For those of you who caught my December 7^th Vocus Webinar on “The Techniques of the New PR Champion,” here’s Part II of the Q&A. I can tell from the number of questions, (there were over 65 with some duplication), PR professionals are ready to embrace new practices and they’re looking at 2012 as a year with increased social media responsibilities.  If you missed Part I of the Q&A, you can find it here.

1. What is the best way to start social media marketing?

The best way to start in social media is to “listen” or monitor conversations for keywords related to your company, its products/services, executives, competitors, and what’s trending in your industry.  These conversations will allow you to identify the people who are actively engaged in dialog relevant to your brand, in the networks where you need to participate.  You can use either free tools or paid monitoring platforms to track the conversations over a period of time. Listening enables you to know where to build social media profiles because the conversations are frequent and in-depth.  These conversations also help you to understand the critical issues of your audiences, to share more meaningful information with them.  You want your company to become a valuable resource through social media rather than using it as a channel to pump out “spammy” messages.  Setting up a monitoring platform will give you the intelligence you need to prepare a strategic program and to participate effectively.

2. What are some of the key questions we should be asking internally to determine not only where our resources should go, but also how deep into each of these segments we should delve?

This is a great question and so many communications professionals overlook the “why” of social media.  The very first question is to ask, “Why do we need social media and do we really need to be everywhere?” The “why part” will also unfold into:  Whom are we trying to engage?  Where do they congregate?  What specific outcome are we looking to achieve?  Before beginning your program, you should also be asking simple resource questions including:

• Who will be managing the social media program? Will it be a collaborative effort in the communications department and/or what other departments will be involved?
• Where are we participating now and have those efforts been consistently managed from a resources perspective?
• What types of content do we have available that we can use to engage people vs. developing new content, if we’re short on resources?
• How much time will we need to devote to social media with other types of communications efforts in play?
• How are we going to collaborate internally to advance the organization’s sharing and innovation, which is an efficient and more productive way to approach social media?

3. When you say duplicate others efforts, does this indicate we should cut back on RTing?

Duplicating efforts doesn’t necessarily mean cutting back on RTing.  As a matter of fact it makes the RTing more effective.  For example, when you have several departments working on a company-wide program, let’s say a big tradeshow, there is an opportunity to share similar content and to time the release of information for more impact.  You may also want to consider one set of links for posting that lead back to a central landing area, rather than different departments having their own links and separate landing pages for the same content. It’s more organized to have a one set of links driving to a hub, and it’s a lot easier to keep track.  Using internal calendaring or a universal calendar system gives employees access to approved content they can share and then other departments can retweet or support the effort by posting it in their networks.  The more you coordinate the sharing of content, based on timing, themes, keywords, etc., and support one another’s participation, the easier it will be to track and see the success of your efforts.

4. How do you know you are getting good ROI on Twitter, especially?

There are so many different tools to measure Twitter activity.  You can use Twitalyzer, TweetStats and TweetEfect, which will tell you everything from who shares your content the most, the frequency of your retweets, and even which tweets build your community as opposed to the tweets that make you lose followers. However, when you really want to see the ROI, it’s best to use a specific link in a tweet that directs your Twitter followers to a landing page, where you can track their actions. For example, perhaps you want them to register for an event or sign up to download an ebook? Where social media measurement ends, website analytics begin.  Using a link to a landing page allows you to track from click to conversation.  I frequently mention the simple example of Dell using a link to a promotion via Twitter. By offering a link to a discount deal on a PC, Dell was able to track $3 million in sales.

5. Can you give a B2B example of a company effectively using social media?

There are many B2B examples but one that comes to mind is Dunn & Bradstreet (D&B). They use social media including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as an extension of how they connect with, and are a resource to, their customers, prospects and the community at large. For D&B, social media is part of how they bring their data to life; they live up to their brand by being a dynamic company and one that wants to connect D&B users, as much as possible, with the people behind the data and their insights. Similar to D&B, IBM was among the first to recognize that allowing their employees to engage directly with their customers through social media made their customer’s feel even closer to the brand.  Other B2B companies using social media successfully are: Cisco, SAP, Intel, and Network Solutions.

