by Josh Bernoff

Do you ever get the impression that all of us "social media" types are just talking to each other? That we are reinforcing each others' ideas and supporting each other, but that we keep talking to the other insiders?

That the rest of the world looks at us as if we have three heads?

Take a look at this diagram, which I guess was inspired by the graphic on the cover of the book.

The inner circle is us. The insiders, the people who know about this stuff. We talk a lot to each other. We Twitter. We blog. We build communities and start companies. We (that is, you) have bought thousands of copies of Groundswell and raised it to within the top 300 books on Amazon. Thank you.

I know many of you like the book from the dozens of blog posts and hundreds of tweets I read. If I read nothing but Twitter I would think Groundswell was bigger than Indiana Jones.

Outside this circle, in the larger circle, are general business managers. Most of them have heard of Facebook and Web 2.0, but they don't pay that much attention to it. They don't have a way to understand its relevance for them. Despite our most diligent efforts most of them have never heard of Groundswell.

Looking at these two circles, I have seen that I need your help, and you need mine. So let's work together.

Here's why you need my help. You can't get funding until the people in the outer circle begin to believe. That includes your boss, your CMO, your CFO, and your CEO. It includes the other managers you work with and your agencies and partners, too. Life would be a lot easier if they understood.

Groundswell is designed for these people. If they would read it, they would understand. And as much as I love it when people like Mike Walsh say they will buy hundreds of copies, I really think they should buy the book for themselves.

And that's why I need your help. I'm not asking you to buy a copy for all the managers you know (although I wouldn't complain). I'm asking for your ideas on how to reach these folks. How can I energize the insiders to help spread the word?

Think carefully. Because we're already twittering and blogging and Facebooking and using all the tools we use . . . and we are reaching each other. This is great. But how do we reach them? How do we reach the managers who aren't using social technology?

Somewhere in the collection of very creative people reading this -- in your collective brains -- is an idea of how we can make general businesspeople aware of Groundswell and raise their consciousness, not just about the book, but about the phenomenon of the groundswell. Sure that would be good for me. But it would make your lives a whole lot easier, too.

Think about it a little. Comment here, or, even better, please join the discussion we've set up. If you join me you become a Groundswell insider. All I need are your ideas.

Thanks. I know we can do this, but I need your help.