How to find Influencers, and if you can’t find any, how to make them
	Posted by James Young at Apr 09, 2008 01:40 PM CDT Categories: Social Media , Technology

Recently, I heard Eve Smith from Easter Seals tell a story of what she characterized as a failed social networking experiment they made. The most important lesson learned, according to Eve, was that they needed to cultivate their “Influencers” if they wanted to have success in social networking. When I asked Eve how she defined an “Influencer” she answered that it was anyone who had a personal connection to the particular cause, in this case Autism. I thought that answer made sense in the case of Easter Seals and the particular campaign they were running, but it did not seem to be general enough for other organizations to take the concept and run with it.

I started thinking about the idea of an “Influencer” and how to define it in a general way, but nothing seems to be just right. The defining characteristics of an influential person seem like they would change given the context. Just as in Eve’s case, the Influencer was not really the most connected person, but the person who had a personal connection with the cause and therefore acted the most passionately. Then it struck me, the best way to identify the I nfluencer is to let them identify themselves. And the beauty part, eh? (Thank you, Bob and Doug McKenzie) Social networks are perfectly built to let Influencers run rampant and identify themselves via their actions.

That’s right! By having a community of your own that you nurture and cultivate, you have the breeding ground you need to find and cultivate Influencers. Now, you may have community members who were born Influencers, much like the way my daughter seems to be a born litigator (she negotiates just about everything from getting out of bed in the morning to getting into bed in the evening) and you may also have community members who have the potential to be Influencers, if they only had a little help and training. The former should jump out at you just by the fact that they post a lot, and offer a lot of good material. The latter will blossom before your eyes.

Now, you’ll also treat these members differently. For the existing Influencers, you’ll want to ask two things of them:

1. Please educate and inspire the other community members
2. Please spend time in social networks external to this one, educate and inspire other community members there, and drive those people back to our community if you can

For the Influencers-In-The-Rough, you’ll want to provide as much education and encouragement as you can. If you provide the knowledge, and teach them how to convey the message, one day they’ll be ready to act as Influencers.

You’ll also need to reward each of these groups for the progress they make. The reward will depend on the individual. It may simply be recognition, or it may be added privileges in the community (such as their own blog), or it may be more materialistic. Give them some options and let them choose what they want.

Below is a picture that attempts to capture all of this.

I’d like to hear your comments on the thoughts, and specifically how to refine the graphic to be more meaningful.

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