Wow.

Suddenly all anyone seems to be talking about in the social media world is influence. Tools like Klout, a system that uses some sort of complex calculation to say how influential you are on Twitter, are rising to popularity. Now, social media dashboard app HootSuite has jumped on the bandwagon too, posting Twitter users’ Klout score when you click on a profile. The @oldspice guy is even in there, posting personalized videos to “influential” Twitterers (and others too, admittedly, but c’mon…who do you think they were really targeting with those videos?).

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Sure. I looked at my Klout score. It’s 53. I have no idea what that means. I don’t really care, either. But I can assure you, there are people, right now, breezing around their HootSuite dashboard, clicking on everyone’s names, and filtering anyone with a score of 60 or higher into a special list called “influencers”.

Then, once they have their precious list of Twitter Super Powers, they’ll begin to spend their days trying to figure out how to get those peoples’ attention. Because wow – if only I could get @kevinrose to retweet my article about the iPhone 4 antenna….then, I will have arrived!

You’ve got to be kidding me some more.

All the cool kids are doing it. You see, the problem is, people are confusing “influence” with “popularity”. Sure, if Kevin Rose retweets your link, you’ll probably get an awful lot of hits on your post. You wrote a great tech post, he’s a tech guy, and lots of people that follow Kevin trust him when he recommends something. Does that mean he’s influential? Sure it does. But that’s about where it stops. It’s wonderful that you got so many people hitting your blog. It’s great that you earned a few new followers. But once the initial spike happens, it will just settle out. Just because you got 500 reads on your post doesn’t mean you’re going to get 500 reads every day from here on in. Trust me, it simply doesn’t work like that.

People who consistently have high traffic and a dedicated audience have built that over time – by providing consistently stellar content, but more importantly, by taking the time to be an active part of the community which they serve. They have nurtured their readership. They aren’t relying on the popular kids to get the word out. They are working really, really hard to show people the value in their content – all by themselves.

Return on Eyeballs is more important than Return on Influence. Last year, I posted on this blog about a concept that I think is, unfortunately, going by the wayside. It’s called “Return on Eyeballs”. The idea is, it’s not about targeting your stuff to people who are influential. It’s about targeting your stuff to people who are interested. It’s not about how many people see what you’ve done – it’s about WHO sees it.

In that post, I used an example of someone who makes custom baseball bats. Sure, they can get a bit of attention by promoting to so-called “influencers”, if their idea is clever and good, but again, that’s fleeting. They will have far more long-term success by focusing on building a dedicated community of interest than trying to get the attention of the popular set. With some hard work in the right areas, the right opportunity may serendipitously (or intentionally) come along. In my hypothetical example, I suggested that maybe baseball bat guy gets noticed by the equipment manager of a major league baseball team. They sign a contract and bat guy’s business booms. Does the equipment manager, in this case, have influence? Sure he does. He influenced his boss to contract the bat maker.

But the equipment manager’s Klout score is only 16! He doesn’t have any influence!

See how silly this is?

How about we forget about all these ridiculous numbering schemes? How about we stop confusing influence with being one of the popular kids?

How about we focus on building up our own communities, with our own people, and our own set of influencers who are actually influential, instead of just being the ones with the biggest following, or the loudest voice? Yes, it will take time. Yes, it will take work. But ultimately, everyone will be better off, don’t you think?

(Oh, and as for Old Spice guy? I think the campaign is brilliant. But keep in mind, their strategy of targeting popular (or in their words, “influential”) Twitter people only works because they are a well known brand. I have a feeling Allysa Milano wouldn’t have given a rat’s butt if Mr. No Name made a video about her.)

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Oh, how we love our buzzwords, eh?

My head is spinning lately, and unfortunately it’s not with great stuff. It’s with frustration, distrust, and apathy. Those are heavy words, I know – but I’m feeling them.

How I do love these social media. I really do. Connections I’ve made on Twitter, Facebook, through my blog and by attending valuable events like Podcamps and PAB have literally changed my life. I’m a better writer now. I’m a public speaker. I’m teaching others how to work and play and grow their businesses with digital communications. 3 years ago I’d have thought none of it was possible.

And that’s why I’m so upset by what I’m seeing these days. The proliferation of snake oil salesmen, bad advice, and buzzwords that mean nothing is making me crazy. People are being swindled into paying thousands of dollars to attend conferences so they can be sold more fluffy eBooks and hardcovers. They are being forced to listen to the same presenters drone on about the same old stuff, as if it’s the wisdom of the ages. And people are getting suckered into it left, right and centre.

Be Authentic! Engage with your Customers! Increase your Influence!

Wait…wait. Think about those three words for a minute.

Authenticity. Well, I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, my parents told me over and over again, “Just be yourself, and people will love you!”. If I lied to my parents and they found out – ZAP! No TV for a week. I was encouraged to be authentic, honest and truthful in my interactions. If I wasn’t, there were consequences. Therefore, I grew up being…well….Authentic.

