The Credibility Branding Blog

Becoming and Influencer - Be The Authority of Your Brand

Here is a perfect story of credibility branding in action, in particular the part about becoming an influencer yourself. The post below was offered by Bill McCloskey at Bill’s Blog

Here is how my credibility branding model sums up his anecdotal story:

· Take what you know a lot about and start offering your insights as a commentator to publications, influencers, bloggers etc

· Start a blog! Start writing about what you know

· Breaking news strategies, leverage breaking news to offer yourself as an authority to comment; be a talking head on the big news broadcasts SPECIAL OFFER click here to download a free PDF on the basics of how to execute this strategy just click here to download)

Why do all this? This is part of an overarching strategy of adding credibility to your brand. This is not a trick, manipulation or spin it is leveraging what you know into a form that gets your insights and expertise out there, enhancing the credibility of your company and products (AKA your brand). This added credibility allows users to fast track the decision making process. You are the one they want because the trust factor is in play.

Building your own Personal Brand Part Two

            By Bill McCloskey at Bill’s Blog

I started writing for publications in the early 90’s. At the time I had just started working in the new and niche world of high end 3D animation. One day I noticed that one of the sales guys at the company I worked for had an article published in the main trade journal. Using his name as a way in, I called up the editor and pitched them a story. The upshot was they agreed to keep it in their files as an “evergreen” story, one that could be run at anytime and if they had space to fill, they’d use it. Of course, no money was offered.

A few months later I received a solicitation in the mail about subscribing to a new publication called 3D Design Magazine. I called them up and said: “I’m not interested in subscribing, but I’d love to write for you.” My background, plus the fact I had already placed an article with their competitor, proved a winning combination. I was offered a job as a columnist and two days later they called again to say their technical editor had left and would I be interested in that as well. And so I started writing monthly columns on 3D and eventually pitched them on the idea of a series on a new 3D for the Web technology called VRML. My writings on VRML made me a VIP in the early world of rich media on the web and led to one of the first really great gigs of my career: VRML Evangelist for SGI and put me at the birth of rich media advertising for the web.

Just Ask - The Brand Credibility Secret

When you ask for something what is the feeling you have just before asking? That feeling will pretty much dictate what the answer will be. This applies to asking a favor of friends and loved ones or asking for an influencer’s endorsement even asking for the order from your customer. Your sense of your level of deservedness will have a direct impact on every interaction with the contact.

So the feeling sense behind it has to be confident and “deserving,” not from and entitlement perspective, but from a competency perspective. For example, I am, and my product is competent and worthy to receive the energy of this influencer or sales contact. So, if you might not believe it at some level then how do you turn it around? My answer is 1) good old fashioned research and 2) just ask them!

Research:

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time you will have heard this a lot –read, research, investigate. If you are pursuing an influencer to endorse your product or pursuing them as a possible customer, then research them in depth. Find out their likes and dislikes, discover what they have said in the press. Who else is using them and how? What are they saying about the industry, about politics, about their personal lives? If they are a high end influencer in the celebrity category it is easier to find out this information. If they are influencers that are niche or vertically oriented then it requires a little more digging. Lexis Nexis is a great resource, there is also Find Articles and of course Google News. Key in their name, find out what you can, then use it. Reference whatever you have in common with them. Also Spoke is another service that gives some details about their work history.

The next step in the research is as mentioned; use what you find. But offer the influencer something that will benefit them. For example if it is someone I admire and I have used their products before I not only mention that, but I offer how their product has directly benefited me. How, when I read the book or used the product, I experienced “XYZ (insert benefit statement here).” Give them your testimonial; write it so that it is a marketing endorsement that they could actually use. You probably know more about that influencer’s product because you use it. (The end user can often tell you a lot more about the pain that product is solving than you can.) You are helping this influencer by telling them your experience.

Secondly, humanize your approach, notice things, find out their interests then deliver news items or your own personal experience (if you have any) with those hobbies.

