Some people seem like they were born to excel. They’re gifted physically, intellectually or artistically, and it appears as if they just float to the top.
But don’t be fooled. However gifted someone may be, he or she still had to develop those talents to achieve a lofty professional position. And that’s good news for the rest of us. Each one of us has our own skills and abilities, and we too can develop them and propel ourselves into positions of influence.
Here are 7 strategies for becoming a powerful influencer:
1. Find The Right Platform
Speaking is just one way people can become influencers and reach many with their message. There are many others platforms that you can utilize such as authoring and releasing a book, posting on social media regularly and many other ways. The critical thing is you have to find the right platform for your voice.
Some people are comfortable with video and that might be the best way for them to share their message while others may prefer writing where blogging or social media may be the best channel for them. The key thing is to find the right platform for you so that you can share your message in the way that works best for you, and feels most authentic for you.
2. Be Approachable
Unlike celebrities, people expect social media influencers to be approachable. People need to be able to reach out with their questions and have a reasonable expectation for a response. Approachable people are some of the best power influencers because the general population can relate to them.
If you’re going to be an influencer on social media, you have to be prepared not only to receive many questions from your social followers but to answer them as well. Patience and humility is going to be required on your end constantly to deal with other people.
3. Become A Storyteller
Storytelling has been a vital tool in influencing people across cultures and eras. Influencers tell stories for strategic purposes. From motivating people to act, to teaching, to reducing resistance and changing minds, a well-told narrative is a formidable force, often far more powerful than the mere recitation of complex financial or technical facts.
Numbers and figures are significant, but when it comes to showing their relationship to any issue, a strategic narrative wrapped can deliver the message better and make it more memorable than anything else.
4. Establish Your Credibility Through Original Research, Analysis & Opinions
Don’t just write the same things your competitors are, but add original research and your own opinions. When talking about a great industry topic, it’s important to make sure your voice is prominent throughout the content. This is so readers don’t recognize it as just another blog about a certain topic.
A great way to make sure you beam with originality is to conduct your own research on a subject — this gives you informational power over others. You could also come up with your own personal writing style with a solid tone of voice guide. Interlace your brand’s personality into everything you communicate online, so your words consistently radiate originality, honesty, confidence and legitimacy.
5. Team Up With Your Peers
The reality of the matter is that you aren’t alone in your pursuit of influence. Many of your peers are seeking to do the same thing. Here’s an idea: team up. There’s power in numbers and you’ll be able to accomplish a lot more by partnering with like-minded people in your niche.
Leverage one another’s contacts, support one another in your endeavors, bring one another in on new ideas and value their success as much as you value your own. You’ll find that you’re able to climb much quicker and that their success does very little to harm yours. In fact, the more successful they are, the more successful you’ll be.
Not sure how to find like-minded peers? Well, just keep doing what you’re doing, but make listening a priority. The more content you read and social media discussions you follow, the more you’ll notice that certain people stick out. Investigate these people and watch what they’re doing. You’ll be able to tell pretty quickly if they’re on the same path as you.
6. Put A Unique Spin On Stale Topics
The problem with social media is that it’s inundated with the same old topics and ideas. Everyone seems to be saying the same thing, which really gets old after a while. And if you’re writing and sharing the same things, too, how do you expect to be considered an influencer? You’re actually a follower.
Influencers can take current conversations, and add something unique. They’re able to look at stale topics and create a new angle. This is how you stand out and get noticed. However, there’s a trick to putting that unique spin on these topics. You have to understand your readership. What are they looking for? Before you can understand the wants and needs of your audience, you need to discover who your audience is. What are the content, products, and services that they are really clamoring for? To influence them more, stand in their shoes.
7. Develop Your Critical Decision-Making Skills
Decision-making is a top leadership competency because it pops up everywhere, from the simple choice of where to hold a staff meeting to the strategic options of where to spend marketing dollars. These decisions impact the people in the next cubicle, but they may also affect a subsidiary halfway across the globe or an entire country.
Decisiveness is not a trait we’re born with but rather a skill that can be learned. To master it, analyze your process of critical decision-making to spot weak links in your reasoning and to recognize unconscious biases for or against something or someone. While we can’t control outcomes, we can shape the process that sets them in motion.
Conclusion
There is no clear-cut path to becoming an influencer in your niche or industry. The only way to sustain long-term influence and power in your industry is to remain committed to your core values and talents. In this post, I share with you 7 strategies for becoming a powerful influencer.
