While they might occasionally overlap, they have fundamentally different principles at their core.

In this article, we’ll explore their unique characteristics and highlight the differences between them.

Let’s get started…

The Allure of Authentic Storytelling: The Essence of Influencer Marketing

In today’s digital age, ads bombard us from every direction.

Influencers stand out as trusted voices, offering genuine recommendations to their followers.

A staggering 92% of consumers trust an influencer more than a traditional advertisement or celebrity endorsement.

Influencers are not mere “plug and play” ad units or bots.

They are real people with authentic narratives and solid, visceral connections with their audience.

Brands collaborating with influencers don’t just buy ad space as they would with a billboard or at least they shouldn’t.

Ideally, they should strive to integrate into the influencer’s narrative, their story, tapping into their ethos.

Data from MediaKix shows that the influencer marketing industry is set to grow to approximately $13.8 billion in 2023, reinforcing its importance in the marketing mix.

Therefore, it’s the warmth, passion, and authenticity in an influencer’s narrative voice that grabs the followers’ attention.

This human touch gives influencer marketing its distinctive edge.

Performance Marketing: The Power of Metrics

Switch to Performance Marketing.

With this strategy, we marketers meticulously track every click, lead, conversion, and sale.

Every dollar spent seeks to ensure maximum ROI.

In fact, according to a recent eMarketer report, U.S. advertisers will spend $2.59 billion on performance-based affiliate marketing in 2023.

For those reasons, you can see why performance marketing doesn’t beat around the bush.

It sets direct, quantifiable goals.

If Influencer Marketing speaks to the human qualities of a digital strategy, Performance Marketing measures its effectiveness by data, the numbers.

Bridging the Gap: Can They Co-exist?

They can, and they do.

While they stem from different philosophies, both strategies fit seamlessly into a brand’s marketing portfolio and probably should.

A recent HubSpot report revealed that 63% of marketers intend to increase their influencer marketing budget in the next year, while 58% plan to do the same for performance marketing.

Influencer marketing doesn’t just chase immediate ROI.

It plays the long game by building trust and loyalty and ultimately demand gen.

Performance marketing, in contrast, seeks immediate results and tangible outcomes.

Final Thoughts: Respecting the Individuality

Instead of pitting one against the other, savvy brands today harness the unique value each brings.

As brands, as we steer through the digital marketing realm, we must honor the stories influencers tell and appreciate the metrics that performance marketing provides.

In our evolving digital world, the human touch remains paramount. After all, marketing at its core aims to connect, resonate, and foster lasting bonds.

The post Why Influencer Marketing is not Performance Marketing appeared first on // 551 Media LLC.

Five years ago, B2B brands were still comfortable with their marketing formula.  It involved making product announcements, attending industry events, and going on roadshows to connect with their target market, but each year has been getting more challenging.

Content marketing is more aggressive than ever, and industry events keep getting more expensive.  All this makes getting the attention of B2B decision-makers not so easy.  They’re educated, sophisticated, skeptical of marketing tactics, and oversaturated with content.

However, the fundamental truth remains:  People like to buy from others.  It’s also compelling to get involved with influencers because they add that personal touch to a brand and its products.

The trouble is that B2Bs have a more challenging time getting started because their pathway isn’t clear. Articles on the topic are often clickbait, loaded with unrealistic statistics, and decidedly consumer-centric.

Therefore, I’ve compiled this list of 15 truths for all B2Bs looking to use influencer marketing.

Let’s get started:

1: Your sales process is longer

The average B2B sales process takes six months to complete – which is far different from the average beauty brand selling to millennials.

B2B brands have more touchpoints with the customer because purchase decisions require research, can run into millions of dollars, and can include an implementation process.

Also, relationships often play a crucial component in B2B purchase decisions involving a professional sales team and company executives.

Therefore, your business and how you work with influencers are also different.

2: You Don’t Need Instagram

Instagram is a visual social platform, making it well-suited to consumer products. Products often require little more than an alluring photo and caption to stoke interest and even sales. That’s why fashion, beauty, and travel brands do well with influencers there.

However, B2B brands are different and require a different approach.

For example, no one purchases a Caterpillar tractor costing $ 650,000 because of an Instagram post.

Therefore, comparing your business to how a consumer brand works with influencers doesn’t help you.

Consider (carefully) who your target audience is, where they congregate online, the content they consume, and who they follow for advice.

This will lead you to where you need to be.

3: Focus on relevance first

Relevance is the most essential quality to look for with influencers.

Social media reach can sometimes matter, but your efforts will go to waste without relevance.

For example, if your business is industrial chemicals, your influencers should know about your industry, how it operates, the industry issues, the regulatory environment, the major players, and have a track record of experience there.

Otherwise, you are throwing spaghetti at a wall, hoping it sticks.

4: Look to partners and customers

A simple and easy place to look for influencers is strategic business partners and customers.

You can find executives and employees there who blog, speak at conferences, author books, and have followings on social media.

Connecting with them can help you get introduced to third-party influencers they know and trust.

Use this to your advantage.

5: Leverage industry events

B2B companies allocate most of their annual marketing budgets to industry events.

