Kim Kardashian does it, do you?
Last week I was drinking my morning coffee when I saw a brief interview on the Today Show with Kim Kardashian. Matt Lauer was talking to her about her personal brand-based empire. Though they did not focus on it, Kim shared that she often crowdsurfed Twitter to make both personal and business decisions.
In case you are not sure who Kim Kardashian is, she is the star of the reality TV show “Keeping up with the Kardashians”. If that didn’t answer your question (I know it didn’t for me), she is the daughter of Kris and Robert Kardashian. Her father, Robert, is a prominent defense attorney. Her parents divorced and later her mom married Olympic Gold Medalist Bruce Jenner. She has 9 siblings; 3 from her mom, 4 from Bruce and 2 from Bruce and her mom. Her family dynamic contributed to getting the reality show. But Kim is a PR maven. Like Paris Hilton, she is another person who has managed to become famous just for being famous.
Though Kim did not rely on her fame as a basis of success, she has created a very successful business. Starting off as a fashion stylist, she and her sister opened up a clothing store called DAS. She has also launched that into a high end fashion line in conjunction with fashion house Bebe; an Armenian-inspired jewelry line; a shoe company (shoedazzle.com); a fitness DVD, and most recently her own brand of perfume.
In the interview, Kim mentioned that she is often indecisive and will ask her Twitter followers for their opinion, whether it be about what color nail polish she should use or design concepts for the bottle for her new perfume. She said that involving her followers made her more accessible. It allows them to relate to her more easily and feel like they are a part of what she is doing.
This is the key. Crowdsurfing is great for gathering opinions and thoughts, but it is also an excellent way to allow people to feel that they are playing a role in your decisions. It keeps your audience involved and turns them into active participants. However, if you ask your followers for their thoughts and opinions and then completely ignore them, you will have accomplished the opposite of what you set out to do. If you are not actually interested in people’s opinions, then don’t ask.
Below is the short video interview from the Today Show – enjoy.
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This post was originally posted on Blog Cubed
