Tweeting Influence: Should You Share More Than You Consume?

What does every truly influential person have in common when it comes to, say, Twitter? If you just look at celebrities, one very obvious trait their profiles all share is that they have vastly more followers than people they follow.

What does that mean?

Well, they share more than they consume.

Sure, it’s their celebrity status that has elevated them to the point where people want to follow them because of their name, not their content, but that does not change the fact that the influential Tweeter in question is sharing content much more than they are consuming it.

In no way am I downplaying the importance of consuming content. That is how we gain the knowledge and insight that foster our creative, industrious minds. There is no reason why my retweeting an insightful article makes me any less influential, but the dirty secret is that retweets and reblogs alone do nothing to make you influential. They just make you a reference.

How else do bloggers, vloggers, and Tweeters rack up followers without being a household name? They’ve figured out how to create content that people like-that people have a demand for.

The next time you are looking for a way to bolster your own influence, whether it be online or even in the workplace, take a good look at how much you share and create, not just how much you consume.

Jon Negroni is the Director of Public Relations, Promotion, and Marketing at Richter10.2 Media Group. For more information regarding Richter10.2, check out our introduction video here.

3 Ways We're Attracted to Brands Like We're Attracted to People

What makes a product brandable, or rather, have the ability to be promoted effectively?

I liken the dynamic to relationships. Specifically, how people are attracted to other people. It takes three ingredients:

1. Appearance

Aesthetically, how does a brand and its product appear to the consumer? For most of us, the first thing we notice about a person we inevitably become attracted to is their looks and how beautiful we think they are. This is a basic human process that translates into how we superficially judge a product we see in the store or on a billboard. If the product doesn't have that attractive look to it, it will be much harder to make the product attractive to its target audience.

2. Personality

How we interact with a person is a major factor in developing a liking for them. We need to be able to have a chemistry with the person, approve of what they represent and enjoy being associated with them. Much is the same with how we utilize a product or service. If I have a bad time with a certain brand and hate how the company interacts with me via media, advertising and my actually using the product, I will not start a relationship with that brand. 

3. The X Factor

We've all had those relationships where we loved the appearance and personality of a person, but we just couldn't see ourselves spending all of our time with them. The X factor is an unseen, unexplainable aspect of our attraction to people, as well as brands. This is what truly separates the brandable products from the rest. Unfortunately, it eventually comes down to luck. 

We like to think of marketing as a science, and it is to a point. Tragically, the X factor is a product of many variables surrounding a brand that can prevent a company from reaching the global audience they strive for. 

Jon Negroni is the Director of Public Relations, Promotion, and Marketing at Richter10.2 Media Group. For more information regarding Richter10.2, check out our introduction video here.