Influency, Chris Brogan, eBooks, Superheroes and Tights

How does this book factor into a discussion on Influency?

If you’re looking for a quick read/impossible-(for most people)-roadmap-to-Influency, use this link or click the picture at the top of this piece and get your hands on a copy of It’s Not About The Tights.

It’s Not About The Tights is a book by Chris Brogan, who I’ve mentioned here quite a few times. Often, I pick on Chris for being too-much-about-acting-like-a-guru-and-too-little-about-substance; mostly I prefer the style of Chris’ sometimes writing partner Julien Smith. But It’s Not About The Tights, despite being all full of guru-like prose, feels different to me, because it makes a clear point: you make what you make.

I’m speaking less about a self-help book than about the way Influency works.

I stumbled across It’s Not About The Tights last week, when Chris ran a one-day giveaway of the Kindle e-book version. Chris and I are connected on Google+, and that’s where I heard about the giveaway. The book itself, as I said above, is a quick read, albeit one that I fear many people will find difficult to take to heart. What’s fascinating is the back-story.

Chris seems to have published It’s Not About The Tights as e-book-only. For a two-time New York Times Bestselling Author to do that is interesting all on its own, but Mr. Brogan has tightened his grip on It’s Not About The Tights even further by making it Amazon Kindle-only.

Which doesn’t mean you need to own a Kindle to read It’s Not About The Tights. You can install the Kindle app on an Android device, or on an Apple iPad/iPhone, and read the book on those devices too, as well as on your computer. What it does mean, though, is that Chris Brogan is keeping better control of his e-book, keeping a much larger portion of the revenue from sales, and reducing his workload managing multiple e-book versions of It’s Not About The Tights.

All little pieces. All add up to Influency.

For my part, aside from wanting to point you at It’s Not About The Tights (and yes, make make a few cents if you buy it), I wanted to talk again about the way we go about (and you can, too!) using Optimization to make Influency happen. Last week I wrote about how we manage images at Answer Guy Central, first here, and then here. I pointed out that our image and media management schematic at Answer Guy Central was designed both to make us certain that our links wouldn’t stop working and to gain as much Search Engine Optimization traction through images as we could.

But you see that image for It’s Not About The Tights at the top of this page? We threw away our own rules on that one. Why? First, we’re pretty much certain Amazon.com won’t ever break that link. Second, if you click on the picture we might make some money. Go ahead. Scroll up, click the picture, and buy yourself a copy of It’s Not About The Tights.

A calculated risk? Sure, but that’s Influency; there are so many pieces in the puzzle that part of the equation is always being willing to try new things. It’s not unlike Chris Brogan giving away his book for a day to create buzz and see if doing that will sell more.

In fact, since we’re at it, here are our affiliate links to “the Chris Brogan Catalog” on Amazon.com. Click away. And let me know how you feel about It’s Not About The Tights.

Cover	Title	Format
	It’s Not About The Tights	Kindle
	The Impact Equation	Kindle
	The Impact Equation	Hardback
	Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust	Paperback
	Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust	Kindle
	Google+ for Business	Kindle
	Social Media 101	Hardback
	Social Media 101	Kindle