It shouldn’t be surprising that more and more millennial entrepreneurs are pursuing thought leadership today. A whopping 40 percent of people say they’ve purchased an item online after seeing it used by an influencer on Instagram, Twitter, Vine or YouTube.
Influencer marketing content delivers 11 times higher ROI than traditional forms of digital marketing. With so much trust (and in return, revenue) put into today’s millennial influencers, it’s clear why Gen-Y entrepreneurs are positioning themselves as the new “it” business people.
For those entrepreneurs who are just getting started in the world of thought leadership, here are the five greatest tips for scaling your influence and turning your name into a legacy.
1. Just choose one or two channels to concentrate on.
One of the most common mistakes that entrepreneurs make is trying to be everywhere at once. With young influencers making their mark on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Periscope, it often gives the false impression that in order to get visibility, you need to be on every channel. This is an easy recipe for burn-out, low-quality work and content marketing resentment.
Instead of burying yourself, choose one or two public platforms where you can focus on growing your community. While having an email list is extremely important, it isn’t visible for those who might want to partner with you, feature you, or give you more exposure. Identify where your target audience is on social media and create a strategy for developing your following there.
The two main channels where there has been a lot of success for the millennials are Instagram and Facebook. Many millennials are working on making and growing Facebook groups such as, Millennial Go-Getters. Having substantial communities on these two platforms can help in a variety of ways. You will find that whenever a company wants to partner with you as an influencer, a new coaching client wants to hire you, or a new publication wants to feature you, it will almost always be because they saw the power of your public following. There is strength in numbers, and when it’s clear that people value what you have to say, it immediately shifts their perception of you.
2. Develop your influence locally.
With so much competition for attention online today, it’s easy to write off the possibility of thought…
