There’s not a person alive that wouldn’t want their content shared by an influencer in their niche.

The only problem with that, is people who are just getting started in the industry may not have a relationship with persons of influence.

I want to show you some tips on how you can grab the attention of the influencer and perhaps get your content shared to the masses.

What Not To Do:

One thing I can tell you, if you have never made yourself known to a person of influence, don’t email/private message/comment out of the blue with a link to your content asking them to share it.

They won’t.

Who is that weirdo anyway?  Don’t they know the time and money I’ve spent cultivating my audience, and they are bold enough to want a piece of it just like that?

That will send them running for the hills, away from your content.  Also, it will be quite a while before you will ever get another opportunity to talk to them in a personal setting again and have them respect what you say.

That’s the number one thing.  Don’t ask.

I know what you’re probably thinking right now, If I don’t ask, how will these people know I want them to share?

Relax.

You have to give before you receive, and giving is your best asset in building a relationship with a big wig in your industry.

The Giving: What It Means

There is a psychological aspect to giving and doing for people that when you perform the action, they feel compelled to repay you for what you have done for them.

So, before the content gets written, before the article goes viral, there’s something you need to give someone that will help them in the long run with their business.

My Experience With Giving:

Over the past couple of years I have had the pleasure of getting to know a few individuals of influence.  Granted, these are people that I have no business being in the same room with, let alone the same breath, but because I gave, it opened up a door of opportunity for my business.

The Jay Baer Experiment

This happened without me even realizing that it was going to happen.  But when it did, the relationship started rolling between myself and this titan of industry.

I knew of this guy but, in my mind, he was unreachable.

Why would he ever want to build a relationship with someone like me?  What could I do for him that he hadn’t already done himself?

That was the million dollar question.

However, one day an opportunity presented itself to me.  And I didn’t even realize what I was doing.

Take a look at the image below.  The Baer had shared something on the Google+ platform, and, at the time, it was something that I was talking about with my followers to the tone of building engagement.

My point with this share was to show my followers that you can’t simply say “Check this out” and walk away.  More engagement is needed on social media.  I also told them that influencers like Jay have already paid their dues and earned the trust of the people to say things like “Check This Out” because it really doesn’t matter what he says by now, I trust him.

When Jay saw my post he jumped in with both feet and asked what he needed to do to ensure more engagement on the Google+ platform.  Tons of Plussers joined the conversation and as a team we helped him construct a plan that he still uses today…more conversation starters in the Google+ description.

With that simple post I was able to show an influencer how to do something a little better.  Jay was eager to learn, something that made me love him even more.  It wasn’t that I was the expert on G+ engagement, but I was the only one calling him out on his lack thereof.

From that point on, it opened the door for me to approach Jay to come on my show, write guests posts for his site, and do various things like take control of his brands Google+ page for three days under the disguise of ‘Evil Wade’

There are plenty of things you can do to grab that share from the influencer, but none of which are going to happen overnight unless you have built a relationship with them.

Take Your Time

From point A, when I first called Jay out, to point B where he trusted me enough to take over his brand’s page didn’t happen quickly.

And I have to say that when I first met the guy I had no underlying thought as to what he could do for me in the future.  It just happened like it happened, and that’s the best way.

I feel that this should always be the method of approach with anyone.  Never-mind if they have millions of followers and a truckload of influence, someone is influencing someone else, and if you can help that person of influence with something then you have opened up their world to yours.

You must always be asking yourself What can I do for people today?  

Until you stop shouting what you can do, and start acting on what you say you can do, no one will pay attention.  Your brand won’t get noticed overnight, but you could hit the jackpot with a relationship and put it on the fast track very quickly.

If you are consistently thinking of others and how you can help their brand, then time is on your side.  It’s just a matter of time until they take notice and start trusting you.

So You Want Your Content Shared?

Be the friend that you know you should be to people.  Be a servant to those that need you, and to those that don’t, make sure they know you’re available when they do need you.

Content sharing is a small slice of the marketing pie, albeit an important slice.  But you should concentrate on cultivating relationships by helping people every day.
What are your thoughts?  Do you have a certain story that stands out with an influencer?  I’d love to hear about it!