Fan funding

Amanda Palmer's album was made with "a million raised from fans in a month" WOWZA!
Take a look at how she did it here

And it got me thinking about fan power within L&D.

Here's a bit more of the story first

She says "I have a long term relationship with my fans. Countless 10s of 1000s of hours connecting with my fans, I don't just get on the stage and play, I like to meet people, hang out.... I connect with my fans constantly, nowadays through twitter but it used to be through My Sapce, emails and meeting after a gig. You add up all those relationships and I have a real connection with my fans. I don't just send them a missive occassionally and hope that they support me, we all really know each other. They have also  been following my story about surviving in the music industry since leaving my major music label.

An example of her movement

Her music company objected to the exposure of her naked stomach. Her fans responded by blogging their own photos of bellies with messages on them saying "free the belly" - thousands of people around the globe responded with positive messages and photographs.

So how does this fit for us in L&D?

This, for me, a classic example of connecting with your world. It is easy to get suckered into general busyness, but, in reality, without a fan following how will you ever conjure up enough support for sustainable learning & development in your organisation?

So get out there, connect, make friends, show you care. Set yourself a target for building your internal network daily and ensuring that you show they are important to you, all the time.

Get creative, think what lessons can you directly take from this in the way your market your work to help build your fan following!

Enjoy success.