How to be an Influencer
So you want to know how to be an influencer? What i am about to write is going to first leave you scratching your head and saying 'how on earth will that work?" Then when the penny drops you'll say 'Oh yeah why didn't I think of that" In this post we are going to look at firstly at our influencers and what they are doing and then see what we can do to build a community around these principles and as a product of that become an influencer ourselves.
Let's look at our influencers.
I work in Digital Marketing and Social Media, my influencers are better then great, I hang off their every word and so do their adoring fans, In fact I almost always agree with what they say, I learn, I take action and have light bulb moments all the time! Whenever I see an article or social media post by these people I will also share it with my followers or fans and often take action based on their recommendations.
My top influencers are:
Pat Flynn - Smart Passive Income Blog
and my new favourite:
Mark Shaw - Twitter and Periscope Trainer / Expert
And a handful of others.
What do these people have the almost every other so called expert in the digital and social media space doesn't?
They give you everything, they give you everything you'll ever need to know, everything they've learnt and how they do it and they give it all away for free. They don't hold anything back. The content they provide is content I would pay for but they deliver it for free.
This is the moment where you say:
"If I give everything I've got then why would people buy from me or use my services if I tell them how to do it! so how on earth will that work?"
Of course part of the reason they do this is out of passion and wanting to provide great content to their community. But also these people understand that by giving value and educating people they build a community and audience of fans and followers who simply can't wait to consume and share new content these people provide.
Let's look at Pat Flynn as one of the best examples I have ever seen of someone who seems to selflessly give tons of free advice and never holds anything back.
Pat Flynn's blog / website - Smart Passive income shares exact strategies and methods about how to make money online through affiliate marketing, creating fantastic content, niche websites and so on. Each month he writes a report that tells you exactly how much money he's made and what he made it from. As a result he enjoys a buzzing community, a No.1 charted business podcast and his audience is hooked. Pat comes across as a normal guy with a family and a great story, he is authentic and real and we love that!
Because Pat creates this information does that mean everyone goes off and copies him or does exactly the same thing? Well some people do! But most don't! They'll take his advice, use affiliate products that he recommends (as he influences them) they feel respected, intrigued and well frankly special! He is always thankful for his fans and for their time. As a result of Pats "give it all" strategy his community (me included!) think Pat is amazing as a result of this Pat is a big name in the digital world as well as a speaker and he's making a lot of money too, money that most of us can only dream of bringing in working from home on a monthly basis!
Kim Garst is ranked in the Forbes top 50 social media influencers, Kim is the face or the influential person in her social media company Boom Social. So what does she do to keep her audience happy and influenced? You guessed it! She teaches businesses how to use social media and other strategies by creating heaps of free content, emails, blogs and ebooks and asks for nothing in return. As a result of this Kim's social media community is thriving, people will join her online course, will now pay for her paid books and content simply because she is a giver. Kim also comes across as a very real and authentic person.
Mark Shaw, this guy is my new favourite 'guru or expert' - I actually stumbled across him this week on Periscope (What could you use Periscope for?). Mark literally blew me away. He simply gets on and tells people how Periscope and Twitter work and how they work for a business, he gives everything away! He explains how to keep your audience captive (whilst keeping his captive!) and gives exact strategies on how to use social media for business. As a result of this he enjoys a large community of followers on Twitter and now on Periscope too. He has heaps of love on Periscope in fact that his shows enjoy a huge amount of views. He is also very genuinely appreciative and thankful for his communities time. But he offers social media training and also social media strategy services and he tells his audience exactly how to do it all for free! So isn't he putting himself out of business? I'n a word no. He gives away so much value that when people or businesses get to the point where they need his type of service he'll be at the forefront of mind.
Has the penny dropped yet?
What do these people have in common?
- They give heaps of value and don't expect anything back in return.
- They are authentic and really don't seem as though they have a hidden agenda.
- They are always thankful for their community and audience time.
So what have we learned? How do we influence people?
Give away everything you've got, give heaps and heaps of value and as a positive side affect you'll see massive loyalty from your community, they'll trust you, share your content and want to be like you and you become an influencer.
What do you think? Give value or just sell? What works for you?
I have a blog called DIY DIGITAL Marketing with Lucy Hall It does what it says on the tin - teaches you to do your own digital marketing without being blinded with digital jargon!