People judge you by the company you keep. Why not connect with the best and the brightest in your niche? It will take your game up!

1. Engaging Influencers
or
Schmoozing for Success
Catherine Morgan
Career Transition and Entrepreneur Coach
Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.
February 13, 2012

2. Congratulations!
• For making it here today
• You might rather be here

3. Question
• Who would like to be able to engage
influencers to gain visibility for their business?

4. Some examples of influencers?
• Celebrities
• Famous speakers
• Bloggers
• Maybe even people who are just a little
further ahead in their businesses than
you are

5. Who would you like to meet?
• ????

6. How could you get their attention?
• Direct outreach by e-mail?
• Via social media?
• Mining LinkedIn to get introductions?
• Attending events?
– Hint: Think about attending smaller events where
you will actually get to talk to the speakers

7. How I got to SOBCon
• How I met Terry “Starbucker” St. Marie
and Liz Strauss and got to go to SOBCon

8. People started asking me
• How did you meet all these “famous” people?

9. Today we will cover
• The mindset shifts you need to make
• How to find influencers
• One process that works
• The right ways and wrong ways to
approach influencers
• Why this process works for other things
in your business too

10. Mindset shift #1
“Collaboration is the new competition.”
~ Pamela Slim and Michele Woodward
• Do not be afraid to reach out to people who
do similar things – in fact I encourage it!
– I do teleclasses with other professionals who do
very similar work or serve a similar target market
– I suggest that you find people who offer
complementary products/services to your
target market

11. Mindset shift #2
“Rapport before request.”
~ Elizabeth Marshall
• Relationships online, as in real life, take time
to build
• Be prepared to consistently show up over time

12. Who here uses social media now?
• Which platforms?
– Note: Social media can be a way to create visibility
and credibility quickly and inexpensively!

13. Life as an entrepreneur

14. A process that works
• Research
• Identify
• Observe
• Engage
• Be consistent
• Be respectful

15. Research
• Search engines such as Google
• Search.twitter.com
• LinkedIn
• Blogs

16. Identify
• People who do what you do (or want to
be doing)
• Where your ideal clients naturally congregate
(you want to tap into those places!)
• Existing “tribes” or “communities” of people
you could join

17. Observe
• Start “liking” fan pages on Facebook
• Start following people on Twitter
• Start reading blogs of people you would
like to know

18. Engage
• Start commenting on fan pages on Facebook
• Start answering questions and re-tweeting
on Twitter
• Start commenting on blogs

19. Be consistent
• And show up authentically!
• Remember that relationships happen over
time and there is no such thing as a quick fix
– If you try to rush the process, you will just look
like a jerk
– Don’t pretend to be something you are not. (Over
the long term you won’t be able to keep it up.)
• It is OK to be new in your business – we all
start at the beginning 

20. Be respectful
• Influencers have people asking them for things
all day long
• Give first without expectation of return
• Over time, they may notice and offer to
return the favor
• BUT don’t assume it is a pleasure and a
blessing for influencers to promote you

21. Train wreck example
• Don’t be this gal or guy – please!
• Liz Strauss blog post
– Please Don’t Ask Before You Say Hello and
Another 9 Don’ts

22. Always remember
“Consistency builds credibility.”
~ Michael Port

23. And never forget
“Social media isn’t part of your personal brand.
It IS your personal brand.”
~ Sally Hogshead

24. One way to think about it
• Think about your engagement in social media
as a body of work.
– It is OK to be silly and personal sometimes
but try to stay professional and true to your
personal brand

25. How to comment on blogs
• Aim to add value with your comments
• Don’t self-promote
• You can disagree with the blogger’s point of
view but be respectful

26. Most importantly
• If something really gets you mad, walk away
for 2 hours and then respond

27. When you think nobody is listening…
• Carol Roth
• Barry Moltz
– Hint: Once you build rapport with one influencer,
others follow

28. Maybe you find a mentor

29. This process works for DIY PR too!
• Reporters are influencers
– And everything we just talked about can work
with them too

30. And if you are writing a book
• This works for building your “platform”
• Need to be doing this 1 to 2 years in advance
if you want to have a bestseller
– Elizabeth Marshall knows her stuff. Check out her
interview How To Build Relationships With
Everyone From Best-Selling Authors To Influencers

31. Selling we is easier than selling me
• Collaborating can:
– Build your business
– Give you a shot of energy and enthusiasm
for your business
– Reveal potential mastermind partners
– Help you to find mentors

32. The company you keep
• People judge you by the company you keep
• Why not hang out with the best and the
brightest in your niche?

33. Who are you going to meet now?
• ?

34. Questions?
Catherine Morgan
Career Transition and Entrepreneur Coach
Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.
877.672.5333
Catherine@PointAtoPointBTransitions.com
Twitter @PointA_PointB