Every industry has influencers.
Blogging, marketing, stock marketing, affiliate marketing, health, fitness… Anything you can think of.
These are the people who teach us the right ways to do the things.
We follow them, we consider them the trendsetters, we trust their advice, their diet plans, their daily routine and the books they read.
In short – we try to emulate them.
As an influencer, people want to be like you, eat like you, read like you and work like you.
Wouldn’t you love to be one of these influencers in your industry?
I had the same dream when I started my blogging career in 2011. I wanted to be someone who can influence people, who can inspire them, ignite their hidden powers and show them the right path to become a successful person in their field.
With time, I have reached a point where I can say that I am an influencer.
Having more than 60,000+ readers in a month on my blog, 20,000+ followers on my Facebook page, 10,000+ subscribers and 4000+ people in my private Facebook group, I can say that I am an influencer.
Becoming an influencer is all about the mindset.
Once you know your goals, becoming an influencer is not that difficult.
Note: It takes 2-3 years to become a perfect influencer in your industry.
Here I am going to share some personal tips that can help you to become an influencer in your industry.
1. Make your presence everywhere
Pay Flynn says, “Be Everywhere.”
This is one of finest suggestions you can ever get from an entrepreneur. Try to be everywhere. Write blog posts on different blogs (like I am doing now), get into podcasts, video interviews, submit slides, attend meetings or whatever the option is there to meet with your prospects, just be there.
Gary Vaynerchuk is another live example. This guy is everywhere. This guy has changed the definition of word “Hustle.”
He keeps on hustling.
There is a complete psychology behind doing this. When we see any brand everywhere (TV, hoardings, newspaper, etc.), we conceive it as a brand.
Exactly the same applies to you. When you are everywhere, people consider you as a brand.
2. Get into interviews
Interviews are one of the best ways to influence people. Either get into text interviews, podcasts or video interviews, just try to get featured on some good websites.
People love to read real life stories because they can relate it with their own life and be motivated to do something better in their life.
MyBlogU is a great platform where you can find some blogs in your industry and get featured on them by sending them an answer to a few questions.
Otherwise, you can go to Google and search about the interviews of other people from your industry.
Search – “Your industry name + interview” in Google.
E.g., “Blogging + Interview.”
You can perform this search query with any terms.
Once you get those blogs, send them an email to interview you on their blogs.
Show them the quality of your blog posts, your other interviews, your presence or any other authoritative proof to convince them to have you on their blog.
By doing this, you can interact with their audience and gain more trust in the industry.
3. Maintain your social profiles
Many people call this a time sucker.
But if you use it in the right way, it can be a big asset to build your business.
Be humble on your social media profiles and try to help as many people as you can. If you are on Facebook, you can join some authoritative groups on Facebook, which can help you to gain the real exposure and more trust.
Here are 3 Facebook groups in the internet marketing industry I recommend to join.
4. Read industry specific books
Books are the real friends.
They can shape your career if you use them in the right way.
Back in 2011, I was struggling hard in my career. I was a newbie, and I had no job.
All I had was a vision to become a successful blogger in upcoming years.
When you are a newbie, finding a mentor can be very hard. Because either they are looking for some professional guys who can help them to build their business or they charge some money to become your mentor.
Unfortunately, we don’t have anything when we are a newbie.
So books can help you find the path.
I started reading a lot of books related to the industry and some motivational books to stay on track.
Start picking some good books recommended by the experts in your industry and read them very carefully. The best thing about books is; you can gain author’s years of knowledge in just a few dollars.
So learn the basics of your industry from books and keep on increasing the level of books.
Recently I bought a book called, “You Squared.” This is just a 34 page book having 17 almost blank pages.
So I can say this is a book of just 17 pages.
This book cost 2200 INR ($32) in India, but the wisdom I got from this book was beyond imagination.
5. Attend industry specific seminars/meetings/masterminds
I personally attend a lot of seminars. Earlier I was attending local seminars in India only, but last year I started going international and attended 4-5 awesome seminars in various countries.
Show your face to your audience, talk with them, laugh with them and hear what they want to say.
Meeting personally builds a strong relationship with your audience. Recently Jeff Bullas was in India where he delivered an awesome lecture.
Although I was not in that Seminar I followed each and every update from Jeff, where I could see people going crazy to meet him.
My wall was filled with picture updates with Jeff, and bloggers here were feeling super awesome to meet their ideal for the first time.
People feel awesome when you meet them in person.
So start attending seminars to build your presence.
6. Interact with your audience
Your audience feels awesome when you reply to them on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus or personal email.
If you are running a blog, be active in the comment section.
Keep your eyes on the questions in the comment section. Do your best to solve their queries, because it will help you to strengthen your relations with your readers.
If you are giving a reply on a public platform (Forum, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), it’s going to help many other people as well. So always do your best when you reply on any individual query.
7. Build a relationship with your email list
All big players in the industry always recommend building an email list on your blog.
These are your loyal readers, who want to read every article written by you, who want to receive your updates, who want to learn more from you.
This is the place where you should take every step very carefully.
A person has joined your email list because they liked your stuff and finally decided to follow all your future updates. So if you are not treating them well, they are going to leave you.
If you hurt them, they are never going to come back.
So learn how to build relationships with your subscribers and keep sending them only important stuff rather than pushy stuff.
Once you fulfil their requirements (you won’t be able to fulfil everyone’s requirements), you win the heart of your readers.
They start following you from the bottom of their heart, and you become an influencer.
Final Words
People are your brand ambassador.
They recommend your blog, your YouTube channel, your Facebook profile whenever they get the chance.
Becoming an influencer is not about pleasing everyone and putting in lots of effort to build your authority. It’s about becoming good with a handful of people, and they do free marketing for you.
Every time they see someone in your industry in trouble, they will recommend your name to them.
I have personally used all the methods discussed above, and I can say proudly that I am an INFLUENCER. 🙂
Guest Author: Kulwant Nagi is a professional blogger and an affiliate marketer. He loves to share the tips about starting a blog and bringing traffic. His latest venture is KnowledgeCage.com, which is a 100% targeted blog for “how to” industry.