History is littered with times when the non-military population rose up to fight off invaders, build insurgencies against occupying forces and unjust governments, or declare their own freedoms. These attempts would not be successful if the commoners didn’t somehow gain access to weapons, armor, and equipment to battle with. One of the first recorded of these uprisings was the Athenian Revolution of 507 BC. At the time Athens had fallen under the rule of a man named Isagoras who wanted to become a tyrant. He made an alliance with Athens’ enemies the Spartans who sent some of their army to help him enforce his devastating changes to the cities government. The people of Athens were not having this and gathered as many weapons as they could and blockaded the Spartans and Isagoras at the Acropolis. After two days of being unable to battle out and without food and supplies the Spartans agreed to a humiliating truce and Athens become a full democracy. There are other examples such as the American Revolution when farmers and shopkeepers took their outdated muskets and hunting rifles into the field against a well-trained and supplied British Army. The British opened fire on these men known as “The First Patriots” killing 8 of the 70 the result was a country soon filled with militiamen fighting against Tyranny with their hunting rifles inspiring an entire nation into existence on the basis of democracy, an idea which had mostly been lost for thousands of years. There are also the French Resistance fighters of World War II who were sent guns and ammunition from British airdrops.

Arming the Commoners revolves around finding a way to get your audience to fight for your brand, product, or service. Seth Godin might refer to this as “leading a tribe” and reading his book “Tribes” is highly recommended when planning Arming the Commoners as a strategy. Find part of your target audience that has the desire to be heard but lacks attention or resources, develop a future picture for them to envision, and connect with this audience. Then supply them with content, assets, messaging, etc… to help promote your message.

A great example of this are companies like Legion M which claims to be the first fan owned movie production company. Legion M sells shares to fans of their company, consults them on production ideas, and then gives them assets to help promote the movies and shows created by the company across social media and offline with watch parties and other events.

Pros vs. Cons
Pros: Having a group of people constantly talking about how great your brand, products, or services are can be incredibly beneficial and lead to fast growth.

Cons: Building a sustainable system can be expensive and often requires dedicated staff to make graphics and messaging for your audience to spread. As many MLM’s find out, you may also get fans who are overly zealous and end up exaggerating the benefits or positive aspects of your product or service to the point where the company may be held liable by governments or consumers.