Freelancefolder

What Is Influence and Do Freelancers Really Need It?

Posted October 4, 2011 in How-To, Managing Clients

Tweet

Influence…it seems like everyone is talking about it. But what is it, exactly, and what does it mean for freelancers?

In this post, we’ll look at the meaning of the word “influence” and discuss whether freelancers should be concerned about it.

What Is Influence?

In a nutshell, most dictionaries define influence as the ability to persuade someone else to take a specific action. (That’s my own paraphrase, of course.) Technically, that’s really all there is to it.

Of course, the internet and social media have expanded and/or changed this definition several times over. Now, what influence means depends on who you’re talking to. Influence could mean anything from having a lot of social media friends/fans/followers to getting people to purchase a product.

I first noticed all of the online attention that influence was getting last year when Fast Company ran their experimental Influence Project. The project is now closed, but Fast Company‘s premise was simple. People competed to get others to perform a simple action (clicking on their photo). The more clicks your photo got, the more “influential” the project deemed you.

Was the project accurate? Was it a true measure of influence?

Probably not. (And in fact, there was a backlash to the project.) It’s easy to see that there’s a great difference between getting someone to click a link on a photo and making a sale or inspiring someone to change the way that they live their life. However, the exercise does illustrate how the meaning of influence has changed over time.

Influence for Freelancers

So what about freelancers? Is influence important for us as freelancers?

The answer is: probably.

The ability to influence someone is a part of selling, and like it or not, as freelancers selling our services is part of what we do. Fortunately for most of us, maintaining a good quality relationship with a few prospective clients is more important than making a huge number of contacts who aren’t really interested in what you do and have no intention of ever using your services.

Of course, if you sell a digital product online (such as a WordPress theme or an ebook) you may need a slightly larger number of fans. Even then, you may not need as many contacts to succeed as you might assume. A few years ago a meme went around the internet that stated that all an internet marketer needed to succeed was a thousand true fans. I don’t know for sure who originated the meme, but here are some excellent posts that discuss it:

• 1,000 True Fans from the Technium
• A 20-Step Process For Finding Your 1,000 True Fans from Copyblogger
• Trent Reznor and the Theory of “True Fans” from Sitepoint

Now, the number itself isn’t really the point as far as I’m concerned. (And, in fact, the meme sparked some lively discussions.) The point is that it’s not how many people you are connected to, but rather how involved they are in what you are doing that determines your real influence.

Social Media Tools to Measure Influence

The measurement of social media involvement and influence are often considered to be related. A number of tools have emerged due to this concept. Some of those tools include:

• PostRank. This tool has recently been acquired by Google. It’s geared towards bloggers and other online publishers. Among other things it allows you to track and measure how frequently your material is mentioned in social media and where it is being mentioned.
• Klout. This popular tool evaluates your social media interactions across multiple platforms (such as looking at how frequently your information is shared and who shared it) and assigns you a score.
• PeerIndex. Another popular tool that examines your social media interactions. It is also assigns a score based on your results.

Now, as I explained earlier, social media may not be the best indicator of influence, but that does not mean these tools are not worth a look. If you publish material online as part of your freelancing business, they may provide some crucial insights.

Books About Influence

Do you want to learn more about influence? While none of these books are specific to freelancing or social media, they do have a lot of information that you may find interesting and useful. Here are some books about influence that you may want to read:

• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials) by Robert B. Cialdini–This book takes a scientific look at influence and is fast becoming a classic.
• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher–Negotiating skills are crucial to freelancers. This book will show you how.
• How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie–Without a doubt, this is still THE book to read about human behavior and influence. Although it was originally written in the 1930s, it is still relevant today.

Your Turn

How do you define influence? How important do you think it is for a freelancer? Do you think social media plays a role in who is influential? What additional resources do you know of about influence?

Share your answers in the comments.

Related posts:

1. How To Reach And Influence Prospects
2. 4 More New Social Media Trends for Freelancers to Explore
3. Social Media Basics For Freelancers