6. What is the best process on finding advocates?

Social media champions can be your internal employees who naturally raise their hands and want to be a part of social media on behalf of the company.  These are the people who take the initiative to start and manage the first social media profiles.  These individuals are great candidates to participate on a Social Media Core Team for strategy or to be a part of your Social Media Coalition, which handles a lot of the day to day activities on your social media properties.

The external brand advocates or champions come in many shapes and sizes. You can have customer advocates who engage, use your products and naturally want to share the information in their networks.  When you set up the monitoring of your keywords you can usually uncover these champions and their favorable reviews and endorsements.  They also make themselves very visible on your social media properties, constantly thanking you and looking for more information to share.  There are also influencers or champions who take an interest in what you do based on an interest they have in your industry. They, too, can be uncovered by listening to the conversations in different networks.  Of course, with these bloggers, you want to do some homework to identify their level of influence and the communities where they participate. It’s important to take the time to get to know them before you jump into the conversations.

In both cases, your once you pinpoint the needs of your champions, they are willing to share relevant and meaningful information with their communities. Suddenly you have an audience of audiences, happy to further the reach of your stories, further lending credibility to your brand.

7. I am the only person focusing on social media in my company, do you recommend focusing on a few channels or touching on many channels less frequently?

With scarce resources, I would definitely recommend focusing on a few channels and mastering engagement in those places, rather than spreading yourself too thin.  The pace you set from the onset has to be maintained, and if all goes well, it will increase based on engagement with your customers and other stakeholders.  Too many times I’ve seen companies very enthusiastic about social media participation to later find out months down the road they can’t keep up with the activity and many of their profiles go “dark.” Remember, we are dealing with people and their interests. If someone visits your Facebook page and you haven’t taken the time to post in two months, there are plenty of other places for them to engage with more interesting organizations.  People also want to interact with people, so it’s especially important that you have the resources to have a personal presence and to attend to your audiences needs, rather than just use a timed feed of updates or tweets.

8. What method do you recommend for measuring the effectiveness of your PR efforts.

I measure PR in the higher-level buckets, which include financial, employee productivity, reputation and customer service levels.  When you put a social media program in place it has to be integrated with other communication and also driving to a hub where this information can be captured, from click to conversion.  In many cases, departments may look at community growth, buzz across platforms, the number of retweets on Twitter, or comments on a blog post. However on a higher level, executives want to see how social media looks with respect to leads and sales, how much money it saved the company, the brand’s reputation, endorsements and sentiment tied to public confidence, and how employee activity resulted in productivity by delivering successful projects on time and under budget.  PR can also be tied to customer satisfaction by using social media to answer questions directly, measuring customer sentiment, and gathering research and applying helpful feedback to your products and services.

9. What are the best practices a one-person shop can adopt?

A few best practices for the one -man shop include:

• Don’t be in too many places; pick a couple or a few channels and really move toward engagement with people rather than informing with outbound messages.
• Realize that you have to plan your content carefully and know in advance what you are going to share each week.  Of course you need to be active on a social site to thank people, ask and answer questions and engage with them, peer-to-peer.
• Monitor keywords carefully and filter down to exactly what you need to hear.  Focusing on the most relevant keywords based on your overall communications plan and what you’re trying to achieve will help you to maximize your efforts through social media.
• Enlist the support of other potential champions who work in the company and who may already be out there social networking.  They may be able to help you increase the your reach and also help you to listen for negative conversations that surface.
• Set up a good monitoring system and have it tied to your mobile device, especially if you find yourself away from your computer for a good portion of the day.
• Realize you can pre-plan and time certain updates and tweets when you know you have a scheduled meeting or you are in transit.  But, be sure to check back with your community to make sure they don’t have any specific questions or issues.
• Monitor and measure frequently, so you can show progress and benchmark small wins. This may lead to additional resources moving forward.

10. What was the website to look up the best practices social media policies?

One of the best websites to help you in your social media policy development is www.socialmediagovernance.com.  The site has over 100 best practice social media policies for you to review.

The more I chat with my peers, the more I receive strong feedback about the word, “influence.”  In a few conversations, it’s been pointed out that although we all want to know the secret of gaining influence, no one wants to talk about influence.  Of course, we would never walk around saying, “I’m an influencer.” Then, we’re really feeding into an ego system rather than a social ecosystem.

