This is quick guide to the best lessons from Chris Brogan who is one of the most popular social media experts/evangelists and is the author of the book "Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust". Recently, Chris wrote his new book, 'Social Media 101: Tactics and Tips to Develop Your Business Online'.

[From the 100 Ways To Be Being Remarkable Series, a special project that brings you business and self-development advice from The Success Manual. ]

The best from Chris Brogan
1. Sucking up isn’t the smart game, but raising up those around you is

2. Build community by protecting them, not using them

3. Listen’ to Know What to ‘Say Online
The way to make a connection is to talk about what people want to hear. No-cost and low-cost listening tools help you ‘grow bigger ears’ and then apply what you’ve learned from listening to improve your sales, your service or your future products. That’s the single most important thing you can do with social media tools.

4. Be useful
if you are generous and helpful, people are likely to reciprocate, but you shouldn’t just give in order to get something back.

5. Use the internet to “gatejump” and “make your own game”
The old gatekeepers -agents, editors, curators etc, are losing power.

- Create without needing the status.
- Make your own products, put them out on the net, and direct the right like-minded people to participate.
- In this way, (you) don’t need people’s permission to produce something they think is of value.

6. How to find the time to push my business on the internet if you are too busy running it.
Ask yourself: “Why do you keep putting time and effort into things that don’t work?”

A quick look at key lessons from "Trust Agents":

What is a Trust Agent?
Trust Agents are those people who’ve mastered the new communications tools of the web to build relationships ahead of the sale. They’re people who understand that the web is just a medium, but it’s the best medium for starting and maintaining relationships that yield.

1. Trust Agents are digital natives using the web to be genuine and to humanize their business. they are interested in people (prospective customers, employees, colleagues, and more) and they have realized that these tools that enable more unique, robust communication also allow more business opportunities for everyone.

2. They are the power users of the new tools of the Web, educated more by way of their own experience and experiments than from the core of their professional experiences. They speak online technology fluently.

3. Trust Agents use today’s web tools to spread their influence faster, wider, and deeper than a typical company’s PR or marketing department might be capable of achieving.

4. Trust Agents care about the people in the equation. They work to grow relationships that eventually influence people’s experience with an organization.

5. They make people feel comfortable, all the way, building deep relationships before ever asking something of of others.

6. We don’t need to make another team lose to win ourselves. There’s plenty of room.

7. No matter whether you have lots of connections or few, don’t use this as a measure of your success online.

8. Trust Agents are being in the center of a network and being able to spread ideas.

9. Trust Agents build networks, then build circles, and then include others in those circles.

10. Part of what you do as a trust agent is realizing that everyone else has great ideas, that they are professionals, and that they have angles you’ve yet to consider.

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