This is the third of four posts discussing “The Impact Equation” by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. The subtitle of the book asks a great question, “Are you making things happen or just making noise? So which is it? Are you making a difference? Brogan and Smith describe multiple ways to do just that.

Part 1 addressed goals and working with the Impact Equation. Posts 2,3 and 4 will discuss the acronym CREATE. Contrast and Articulation in Part 2. Reach and Exposure in Part 3 and Trust and Echo in Part 4.

Brogan and Smith recognize that people are building platforms all across the electronic highway but most are just making noise. If you really want people to care about what you have to say, you need more than just a good idea, trust among your audience and plenty of followers.

Understanding the impact equation will allow us to maximize the impact of what we have to say. So lets take a look at the Impact Equation.

In this post we will look at Reach and Exposure.  Brogan and Smith describe the Platform that we need to get our message out.  As they put it “We’re talking about the combination of tools you use to reach others and communicate ideas.”

REACH

Reach is the amount of people that you have a way to get your word out to.  This does not necessarily mean success, only that a lot of people will see your message.  For anyone to care about it, it must be good enough that people will pay attention.  Brogan and Smith suggest that it has to be well written enough or compel with it’s story enough that it will cause the reader to think thoughts such as:

• this is an interesting new voice;
• I’ve been  thinking this forever; finally someone is saying it; or
• I’ve never thought about this before!

In short, you need to have a way to deliver, an audience to deliver to, and content that will keep them interested.

EXPOSURE

In it’s purest form, exposure is the frequency in which your message is delivered. Understand, it is good to repeat the distribution of your idea, but Brogan and Smith remind us that if it stinks, it won’t matter how many times someone sees it.  Here is the checklist they provide:

• Your material is something someone would be delighted to come across.
• You, your department, your company, or your clients look forward to what you send them.
• Your content is like a television show (not an advertisement)

One of my favorite quotes from the book “Be there before anyone even know who you are.”  In other words, even if you have a great product, you need a platform to get it out into the public.  You need the Reach and Exposure to connect to the people.

I think they sum up the entire book when they state “The name of the game is to penetrate the noise and clutter and to build impact and value.”  Let’s face it,  the world we live in is full of noise and clutter and without a way to penetrate it, you better just as well figure on being a spectator.

So what do you think – do you have the platform you need to have to get your word out?

In the next post, we will look at the “T” and “E” – Trust and Echo.

• Related Posts:
• Click here for Part 1 on The Impact Equation
• Click Here for Part 2 on The Impact Equation

• Find out more about Chris Brogan at www.chrisbrogan.com
• Find out more about Julien Smith at www.inoveryourhead.net

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Barry Smith www.buildingwhatmatters.com 4/3/13 photo courtesy of Amazon