How to become an Influencer

By: Murray Newlands

Who am I

• Thought Leader• Entrepreneur• VC

• Influencer Marketing

• Obtained a green card to move to the USA as an “alien of extraordinary ability” through thought leadership

Who am I

• Twitter 900,000• Facebook 48,000• Vine 390,000• Instagram 115,000• YouTube 30,000• Pinterest 40,000• Periscope 14,000

Snapchat

• Contribute to major publications

"21 Thought Leaders Every Entrepreneur Should Follow in 2016 "Inc.com

"The Top 10 People to Know in Silicon Valley"Huffingtonpost.com

"50 Online Marketing Influencers to Watch in 2016"Entrepreneur

"Murray Newlands, whose book provide original scholarly business contributions of major significance to the field."Forbes

What is Influencer YOU Marketing?

• “Become a thought leader by clarifying and share your expert knowledge to change the world, drive sales, develop a network and get what you want.”-Influencer Marketing

• Audience +Build Trust + Top of Mind = Opportunity

Why Influencer Marketing?

• Become a thought leader.• Build a brand reputation.• Get customers.• Stay top of mind.• Become a speaker.• Get a new job.

Who are influencers?

• Tony Robbins• Al Gore• Marc Benioff• Gary Vaynerchuk• Tim Ferris

• YOU?

Why are they influential?

Influencers are: •Recognizable •Authentic•Credible •Highly engaged•Have influence

Which part of Marketing are we talking about?

Why not just do PR?

“15 years ago, there were two PR people for every reporter in the country. Now there are 4.8 PR people for every reporter” - muckrack.com

•2000: 65,900 news reporters, and 128,600 public relations people•2015: 45,800 news reporters, and 218,000 public relations people - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Become the media to grow and maintain an audience where you are top of mind.

Influencers stay top of mind

Consistently publishing great content keeps you top of mind.

Generate new customersReassure existing customers

Becoming an Influencer

• What do you want to be known for?• What thoughts can you convey?• Identify audience and their needs / pains /

desires• Create a content strategy

Focus on your audience

• Understand who your audience is to make great content.

• Go beyond demographics. • What are their interests? • Where do they live online, which social

platforms?• Who are their influencers?

Creating great content

• 1) Content Strategy: Why?• 2) Knowledge extraction: What?• 3) Content creation: How?• 4) Distribution: Where? • 5) Publications / blog / social: When?

Understanding what publishers want

• Content needs to be great, not just good.• It is about providing value to the readers for

their time.• Great titles• It is now all about you• News• News-Jacking

What Constitutes Newsworthy?

• Timely• Is it something new?

• Significant• Does your story matter?

• Interesting• Does anyone care about your story?

• People-centric• How does it/will it/could it affect people?

The Big Three: Questions You Must Ask Yourself

• Is It Interesting?• Does it provide excitement and engagement

from an external point of view? • Is It Relevant?

• A pitch idea must be both interesting and relevant.

• Does It Serve Our Interests?• Every pitch should be fine-tuned to make sure it

serves the best interests of your company.

What Your Content Should Be About

• Practical Content • Case studies, “how to” posts, etc.

• News• Add your perspective to current events/news

stories.• Seasonal

• Holidays, seasons, events, etc.• Ride Trends

• Current events and popular memes allow you to engage crossover audiences.

• Bizarre• Quirky, creative, unique stories to catch

peoples’ attention.• Debates

• Conflict/differences of opinion drives traffic.• Statistics

• People love numbers, numbers make great headlines.

Make it personal

• Readers buy from humans

• Write about your personal experiences

• Write about your lessons from failing

It takes a Team

• If you are not a great writer, then hire one.• Do you know how to write for publications?• Do you have time?• Edit before your editor• If you can not do all this amazingly hire

someone who can help you.

How to get into bigger publications

• Great content• Work you way up• Trade publications first• Be consistent and build your portfolio• It is all about relationships

Creating Something Shareable

• What is shareable :• Why would anyone want to share the content? • Develop and produce shareable newsworthy

content.

• Publications want traffic and you want readers

What Constitutes Shareable / Newsworthy?

• Makes the audience look• Smart• Funny• Cool• Laugh• Sad

Relationships

• Build a relationship with the press• It is not a one night stand• What would they like to do next?• How can you help them?• Are there events you are both going to?

Reuse the content

• Reuse the content in as many forms across as many mediums as possible.

• Post it on LinkedIn, Medium, Facebook etc.

The Do’s & Don’ts

• DON’T be explicitly sales-y.• No one will publish your

content• It will put off customers

10 Ways to Build Your Fan Base

• Create Unique Content• Interact With Your Fans• Collaborate• Offer Incentives• Stay Current• Use Contests• Take Advantage of Free Tools• Use Facebook Ads• Use Twitter & Pinterest Effectively• Use Your Fans as Marketers

Big gets Bigger

• The bigger you are as an influencer and the more opportunities you will get, the bigger an influencer you become.

• Small publications ---> Large ones• Local speaking gigs ---> Keynotes• Influencers cross-promote Influencers• Success = more money to grow bigger

Who Employs Influencers

• Becoming an influencer is not just for the boss.

• Help you stand out and get promoted• Help you get to conferences• Build the image for the job you want• How to convince your boss to let you

become a thought- leading influencer

Why all entrepreneurs should become influencers

• Sales• Fundraising• Recruitment• Leading the field• Networking• Become a speaker

Want to become an influencer

• Time• Money• It is not an overnight thing

• If you have money but not time pay for expert help.