You have been to school and you have attended countless seminars and training courses. You are also up to date on the latest developments and research in your field. You know that you have the answers, but what you don’t know is how to let everyone else online know about you. You want to become an influencer online, as well as in your day-to-day working world. Lucky for you, we have a few ideas to get you started.
First though, let’s talk about ways in which you become an influencer. Becoming one online is very similar to being one in the real world. You must first listen more and talk less. Find out what your friends, colleagues and potential clients are saying before making recommendations. Also, just like in real life, you must give generally before you can get. Offer your assistance to your community regularly to have the favor returned later. As part of this, suggest collaboration within your online community. By partnering, you not only increase your audience, but you also build your knowledge base.
Let’s go through 6 other steps for becoming an influencer:
- Focus—If you haven’t already done this, consider narrowing your area of expertise. Trying to know everything in your field dilutes the idea that you are an expert at one thing. Also by staying within your focus, you can research and present original opinions rather than parroting someone else.
- Set Alerts—Use a service like Google Alerts or Social Mention to keep tabs on different topics or keywords in your focus. Use these to write and contribute current information and opinion.
- Be Unique—There are a plethora of people in your field. All of them are trying to do the same thing you are and grow their business. The way you set yourself apart is by striving to be unique. Take the time to craft original posts, statuses, and tweets. Don’t publish the first draft. Review it and edit it, so that your best work continually stands out.
- Talk—You are building an online community which functions the same way a real community does; meaning you have to talk to your commenters, your fans, and your critics. Engage with them, even the ones that give you a bad review or comment. Keeping a cool head and showing that you know you’re subject means you will always prevail online.
- Share, Share, Share—Just because you wrote a spectacular blog post and shared it on Facebook, that doesn’t mean your fans on Twitter are going to see it. Make sure you are routinely updating each channel (and email) with your new news.
- Share Other’s Material—This step is part of the collaborative community building. There are several people in your industry that you admire or want to work with, share their material online. By sharing their work, you are building a relationship with them and enlarging your area of influence. Great content begets great content and we all benefit.
Having the skills and knowledge is one thing, but building your online tribe is another. Use social media to your advantage to launch you as an influencer.
Are you an influencer for your industry? Talk to us about what you did differently from everyone else.
This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (https://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in affordable press release distribution. Grab three free ebooks, including the Big Press Release Book and Twitter Tactics, here: https://www.ereleases.com/free-offer/big-press-release-samples-book/