However, looking at influence from a different standpoint…don’t we want people to trust us?  Don’t we want to have the strongest relationships with community members and finally, don’t we want to help peers make decisions, because they believe in our honesty, integrity and value our opinions.  If influence was named something different, then would it be perceived differently? I wrote a post last August, “Social Media is Serious Business,” regarding the negative connotation around “Social Media.” I discussed removing the word “social,” to see if more companies would be on board sooner with their engagement. So, for example, rather than saying social media we’d call it strategic digital media.  Perhaps that would have changed the C-Suite mindset.

What would happen if we changed the word influence and named it something else? Would it still be seen as a bad word that carries a negative connotation?  Perhaps, we’d call it your trust factor or your characteristic rating.  Regardless of what we call influence, it is a powerful factor, well beyond what any number can capture.  In many cases, influence gets a bad rap. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I want to grow influence (both for my peers and personally) for the right reasons.  Because, when you grow influence, everyone wins; communities grow stronger, there’s more knowledge passed between members and more people benefit from the help they receive.

Now that you’ve heard both sides of the story, please weigh in to let me know how you feel about influence.  Do you think it’s a bad word with a negative connotation and something we should keep in check? Or, is influence something that should be a focus and we should nurture it to help one another?

It’s Friday, so let’s keep it light and fun, yet meaningful.  Today’s topic is influence. Because influence is often difficult to define, I wanted to take an opposite approach to discuss what influence is not.  So here goes…Influence is NOT:

• About technology or an algorithm that captures a score; influence is about the people and your peers.
• A measure of your ego; it is, however a measure of trust within your community or network of peers.
• A right, it’s a privilege and as quickly as it’s awarded to a person, it can be taken away.
• Control or authority over a peer’s behavior, yet influence, depending on the level, can certainly steer or guide behavior.
• Just about the numbers, and can’t be completely defined by a metric; we rely on scores for reach, resonance and impact. But, remember there are personal ways that people affect us, and a number or score may not capture the meaning of the influence on a personal level.
• A popularity contest; popularity is demonstrated with large numbers of followers and friends.  For influencers, the numbers range from one end of the spectrum to the other; it’s not the quantity, but the quality of your interactions.
• A one-time award or something that you can sustain without constant maintenance.  Influencers must continue to captivate their communities and grow strong relationships with peers.
• The power to push messages, you have to keep listening to provide valuable information to your community.
• Static, it can change every day.
• Influence is not made up of just one characteristic; it’s made up of many.
• Influence is not exclusive to social media.  People have been influencing their peers for hundreds of years, yet we’re hearing more about influence through social media.
• Influence is not the end game; it’s only the beginning. It’s not what you’ve done in the past; it’s how you continue to grow your relationships in the future.

Help me to define influence by telling me what it is NOT.  Please add to this list so that we can understand influence, and it becomes a part of growth and not something that’s out of reach.

Last week I wrote a post, The Characteristics Index: Rate Yourself, which discussed the attributes or characteristics that you could cultivate to become an influencer.  They ranged from trust and knowledge to motivation and passion.  A very interesting comment on my blog prompted me to write this post.  I can’t thank Lisa Gerber enough for giving me the idea to write about an index where you can Rate your Influencers.  Can you imagine… if your peers could rate you? It would certainly tell you the value you bring to your network through every interaction and whether or not you need to change your communication and interact with them in a different way.

Here’s the comment that Lisa shared on my blog:

“I love the idea of rating ourselves when it comes to influence. It gives those of us who set daily goals, some benchmarks and more goals to achieve! It might even be interesting (with some modifications) to share with our peers and ask them to rate us, in order to give us a more grounded perspective.”

Based on this comment, I’ve reevaluated the “Characteristics Index” so that it’s an “Influencer Index.”  However, you can’t just ask anyone to evaluate you, instead, start with the peers who interact with you the most on a daily basis.  Remember, this is a fun exercise and not the science of ratings. These categories are broad and the rating scales may change based on the input I receive.  Your peers will give you a number rating at the end of the exercise and then be able to discuss with you the areas or characteristics where you excel and those attributes that still need more work.

