Are You The “Go-To Person” for Useful, Valuable Information? – This is Social Capital Worth Building (Insight from Jonah Berger, Contagious)

At work; in your “networking” world; what makes you useful – valuable – to those around you?

I presented my synopsis of Contagious by Jonah Berger again yesterday, and this idea from the book just jumped out at me.  If you are the “go-to” person for relevant, important, useful information – if you know something that you share with others, that is useful to them – then you become more important to them.

Here are a couple of short excerpts from the book:

People love to share stories, news, and information with those around them. We try websites our neighbors recommend, read books our relatives praise, and vote for candidates our friends endorse. Word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20 percent to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions.

People like to help others, so if we can show them how our products or ideas will save time, improve health, or save money, they’ll spread the word.

And, here is one of my takeaways from the book:

Everybody wants to rise up to a higher rung on the hierarchy.  Being the go-to-person for information on what to read, where to shop, where/what to buy – getting good at “spreading the right stuff” — helps one rise up the hierarchy.

So, what do you know enough about; what are you enough of an expert on; that people who know you know that you are the go-to person for that information?

This is social capital worth building!