Measuring online influence using Klout, PeerIndex, and analytics from many other firms competing in the emerging influence management market is growing fast and getting the attention of large investors.  Klout raised $8.5M in January, 2011 in a funding round led by two prestigious venture capital firms, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byer (KPCB) sFund™ and Greycroft Partners. From a marketing, selling, and service standpoint the value of influence scores is being debated daily on Quora and Focus and will be a big part of the future of e-commerce.  There’s no question about that.

Yet there is the question of how a person chooses to either define themselves with these or ignore them. The same goes for companies.  It’s troubling to see the level of angst about these scores, both in people and across companies, and how former SEO consultants are jumping in to capitalize on the confusion.  I’ve seen at least a dozen SEO companies offering services to drive up Klout, PeerIndex or any other score – with you guessed it – little if any real work being done to actually improve content or deliver real value.

Real influence is based on trust, not how many times you were re-tweeted or someone liked your update on Facebook.

I’m not here to debate the value of these metrics.  What I am saying is that it’s time for a gut-check of what real influence is, how it can be built to last, and most of all, how it needs to come from who you really are, as a business or as a person.

Where Real Influence Comes From

• Being passionate about what you write, deliver and do is all that really matters. Only write about what you are most passionate about – everything else will sound forced and flat.  It’s your choice, and why not be as passionate and committed to what you are saying on your blog, your company’s blog, on Facebook or Twitter?  So much of the advice about gaming these influence scores deals with attempting to manipulate posts, follows, likes, and all other measures of activity.  The people who influence you and me are the most passionate about what they do.  They are galvanized – sold out, all in – to their beliefs and values.  That is what makes them so interesting to listen to and be around.  Sometimes I don’t agree with them, but you have to admit, they deserve respect because they are completely committed to what they are doing.

• Really care about your readers and give them as much value as you possibly can. It’s one mindset to do a blog post that is a status update – and many of them are very interesting, especially if you’re at an exciting event or place.  But get yourself in the mindset of really giving it all for your reader, just overwhelm them with value.  Paul Greenberg does this in every blog post he does for example. Really make every post just reverberate with your commitment to enrich them.  That is where the most influence really is.  Serve others with a passion to enrich them.

• Think like your reader and ask yourself what more you could give. Add in links at the bottom of a blog posts that give them access to related materials, hard-to-find infographics or presentations that illustrate your key points.  Lavish attention on this and really serve the reader.  You get what you give on social networks.

• People don’t care about how much you know until they know about how much you care . In the enterprise software industry there is a tendency to equate long, complex, intricate blog posts, podcasts, and all other manner of content to technical prowess.  These people doing these excessively long and complex posts may impress each other with how much they know. They reach maybe 1% of the total audience available as a result.  Escape that echo chamber, be passionate about what you write – don’t write or get on social networks to impress, write to serve, strengthen and enrich others instead.

• Your undivided attention is the greatest compliment you can give someone, online or off. Think about it, the people who make you feel the best are those that stop what they are doing and give you their complete attention.  The same goes online.  Allow comments, and if you’re a business, no opt-in screens for downloads.

Bottom Line: People need to quit having so much angst about all these scores and get on with being passionate about what interests them, not trying to change just for a higher score.  If you really want influence, become passionate about enriching others and delivering great content, insight and value first.

Louis Columbus has over 20 years in the IT industry, specializing in product management, sales and marketing. Immediately before joining Cincom, Mr. Columbus was a Senior Analyst at AMR Research. He earned his MBA from Pepperdine University and completed the Strategic Marketing Management Program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He has published 16 books on operating systems, peripherals and integration technologies.

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Related posts:

1. Influence and Advocacy are Earned, They are Not Market Segment
2. Online Advertising versus Gaining Influence via Web 2.0
3. The Fifth P of Marketing — Passion

Category: 1. Courage to Change, 3. Operational Excellence, 5. Experience Technology, Uncategorized

Tag: customer experience, Facebook, Focus, Klout, Louis Columbus blog, marketing, PeerIndex, Social Media, Twitter