Here is the exercise for you to share with your peers:

Trust:

How much of our relationship is based on trust? On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate me with respect to the nature of our relationship.  For this exercise, if you feel we are casual friends, then you would use a rating from 1 to 4.  If you see our relationship as a reciprocal friendship where we share helpful information to answer each others questions or to spark ideas, then the rating would be between 5 and 7.  If you feel our relationship is based on pure trust, where you highly value the information I provide, and it helps you to make a decision (whether it’s personal or related to your career), then you would rate our relationship between 8 and 10.  Remember, 10 means I am one of your closest confidants, and I’m in your circle of trust!

Knowledge and Industry Expertise:

How much do you think I’m involved in the PR industry? Do you see me helping other peers, and constantly learning and growing in the field?  For instance, if you had to put a number value on what you thought was my level of participation based on what you see as my community engagement (PR Twitter chats, webinars, conversations with other PR pros, educational blog posts, etc.), each activity would be scored as 1 point on the ratings scale.  You would count the activities in month all the way up to 10.  If you think I am extremely active participant in 10 or more monthly industry activities, then my score would be a “10.”

Motivation:

How much do I motivate you? Motivation comes in all shapes and sizes and is truly a personal rating.  Think about how the people around you motivate you to do things or make you feel energized. Perhaps you have a conversation with an influencer and then just go about your day.  However, there are times when you interact with someone and suddenly you feel like you have the energy to tackle the world.  For this exercise, please think about our most recent interactions and rate me on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is no level of motivation after our interaction and a 10 would be that you felt highly energized and ready to undertake challenging new projects and initiatives.

Passion:

Do you think I’m passionate? Passion comes from the heart and it’s not something that’s easy to rate.  However, you can see true signs of passion from people who tirelessly strive to help peers, educate about their industry and stay ahead of the curve.  You can hear the passion in their voice and you can see it in their communication, whether it’s a blog post or even a tweet that’s 140 characters or less.  For this attribute, please rank my passion on a scale of 1 to 10.  A one represents very low levels of passion and 10 is the highest form of excitement that exhudes from me in every interaction, each and every time you are in contact with me.

Winning Positive Attitude

Do you think I have a Winning Positive Attitude? How many positive vs. negative things do I say when you see me in your news feed or in your Twitter stream?  A winning attitude goes hand-in-hand with a positive personality and seeing the glass half full rather than half empty.  I would like you to rate me on how many positive thoughts you see from me in a week?  For the next week, when you see my updates each day, keep track of whether or not  they appear to be positive thoughts. Count up all of the positive thoughts, from one to ten each day (if there are more then 10, then the score is 10), and then at the end of the week take the average number.  This number is my Winning Positive Attitude and it should fall between 1 and 10+, with one being the lowest positive attitude awarded and 10+ being the highest.

The Give Factor:

How much do you think I give to my peers? Review The Give Factor blog post for more details on the different phases of giving to peers:

• If you think I fall within the Meet & Learn Phase – You can rank me as a 3.
• If you think I have moved into the The Understand Phase – You can rank me as a 6.
• If you think that I am in The Support Phase – You can rank me as an 8.
• If you think I’ve reached the The Empathize Phase – You can rank me as a 10.

Social Champions/Supporters:

Are you one of my social supporters? There’s only one way to rate me in this area and it really depends on whether or not you would support me and be one of my social champions.  On a scale of 1 to 10, rate me on how much you would support my efforts, with a rating of 1 to 4 meaning that you are a member of my blog community, you share my blog posts or retweet me on Twitter.  If you are are writing about me in your blog posts, including me in your discussions on Twitter and participating in industry events with me, then you can rate me between 4 and 6. If you are one of my true social champions, then you will be connecting me with other close friends in your network, working with me on projects outside of social networks, and recommending me as a valuable source of information that could possibly lead to business opportunities.  In this case, you would rate me anywhere between 7 and 10.

