The Quality of Your Social Media Influence

Post date: Dec 05, 2010 8:51:20 PM

Twitter followers. Ashton Kutcher has 5.4 million of them.Shaquille O'Neal has 3 million of them. Felicia Day has 1.7million of them. Wait, who was that last one? Unless you areplugged into all manner of things nerdy you may have neverheard of Felicia Day. But millions of people around theworld have. They admire her and her work. A self-proclaimedgeek hit the mother lode of niche markets by being honestwith who she was and what she loves. And the nerds of theworld loved her for it.A young woman who loves videos games, science fiction, andproduces her own web series is a shining example of someonewho used social media properly. And how being honest abouther passions helped get here there.It's easy for someone to tell you how many Facebook friendsor fans they have, how deep their LinkedIn network goes, orhow many Twitter followers they have. But the true measureof that success isn't just a number, it's about the quality

of your followers and friends and why the decided to support

your social media endeavors in the first place.

Many people still don't quite grasp the true power of

Twitter. It isn't just another medium for advertising. It's

not a tool for talking "at" people. It's talking to people,

and them talking back. It's not a private instant messaging

service but it is not a chat room.

On any given day, I will receive at least a few more

up-to-date news headlines from the people I follow on

Twitter than I do from news sites. Those people then might

share with me photos from the set of the movie they are

filming, ask about what web hosting you might recommend, or

give you additional information about their latest web comic.

Twitter is about engaging the populace. And unfortunately it

is not a tool that is meant to be used to make a single

tweet and then log off without a second thought until you

feel like you want to tweet again. If individuals wanted

that kind of interaction they would stick with your blog or

website.

It's important to remember that people know whether you are

truly looking to interact with them or if you are merely

using them as a vessel for advertising. The more your

followers feel like there is a real person on the other end

of your account the more likely they are to share your

tweets with their other friends and followers. And that is

the best kind of social media influence. People who are

openly engaging with you and your content as opposed to

blind accounts who have never actually sent out a tweet or

solely created an account because someone told them to one

time.

This extends beyond Twitter as well. Responding to comments

on Facebook, posting on industry-related forums, and

leaving blog comments are all methods you can use to engage

with your readers and extend your influence within the

community.

Too often people forget that part of using Social Media is

actually being social. No matter how great your service or

product might be, there are not people just waiting out in

the magic world of the Internet to read about it our buy

it. They need to be sold, convinced, and friendshipped.

Imagine a conference related to your field of expertise.

Having the best product and sitting in a corner of the room

is no way to generate leads or sales. You would engage with

people, shake their hands, learn their names, and find out

what they do. The same is true online, although you can

avoid the sweaty and clammy handshakes you were guaranteed

to receive from some people.

Just remember, the old adage "Quality over Quantity"

translates beautifully over to social media. You want

people engaged and interested in you and what you do.

Felicia Day may have 1.7 million people following her on

Twitter, but if none of them ever actually used Twitter

they would be worth less than one follower who used the

service daily.

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