6 ways to grow your social influence

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Just  today, I was in the middle of doing my own thing when a friend who was having a challenge needed some tech help.  I thought to myself, "This is just what social networking is all about."  After the experience, I realized that in that one interaction I had build my social influence in several different ways.  I figured I would share with you a few of the ways you can build your social influence.



 1.  Create good content consistently.

In whatever our niche, we need to be searching for the best resources and information.  We need to take what we find and process it, and know the people in our communities well enough to share in a way they can grasp and implement easily.

It really does not matter if we are sharing the same information out there.  We all have different followers with different needs who would much rather learn from us.

2.  Get involved in different communities.

If you feel stagnated, perhaps you need to branch out where new people can learn about you and where you can find fresh ideas to bring back to your network.  Get involved in new communities by sharing your expertise and answering questions.

Find ways to collaborate not compete with other leaders.  Do not wander in and out of different communities at your leisure.  Make yourself available on a regular basis.  Brainstorm together on how different communities can unite to reach common goals.

3.  Introduce the newbies to your network.

It can be pretty intimidating for people trying to break into a new community.  Keep your eyes open, and stand ready to  help break the ice by sharing posts, retweeting, and suggesting others follow. Sometimes it only takes one person to get others to notice the newbie.

4.  Assist with problem solving.

If you are aware of what is going on in your community and others, you will find people who are looking to resolve problems.  Don't be afraid to help or give advice. You might be the best person to help because you have the time or because you had to work your way out of a similar challenge.

This is the best way to grow your influence.  Others will be watching and still more will hear of you from those you assist.

5.  Don't just broadcast.

Even though time is short, be sure to work toward having conversations that can reveal what people are thinking about the things you post.  If your posts are not generating a response of some kind, you cannot really tell if you are being heard or if people are even interested.

Asking questions, taking surveys, or providing a "call-to-action"  are forms of communication.  Ask people to share, +I, or "like."  Just asking people to respond with a yes or no can help you learn more about your community.

6.  Don't just sell.

Many people are afraid to spend time volunteering service.  Some do not want to give anything away free.  If all our efforts are spent selling and none on providing free information or a product now and then, people will lose interest.  My first webinar on creating income opportunities online was given by Jason Alba.  He suggested that we should spend the first year building our networks.  He is an expert on building social media profiles and sharing content.

I first started out by writing my own posts and sharing other people's content on Twitter.  My followers grew to 2000. Many are very generous about sharing.  The relationships I have are strong from putting service first.