Here’s how it all comes together with the scores (with the possible top score of 70).  Your peers will have to tell you your score, so you can compare it to the number ranges below:

If your score is between 1 and 14, you are just beginning your journey to influencing your peers.  If I want to capture their attention, then you will have to up your score in every characteristic.  At this point, there’s no place for your influence to go but up!

If your score is between 15 and 28, then you are on your way to influence.  It’s important to evaluate how you can raise your score in each area of development.  Don’t give up now, as you are starting to influence your peers.

If your score is between 29 and 42, you have influence but it’s not at a peak level. You are sharing and giving but it’s at an average rate as some of your scores are higher in a few areas and lower in others.  You must evaluate where you need work and strive to greater influence heights.

If your score is between 43 and 56, you are influencing your peers and it’s truly appreciated.  Your rate of influence is high and you are so close to taking your influence to the highest levels.  There are probably only a few areas that need work.  A little more focus on your personal growth and you can be influencing at the highest rank in no time.

If your score is between 57 and 70, you have reached true influencer status.  your peers rely on you for a great deal and you give selflessly as an Influencer to help them on a daily basis.  Not only are your peers waiting to hear your thoughts and advice, but they are also acting upon them, using your knowledge and influence to make decisions in their lives!

I hope your peers will take the time to rate you on the “Influencer Index”  Please note that this is an exercise that is not based on science, yet it’s logical enough to make you identify and reevaluate how you act, based on how your peers rate you.  This is also an exercise to help you achieve higher influence among your peers.  If your peers rank you a 10 in all areas, then you are an influencer and you will move your communication from ordinary to influencer in no time at all!

I’ve been examining the characteristics of an influencer and the rise to influence among a network of peers. I’ve narrowed it down to several characteristics that I’d like to share with you.  Each characteristic has different values, so you can cultivate these attributes on your own.  My philosophy is that if you can rate yourself from 1 to 10 on each attribute, and then work diligently to increase your rating within each area.  The goal is to develop and increase your rating to the highest level, in order to gain influence among your peers.  A rating of 10 for each characteristic translates into true influence (whether you have it now or you are near your peak).

Please note that this is a fun exercise and not the science of ratings. You will find these categories are broad (and the rating scales may change based on the input I receive).  Be honest and answer realistically, so that you allow yourself room to grow and develop each characteristic, in order to reach true influence.

Trust:

On a scale of 1 to 10, rate yourself with respect to the number of close relationships you have with peers in your online networks; those who rely on you for information, advice and you have deep close relationships on a daily basis.  Each number in the rating represents the number of peers.  For example, if you rate yourself “2” then you have 2 very close relationships through your social networks. If you have more than 10 very close peers that you give information, advice and have deep relationships, just rate yourself a 10.

Knowledge and Industry Expertise:

How involved are you in your industry, in an effort to gain knowledge and expertise.  For instance, each activity that you participate in on a monthly basis (from association meetings to PR Twitter chats) count as one activity, all the way up to 10.  If you participate in 10 or more monthly activities then your score will be a “10.”

Motivation:

Motivation comes in all shapes and sizes and is truly a personal rating.  You have to think about your day, from the way you wake up in the morning to how much you feel you accomplish and how you drive yourself to achieve more.  Think about these factors and then give yourself a rating as to where you fall on a motivation scale between 1 and 10, where 1 is the least amount of motivation, 5 would be average motivation and 10 would be high levels of motivation, because you are a go getter from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to sleep.

Passion:

Passion comes from the heart and it’s not something that’s easy to rate.  However, you can see true signs of passion from people who tirelessly strive to reach their goals every day.  From those who write their yearly New Year’s resolutions to the folks who keep daily lists of what needs to get done, you have to rate your passion by evaluating how many goals you reach on a daily basis.  For this attribute, chances are that if you don’t write out what you want to achieve each day, then you may fall at the lower end of the rank (on a scale of 1 to 10).  For those who feel their passion is average (write out what they want to accomplish daily, but achieve less than half), then you are a 5 and similar to the lower levels of passion, you need to up your score. However, if you are writing out your daily lists and checking off items continuously to reach new accomplishments in a timely manner, then you are at the other end of the spectrum and should rate yourself a passionate “10.”

