Measuring Influence: Don't take common sense out of the equation

I believe we are on the verge of a very interesting phenomenon where we will begin to see savvy Internet marketers using tactics that allow them to quickly surpass established social influencers and thought leaders in terms of both follower count and engagement levels. This is happening during a time when both influencers and brands still see follower counts and engagement levels as a primary measure of influence (see chart below).

Measuring Influence: Follower Count Still Matters

Like it or not, Facebook likes and Twitter follower count have been and continue to be a measure of influence, even among influencers. TechnoratiMedia's 2013 Digital Influence Report found that when it comes to how influencers measure success, both for themselves and their peers, the number of Facebook likes and Twitter followers are ranked highly as a social metric, second only to blog traffic; the top metrics brands used to identify and select influencers were comScore/Nielson, closely followed by the number of Twitter followers and Facebook friends.

With this information in hand, is it any wonder that increasing follower count by any means necessary and targeting high engagement rates by posting content that appeals to the masses, such as cat memes, inspirational quotes and landscape photos, seems to be the main goal for so many marketers and brands? 

And... is there anything wrong with that?

The Core Influence Principles Make It Easy for People to Say YES!

Do you want to know how to dramatically increase the chances of having someone say 'yes' to your requests? If so, read this post from top to bottom as you are about to learn how you can use six core influence principles to make it easy for people to say 'YES!'

How Influence Works

We all like to think that people make decisions based purely on logic ... but nothing could be further from the truth! The reality is that we have so many decisions to make every day that this process is built into our DNA. In other words, there are principles within us that rule our decision making processes.

People who are skilled at influencing others, sometimes referred to as "professionals of compliance" - sales people, marketers, advertisers, recruiters, etc. - have long discovered these principles - the principles that make us more susceptible to saying 'yes' - and understanding the decision making process is vital in order to succeed in ANY business.

You are about to discover six core principles of influence that you can apply in your marketing efforts to help persuade others to say 'yes' to your requests.

After you've watched the video below, we'll go into more depth on how you can use these principles in your blog, social media profiles and overall marketing approach.

How to Keep Google+ Manageable at 50K Followers

Back in March of 2013, with only 77 followers and nobody to talk to, it did seem to me that Google Plus was indeed a ghost town. Today, just 9 short months later and approaching the 50,000 follower mark within the next few weeks, I sometimes receive so many notifications that it seems impossible to keep up with them all due to the sheer volume. At first glance, that seems to make sense - more followers means more notifications right? I don't believe so; in fact, I do not believe that the number of followers you have has anything to do with the number of notifications you receive at all. If you compare the two charts below, you can see that while my number of followers continues to increase, my engagement level on my own posts has remained fairly consistent once I passed the 5,000/10,000 follower marks in July/August.

Screenshot of my follower history since March 27, 2013 via +CircleCount

(http://www.CircleCount.com)

 Screenshot of my total engagement by day since March 27, 2013 via +Steady Demand
(https://www.steadydemand.com/tool/)

Note: Use my code CQApproved for a 20% discount off Steady Demand Pro.

A Google+ Project: #31People #InterestingPeople

This month, I decided to select one interesting Google Plusser to feature each day during the month of December. Since there are a LOT of people to choose from on Google Plus, I put together some criteria to help narrow down my search. Most of the people I am featuring are people I already had in my circles, but I have already met a few new gems along the way.

A Google+ Project: #31People

How User Intent Impacts Google CTRs: #CatalystCTRStudy

I have been selected to participate in a paid SEO Peer Review of a recent study about Google click-through rates prepared by Catalyst; below is my review. 

How User Intent Impacts Google CTRs: #CatalystCTRStudy

I am going to assume that Catalyst made every attempt to be very thorough and it is obvious that they have put a great deal of effort into their study, so I am looking at this as an opportunity to provide constructive criticism rather than try to validate or invalidate their findings; I do not have access to the data used and my own data does not include very many Consumer Packaged Good (CPG) brand websites, so it seems that my own independent research would be like comparing apples to oranges.