Linchpin’s meet-ups are growing at the speed of light, across the world!

Online social network is growing. Suddenly, everyone wants to be connected. Suddenly, people are making their own online personal brands. Suddenly, our friend’s networks are culminating. Study any other time in the human history and we’ll find ourselves having far more friends.

Charles Darwin proves in his book The Origin of Species, growing trees require pruning. So does growing online social networks, to make it stronger and healthier. Once you do the pruning you’re left with “real” friends. These kind of friends will be found on The Linchpin Day, June 14th.

There are real friends and there are strangers.

Knowing the stranger is simple: Whose email is a spam for you, whose status update is another update for you, whose birthday wish is just a formality for you, whose ad is a gimmick to you, who’s just another person in your social network site.

Real friends are different: You treat them differently. You listen to their thoughts, you read their blogs or books, you recommend them to others, you love to have them in your inbox, they always help you, you always find them when you’re in trouble, they protect you, you see credibility in their ads and your friendship becomes an asset over time.

The connection brings you the opportunity to grow your circle of real friends. Believe it or not, the world is changing. It’s magical. The magic of it is not a trick. The trick gives you illusion. Leaves a gimmick in your mind. The reality is the magic. The magic of being connected.

There was a time when people would charge you for sharing their wisdom with you. Suddenly, everything is upside down. Now people love to share their experience, ideas, wisdom pictures, videos, paintings, designs, you name it, for free (absolutely).

The paradigm shift is from “copy right” to “everyone’s right” through CONNECTIONS!

The media guys were complicit in not embarrassing the people they counted on to appear on their shows. The media’s lobby has been broken now. Now people do everything they love for free online. Don’t think the online media has no value. It is valuable (and powerful) more than the TV and print media people think. Now we have more linchpins than ever.
Some years back, I called up and requested Aurora, Pakistan’s best marketing magazine, to publish my article.

There was a lady on the phone, she asked, “Have you ever published the same article in any other magazine?”
I said, “Certainly not, but I published it online”
She said “Dawn* does not publish any article if it has been ever published through any media”
I said, “That’s cool. Thank you! Bye”

(* Dawn is Pakistan’s leading English newspaper and Aurora’s parent company)

That was my story when I started blogging extensively. I still thank to God (and then her) that she rejected me, now I’m connected to more readers than she could ever imagine.

Here’s what happened next: My first article, “What the Marketing is Not”, was read and appreciated by many people. Al Ries (the co-father of positioning) emailed me for appreciation. Some professors mentioned the article in their classes. And the journey begins and here are my list of achievements which were impossible, if I ran after any magazine. Magic happens when you connect.

So, it doesn’t matter if you’re not a Harvard grad. Education and learning is still open for you and for free. Even better, you don’t have to even leave your cozy bed. Stay there, you just need a laptop and an internet access.

There was a time when you could reach only a few people through books, articles, newspapers. Not to forget when media guys asked (and still asking) kick-back to get you featured. Now you can reach millions of millions of people. Now you don’t need to pay anything. Time to have fun!

The more people you know, the more you connect, the more opportunities YOU grow for yourself. The more magic occurs. On the Linchpin Day, you’ll be experiencing the reality, you’ll meet only those people who want to be a real friend, not another online friend, (you know from your online social networks). The real people, having real passion to serve.

My friend, Marcos Gaser, contributed The Linchpin Flag (showing against Lizard Brain)
Don’t trust my words; watch yourself, The Linchpin Day meet-ups are growing at the speed of light. In less than a week there are 700+ meet ups across the word and still growing. People love to be connected. Linchpins are raising flags to tell you, they are everywhere to serve you. (I’ll be there for you with some linchpins at Skype on June 14th, at 9:00 pm)

What’s that mean? It means, each word you just read in this article is the truth, nothing but the truth.

Following number (in the image) tells us how many people are out there for creating connections, sharing experience, ideas and wisdom. It brings you “real” lasting friendships.

It’s a chance to experience the magic. It’s time to grow a strong network of REAL friends.

Take from me as an article of faith.

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Personal preparation for a Linchpin MeetUp event

I received the following question from a Triiibes’ member. It is a great one because most of us fit into this category. Link to this posts at your individual MeetUp sites, please.

The question: During the last year, while incubating me with these new-for-me ideas, books and concepts, i’ve noted the deep gap between me and most (all?) of my friends and colleagues in terms of attitude. Neither can or will I get on their nerves anymore.

The way I have seen the Linchpin-event until now, is more of a starting point to connect, get to know each other, exchange ideas and try to make at least a monthly meeting out of it for the future. That reads: poeple who already know about Linchpin, or, to stay in the picture: gather the core-crew, build the ship and start (or continue) sailing the seven seas in collaboration.

Two thoughts: Seth’s ideas are revolutionary, even threatening to the status quo in many organizations. The lizard brain exists to stymie growth and change. On top of that, my own experience shows me, is that people tend not to know how to take a new idea and apply it. They may get inspired, but not act on it, because they don’t know how. As a result, they fall into one of two groups: the kind who are idea junkies, who move from one inspiring idea to the next, never applying, never seeing the full benefit of it, just loving the endorphin rush of a great idea; the other are those who are afraid to deal with any new ideas, and therefore are resistant to even talking about them.

How do we deal with both of them in a Linchpin Meetup setting?

The key is telling stories that make these ideas real and personable. When we share how these ideas have made a difference, we are selling ideas, we are connecting on a personable level.

A Personal Preparation Strategy: Identify the ideas that matter most to you. Develop a story or example that illustrates this. For example, illustrate how you’ve slayed the lizard brain in your own experience. What was it that you did? When we tell stories, people can put themselves into our stories, and see how they would react.

Bottom line: Tell stories; don’t produce a powerpoint outline of the book. Live it, and tell about it, and people will get it.

Last thought: Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about The Heroes Journey motif which is a story about a quest. Think Frodo in The Lord of the Rings carrying the Ring to Mt. Doom. This story is divided up into three parts: the journey begins where we start to pursue our purpose; the struggle to overcome obstacles and challenges along the way; and, success and triumph. If you treat your story from the perspective of your purpose, your struggle and your triumph, then people will not only understand the idea, but have hope and encouragement to venture forth on their own Linchpin journey.

What if … you wanted to see Seth’s socks ?

Seth_Godin_socks — Do you want to see my socks ?

The key lessons are still valid for a linchpin.

Fighting fungibility, changing the definition of marketing and putting Dylan against the Monkees: Colin Marshall talks to writer, speaker and “Agent of Change” Seth Godin

Speaker, writer, blogger and entrepreneur Seth Godin, having already built a large body of published work on the nature of ideas, how they’re conceived, how they’re spread and how they’re executed, has expanded his intellectual purview with his new book Linchpin. Extending the thoughts and observations he applied to marketing in books like Purple Cow and All Marketers are Liars, his latest work examines how individual human beings, not corporations or organizations, can most fruitfully practice their art in the transforming information economy. Colin Marshall originally conducted this conversation on the public radio program and podcast The Marketplace of Ideas. [MP3] [iTunes link]