Winning Positive Attitude

How many positive vs. negative thoughts do you have a day?  A winning attitude goes hand-in-hand with a positive personality and seeing the glass half full rather than half empty.  Take this little test….how many positive thoughts do you have a day?  For the next week, keep track of your positive thoughts from one to ten each day of the week and then take the average number at the end of the week.  This number is your “Winning Positive Attitude” and it should fall between 1 and 10+, with one being the lowest positive attitude that you can have and 10+ being the most.

The Give Factor:

I wrote about The Give Factor in a recent post.  You’ll have to review the post as it offers the different phases of giving to peers:

• If you fall within the Meet & Learn Phase – You can rank yourself as a 3.
• If you have moved to The Understand Phase – You can rank yourself as a 6.
• If you are in The Support Phase – You can rank yourself as an 8.
• If you have reached The Empathize Phase – You can rank yourself a 10.

Social Champions/Supporters:

There’s only one way to rate yourself in this area and it really depends on the number of champions or supporters, who are willing to share on your behalf.  Finding these individuals is not hard, you can see them on TweetStats as they are the ones that are always retweeting or replying to you.  You can also see the connections with them on Twitter by using Asterisq, which shows your deepest Twitter connections.  The social champions/supporters ranking reveals true champions who are always there sharing for you.  Once you identify them, count how many social champions you have from 1 to 10 people.  If you have more than 10 people as your social champions, then you can rate yourself at the top, with a score of 10.

Here’s how it all comes together with your scores (with the possible top score of 70).

If your score is between 1 and 14, you are just beginning your journey to influence.  You need to up your scores in every characteristic.  Don’t stop now, there’s no place for your influence to go but up!

If your score is between 15 and 28, you are on your way to influence.  It’s important to evaluate how you can raise your score in each area of development.  Don’t give up now as you are starting to influence your peers.

If your score is between 29 and 42, you have influence but it’s not at a peak level. You are sharing and giving but it’s at an average rate as some of your scores are higher in a few areas and lower in others.  Evaluate where you need work and strive to greater influence heights.

If your score is between 43 and 56, you are influencing your peers and it’s truly appreciated.  Your rate of influence is high and you are so close to taking your influence to the highest levels.  There are probably only a few areas that need work.  A little more focus on your personal growth and you can be influencing at the highest rank in no time.

If your score is between 57 and 70, you have reached true influencer status.  Your peers rely on you for a great deal and you give selflessly as an Influencer to help them on a daily basis.  Not only are your peers waiting for your thoughts and advice, they are actually acting upon it, using your knowledge and influence to make decisions in their lives!

I hope you have fun rating yourself through my influencer “Characteristic Index.”  It’s an exercise that is not based on science, yet it’s logical enough to make your identify and reevaluate how you act, so that you can reach higher influence among your peers.  If you can rank 10 in all areas, then you will move your communication from ordinary to influencer in no time at all!

I want to move away from the influencer numbers (reach, resonance, relevance) for a moment and focus on the characteristics that “create” an influencer.  Do you think it’s possible for an ordinary person (yes, that means you and me), with daily communication to cultivate certain characteristics and become noticed, appreciated, recognized and regarded as someone with influence?

I believe we all have the ability to cultivate special characteristics and when combined in a greater capacity, they lead to influence. I mentioned several of them in a previous blog post on how to “Own Your Influence.” The person who becomes the influencer exhibits a heightened level or greater depth of the following qualities: Trust, knowledge, industry expertise, intense motivation and passion, a winning attitude, and a giving spirit. Also critical to influence is having the right people around you, who will support your efforts and continue to be your champions.

There is one characteristic that is a powerful part of influence. However, I’m not certain how much the numbers that represent influence, recognize this.  It occurs when an influencer truly connects with a peer to the point where influence is not just simply sharing a statement, article, blog post or common interest of the influencer. This point is defined by a characteristic that I’d like to introduce as “The Give Factor.”  For me, The Give Factor is one of the most incredible characteristics we can incorporate into our lives.

As we build or cultivate relationships and they get deeper, on any platform, and in the physical setting, the levels of giving naturally increase.  And, as the relationship grows, the giving grows and the influence climbs.  One of the major characteristics of an influencer is the person’s ability to give to their peers in their network. When influence is at its peak, it’s this kind of influence that leads to helping peers make important decisions regarding purchases, education, career choices, and/or emotional and personal advice.