Ask Them:

You might want to start by using the research and simply connecting with no agenda. If you have time this is a great way to go. Develop the relationship and they will be much more willing to quickly say “yes” when you ask for something. If you don’t have time use much of what was stated above and ask them (not all in the same email brevity is still the best approach). If they say no ask them why they said no. Qualify it, “in the spirit of improving my approach to important influencers like you, was there something in particular that caused you to say no? Most will respond, and you just got your foot in the door to continue the conversation.

Bottom line is ASK! You won’t get a yes if you don’t ask. By simply approaching most will be pleased that you thought of them and your own credibility factor might just rise. By asking you are starting a dialogue that might not result in an immediate win, but who knows where that relationship will lead down the road. Do some research, pick of the phone and talk to them, or send an email.

This probably sounds a lot like sales, well it is. The caveat I place here is the intention. Once you start to do the research you will see a lot more synergy with the influencer. You will start to experience a kinship and be able to envision the partnership more clearly. These feeling states allow you to have a different energetic perception of the value of your product and that it would also be good for the influencer too. You know for yourself, when you are feeling that a certain relationship makes sense, you are more confident in your approach. The same applies here; the research has made you more confident and allows you to feel as if you know the person better (which you do).

The Internal Evangelist Influencer – How to Find Them

When pursuing strategic partnerships or even sales opportunities there is a whole audience of influencers you have to infiltrate; the internal corporate evangelists. These are contacts that will embrace your product and/or partnership idea, they just “get it” and will passionately evangelize it to internal constituents. At the end of the day these influencers make it happen. The article below from George Kittredge’s Above the Line Blog offers some excellent advice on how to find those contacts using some common sense techniques. He also offers another article link that is worth pursuing from Ron La Vine, CEO of Accelerated Sales Results.

Using my Credibility Branding model I would also add a research element, digging out on who is the public speaker from your target company and who is the media spokesperson. You are looking for the corporate spokesperson that gets quoted most on the topics that are relevant to your strategic partnership project or related to selling your product. If you have the content of their speeches from trade shows or have a quote or two you now know beyond a shadow of a doubt where there passion and messaging is.

Now you can approach this person with a pitch that is in alignment with this messaging. They will also be suitably impressed with your research. If it turns out that they are not the contact that will ultimately help you, they will likely introduce you to the person who can. And, as George mentions below, when you are introduced you have that much more credibility and this new contact is more receptive as a result. So please read George’s tips, thanks George.

How Do You Find The Decision Maker?

By George Kittredge, Above the Line Blog

I'm currently involved in a marketing project that is requiring me to use many of the sales techniques I talk about. My challenge is to find the decision makers for a potential marketing partnership who work at seven specifically targeted companies. These companies are big and, unfortunately, I don't have any great contacts to get me in a door.

This is a challenge that many people in sales are faced with. And the best way of meeting this challenge is by establishing a "reference connection" for each prospect. Here are some dos and don'ts (and some of them may surprise you).

·        Don't try to guess who the decision-maker is and try to contact him/her on the first call.

·        Operators can be a great help if, when they answer, you tell them who you are and ask if they can provide the "guidance and direction".

·        Ask to speak to someone in the HR department. Usually their are very people-oriented and willing to help.

·        Be prepared to network from one department (person) to another until you find the right connection.

·        Once in contact with the right person, begin your conversation by "referencing" the individual who gave you the contact information.

This may sound pretty straight forward, but you'd be surprised how many telephone sales specialists don't take the time to adequately network through an organization. They don't use reference connections.

This morning I came across an article written by Ron La Vine, CEO of Accelerated Sales Results, Inc. Ron's 10 tips for successful telephone success are worth reading (and doing). Ron's first tip is "know the purpose of your call in advance." In other words be prepared - be prepared to explain yourself to anyone who asks you as you travel through the networking path. I would add that you should know your story so well that you don't need a script to read but can present it in a cordial conversational manner.

You must remember that the objective of the first conversation you have with the decision-maker is one of gaining interest rather than closing a sale.

By the way, in my initial telephone calls to the seven companies, I now have five contacts and have connected with two.

To read this article from the source, click here.

