Thanks to Tyler for finding this little jewel.

Thanks for finding this Steve! I’m always on the look out for inspiring and creative media that tells a story. This is really well done.

I’ve been asked to teach a one-day seminar to graduate business students on social media. So I thought, why not get some feedback on my initial ideas by utilizing the same tools that I will be speaking on. If you have a couple of minutes, please read over the ideas below. This is a very rough concept sheet based largely on the ideas of Seth Godin in his book, Tribes.

Does this sound interesting and potentially helpful? Or, should I scrap it and start over? Any thoughts are appreciated!

Concept:
A one-day seminar on how to effectively craft and execute a meaningful social media strategy

Theme:
Leading and connecting people and ideas

Pre-Seminar Reading:
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
By Seth Godin

Content:
• The evolution of social media
• Innovators: Zappos, Digg, Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin
• It’s not about the platform, it’s about telling your story
• What is your story?
• Connect people who align with your story through available platforms
• Small is the new big – creating a small but dedicated following
• Lead and feed your “tribe” with ideas, media and actions

Exercise:
Possibly do a breakout with two or three groups and actually start a micro social media campaign / “movement.”

“We’re gonna sell 10 million of these things!”

You’ve finally got it. The idea of a lifetime.

Huge demand (you think). Few competitors (you think).

It’s gonna be big, right?

Big ideas are game changers, paradigm shifters, status quo busters. But most big ideas don’t start as big ideas. They often start very very small.

A germ of an idea that turns into something no one anticipated.

Think about Steve Jobs building computers in his garage, or Mark Zuckerberg coding away in his dorm room at what has become Facebook, or the guys at Twitter thinking, “Hey, let’s make this thing where people can post their thoughts in 140 characters or less.”

What I’m trying to say is that you should have big dreams, but you should start as small as possible. Small is good. Small is cost effective. Small is fun.

Build your business as if you’re going to sell a hundred not 10 million. If you sell 10 million, great. But more than likely, you’re only going to sell a few. So, sell a few and then create something new.

Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not even about to claim that I know how to start a movement.

Most movements don’t start out trying to become movements anyway. Some of them start with a flash of an idea that catches on like wildwire.

But most of us aren’t so lucky. We have to work really hard at building a following for our companies, ministries, groups, whatever.

Part of it depends on how you define movement. If you define it by measuring against TOMS Shoes or Digg, then what we’ve done at Freedom Begins Here doesn’t even come close. If you consider 4,000 people on our email list, products in over 500 retailers and a handful of people signing up everyday to talk about issues no one else wants to talk about, then maybe we’re on to something. But whatever we’ve done, it never seems like enough.

What I have learned about building a movement comes down to some fairly simple principles:

1. Build a Content engine around something remarkable that you have created

2. Seek out a small but passionate Community of believers around that content

3. Facilitate and accelerate the community’s sharing of your content through creative Media

4. Be relentless in Daily communication that connects the content to the community through the media

As I’m writing this, I realize that I still have much to learn. But that’s alright. We all do.

The Sci-Fi Channel just revealed their new corporate branding. They are now calling themselves Syfy instead of Sci-Fi. The rationale is that the “Sci-Fi” market (Internet searches in particular) is saturated and they wanted to do something different. I commend them for taking a risk. Still, “Syfy” seems a little strange.

But the point of this post is not to critique the branding decisions of network TV.

Syfy created a remarkable video to announce the rebrand. It inspired me and I hope it inspires you as well.

“You don’t have to make a billion dollars. Just fill a void. If you can’t get to profitability without investors, start over.” – Jay Adelson, CEO, Digg