As I was reading Darren Rowse’s post about a loving fan that virtually attacked him at Blogworld, I realized there’s nothing wrong with having heroes.

I’ll tell you right now that I practically stalk Chris Brogan (he even said so in my signed copy of Trust Agents). I’d drive half a day or fly halfway across the country to hear him speak. Is it because he’s a web celebrity? Because he has 100,000 followers? Because he’s a “social media expert”? No, it’s because he went out of his way to be a friend to me, for no other reason than he is a good person who truly wants to help people.

I feel the same about Darren Rowse, Gary Vaynerchuk, Jason Falls, Ted Murphy and many others. I’d rather hang out with these guys than a superstar celebrity any day of the week.

I’d drive my car coast to coast to be able to spend a few hours with Stephen Covey. His philosophy and book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” literally changed the course of my life. I read his book over ten years ago when I was 18, and it completely changed my outlook on life and priorities.

It’s not just people in this industry either… My biggest hero of all time was my grandfather. When I was a young boy I spent the summers with him and worked in his body shop for $1/day (which wasn’t even decent money way back then!). He was so much more concerned with helping people than with making money. I vividly remember one time when a single mother wrecked her car–her only method of transportation. She didn’t have the money to repair the car, so my grandfather paid for the parts and fixed her car. Free of charge. He told her she could pay him back when she had the money (which he never expected, he just didn’t want her to feel like she was getting a hand-out). I admire his strength of character, his compassion. He was never rich or famous… but he was my hero.

Don’t idolize people because they pretend on camera for a living. Don’t idolize singers because they’re the next pop superstar. Don’t idolize people because they’re popular or rich, idolize them because they help people or do something worthwhile with their life. If you’re going to admire someone, if you’re going to have a hero, make sure you pick them for the right reasons.

The idea behind Trust Agents started with Trust Economies, a free ebook published by Chris and Julien Smith back in March of 2008. If you have not read Trust Economies yet, I highly recommend it as a precursor to Trust Agents. In it, they lay what would eventually become the foundation for Trust Agents… the philosophy that social media marketing is less about “marketing” and more about building real relationships (and the trust that comes with them).

Essentially, Trust Agents is about the rules of relationships (online or off). As Stephen Covey put it in the amazing 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, relationships are like bank accounts. You can make deposits and withdrawals. Deposits are selfless acts you do for others, such as helping a friend move or just complimenting someone on their new haircut. Withdrawals are selfish requests, such as asking for a favor. The consequence of breaking trust, such as missing an appointment without calling, is also a withdrawal (and a big one).

“Emotional bank accounts” might have come from Covey’s book, but the idea is as old as relationships themselves. You can only take out what you put into them.

Chris and Julien take this fundamental principle of relationships and expand on it in Trust Agents. They start the book with a discussion about trust and social capital. Essentially, a trust agent is a person who builds real relationships online, and then leverages them to help others. In return for this, there is a long-term value to the person (or their company). It’s a fundamentally different concept than traditional marketing (even online marketing). Instead of being all about you… your products, your services, your company… it’s all about them. I can see this being a tough concept for companies to understand and see the long-term value… but Chris and Julien do an excellent job at showing the benefits and convincing you that it’s the right way.

The rest of the book outlines a process for becoming a trust agent, and ends with how to manage if (or when) you actually become one. They describe six key principles, each broken into their own chapter:

• Make Your Own Game
• One of Us
• Archimedes Principle
• Agent Zero
• Human Artist
• Build an Army

Chris and Julien outline some tools and even go into a couple of services, but the book is not really about tools or techniques. It’s about principles and relationships.

I don’t see “Trust Agents” as a marketing book, or even a book about social media. It’s a book about relationships. Like Covey’s 7 Habits and other great business books, Trust Agents is a must read for anyone in business. Even if you have no interest in becoming a “trust agent” or Internet celebrity, the fundamental principles in this book will serve you well. It’s a timeless book that you will pull down from the bookshelf every year or two, re-read and remember why it was so important.