Social Media Week Vancouver: Jeff Booth from BuildDirect

Jeff Booth Build Direct

I had a family moving into a house and the flooring didn’t show up. I was so angry about this, and I investigated what happened. I was amazed by how many people who touched that product without taking responsibility for it. Imagine that frustration! We built Build Direct out of that.

Great entrepreneurs are driven to make the world a better place. They feel others’ pain and are moved to solve it. This is a much stronger mission than to make money. When great people share your dream, something magical happens. We persevered through subprime mortgage crisis, worst housing market ever, dotcom bust, etc. But the growth is remarkable. What does this have to do with social media? Why are we winning despite the complete collapse of the market?

Internet removes friction. Speed. But the tools that were supposed to serve us, took us over. It’s not about the tools. If it were, what is it really about? is your life richer because of the tools? It’s easy to be overwhelmed. If you’re on a free service, you are the product that they’re selling to someone else. We are bombarded by these messages. Heck, I got put on a list of People to Follow in business, and let me tell you, one of these things is not like the others.

Sociology from FB: average female who has 500 friends, comments on 26 people’s photos. Dunbar’s Law: the power of 150. You are capable of 150 relationships that are powerful, after that it breaks down.

When you are mediocre, nobody pays attention. If you’re great, it spreads fast. If you’re awful, it spreads fast too, so be great. It’s not how do you trick somebody; it’s how do you wow someone. Here are couple of things that wow me: Authenticity. Trust, including trusting organizations. Sometimes I’m burned, but I would rather live open than closed. We have a 30 day guarantee, we even pay shipping in both directions, and free product samples with no credit card required. Help Others First. You can imagine how many people I get reaching out to me to help themselves. But look at @TLCHome who is always reaching out to us and other people to help.

People think mostly about themselves. True in all businesses and true in all relationships. When you invert that, it’s a powerful, powerful advantage. When you try to help others first, amazing things happen. Remember this scene from my favorite movie?

It IS a wonderful life