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"For all the advice about how to approach and attract influencers, I haven't seen much written about how to actually become an influencer. It's important, because once you're seen as an influencer, you\u2019re seen as an industry equal and a resource. You're no longer perceived as a nuisance constantly broadcasting your own agenda, hoping others will relay.\nBeing an influencer yourself is an often overlooked way to engage with other influencers. It takes time, but it is worth it. There is also financial benefit to becoming an influencer. People of influence have increased value, and can charge more for their services.\nAlways wanted to be an influencer but didn't know where to start? Here are some effective techniques.\n\r\n1. You Must Create Content\r\n\nWhether it\u2019s a blog, podcast, YouTube channel, or an endless Twitter stream, you absolutely must be a content producer. People who don't produce content online often feel overwhelmed. They claim they don't do it because they don't have the time. If you can\u2019t create content, you simply can\u2019t be an influencer. Content is the currency of social media and search. You must expose your voice with some type of published editorial.\n\r\n2. Go After a Niche\r\n\n\n\n\n\nFailing to be an influencer is often the result of conceding the title of \"industry influencer\" to someone else. For example, why try to be a \"social media\" blogger if Mashable or other sites already own that space? It may be difficult to go head-to-head with established companies, but you could own a small slice of that very large pie.\nIn an interview I did with tech influencer Robert Scoble, I asked him if he were starting fresh today how would he go about building his influence. He said he\u2019d go after a very specific subset of a popular market like Nick O\u2019Neill did with AllFacebook.com. A few years ago O\u2019Neill saw Facebook trending and jumped on it as a source to write about. O\u2019Neill is now considered a Facebook authority and is invited to a number of Facebook-related events.\n\r\n3. Create a Regular Series\r\n\n\n\n\n\nWhatever you choose to do, make sure to produce it regularly and let your audience know when to expect it. Andrew Warner, host of the Mixergy, a blog and video podcast for and about entrepreneurs, saw a dramatic change in his traffic and credibility when he shifted his video production from a casual once or twice a week, to every single day.\nWhile the increased traffic was a nice result, it wasn't Warner\u2019s goal. He shifted to a daily interview schedule with the intent of becoming a better interviewer.\n\r\n4. Request to Interview Influencers\r\n\nMany successful podcasters who were at one time complete nobodies have built their street cred and successful businesses by associating themselves with people more well know than themselves. The reason the \"Can I interview you?\" technique works is because everyone loves to give their opinion. The audience that will hear it is often a tertiary consideration.\nJohn Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing, built his reputation off of the reputation of others. In my interview with Jantsch (part of my \"9 Successful Techniques for Making Money from Podcasting\" series), he admitted that when he started he was a complete unknown. Even with few listeners, the fact that he had a podcast gave him tremendous access to well known people and authors. Asking influencers to be interviewed on his podcast was a great way to make an introduction. All he did was send an e-mail with the subject line, \u201CInterview request.\u201D\nNot knowing who Jantsch was at the time, many well known social media luminaries, such as Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki, agreed to be on his podcast. Those interviews initiated relationships that resulted in both Godin and Kawasaki contributing to Jantsch\u2019s book.\nWarner has had similar experiences. His interviews have become the launching point for great influencer relationships. In addition, Warner admits that he\u2019s perceived as an expert through association. Each person Warner interviews puts him in a different world in his audience\u2019s eyes, thus increasing his influence to an even broader market.\nPeople love to give their opinion and it often doesn\u2019t matter if your audience is small. They simply appreciate it when you give them a forum to express their viewpoint.\n\r\n5. Offer Yourself for an Interview\r\n\nProducing media takes a ton of work. Many people have this mistaken notion that there are tons of checks and balances before an interview or story is put on the air or in print. Quite the opposite, especially with media outlets that have to produce tons of content, like 24 hour news networks. They\u2019re so overloaded that they\u2019re more than happy when you do their job for them.\nThe trick to offering yourself up for an interview is to know the editorial of the outlet and who specifically to ask. If it\u2019s a magazine or blog, you'll want to know who is the editor of the section you want to be on. If it\u2019s a TV show, you'll want to know who is the booker or associate producer. When you contact the media outlet, make sure you reference a previous piece, complement it, or offer up an alternative contrary viewpoint, then suggest that you could be that viewpoint.\nSusan Bratton, founder of Personal Life Media, did this with me on my now defunct \"Be the Voice\" podcasting series. She heard my podcast and offered herself up as an interview, saying that the editorial of my podcast fit in with the model of how she started her business. She was right, and a great interview. I\u2019ve interviewed her a couple of times since.