Finding and Using Technology Influencers for Marketing Credibility

Robert Sanzalone, a writes an interesting blog about the hierarchy of technology evangelists on his new blog Technology Evangelism. Using my credibility branding model I would also call them “influencers.” (The full post is located below). What is interesting is his perspective of the four different categories of evangelists from A-listers to D-listers. This is a great example of the hierarchy of almost all influencers. And all of them can play a role. Getting a least one A-lister on board will add tremendous credibility to your brand with little explanation.

For example all you have to say is “Jeff Barr of Amazon is endorsing my product” and your job is done—easy. With a B-lister there is probably more of an explanation of credentials, but it wouldn’t take long before your customers were on board with that influencer. The C and D-lister require that much deeper description of their credentials, but they can still serve a purpose. These groups of influencers are also looking for companies and products to endorse; it provides them with backwards credibility. The more endorsements they have out there the higher their profile.

Robert also points out another important point, that each of them offer a certain perspective on the world and a level of unique expertise. From my perspective, this is especially true as you move down the evangelist food chain. You can leverage the more targeted expertise of these influencers very narrowly to specific audiences of customers.

Vertical Evangelism

Robert Sanzalone - 14 Feb, 2007

Recently I have been following an e-mail mailing list from The Global Network of Technology Evangelists or GNoTE. Other than a conference scheduled last December, there really is no purpose for this group so far other than its mailing list. Interestingly, even the person who started the group, the great Guy Kawasaki himself, has rarely been seen submitting a post.

The reason why I bring it up at all stems from WHO seems to be hanging out and participating in this group. Jeff Barr of Amazon. Cool! Jeremy Zawodny of Yahoo. Wow! And then there’s … well everyone else.

While I understand the term “Technology Evangelist” is still VERY new and is slowly gaining regular acceptance, the definition seems to be waving all over the map. A recent post by Betsy Weber of TechSmith simply asked the question: “What kind of interview questions do you ask potential evangelists in interviews?” The answer STILL continue to pour in as each evangelist defines themselves and who they would hire (which would be… well someone like themselves).

From this discussion, I have concluded there seems to be at least FOUR different categories of people out there calling themselves and/or being acknowledged as Evangelists:

1.         A-List Evangelists. These are people who are high profile marketers and “faces” for their company. Again this would be a Jeff Barr of Amazon or Robert Scoble formerly of Microsoft (doesn’t that almost sound like the artist formerly known as Prince? Hmmmmm…). These individuals may blog though it’s not a prerequisite.. They are asked to speak often and they are respected by the technology industries - deservingly or not.

2.         B-List Evangelists. These are people who work very, very hard at spreading the word about a technology, web 2.0 service or company but are not as well known OR not as respected by the community. At the top end of this I would put someone like Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome - someone I would say is just as high as a Scoble or a Barr (and they are all good friends with each other btw) but is not quite as acknowledged in all circles. Another is Will Pate of Flock, a great evangelist for his product, but again still working up the ranks as one of those A-List speakers.

3.         C-List Evangelists. These are people who are Technology heads of their departments. I would put someone like Jeff Sandquist of Microsoft in this category - or any other developer head of a Microsoft department or larger technology company. Inherently, because they KNOW their stuff so well, and can teach others about it, they’re Evangelists. I have a bit of an issue with this since frequently these Evangelists are NOT great communicators - in person or on stage. This seems to be an important element missing for the definition to be true.

4.         D-List Evangelists. These are those who are out there spreading the word about technology by various means (consulting, blogs, podcasts, presentations, teleseminars, webinars, etc.) but are not connected to a large recognized company. They frequently are entrepreneurs who scratch out their living through affiliate programs and presentation as well as consulting services. Many in the GNOTE list have referred to these types of evangelists as “wannabes” and “one day when they grow up, they’ll be big like us”. Truly nasty and elitist at times.

As a whole, this whole hierarchy is what I would call VERTICAL EVANGELISM. Not all are equal and not all are the same. The view of the world on each of them is very different as it is they way they view each other.

Is this all good or bad? Neither really. I suppose until the industry matures to a level where a certain level of “professionalism” has been established and the group establishes some sort of accreditation (much like what Public Relations has gone through over the last 20 years), then Evangelists can be taken seriously. Sorry Guy.

End

So find the influencer that works for you, aim high but don’t forget the lower end of the hierarchy for their more target expertise. Thanks for the insights Robert!