It takes time to cultivate The Give Factor, yet it is present at each phase of a relationship, even at the very beginning when the level of influence is less.  In a sense, as you climb up the relationship staircase your Give Factor goes up.  You incrementally increase your ability to listen, understand, support, and then empathize with people, offering higher levels of assistance and your own personal investment.  In order for you to visualize The Give Factor, the climb looks something like this:

The Meet & Learn Phase: At this stage of the relationship and influence, as an influencer, you answer quick questions, provide helpful information, share knowledge, have flowing conversations and find that the interaction leads to more introductions to other people in the a person’s network.

The Understand Phase: At this stage, as an influencer, you understand your peer because you take the time to listen closely to a particular situation and see how you can help by making connections, spending extra time talking about the situation at hand (moving the conversation from the open forum on Facebook or Twitter to a more private setting where discussions run deeper). At this point, as an influencer you are sharing information that is more in-depth (with insight and expertise), moving beyond just an article, blog post or a helpful tool that would be shared in an open community.

The Support Phase:  As an influencer, you start to feel connected to your peer and the particular situation, and you have moved beyond understanding to relate to the different needs of the relationship.  Here’s where you move the conversations from a DM or FB message to Skype, telephone calls or long emails, with information that helps your peers with specific projects related to their work, education or personal interests.  You may even be assisting with a challenging situation they are facing (not one that they would share in a social network).  You have a much greater understanding and they are relying on your influence for more support than they would in The Meet & Learn and The Understand phases.

The Emphasize Phase: This is the highest phase of your influence and when the Give Factor is at its peak.  Your influence is critical to the peer who is making an important decision, based on the fact that he/she feels you empathize and you understand what it’s like to be in his/her shoes.  The relationship has moved to a mentoring phase and you are considered a more trusted confidant.  As an influencer, peers will come to you with larger issues and they want advice and will act upon your words.  The influence is very strong and you make a difference in their lives.  Not only are you socializing with them in your online networks, but also you’ve had long conversations that have led to in person meetings.  Your Give Factor is the highest it could possibly be, and you have achieved a level of influence that is only possible when you feel closely and personally connected.  Even at this phase, the numbers don’t always tell us how much a person regards your influence.

There are many other characteristics that make an influencer but, for me, The Give Factor is among the ones that matters the most because we are helping peers to learn and grow.  Giving back as an influencer takes time, but the reward is tremendous as you continue to “pay it forward.”  What is your Give Factor and does this factor help you to move from ordinary to influencer? And, how are your influencers moving through the Give Factor climb to help you?  We see and discuss the influencer numbers every day, but how much of those numbers relate to The Give Factor and how you really affect someone’s life?

Last night #PRStudChat had a very dynamic discussion with community members about the PR Influencer and how to build trust online.  We heard some excellent insight from our students, educators and pros.  Now it’s time to see what our special guest, @chrisbrogan said about being a PR influencer.  Here are Chris’ responses to our questions last night:

@PRStudChat Q1: What does it mean to be a Trust Agent?

Chris Brogan: A trust agent is someone who acts as a human bridge between a company/brand and the people.

Chris Brogan: Example: Morgan Johnston is a trust agent for JetBlue.

Chris Brogan:  The idea was that people would need to learn how to be “Human at a distance.”

@PRStudChat Q2: Why is so important to become an “Agent Zero?”

Chris Brogan: Connectors are everything in a networked world. Agent zero is the connector’s connector.

Chris Brogan: We need more than your smarts. We need your network. We need your presence.

Chris Brogan: Agent Zero is the person who can move people to take action and help others grow.

@PRStudChat Q3: How long does it take to become a member of a community and what steps do you take?

Chris Brogan: That’s a hard question to answer. How long does it take to fall in love?

Chris Brogan: I think the easiest way to answer is that by being helpful and not asking for much back, you win.

Chris Brogan: No fewer than 3 months, and that’s rushing things.

@PRStudChat Q4: What are the characteristics of an influencer?