The good news is that many influencers attend these events, too.

Find out who’s going and arrange to meet with them while there.

If the influencers aren’t planning to attend a particular event, perhaps you can invite them?

6: Start small and scale later

Getting started is simple and doesn’t require many resources.

Concentrate on building relationships with a core group of influencers to start.

As you get comfortable, you can recruit other influencers into your program as it matures.

Think of it like building concentric circles around one another and building slowly over time.

Don’t worry about scaling for the first six months.

7: Bigger isn’t always better

Influencers with large social followings attract brands like moths to a flame.

The allure of a large audience is often too tempting to ignore.

However, just because an influencer has a large social following doesn’t mean they can help you meet your objective.

For many B2Bs, influencers with smaller social followings can be more effective because they reach your target audience better.

Remember that relevance is the essential quality you want in your influencers.

8: Invest in education

Education is a two-way street.

Invest in your influencers to inform them about your company, products, services, philosophy, and goals.

Also, learn more about your influencers, their content, and their followers.

The more you know about them, the more you’ll be able to find ways to work together.

9: Personal touch over automation

Media stories about influencer marketing often tout the benefits of automation.

While it works for consumer brands managing large numbers of influencers, it’s not necessary for B2B brands.

You don’t need many influencers, so automation isn’t necessary and doesn’t make sense.

Invest in the personal touch and get to know your influencers.

10: Master the vetting process

Appearances can be deceiving online, so be sure to vet influencers carefully.

Check to see if they have the expertise they claim to have and are connected with other influential people in your business community.

Also, understand what kind of content they like to create, how often they publish, and the quality of their content.

Don’t forget to check for fake followers on social media.

11: Embrace storytelling

People like to buy from others because they tell stories about why and how they do things.

Influencers are storytellers by nature, so let them tell your brand story for you.

You’ll need to relinquish some measure of control over your messaging, which enables the influencers to be genuine in how they tell it.  It enables their creativity.

If you don’t allow them to express themselves in their own way, you’re being too controlling, and that defeats the purpose of influencer marketing.

It’s all about getting other people to tell your story for you.

12: Play the long game

The short-term mindset has no place here. Think about what kind of content you need, when you need it published, and where you’d like it to appear.

Customer journeys are longer for B2B brands, so work with influencers with that in mind.

Get to know the influencers in your niche, cultivate relationships with them, and look for opportunities to work together.

Look to develop content with your influencers that adds value and helps your customers understand why your brand is superior.

13: Communicate often

Once you establish contact with influencers, reach out to them even if you aren’t working with them on anything particular.

Follow them on social media and contribute to conversations there. Let them know you care about their content, their ideas, and the projects they are involved in.

Add value by offering your opinions and ideas and asking thoughtful questions.

Remember, active followers get more attention than passive ones.

Influencers will have a higher regard for you if you participate.

14: Invest in relationships

Getting to know influencers opens up new opportunities to create content, find other influencers, solicit ideas, conduct surveys, commission research, involve them in assets you create, and invite them to your events.

Invest in relationships, and you’ll get a great return on investment.

This is where the real benefits are. Cultivate your relationships with influencers like you would a garden.

15: Be mindful of conflicts of interest

Many influencers work with brands on a short-term basis, but occasionally, some contract with other brands long-term.

Therefore, vet your influencers carefully before divulging too much information.

Look at their content carefully for telltale signs that such a relationship exists.

If in doubt, you can reach out to them and ask.

Remember, they are professionals, too.

Wrapping Up

Following the lead of consumer brands doesn’t translate for B2B companies.  By adopting these principles, you’ll use the mindset necessary to work with influencers now and well into the future.

Got questions?  Let them fly in the comments below.

The post 15 Truths You Need to Know About B2B Influencer Marketing appeared first on // 551 Media LLC.

Social influencers, digital marketers, and brands all benefit by following them. Doing so will ensure your social influencer campaigns are established on a firm foundation.

Over the last several years, I have noticed increasing numbers of digital marketing consultants flocking to the influencer marketing space.  This is a good thing as there is a real need for qualified professionals.  However, not everyone shares the same ethical or moral code.

Unfortunate but true.

On the other side of the coin, influencers are popping up like mushrooms.

The gold rush mentality is in full swing and many are determined to capitalize on it while they can.  Unfortunately,  many are looking to become social influencers to get free stuff and make money by charging brands to post content.

We all want to make money, but making money dishonestly isn’t worth it.  Whether it’s promising inflated results or claiming your audience is bigger than it really is, fakery is everywhere.

Call it bad karma, bad luck or the hand of God, but if you engage in bad practices, bad things will come back to you.

Just don’t do it.

So, live by these principles and thrive:

1: You shall not confuse influencer marketing with influencer advertising.

Influencer marketing is a high-touch strategy that requires building relationships with social influencers.

As a marketer, the content they create is ideally leveraged in multiple ways and repurposed to inform, educate, and aid your target buyers throughout their “customer journey.”

Influencer advertising is paying influencers to post using content you provide them about your product in order to drive click-throughs and conversions.