Credibility Branding Makes It Onto a Cool List

I am happy and pleased to be included In John Miller of Marketo’s fame “Big List of B2B Marketing Blogs.” You can check out the link to the additions to his list here and the full list here.

Thanks John, The Credibility Branding Blog is in really great company. To my readers, take the time to read these others, they offer important perspectives. Isn’t the blogosphere amazing?

Google as a Credibility Test for Your Brand

John  Follis writes an interesting article on the importance of your Google credibility over at The Brand Promotion Blog. I particularly like the first sentence: “In our hype-happy, what-to-believe Information Nation, more and more it comes down to one very basic, very essential thing -- credibility.” Aint that the truth?!? And John is right, where you rank in Google is now a point of credibility for your product, your company and you as an expert and should be part of any marketing program. If you are not paying attention and nurturing your Google relationship it is time to go to an expert and take care of it. I recommend the Google Tutor to get started, he seems to have some great insights and tactical suggestions. Any SEO specialist can also help you. How do you find a good SEO… Google them!

Here is Johns article you can also go directly to I at The Brand Promotion Blog here

Hows Your G-Cred? (Google Credibility)

By John Follis The Brand Promotion Blog

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

In our hype-happy, what-to-believe Information Nation, more and more it comes down to one very basic, very essential thing -- credibility. The Good House Keeping seal of the past is not the credibility barometer of the present and future. So, then, what are the new barometers of cred?

For many, it's blogs and other social networking sites that foster and disseminate open discussion and untainted perspectives on everything. That open source context has given way to the term "Street Cred" as a barometer of credibility. With the proliferation of this Internet/truth formula, I'd like to suggest another barometer: G-Cred.

If you haven't guessed, the "G" is for Google which has attained such universal acceptance that, "to Google" is part of our cultural lexicon. Checking out a new vacation spot? Google it. Looking for Cuban cigars? Google it. Need nude photos of Paris Hilton? Google it. From a business perspective, Google is a Godsend. If you're checking out a product, company, or person, Google is both informational resource and worldwide publicist. And, with that, Google has become a strong barometer of credibility.

As the Online Evolution zooms forward at the speed of bandwidth, online visibility will equate to professional credibility. It does now. If you're doing due diligence on someone and nothing comes up when you Google them, that doesn't score credibility points. The relevance of this is not limited to those creating scholarly works or running Fortune 500 companies. Many marketing gurus, such as Tom Peters and Seth Godin, have long preached the value of creating and building one's personal brand regardless of who you are. Godin's Purple Cow discusses the importance of standing out and "being remarkable." And, ten years ago Peters' The Brand You, told how survival is not about blending in, but rather, standing out.

"Regardless of age, position, or the business we happen to be in, we need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You. (And) for most branding campaigns, the first step is visibility."

So, if The Web is the way, and credibility is king, then the new genesis is G-Cred. How's yours?

End

Using Social Networking for Research and Creating Evangelists While Your At It

The foundation of credibility branding is to leverage the good parts of the company into points of credibility that will build trust with your customers and speed up their decision making time. In the world of Web 2.0, and the collaborative environment it has created, many people don’t buy without seeking an opinion first. Who they turn to most of the time is an influencer, a resident expert of that category. Whether they are looking for advice for shoes gadgets, or home renovation they will seek this information from a trusted friend or an outside influencer.

So how can you become that trusted influencer? I recently spoke with Jason Smith at Vision Critical a Research firm in Vancouver who specializes in a new form of research panel that leverages the social media environment. They create an 'advisory board' or 'online community' of current and potential customers and engage them in discussion. They don’t ask them to fill out an online form, they create a forum of users that can open and honestly discuss what they like and don’t like about the company’s products.

This is what Jason calls a “semi-harnessed” environment. Vision Critical and the companies they are working with create the online advisory panel that can consist of hundreds of participants. They set parameters of discussion, mange topics and have a structure but the “advisors” have an open dialogue. It isn’t like the old focus groups where the facilitator has a set agenda and tightly controls the discussion. The discussions flow like they would in on online community but around a topic. When there is someone on a rant there is usually a defender that comes to the rescue. These panels become social networks with built in check and balances. To qualify, it is not a true social network, participants know they are being “watched” and understand there is a purpose for the group.

