Many of you know that I've spent the last six months participating in Seth Godin's Alternative MBA Program.  It's been an incredible experience; one that has changed the way I think and the course of my life – I have met fantastic people, worked on fascinating projects, contributed to a great blog, and most of all, learned from a master.  I'm incredibly grateful to Seth for the opportunity.

For me, this picture epitomizes the SAMBA experience.  Seth, soaking wet after a brief swim in the Hudson, doesn’t miss a beat, and continues, paddle in hand, teaching us life and business lessons.  Not reading to us from a textbook, but rather sharing from his own experiences while creating experiences for us.

Nothing about SAMBA has been conventional. From the interview process to the limited edition MacLeod diplomas, Seth made sure this was nothing like a traditional MBA.  For starters, we spent as much time working on actual businesses as we did talking about business. We learned that the ability to execute on an idea is much more valuable than just coming up with an idea.  We learned how to fight the resistance and how to be brave.

And, Seth showed us by his actions what it means to live a truly generous life.

So, Clay, Susan, Al, Rebecca, Alex, Ishita, Allan, Emily and of course Seth, thank you!  This has been amazing. Each of you have a special place in my heart and a place to stay in Colorado if you ever want to come skiing.

Thank you, Seth, for turning the MBA experience on its head. I, along with the rest of SAMBA 2009, am eternally grateful.

Illic est haud refragatio - SAMBA 2009

It takes two things to have tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.

When you gather people together with a shared passion and give them the tools to communicate - amazing things will happen. People are incredibly inventive and you'll be surprised and delighted by what occurs when you just give people a way to connect.

Having this framework in place makes it much easier to know what to do when a new social network appears.

(Disclosure: PeopleBrowsr and Dan Miller are my clients)

Meanwhile on twitter, YouTube and Flickr, the revolution is being reported, not by the media, but by the people involved.  And the world is watching it unfold, tweet by tweet, picture by picture, video by video.

Seems Gil Scott-Heron was right when he said, "The revolution will not be televised"...little did he know it would be on twitter.

Photo Credit

Traditionally, what a book publisher brings to the table is two sets of relationships.

1. Relationships with the people who buy books...the middle men (not the readers).
2. Relationships with the people who review books...the editor of the Times book review section.

There's a problem with this. Books are now being bought directly by the readers, increasingly online from sites like Amazon. The readers are increasingly being influenced by a different type of reviewer. This reviewer doesn't write for the Times, she writes for herself, and her blog audience.

There's a huge opportunity here. The question is who will figure it out first? The authors or the publishers.

We all agree, that successful authors have nascent tribes. The opportunity lies in connecting authors with their audience.

Authors make the bulk of their income from their advance.  If a publisher wants a successful author they offer them a larger advance than their current publisher and there's a decent chance the author will walk.

But, what if the publishers actively helped their authors build tribes online? They'd be doing the authors a huge service and no author could afford to leave their publisher, because they'd be walking away from their tribe.

If the publishers don't help the authors do this, the authors will start doing it themselves.  And once they've developed their own tribe, what do they need the publisher for? I believe that publishers are in the perfect position to do this, because authors are used to the publisher brokering these relationships and most authors have no idea where to start.

At this point, the publishers by and large don't get this (with the notable exception of Hachette). A couple of months ago I received a referral from a publicist at a large NY publishing house who wanted me to help one of her authors build his tribe (on the author's dime). What most publishers still haven't thought through is that they should be the ones building the communities (so they own the tribe).

If publishers helped their authors build and serve their tribes they just might save the publishing industry.

Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom, in their book The Starfish and the Spider, make a compelling argument for the power of leaderless organizations. They point to examples like Al Quieda and Alcoholics Anonymous to illustrate how much can be accomplished when a network is left to its own devices without a centralized command structure.

Today I had the opportunity to sit in an orchestra. It was an incredible experience. At one point the conductor left the stage and asked the orchestra to play a piece without him. Each group of musicians responded to those around them and the result was beautiful. Was it better with a conductor. Perhaps. But I was amazed at how well the orchestra played without one. The point is they didn't need him up there to make great music, but he was able to bring out the best in them.

That's what a great leader is like.

How much more effective is this video than any banner ad or commercial they could buy?

The key here is that Saddleback Leather has a great product and an even better story. It's the kind of story that Chris loves. And more importantly, it's the kind of story that Chris' readers love. And Chris has a huge permission asset that doesn't mind being told about products that Chris loves.

Perhaps this is the future of advertising. The self selected endorsement.

P.S. I've got a Saddleback Leather bag as well, it was a gift from a client...it's amazing and it smells as good as Chris says it does.

Many assumed that people wouldn't buy shoes online. You had to go to a shoe store because that was the only place to try shoes on. Tony Hsieh questioned those assumptions, added free shipping both ways and a one year money back guarantee. It changed the way people looked at buying shoes and Zappos was born.

By questioning our basic assumptions and changing the way we look at a problem we can often uncover incredible opportunities.

How would you like to have raving fans, who'll drive hundreds of miles to your stores to pay higher prices than your competitors charge?

REI has stores like that and I love to buy from them. They have great gear and knowledgeable staff (who actually use the gear). But they don't always have the lowest prices. In spite of that I go out of my way to buy from them rather than their competition.

Why?

Here's why:

That's right. A 100% satisfaction guarantee, no questions asked, for as long as you own the product.

I have a friend who went into an REI store with a tent he'd purchased over a decade ago. He wanted to order a replacement pole for one that he'd lost. They told him they couldn't get one exactly the right size. So they gave him a brand new (and better) tent.

Did they lose money on that transaction? Absolutely. But, they understand the lifetime value of a customer. And they understand that outdoor lovers talk.

The cost of a tent was a small price to pay for the number of people who've heard that story since it happened. REI's customers think they'd be crazy to take the risk of buying from someone else.

What's the story your customers are telling themselves?

A few days ago, I wrote about how we don't make our decisions alone...we make them as part of a tribe. We're highly influenced by those around us.

What some really smart companies (or their customers) have figured out, is you can give people an "us" to be part of.

Does Apple sell a better personal computer? Yes, but you're also becoming part of something larger when you buy a Mac. You're joining a movement (and Apple sells the tickets).

The same is true for a Jeep or a Harley Davidson.

And your local church or synagogue.

And a Ted Dekker novel.

Do your customers have something to be part of?