We wanted the Fiskateers to dig deep and learn about the unique qualities and strengths they were bringing to the table. So using the skills with which they were so comfortable, they scrapped mini-albums exploring those attributes. We created the session to show them that they were all chosen for some common reasons but also brought distinctive talents to the movement that the others didn't. We wanted them to see that some of them were stronger online and some were stronger off-line. We wanted to let them know that they all had unique personalities and backgrounds and, because of that, they wouldn't always agree on everything—and that was okay. They needed to know that their voice was important, since we had different people leading this thing with different backgrounds, belief systems, cultures, and life experiences. We wanted them to connect and bring others to the movement. Remember, it takes all kinds. Not only did this help get everyone on the same page; it helped them build respect for one another and unify the four leaders.

It also set the stage for the leads to show the way when it came to setting a tone in the community for respect. As one of the leads said, "There are bound to be disagreements, but in the end we all love each other and come together." Without having to mandate respect, this was the kind of attitude we were aiming for.

We took this concept and altered it a bit for Best Buy's Mi11 movement for musical instruments. The Mi11 community guy, Eric Dodds, explains it this way: "For example, we presented the leads with an object and asked, 'What is the first memory that comes up from your childhood?' We dug deep into who they were as a person."

It's hugely important that the movement's leads get to know what makes the others tick. Best Buy's Jamie Plesser explains his viewpoint: "For me what was more important was the bonding that took place outside the formal training agenda. They didn't really know each other before then, yet they had so much in common they seemed like a group of people that you could see being friends."

This session was a history lesson about Fiskars. However, we didn't want to present a slideshow with a lame voiceover about how scissors are made. We're talking about a 360-year-old company born in Finland that started out making plows and now makes an array of different products, including the iconic (and trademarked) orange-handled scissors. Those same scissors you use on a daily basis are actually in the New York Museum of Modern Art. Yes, a pair of scissors. See? There's a lot you never knew about a scissor company. And while a lot of you don't care, think about a brand that helps you participate in your passion, no matter what it might be. What if you had a wealth of knowledge about that company?

The lesson gave the leads stories to tell about the company and allowed them to see it as more than a scissor manufacturer. Ford's Scott Monty agrees that involvement has to go beyond content. "Everybody talks about content, but it's more than content. It comes down to storytelling. And without the compelling story and the compelling storyteller, you're going to get lost in the mass."

Not only did the leads learn about the company and its products but they learned from and had an audience with the executive suite. Fiskars's director of public relations and vice president of marketing delivered the intimate lesson and answered questions. The four leads couldn't believe they were in the same room with high-level execs who took time out to prepare and deliver this section of the curriculum. Again, this empowered them with knowledge of the company and showed them how valued they were.

This session gave us the chance to share the notion of idea viruses with the leads and discuss ways ideas spread from one person to the next, both online and off. This is by far the most in-depth section of all.

We first teach them how to blog. This conversation starts out something like this: "Don't you dare go on that blog and say things like 'Fiskars is the best. I love Fiskars. Everyone should go out and buy Fiskars products right now.'" The truth is that no crafter has just Fiskars products in their crafting arsenal; they have all different brands. In fact, we said, let's start out not even talking about tools. (Reframing the conversation, remember?) Instead, we taught the leaders to blog about their lives. If their kid threw up in the back seat on the way to school, we wanted them to blog about it. If they went to a neighbor's cocktail party, blog about it. Had a good day or a bad day? Tell us why and blog about it. In other words, let your life and personality shine through, because that's how people are going to connect with you. And guess what? If you talk about your lives, then you'll necessarily talk about your passions. So crafting would naturally work its way into the conversation.

Then we asked them to be honest when it was appropriate for them to talk about products. If they didn't like a Fiskars product, we wanted them to blog about it. If they liked a competitor's product more than one of Fiskars's, then they could blog about it. And after we picked the lawyers up off the ground, Fiskars showed their true courage and desire to strive to be better and encourage that conversation.

Transparency is a cornerstone of any successful movement. So this point is hammered home in all of the curricula we develop—no more so than when the leads of the movement are part-time employees. As one of our leads put it so plainly in the training: "I am a crafter first. And I'm a Fiskars employee second." What a great statement! As you've read in previous chapters, we searched for those who were truly passionate and love to share that passion with others. Once we identified that passion, then we hired the leads for Fiskars. In the case with Rage against the Haze and the Park Angels, the leads are not paid, so the formula can work in both cases.

Returning to transparency, we taught the leads to always, always, always sign their names and identify themselves as a lead Fiskateer when answering any questions or commenting on other web sites, message boards, or blogs. No exceptions, ever. With the IZEA model (pay per post and sponsored tweets) and even models like BzzAgent, it's hard—really, impossible—to hold hundreds of thousands of people accountable for transparency. But it's very doable—and enforceable—with four or five or even a dozen people. And requiring the leads to be transparent in every interaction naturally trickled down into the rest of the strictly volunteer community. Thousands of Fiskateers were signing their names and Fiskateer affiliation on blog posts, comments, message boards, photos, and galleries, and that is a beautiful thing.

Come in closely and listen to this one: We do not teach the leaders in the movements we ignite how to sell or how to be sales reps. They will never be held accountable for sales figures and never carry a sales sheet, nor will they be asked to pimp product or conduct sales visits with retail store owners. If they did, they would have been hired by the sales department, and their title would be "sales representative" or "sales associate." And that's not the reason they were found, hired, and trained. They are ambassadors.