Jason said that in some cases they have found that these advisors feel like they are participants in the company not just customers. They feel like they are having an impact, and in some cases they actually see the result of their effort come to fruition. That advisor is on the street telling their friends that they had a hand in guiding the product their friend person is now holding. That is credibility. This lack of transparency is the next generation in research and marketing in general. The more open you are with your customers, and the more open you let them be, the more loyalty and trust is built. These customers become evangelists that create more evangelists -- Influencers influencing influencers.

Influencing the Influencers & Creating Something Worthwhile

Steve Rubel the prominent author of Micropersuasions wrote a perfect post yesterday (found below) about the role of influencers. It appears that this post was in part inspired by  Jason Calacanis post of calacanis.com fame (worth a read too).

The idea is you too can be an influencer BUT you have to work hard and offer something great. If you look at yesterdays Credibility Branding post, part of what creates credibility is a product that delivers a clear value and return on investment. That applies to a blogger (which is what this story is about) as well as a product or company. This inevitably leads me back to strategy. Think before you post, plan before you create. Find the market need and deliver that in a great usable interesting product. But also deliver sound emotive, compelling communications strategies and messaging. Back to Steve’s point all of that requires effort and consistent work ethic… strategy is a commitment.

Now this post happens to include a link to what he calls new voices, I am proud to say The Credibility Branding Blog is on that list. Steve Ruble is an important influencer in the blogosphere as well as corporate America. I am using my own credibility branding model; Steve is an influencer, influencing you and adding credibility to by blog and brand. See this stuff works. But the qualification is create something customers will see as worth having and willing to invest their time and energy into.

Following is Steve’s Post or you can click here and go to the source:

Work Ethic: What Dirk Nowitzki and the Big Influencers Have in Common
By Steve Rubel

Jason Calacanis and I share a few passions - tech, business, blogging and sports. He's dead-on right when he says the so-called "A-list" is an open club. Anyone with talent can become a key influencer, no matter what community they inhabit. There's also always a changing of the guard. New voices replace the "fading stars." Everyone has a chance to "rise." BL offers similar advice.

By the way, even if you are part of a community and you don't shake trees with your words, photos or videos, it doesn't mean you're not just as important as everyone else. You are. That's why I love to link to new voices. Still, there is a hierarchy in every social network and many do aspire to rise. Just spend time on digg and you'll see how tough the competition is.

If this is your goal, zero in on the common bond that unites the influencers. It doesn't matter if it's Scoble in the blogosphere, Thomas Hawk on Flickr or Ask a Ninja on YouTube. They share an essential trait and that is an unbelievable work ethic and a commitment to quality.

If you want to become an influencer - not that it needs to be your goal - you have to show up every day. You need to know the community inside and out, produce quality content and work your butt off. There is no other way in. There's no hall pass. The most influential (I say most because we all influence) post every day - weekends too. Some never miss a day ever and when they do, they're upset. Look at Fred Wilson, for example. He missed a day blogging for the first time in years because he was moving and he was shocked that he did.

In addition to my peers, my family and business leaders, I look to the sports world to inspire me. One of my favorite players ever in any sport is the Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki, who just might be this year's MVP. Dirk's nickname is "the work." The odds were against Dirk. He's a German ballplayer in a league dominated by Americans. Further, for awhile he was a poor on defense. The fans even nicknamed him "irk" because he had no "D".

But Dirk didn't care. He focused relentlessly on the prize. No, not the MVP title. The big kahuna - the NBA Championship. When the Mavs blew a two-game lead last year to the Heat in the Finals, Dirk took it personally. He worked extra hard all off-season and all season because he's obsessed with perfection. He's a champion. Take a look a the stats in the widget below from the NBA's site and you will see what I mean. He's one reason why the Mavs are dominating the league.

So if you aspire to be an influencer, it takes work and it's an open door. If you want it, be like Dirk. If not, that's cool too. We need as many voices as we can in this conversation. Together, we're a team. But every team has all-stars.