In past blog posts and on the Modern CEO Podcast I've talked a lot about the things you can do to make your business better, but it's really nice when other people are willing to help you build your business too!
Today, I want to feature some awesome business advice from the fabulous Rachel Luna, author of the bestselling book Successful People Are Full of C.R.A.P: A Step-By-Step Guide to Getting It Together and Achieving Your Dreams.
So, why do I want to introduce you to Rachel? Because she is a MASTER at connecting with influencers in authentic and mutually beneficial ways. Who are influencers? Influencers are key people who have the ability to influence your market – popular bloggers, YouTubers, reviewers, social media personalities, and thought leaders.
Our Planathon participants were able to benefit from Rachel's amazing lessons on how to create confident social connections, and I wanted to share a few of her tips in this blog post for everyone who missed out!
Let's get started!!
1. Study your targets. Once you have written out your list of people that you want to connect with, you may think that the first step is to reach out. Not yet! Before approaching your influencers, Rachel recommends that you spend time listening to their podcasts, reading their books and blogs, following their twitter, joining their email list, etc. – you want to get a feel for who these people are, what they think, and where they like to hang out. If you get a chance to meet or interact with them, you want to be able to talk to them about things that matter to them!
2. Be a success story. When you put something out into the world, you want to feel that it has helped someone somewhere, right? Well, here's a secret – influencers feel the same way. They want to believe that the things that they are doing (their thought leadership, their services, whatever) are making a difference in people's lives. If you are one of their success stories, that puts you on their radar. Want an influencer to take notice of you? Invest money in them. Buy their products. Show up at their events. Contribute to their community. If you invest in them, they'll invest in you. They may even introduce you to other influencers!
3. Celebrate and promote them. You may think that your audience is too small to matter, that being a cheerleader is only effective if you have thousands of followers. It's not true! A big part of promotion is gaining exposure to new eyes, right? Well, chances are, you have at least a few followers that probably haven't yet heard about the influencer you're shining that spotlight on, so you're helping them out more than you think!
I'd love to know which influencers you’re most excited to connect with. Let me know in the comments!