So now since we know what an ambassador isn't, let's talk about what it is. First of all, here's what the dictionary defines as an ambassador:

noun

That's all well and good; but our definition goes a lot deeper. Not only do we believe that a brand ambassador is an individual who is especially passionate for a particular service or product; we believe that a brand ambassador is a loyal and loud advocate who spreads goodwill in the name of that company, product, or service. It is a dedicated mission that is personal and fulfilling for that person. They are not there for PR or to push product, but to spread the love.

An ambassador is a messenger of goodwill. That's the job, and the job is their passion. But don't take our word for it.

In this final session, we always want to make sure that the leads know that while all this new information was great, it doesn't mean anything if they can't take it home and apply it in their real lives. This session was designed to explore those concerns and help the rubber meet the road when they return to their separate sections of the country.

In a lot of such training, companies gather fans together and give them a mountaintop experience that is enjoyable but not exactly sustainable. When those fans go back home, they're on fire. But as the days and weeks progress, they ease back into their lives and that mountaintop high fades away. So we designed this section of the curriculum to sustain that feeling and encourage action. To keep the movement, well, moving. The program's success is not at the headquarters of the company; it takes place in small towns and big towns, face-to-face, all across the country. That's where it has to live and breathe: on a local level. That's the lifeblood of a movement.

The curriculum for Best Buy's Mi11 movement followed the same outline but was devised to speak the language of people who were passionate about helping others find their "music inside." The training started out with a list of introspective questions, such as "If you could bring three foods with you to a desert island to eat for the rest of your life, what would they be?"

That led to more revealing questions, like the kind of books participants love and which movies have influenced them. Then we go even deeper. For example, we'd present them with an object and ask them the first memory that comes up from their childhood—all to help them remember and then share with the others who they are as persons and what makes them tick.

The result? At the end of the first day together—even though you've just met these people that you've exchanged some e-mails and talked on the phone with—you walk out of the room knowing about their passions, hopes, and fears. You really see them as individuals, not employees or colleagues, but people.

At its most basic level, the curriculum teaches our leaders how to create fans by spreading their passion. We call this the fan cycle.

The seeds of participation are planted with a simple introduction. You have to get to know someone before you want to go to their party. The same is true with an organization or cause. So the first step is to allow the fans you already have—neighbors, employees, external advocates—to make a personal introduction. Your fans will be the first ambassadors of your brand. Introduce yourself to them and then empower them to make introductions—information, recommendations, and invitations—for you.

When an effective introduction takes root, the relationship should sprout the early buds of participation. Whether in person or on the Web, participation is about the experience. Once someone has made the decision to interact, is that interaction remarkable? Is it worth telling others about? Is it engaging enough to turn a casual user into a fan?

The most mature phase of participation is adoption. This is still a passive stage, on the cusp of blossoming into evangelism, and it's where your new acquaintances have decided they have something in common with you, something they like. Still, their involvement is more personal and passive, enjoying and embodying the relationship but not necessarily proactively telling others about it.

Evangelical fans should be treated like rock stars, since these extroverted loyalists bring more and more people to meet you. They are the ones who spread the love and turn a brand or cause into a thriving movement. And their involvement doesn't just go out; it returns back to you. Evangelists won't just bring people to the party; they'll also tell you what food you should serve and what music to play. And it's up to you to listen.

Evangelism centers on the idea that the thing you had in common comes to life as a well-defined cause, and at its most profound, a well-defined cause can change the world. It can motivate employees and neighbors and leaders alike to work toward a shared, world-changing objective, whatever that happens to be.

While the Internet has enabled fans to be more active, it has created a sort of cheap evangelism. By "cheap," we mean less physically involved. Talk has become cheaper than when you had to write a letter, make a phone call, or hold a meeting. Online communities and web sites are wonderful tools that permit fans, participants, and even passive customers to engage in conversations. College football teams have active, user-created social message boards that bring old fans, new fans, lurkers, students, and parents together into a melting pot of conversations. But this anonymous communication can come with a price: a lack of accountability. And because of this cheaper communication, fans are so busy talking to each other that they often forget the real power of word of mouth: face-to-face social currency.

As you gather and mobilize your evangelists, let them help you find the hubs of passion that already exist. It's important to realize when to create your own party and when to go where the party is already jumping. Sometimes you have the enormous gift of built-in centers of community excitement and conversations happening off-line, which are key building blocks for a movement. Web sites become a valuable online resource to augment and facilitate these off-line connections.

Great brands and organizations are co-owned by the fans who blog, moderate, recommend, and protect. The key is to bestow on fans the ability to participate in the message. The more they are encouraged to lead and develop their own material, the more they will believe that the community and the experience belong to them. With your guidance, they become the keepers, helping you sustain the evangelist garden you have planted through the course of this cycle.

Moving from evangelism to ownership requires one big thing: sacrifice. True ownership calls for loyalty and the willingness of someone—a customer, an employee, a friend—to make an investment or personal sacrifice and accept shared responsibility for an organization's continued triumph. Whether it's taking the time to put up flyers or write a letter, spending the money to create their own swag, or any number of other activities, it's the real investment of personal time and resources in support of something they believe in.

We're not going to suggest that everyone use our examples for themselves and their businesses. One thing we've learned from our work with teenagers is that everyone has a voice, but they use it in many different ways. Talking with a company, athletic department, or organization about things they could improve about the fan experience is simply another way to take ownership versus just evangelizing.

The next time you've got a story to tell, post it on a community forum by all means, but also take some action. Tell somebody if it's appropriate; if it's a conversation about football, bring them to a game. They will thank you.