Want to become an influencer?
In this video, you’ll learn John Lincoln’s #1 trick to become an industry influencer with minimal effort.
Watch the Video or Read the Full Article Below!
If you’re looking to become an influencer or subject expert in your niche, you’ve come to the right place. This is the exact process I’ve used to gain exposure and recognition in my industry. It’s simple, it’s effective, and if you follow these exact steps, it will work for you too.
Step 1: Write a Blog Post
Start the process off with a killer blog post around a topic that’s hot in your industry.
I recommend putting together a list of the top 50 questions that are asked consistently by your audience and that they’re eager to learn the answer.
Pro tip: if you can find subjects that are slightly controversial, people will naturally be more curious and you’ll likely get more readers.
You can find these questions a few ways. First, draw from your own experience. What kinds of questions are you most often asked, or do you see pop up around your industry? If you have a sales team, they’ll be a great resource to draw from here.
You can also use tools like Answer the Public or the People Also Ask section of Google to compile your list.
Once you have a good number of questions lined up, chip away at it one blog post at a time.
Step 2: Create a Related Video
Once you’ve created your blog post, repurpose it into a video.
Sit down and record a video that specifically answers the question you’re targeting from your perspective.
The great news here is that you’ve already done most of the work. Because you already have a blog written on the subject, you can use that as outline for your video.
And remember, this is your chance to really make an impact on your audience. Be personable, be excited, and most of all, be authoritative. Your goal is to cement your image as an expert in your field, so speak with confidence.
Once you’ve recorded the video, embed it in the article you wrote on your website so visitors have the option to view the video or read the full post.
Step 3: Post on YouTube
Now that you have your video ready to go, the first place you’ll want to put it is YouTube.
As the second-largest search engine in the world, YouTube is an ideal place to earn some serious traffic.
Make sure when posting that you optimize your title, tags, etc. for the term you want to rank for (full guide on YouTube SEO here!)
Next, make sure that it has a great title that’s engaging and intriguing enough to make users want to click, and that you include a link back to the full blog post in the description.
Once you’ve posted, you’ll want to start running YouTube ads to gain more exposure.
You have quite a few options when it comes to ad formats here, and I cover them in-depth in this article.
Step 4: Put it on Facebook
Though YouTube might be your go-to when it comes to video promotion, don’t stop there. Facebook is another hugely popular channel where video thrives.
Post it directly to Facebook (not the YouTube link) so people can watch it directly through the channel and promote the post to maximize your reach.
Step 5: Post to IGTV
Next, take that same video and upload it to IGTV.
If your video is under 10 minutes, you can upload in its entirety to IGTV. Recently, Instagram started including IGTV previews in its news feed with the option to simply click to view, meaning that your audience will have ready access to the video (previously, they hard to search for you specifically on IGTV).
Though it doesn’t yet rival YouTube, IGTV isn’t a platform you want to ignore. Instagram’s strong following and reputation as an influencer mecca makes it an ideal avenue to try and establish expert, influencer status.
Need some tips on how to get started with IGTV? Read my full guide here!
Step 6: Create an Instagram Story
There’s no better way to become an influencer than by taking full advantage of Stories.
The format has seen a meteoric rise in popularity over the few short years since its been introduced, and is now used by over half a billion people every single day.
Pretty impressive, right?
Take your video and reformat it into a Story format. Take out your intro or the most exciting, intriguing bits of information and splice them up into a few Stories, with a link to the full IGTV video included.
Step 7: Post to LinkedIn
If your video is under 10 minutes, you can also post it to LinkedIn.
Because of its B2B-heavy audience, LinkedIn is a great place to establish yourself as a thought leader and industry expert. Make sure you use relevant hashtags and include compelling intro text to increase the likelihood that people will engage with your video.
Step 8: Upload to Twitter
You didn’t think I forgot Twitter, did you?
Though it hasn’t been making as many headlines as Instagram and Facebook, it’s still a valuable place to connect with your audience and become an influencer.
You have a few options when it comes to Twitter: you can get your video edited down so that it’s under 60 seconds (Twitter only allows shorter videos), or you can upload your video as-is and crop it through Twitter. Twitter will then just show a small section of the video, but you can link to the full version on your website, YouTube, etc.
Step 9: Create a Podcast
Next up: create a podcast from the video.
This is a lot easier than you might think.
All you have to do is take your YouTube link, find a video converter on the web, and convert it to an MP3. Then, you can take that MP3 and upload it to a podcast site like Anchor, which will then distribute the podcast to most major sites like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Player.fm, and many more.
Step 10: Promote, Promote, Promote!
Once you’ve placed your video, blog, and podcast all over the web, it’s time to promote it like crazy. I
I recommend you run ads on all the channels I mentioned – YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. – as well as send it out through your email marketing lists, push notifications, your Facebook Groups, everywhere.
By promoting your content heavily on all the available channels, your audience and reach has the ability to grow exponentially.
Wrapping Up How to Become an Influencer
If you use this method, hit all the major channels, and continue to scale your content and budget over time, there’s no reason you can’t soon claim influencer status.
Remember, it starts with good, solid content that appeals and resonates with your audience.
Once you have that content, reformat it into blogs, videos, and podcasts, and promote like crazy.