Last night, Lena and I had a chance to do what we love best: Talk to entrepreneurs about how to become experts in their field. During our teleclass, we talked about why it's important to become and expert and most importantly how you can showcase your expertise.
This morning I woke up really thinking about quantifying it as a formula. And that's when I stumbled up on this blog post from a blogger who went to WordCamp Chicago. (Don't you love when you attract just what you need at the right moment?)
Amy Ravit Korin writes:
According to Micah Baldwin, founder of #FollowFriday, if you truly want to be influential online, just influence one person. He even provided a formula to back that up:
- Influence = Reach [Brand*Expertise*Trust], where reach is a multiplier of influence.
Let's break down that formula.
Expertise: This is the place to start. You have to develop an expertise in your field. You do that by putting in the hours, logging the miles and doing the work. This isn't about instant gratification. I's about actually knowing what you need to know so you can become the trusted resource. Sorry, no short cuts here.
I also want to say that learning never stops. It's not enough to be THE marketing genius of 2000. That's over. What are you doing to increase your learning right now?
Brand:There are whole books dedicated to this topic. But simply your brand is what your customer thinks of you. That's based on their experience with your business, product or service. Let's take two companies that offer a similar product like Mcdonald's and Burger King. They both offer hamburgers, French fries and shakes. But chances are strong that when you think about each one of them, you think something different. It could be something as simple as BK's "Have it Your Way" tag line that reminds you that you will get the burger made the way you want it. But brands matter.
Trust: You have to earn trust. And you do that by delivering on what you promise over and over again. It takes time to build trust and it can take a second to lose it. I hate that, but it's true.
Put all these things together: Expertise + Brand + Trustand now you share that with every one of your customers, clients and prospects.
Reach: New media can help you extend your reach by attracting followers (Twitter), gaining friends or fans, (Facebook) or connecting to colleagues (LinkedIn).
All together that adds up to create influence.
Influence is the new currency. While you can't take that immediately to the bank to deposit it, you can leverage it to yield far more than just a monetary amount. Influence or thought leadership confers respect, status, and things you can't buy. Ultimately people will come to you because you have significant influence. You will attract clients and possibilities and books and speaking engagements and a whole host of things you never even dreamed of.
Isn't that why you went into business in the first place? To make your mark. To do things the way you believe they should be done and not march to someone else's drummer?
What do you think influence will do for you?
Alison Woo, Chief Media Maven
P.S. Want to learn more on the power of influence? Here are some other good resources:
Micah's article, http://mashable.com/2009/03/02/measuring-online-influence/
And Paul Worthington (looking like a scruffier version of Paul Rudd) http://mashable.com/2009/03/24/brand-influence/.