SHARE WHAT YOU LOVE
I write about strategies to turn fans into customers and customers into fans . I also share ways to use real-time strategies to spread ideas , influence minds , and build business .
People are naturally attracted to those who are passionate about the things they love , and this passion builds fandom . Yet too few people share their personal passions in their business life .
When my daughter Reiko and I were conducting research for our Wall Street Journal bestseller Fanocracy : Turning Fans into Customers and Customers into Fans , one of the most surprising things we learned was the power of passion . There is no doubt passion is infectious .
Sharing your passion isn ’ t just about attracting others who share the same love as you , rather it shows that you are an interesting person and would be good to work with .
THE SKATEBOARDING DENTIST
For example , Dr . Jon Marashi , a dentist in Southern California , competes with thousands of other dentists for new patients . While every dentist these days has a website , and many have a Facebook page or Instagram feed for their business , very few stand out .
Since the services offered by dentists are seen as interchangeable by most prospective patients , the website and social feeds are among the only ways to compare one dental practice from another .
The problem is that nearly all dentist websites and social media are only focused on dentistry . They all look the same -- you know with that ubiquitous photo of dirty teeth on the left and clean teeth on the right .
Dr . Marashi is different . He loves to skateboard and shares this love in his work . At his practice , he has skateboards on the walls as decoration , and he sometimes skateboards from one examination room to another .
He has photos of him skateboarding on his practice website .
Most interesting to me is Dr . Marashi ' s Instagram feed , which uses to promote his dental practice . Sure , he has photos of him doing dental stuff . But there ’ s also plenty of skateboarding photos and videos . He ’ s got nearly 35,000 followers .
Dr . Marashi measures how new patients find his practice and how much they spend . He told me that his Instagram feed was responsible for 30 % growth in new patients and 23 % growth in new revenue .
For Dr . Marashi , his passion for skateboarding is good for business .
SHARE WHAT YOU LOVE
Most people don ’ t share what they are passionate about . Instead , they keep their business social feeds like LinkedIn focused only on business .
It doesn ’ t matter what you love – a sports team , a sport you love to play , cooking , birdwatching , an author , or musician – your passions are infectious .
Many people know that I am a massive fan of the Grateful Dead . I saw my first show when I was 17 years old , and I am still going to see live Grateful Dead music . I wrote the book Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead with HubSpot co-founder and Executive Chairman Brian Halligan and the NBA basketball hall-of-famer Bill Walton .
Heck , I even collect artifacts from the band . I recently purchased a guitar called “ No Fun ” that was played on stage by Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead for about 100 shows in the mid-1980s .
I celebrate my love of the Grateful Dead . I don ’ t hide it from my business contacts . This has led me to many important business contacts , has been directly responsible for bringing on new clients and getting booked for speaking engagements .
Sharing your passions are good for business . And good for the soul too . +
David Meerman Scott is the author or co-author of ten books and the series editor of six . Three of his books are international bestsellers . David is best known for The New Rules of Marketing & PR . When first published in 2007 , " New Rules " opened people ’ s eyes to the new realities of marketing and public relations on the Web and was six months on the BusinessWeek bestseller list . He has regularly updated the book and it is now in a 6th edition with over 375,000 copies sold in English and available in 29 languages from Albanian to Vietnamese . “ New Rules ” continues to be a top seller and is now a modern business classic . His other international bestsellers include Real-Time Marketing & PR and Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead ( written with HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan ). His latest book is The New Rules of Sales and Service : How to Use Agile Selling , Real-Time Customer Engagement , Big Data , Content , and Storytelling to Grow Your Business now in a new revised paperback edition .
7