How to Win by Coming in 2nd…

March 11, 2009

One of the core elements of Community Driven Marketing (CDM) is to connect ‘like-minded people’ with each other.

One of the natural outgrowths of doing that is the suggestion of ideas from those people which you could not have anticipated.

About 5 weeks ago, I shared an anecdote about how Becky Blanton, one of the contestants in the Johnny Bunko 7th Lesson contest had reached out to Seth Godin, received an endorsement, and rode that to victory (and a lot of free press for Dan Pink and his book.)

That’s the big success story for CDM.

But there’s another story wrapped up in there.

In every contest there’s a winner and a loser, right?

Well, yes and no.

Ed, the 2nd place contestant, observed:

“At 5am yesterday, I had a 1% lead in the Johnny Bunko contest. By Noon, my lead had not only slipped away, but any prospects of winning the contest had evaporated as I was behind by 50% of the vote”

On the surface, Ed was the loser.

But peel things back and a fascinating sub-plot begins to emerge.

The Bunko community rallied.

A small movement began to “Send Ed to TED.”
(A round trip ticket plus accommodations with Dan Pink to attend the TED Global Conference in the UK was the grand prize).

A few people proposed that ALL of the finalists were worthy of the Grand Prize and began to investigate ways to “crowd-source” the $8k/person to get them there.

Granted, it’s a tough economic environment, so the practical realities got in the way, but a few things emerged from the conversation.

Ed was so inspired by the energy of his fellow members of Bunkoville that he did a few things.

He continued to blog the bejeebers out of the idea, which I am sure helped him refine his own thinking
He purchased the domain www.SayThanksEveryDay.com and who knows where that will take him?
He’s become a minor global personality and is podcasting with a woman in Bangkok now
He started a Ning social network site where people can come together to discuss the idea of “Say Thanks Every Day”

So, in addition to Becky, there are a few others winners in this story.

Ed now knows that there are a number of people out there who share his passion and who want him to succeed.

The community of the Johnny Bunko site because they can continue to discuss the ideas which were born there long after the shelf-life of Bunko has passed (may that never be the case :-)

And, Dan Pink and his book. Because ALL of these people (Becky, Ed, and the extended community) are continuing the conversation and ideas that Johnny Bunko started in a derivative way. Those conversations lead to book sales.

And, after all, CDM is about creating precisely that result.

Comments

Ed Brenegar said on 3.14.2009 at 10:17 PM

Thanks Jeremy for telling the story.

The real lesson is that the world has changed. Now, we don't live a zero-sum world, where there is one winner and one or more losers. You can not win the contest and still not lose. It all comes down to what you want out of life. There are people out there in the world who live with the desire that gratitude be at the center of their relationships. The response to my simple idea has shown me something that is worth exploring. I welcome people to join me in this exploration. I'm not the expert. I'm just a guy in the right place at the right time to validate what people far and wide believe. And I join them in believing that it is an idea that can make a difference that will matter to us all.

I'm honored that you wrote about this. Thanks.

Becky Blanton said on 3.14.2009 at 11:39 PM

Thanks Jeremy! YOU GET IT!! The whole point of the contest for me, and why I urged people to vote for "The best idea," whether it was mine or not (I actually voted for Ed's idea because it was important to me), was to explore, discuss and spread ideas about the lessons in Johnny Bunko. These "contests," are popularity contests and I knew that. I didn't want it to be that. So I ran a different campaign and Ed and I have talked about it at length now.

I invited Ed to join Triiibes.com and to be my friend while the competition was still growing heated. Why? Because, like Ed said, Winning is MORE than a place. Win or lose, Ed's contributions to Triiibes and to my life were more than a ticket to TED. He agreed because he saw the potential as well. Was it part of a grand plan, intelligent design or luck that we were both competitors in this contest?

Sadly, many people need or want to need to believe that the world is black and white, right or wrong, win or lose; or that we are "better than or worse than," another because of a contest like this.

In some cases, maybe the world is black and white. But the "best" lesson of Johnny Bunko wasn't "Stay Hungry," or "Say Thanks Every Day," or "Do it Now." The REAL lesson, the "BEST" lesson - and one I think Ed and I epitomized, was "Community and collaboration."

Is there a way to "Win" without assigning something a "place?" Ed and I both won. Meeting each other and working together on our respective books and in our respective communities has benefited both of our communities.

Second place, third place, first place implies that someone or something was better, faster, smarter, thinner, tougher...and maybe, on that particular day, or week or minute - the numbers were higher or lower. How do we shift the societal paradigm to include "collaboration" as a "win?" I don't know. But I hope blogs and comments and conversation like this is a way to start. Do I wish Ed were going to TED with me? You bet I do. Are the 5,000 people who voted willing to ante up $2 apiece to make it happen?

I wish they were. I'm in. Is anyone else?

Italian Translation said on 8.10.2009 at 3:07 PM

Hi,when is gonna be the next contest?

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