much if not more than you do. It starts with the person that feels your pain and celebrates your successes sometimes before you even know about them. It’s that group of people out there that would tattoo your brand on their forehead if they knew it would help you create one more compelling relationship.

Here we go!

In summary, we intend to help people remember [I don't think you ever really forget] that it’s all about people. We want to bring the discussion around to the fact that people buy from other people and that if you harness the power of those relationships, you can turn it into a movement that allows for people to be a part of something bigger than themselves. And, lastly, we really want to create a legion of igniters at Mills Apartments!