Engagement. Being a military family, we moved around a lot when I was a kid. We were always posted in the summer, so the first step upon moving into a new neighbourhood was that my brother and I would have to go out and meet the other kids. Mom would stealthily identify in advance which houses on our street had kids my age, then she’d give me a gentle shove out the door. “Go to number 45, I think I saw a girl your age over there.”

“But Mom, I don’t want t…”

“Just go knock on the door, dear. They won’t bite!”

I’d suck up my courage and walk down the street and knock ever so quietly on the door. A parent would answer.

“Is your daughter home?”

“She’s in the back yard. Why don’t you go around?”.

I’d wander cautiously into the back yard, walk up to the little girl, and say “Hi, my name is Susan. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I like your Barbies.”, just like my Mom taught me. Say your name, be polite, compliment the other person. Engage with them on their level. Hey – that sounds familiar.

Yep – apparently I learned Engagement when I was 6 years old, too.

Influence. On the playground, we always had to figure out what game we were going to play next. Hide and Seek? Tag? Red Rover? The bigger the group, the harder it was to decide. But, there were always those in the group that seemed to be able to sway our opinions. They’d give compelling reasons like, “Well, there’s 15 of us today, so Red Rover would be the most fun”. Sometimes we’d listen to them because they’d provide a more risky option – one that, if our parents found out, we’d probably get in trouble.

These select few had influence over the group. Why? Well, sometimes they tended to be the older kids, so in our eyes they knew more. But age didn’t always define it. Sometimes the influential ones were just the ones that said stuff that made sense. If we did it their way, we’d for sure have more fun. We’d take a bigger risk. We’d try (and maybe even learn) something new.

Soon, I learned how to come up with creative ideas that would influence the group. I’d voice my opinion, and sometimes, other kids would listen to me too. I may have not been the most popular kid back then, but I discovered I could influence when I wanted to.

So I guess I learned Influence on the playground.

So, if the concepts of Engagement, Authenticity and Influence were learned when we were kids, why are we hanging on the every word of the people who know little, and do nothing but tow the line? Someone telling me that in order to be successful in social media, I need to Engage, be Authentic, and increase my Influence is like someone treating me like I’m 6 years old. And that’s kind of insulting, don’t you think? Can you see why I’m frustrated?

To be human, you need to understand these three concepts. It should go without saying that all of your interactions, online, offline, in person, in social media, writing a letter, going to the post office, visiting your Grandma, should be Authentic, Engaging and Influential. That’s humanity, not social media.

Well, maybe this doesn’t make any sense, and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. But before you do that, please watch this 4 minute video from my friend Andrea Ross. Because she is the embodiment of the things we SHOULD be paying attention to when it comes to being successful in this space. Thank you, Andrea, for your thoughts, your wisdom and your inspiration. You’re the real deal.

[photo credit: albyper on Flickr]

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“You can close more business in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.” — Dale Carnegie

We spend so much time and energy talking about the next big thing, the killer app or technology that’s going to help us be successful in achieving our goals. We talk strategies, toolsets, and ROI. We want to know what the secret is, and we lean forward into the future, hoping that some incredibly insightful thought leader is going to share with us the big revelation that will change our lives.

We focus intensely on what’s next. We forget that Dale Carnegie wrote those words in 1936.

I spend a lot of time with other entrepreneurs. We share our ups and downs. We commiserate about what a struggle it is to win new business, in a market that’s gun-shy about spending too much, one that’s intent on measuring every penny in for penny spent. It’s exciting, frustrating, and sometimes, we reminisce about our former cubicle-dwelling days and wonder if that’s the easier option.

I hear a lot of rumblings, people puzzling about how to “convince” clients to hire them. I see online seminars and Twitter chats about personal branding and how entrepreneurs can go about marketing themselves in this rough terrain. Don’t get me wrong – personal branding is important. But it’s only the first step. Once your exceptional personal branding efforts have paid off and gotten you in the door, then what? How do you translate your brand to paying clients?

Don’t pretend to know everything. Meeting a prospective client for the first time can be unnerving, even for the most social and outgoing type (if you’re shy it can be downright stressful). You run the scene in your head…you’re going to try to talk about yourself in a positive way, and hope to heck that they don’t ask the dreaded question, “So how much will this cost me?”, before you’ve had a chance to tout your value. You worry that you might not say the right things, or come off as “the expert” that your prospect is seeking.

Forget the impression you want to make by saying all the right things. It rarely works, and there is an easier way. Don’t claim to be an expert (ever). But DO ask questions. Lots of them. Find out what makes that person sitting across from you tick. Understand what their problems are. It’s not your job to be an expert in everything. It IS your job to help your clients figure out how to solve their problems. And you can only do that by asking questions.

