This post was inspired by Fast Company’s new Influence Project and Darren Rowse’s (@Problogger) Tweet from yesterday:
The dictionary defines influence as:
“the capacity or power of persons or things to be acompelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others”
Darren’s definition is pretty accurate and when he elaborated, he was dead on as well. His point was than many people want to be influential, but when asked what they want to influence people over, they don’t know. In other words, there’s a complete lack of clarity and this keeps people from gaining any proper footing.
How to be influential:
1.) Identify your audience (and your message). In marketing, we call this part identifying your 3 Core M’s – your Market (Who), your Medium (How), and your Message (What). “Who” are you trying to reach? “What” are you trying to communicate? By answering “Who” and “What” you’ll be able to more clearly identify “How”.
2.) Communicate it clearly (and often). Once you’ve identified your message, it’s your job to make sure that you’re communicating it clearly to others. This should be done through your writing and your actions on a daily basis. Remember that leadership (influence) is personal. So it’s your job to personally connect with as many people as are willing to listen and share in your story.
3.) Be a leader by inspiring others to be leaders themselves. This simply means for you to put your best foot forward 1,000% of the time. It means being sincere in your actions. Being willing to help others. And motivating them to be leaders in their own right. How are you doing this?
What’s your “Who” and “What”?
I thought we’d share in a quick collaborative exercise and help each other identify are “Who” and “What”. In other words, who’s your target audience, and what’s the message that you’re trying to communicate?
Ex. (From my About Page)
My goal is to empower Real Estate Agents to marketing themselves better in the digital media space.
How about you?
What a wonderful post, Ricardo. I loved your simple “who” and “what” collaborative exercise.
Influence online, and in social media, is a very important – yet widely misunderstood and abused territory. And your three step process to increase influence is very relevant.
There's a post on my Social Media Notebook blog today, in which I spoke about my convictions on the same topic. Would love to hear your thoughts.
Kapil: thank you! I think it's a great exercise for anyone to walk themselves through. Very effective and revealing when you establish a sense of direction.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to share your thoughts!