Chris Brogan: Influencers are the types of people who motivate others to take action.

Chris Brogan: They can use this power for good or evil. There are plenty of negative influencers in the world.

Chris Brogan: The best influencers love their community and benefit from that love indirectly. (OPRAH)

@PRStudChat Q5: New standing #PRStudChat PSA Opportunity- What handle or hashtag would you like to share with the community?

Chris Brogan: My favorite charity is a tie between Skip1.org and InvisiblePeople.tv. I think both missions are vital.

PRStudChat Q6: Who are some of the great influencers that have built trust with their communities?

Chris Brogan: I think @chrisgarrett has a great community. @problogger does, too. They’re both heart-first guys.

Chris Brogan: @LizStrauss is another great community person. So is @barefoot_exec.

@PRStudChat Q7: Do businesses need to have their employees build trust online to be more successful?

Chris Brogan: I think some businesses can be successful without working on online trust, but…

Chris Brogan: …companies who work on trust will outperform their competitors, as it’s a great lever.

@PRStudChat Q8: What is your advice to students and professionals with respect to becoming an influencer?

Chris Brogan: Don’t focus on becoming an influencer. Focus on building a personal presence and platform that…

Chris Brogan: …helps you help others. The more you help others publicly (without bragging), the better it gets.

Chris Brogan: It’s really, really important to realize that influence is made up of three things:

Chris Brogan: Influence is: 1.) Repetition 2.) Entertainment 3.) Value

Chris Brogan: Influence comes from people knowing what you’re about (repetition)

Chris Brogan: Influence comes from people wanting to listen to you (entertainment)

Chris Brogan: Influence comes from giving something important to others (value)

If you want to compare the community’s answers to Chris’ responses, you can check out the transcript (make sure you click on “View Transcript) from last night’s discussion.  We think the #PRStudChat community did a great job with their responses and provided really good insight on the PR Influencer topic!

Remember to comment on the PRStudchat blog to our influencer question.  Several members of the community will be selected to win a copy of Chris’ book, Trust Agents.  And, please take the time to thank @ChrisBrogan for sharing his thoughts and @RuderFinn, last night’s sponsor, for making our book giveaway possible!

A Little More About PRStudChat:

It began with a simple question asked by Angela Hernandez, then President of PRSSA at Central Michigan University (CMU).  “Is PR Right for me?” A follow up blog post by PR 2.0 expert Deirdre Breakenridge inspired a series of direct messages on Twitter between Breakenridge and fellow PR industry pro, Valerie Simon. This was an important question and one that should be explored beyond one student or one blog post. Why not build a community to help students across the country, and even the globe, learn from the experience and perspective of industry professionals… A community where everyone could learn and grow together. Read more …

We are less than a week away from our February 23^rd #PRStudChat with our very special guest @ChrisBrogan, co-author of Trust Agents. Chris joins us that night at 9:00 p.m. ET (please note the time change as we usually begin at 8:30 p.m. ET) for our Twitter discussion on the PR influencer and how to build trust online. We are looking forward to Chris’ insights on the topic and the dynamic discussions with Chris and our community.

We also announced earlier this month that we have an exclusive sponsor that night.  Ruder Finn, is sponsoring the chat session and their sponsorship will go toward several lucky community members receiving Chris’ book.  We’re going to post a question on the PRStudChat blog that night (related to influencers and building trust) and ask our community to answer the question.  A random drawing will select community members to receive the book, Trust Agents, all made possible by @RuderFinn.

We are very excited to have Chris join us on February 23^rd and can’t think him enough for being our special guest.  We’re also very happy to have @RuderFinn as the sponsor of this session, which is designed to educate PR and communications professionals on the topic of the PR influencer. There’s still time to post any questions that you’d like to ask Chris about becoming a Trust Agent or building trust online. Feel free to post them in our LinkedIn Group.  Hope to “see” on you on February 23^rd at 9:00 p.m. ET, for a very dynamic discussion.

A little more about our sponsor, Ruder Finn:

Ruder Finn, Inc. is one of the largest independent integrated communication firms in the world. Through offices and affiliates worldwide, the agency serves the global and local communication needs of more than 250 corporations, governments and nonprofit organizations.