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Our episode guest is David Meerman Scott, author of “Fanocracy” and the “New Rules of Marketing and PR” series. David is passionate about the band the Grateful Dead, surfing, and a few other things, as well as sharing research and advice to improve companies’ marketing strategies.

Five things you’ll learn from this episode:

1. How to build fans and customers
2. The science behind why free things make loyal customers
3. Why we are fans of things
4. The importance of video for your business
5. Why passion is infectious and how your employees can build passion among fans

Quotables

• “One of the things that the Grateful Dead did was they were one of the only bands that did and still do allow fans to record their concerts … You could even bring professional-level recording gear in to record concerts. And so this idea of giving away free content with absolutely no expectation of anything in return, or for that matter, giving any kind of gift without any expectation of anything in return, is a really, really great way to build fans.” — @dmscott
• “People are surprised by “truly free” because we've been trained that “free” doesn't necessarily mean free. You know, there's all these free offers, but then it comes with some kind of catch.” — @dmscott
• “It turns out that when we become a fan of something, what we're doing is we're actually wanting to be part of a tribe of like-minded people. That's what all humans are – we're hard-wired for that.” — @dmscott
• “Communications is about a human relationship with people. It's not something that should be driven by the legal people.” — @dmscott 
• “A cliche I like to share is if attorneys had it their way, you would lock the doors and keep all customers and all employees out of the building. But then you … would just have a building and not a company, right?” — @JasonMudd9
• “This idea of … sharing what you're passionate about has nothing to do with being a doctor. It has to do with being a human, and that builds fans.” — @dmscott
• "Authenticity is key.” — @JasonMudd9

About David Meerman Scott

David started writing books, speaking at events, and advising emerging companies on how to align marketing with the ways people buy after being fired from his job. That was back in 2002, and since then his 12 books have sold over 1 million copies in 30 languages. His book "The New Rules of Marketing & PR," originally published in 2007, opened people's eyes to the new realities of marketing and public relations on the web.

Guest’s contact info and resources:

Disclosure: One or more of the links we share here might be affiliate links that offer us a referral reward when you buy from them.

• David Meerman Scott on Twitter
• David Meerman Scott on LinkedIn
• David Meerman Scott's Website
• Fanocracy: Turning Fans into Customers and Customers into Fans 
• The New Rules of Marketing and PR:

Support the show

• On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.
• On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.