\nAn excellent service for offering yourself up for interviews is Help a Reporter Out. It's a resource that effectively matches journalists with sources in times of need.\n\r\n6. Contribute (for Free) to Well-Trafficked Media Outlets\r\n\n\n\n\n\nMany blogs and media outlets take free contributions from their readers and viewers. It can be as simple as a guest post to a well known industry blog or an eyewitness video contributed to CNN\u2019s iReport. Some publications have built their brand and reputation on accepting contributions and filtering only the best stories. Contributors often do it solely for the sheer honor of being seen in such a respected publication. In return for these free contributions, you can ask for a mention of your name, business, and a link to your business and social media accounts (e.g., Twitter and/or Facebook Page). Your appearance in the well-trafficked publication can increase your visibility, your Twitter followers, Facebook fans, and search ranking.\n\r\n7. Go After Your Industry\u2019s \"Whale\" Publications\r\n\nSimilar to the above advice, set your sights on the biggest/most respected media outlet in your industry. It\u2019s far more valuable for you to get a tiny little 20-word blurb in your industry\u2019s top tier media outlet than it is a cover story in your industry\u2019s third-tier publication.\nThe goal is to get your name and content in it ... anywhere. Once you\u2019re in, you can work your way up and out.\nGoing after an industry whale is how I got started in tech journalism. About 15 years ago I met an editor from PC Computing Magazine and inquired about writing for the magazine. Now defunct, PC Computing was one of the top three tech publications alongside PC Magazine and PC World.\nMy first assignment was to write a tiny little 200-word review in the back of the magazine. I spent 10 hours on that review to make sure it was perfect. Then I got another review, and another. I was offered the chance to write features and cover stories. Having the PC Computing seal of approval gave me the street cred to request and land other tech publishing jobs.\n\r\n8. Connect Your Story With a Current Trend\r\n\nLast year a major argument began brewing online between WordPress founder Matt Mullenwag and Thesis theme creator Chris Pearson. At the heart of the argument was the fact that Pearson was distributing a WordPress theme without using the open source GPL license for distribution.\nMixergy\u2019s Andrew Warner got wind of this argument and simply extended an invitation to both Mullenwag and Pearson to come on his show and air their grievances. He saw the story brewing and capitalized on it. The interview with the two blogging founders resulted in huge traffic for Warner and became a real turning point in the success of his show.\nYou can find more examples of this technique in another piece I wrote for Mashable entitled, \"Trending Topics: 5 Ways Companies Used News Trends for Business Success.\"\n\r\n9. Connect Your Brand With a Much Bigger Brand\r\n\nI used to produce and host two different podcasts for Sprint. While Sprint was a big brand at the time, it was completely unknown in the podcasting space. In an effort to raise the profile of Sprint's podcasts, I specifically sought out interviews from Sprint's two biggest sponsor partners, NASCAR and the NFL. I interviewed the IT director from the NFL and the IT director from Joe Gibbs Racing, who at the time had Tony Stewart.\nSince the brands were so huge, it gave us an excuse to issue press releases, and as a result, both interviews netted huge traffic for our then completely unknown podcast.\nIf you\u2019re going to interview people at big brands, you\u2019ll probably have to go through the company\u2019s media relations department. Don\u2019t be bullied into giving your traffic numbers, but be ready to explain the editorial of your podcast, your audience, and what you want to interview the subject about.\n\r\n10. Engage With Your Audience\r\n\n\n\n\n\nTo be an influencer you have to influence someone. Your audience, the ones who consume your content, are the first ones to perceive you as an influencer. They\u2019re also going to be the first ones to describe you as an influencer to others. That\u2019s why it\u2019s critical to engage with your audience.\nIt\u2019s the technique Revision3 has used to build its audience base. According to CEO Jim Louderback, Revision3's hosts and producers spend 40% of their time engaging with their audience.\nAdvertising alone can\u2019t convince someone that you\u2019re an influencer, but your audience can. Not only should you respond to their queries, but you should think of fun and engaging ways to interact with them, such as contests, that they\u2019ll want to participate in and tell their friends about.\n\r\nConclusion \u2014 It Takes Time\r\n\nWhile FOX\u2019s American Idol is designed to make you think people can be made into celebrities overnight, the truth is it doesn\u2019t happen that easily. It takes hard work. The difference between the people who make it and those who don\u2019t, is dedication and wisely targeted efforts.\nMore Business Resources from Mashable:\n- How Brands Can Make the Most of Facebook's New Pages- 5 Tips to Strengthen Your Company\u2019s Social Media Voice- Why Permission Marketing Is the Future of Online Advertising- Why Influencer Marketing Needs to Go Beyond Follower Counts- 10 Online Strategies for Your Next Product Launch\nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, Juanmonino"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2011/02/16/become-online-influencer/>