Get people talking. You’ve heard before that the best way to strike up a conversation with someone is to ask them questions (I think that may have come from Mr. Carnegie too, now that I think about it). The part that’s often overlooked is by far the most important…listening to the answers. Want to know the secret to finding out what people are passionate about, even when they don’t think they know themselves? Ask questions. When you hit on their passion, you’ll know it, but only if you pay attention to what they are saying, and how they say it. Suddenly, their body language will shift. They might sit upright, or lean in. They’ll move their hands around. Their eyes will get a little glint. They will smile more. They will apologize for “rambling on”. That’s when you’ll have discovered their passion. Make note of it. That’s valuable information.

Keep on asking questions. Once you’ve nailed someone’s passion, ask more questions about that passion. Get them to tell you some stories. Everyone’s got stories. The more they talk, the more you listen and understand, the more they’ll want you around. This is not a trick…it’s human nature. It works both ways, too. Nobody wants to be around someone who’s a downer. Everyone wants to be around someone who is excited about what they are doing or saying. If you are genuinely interested (genuinely is the operative and essential word) in what the other person cares about, not only will that person be more inclined to be around you (and ultimately, maybe hire you), but you’ll enjoy being around them too. You’ll feed off their positive energy just as they feed off yours. That’s not a tactic…that’s physics. And as Mr. Carnegie said so wisely all those decades ago, being interested in other people is the best way to get them on you team, and ultimately, to win their business.

We’re all working hard on our brands, and that’s great. If Dale Carnegie were alive today I bet he’d be astounded at all the ways we have to connect with and influence others today. But I bet he’d also be using the same lines as he used back then. The tools have changed. The principles have not.

You’ve nailed your brand…now how are you going to nail your influence?

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I woke up with a word in my head this morning: Influence. I find it’s always helpful to start with a definition.

Influence: the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others.

Influence is a big player out here in cyberspace (yeah, I know, “cyberspace” – I’m feeling rather retro today). In some ways, it makes the social media world go round. Trends, memes, and buzz, though generated by anyone,  are typically proliferated through people who have a certain amount influence in the space. In other words, it’s one thing to have the ability to spread an idea to 100 people. It’s entirely another to have the ability to spread it to 30,000.

Too much of a good thing. Is it possible to have too much influence? Well, there is a down side to influence. If you have a community of people around you who are hanging on your every word, waiting for the next stroke of brilliance typed out in 140 characters or through your latest blog or podcast, what happens if one day you wake up and you’re not feeling so brilliant? Let’s say the ideas (or more likely, the time) dry up to the point that your usual prolificity just can’t be maintained any longer? What happens to influence then?

Smooch. I have a pet peeve to confess. If there’s one thing that really bugs me, it’s when 80% of the comments in a blog post are “Great post!” “You’re so terrific!” “I agree with everything you say, all the time!”. Why does it bug me so much? Because, while I think there is nothing wrong with commending someone on a post well written, it shouldn’t be the ONLY thing in your comment. The whole idea of commenting is to converse.

There’s a lot of virtual back-patting going on out here (and that’s the polite term I’m using – I could call it something else that contains the word “kissing”, but I’m too nice).  There’s very little value in that. Influencers are conversation starters. They want your contribution, not your gush.

The gold is often in the comments. One of the things that Influencers are particularly good at is getting people talking in a valuable way. There are plenty of great examples out there of the comments being better than the original post. This is what I love about blogging. Even my own less influential blog has been known to have some great comment streams. It’s so fun to get others’ take on things, to see different perspectives presented so well in one place. It’s one of the reasons I read influential blogs. Influence, in this way, is very useful.

You can’t please all the people… So what happens if suddenly, Ms. Influential does or says something that is decidedly unpopular? The more influence you have, the more potential there is for having to do damage control. Or is there? The great thing about the Web is that it’s a place where we all get to express ourselves – even if our opinion isn’t the most popular all the time. However, throw influence into that mix and after a while, your audience can start to become a bit fickle. They demand that you keep giving them more of the good stuff (read: the stuff that they agree with). And if you steer off track, and start doing something else? Well, in no uncertain terms, you’ll hear about it.

So, is influence a good thing? Certainly. There are many, many people out here doing and saying some really smart, compelling, thought provoking, and industry-altering things about marketing, communications and media right now. It’s important to listen carefully to what they have to say.

BUT.

At the end of the day, what you see and read and hear out here is mostly opinion. Like this post. I’m no expert on influence. I haven’t done any studies. This blog post isn’t based on anything but my own observations of the space. The beauty of it is, if you think I’m full of crap, you can tell me. Then I can tell you back why I don’t think I’m full of crap.

Influencers are vital to the community, yes. But they are people too, and they are entitled to keep doing what they are doing without having to kowtow to the demands of those being influenced.

What’s your take on influence? On being influenced? Over to you, in the comments. (Oh, and feel free to tell me I’m full of crap).

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