It’s known by some as “smash and grab.”

This strategy is common on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Be careful, there are many charlatans who make big claims.

Ask for references.

2: You shall not expect social influencers to create content in exchange for cheap products.

Don’t ask influencers to spend their time creating content in exchange for trinkets.

It’s disrespectful.

Most influencers have day jobs and are professionals. They work hard to create content and build their following.

They value their time. You should too.

3: Influencer marketing is not a cure-all for your business or marketing problems.

Influencer marketing is not a panacea for your business problems.

If your other marketing strategies aren’t working, don’t expect influencers to save your ass.

Fix your business and marketing problems before looking for influencers to help you.

4: You shall respect the influencer’s time and compensate them fairly for their creativity and content creation.

Content creation takes expertise and time.

Don’t expect influencers to create content for you without being compensated fairly, so don’t lowball them.

Compensation can take the form of gifting your product (it must be valuable) to them, paying them outright, or agreeing to some other exchange of value.

5: Social influencers shall conduct themselves in a professional, courteous manner in all dealings with brands and marketers.

If you are an influencer, don’t expect brands to cater to your every wish.

Also, just because you are an influencer doesn’t give you the right to attempt to extort money from a brand by overcharging what you’re worth.

Businesses are not bottomless wells of money and they don’t exist to serve you.

Remember, there are many fish in the ocean and brands can easily find other influencers to work with.

6: You shall not choose influencers based on audience size alone.

Choosing social influencers because they have large audiences is a rookie move and one of the primary causes of losing money.

Do your homework.  

If you choose an influencer because he has big audience numbers but he doesn’t produce the ROI you want, you have no one to blame but yourself.  

Instead, Look for those who are relevant to you and who have good engagement.

Your social influencer campaigns will produce much better ROI.

7: Influencers shall not falsify their social media metrics with fake followers, likes, views, comments, or subscribers.

Any influencer worth the name doesn’t pad their audience numbers to look bigger than they really are.  

Be honest. Brands are getting wise to fake followers, likes, comments, and the rest.

Better to be a micro-influencer with a hyper-loyal following than a large influencer with low engagement and fake followers.

The truth inevitably comes out.  

Don’t be on the wrong side of it.

8: Influencers shall not make false claims about their ability to generate conversions and sales for brands.

Closely related to commandment number seven.

Making false claims is not only dishonest but downright loathsome.

9: Brands shall not ask influencers to do anything unethical or that conflicts with FTC guidelines.

This is self-evident and requires no further explanation.

10: Influencers shall adhere to the FTC guidelines and encourage other influencers to do the same.

The more social influencers adhere to these guidelines, the fewer problems the industry will encounter going forward.

We will all retain the trust of consumers and therefore benefit.

Remember, without the trust of consumers, influencers have nothing.

Wrapping Up

Any social influencer campaign should be set up with a goal and a coherent strategy.

Otherwise, even if you are working with top social media influencers, your campaign can suffer and you’ll not get good ROI.

Unfortunately, there are many pitfalls to influencer marketing and the dirty little secret is that many lose money the first time they try it.

The good news is, this is totally avoidable.  If you have doubts, contact a consultant in marketing who can help you.

It can mean the difference between losing money and making it.

The post The 10 Commandments of Influencer Marketing appeared first on // 551 Media LLC.

Cut the fluff: Why’s everyone buzzing about influencer marketing?

Simple, it’s the alternative to the ad spend burnout.

Here’s what you’ll learn

To listen to the podcast, click the image below:

The 411 on influencer marketing

Old-school marketing: “Hey world, look how awesome I am!”

Influencer marketing: “Hey world, listen to them tell you how awesome I am.”

Bottom line?

Peer recommendations resonate.

Your friend raving about a book has more pull than an ad, right?

People trust people.

How influencer marketing evolved to become what it is now

It all began with the bloggers.

Simple platforms.

Powerful reach.

And when social media giants like Facebook and Twitter rolled in? Kaboom!

Suddenly, everyone’s their own media powerhouse.

The game’s changed, and the media landscape?

Well, it’s vast and varied now.

Why every smart business needs influencers

Here are the main points to remember:

1. Economical: Compared to traditional PR and ads, this packs more punch dollar for dollar.
2. Precision: Know your ideal customer? Influencers can dial right into that sweet spot because they already have their attention.
3. It’s Personal: People buy from people, not ads.

Influencer collaboration 101

The name of the game: Relationship Building.

Think of it as planting seeds for a future harvest.

Know, trust, repeat.

Steps to ace it:

1. Pin down your ideal customer, aka “customer avatar”.
2. Scout for influencers who resonate with your target crowd.
3. Approach and collaborate. And hey, it’s not just about some Insta stories. Co-create content, get product reviews, gain insights, and so much more. It’s versatile.

Value Exchange: It’s not one-sided.

Whether it’s monetary compensation or a valuable product, respect the collaboration.

And hey, think big! How about an influencer advisory board for constant insights?

Influencers are the pulse of the market. The insights do they offer?

Pure gold. Forget splurging on traditional focus groups.

With influencers, you’ve got a direct line to the pulse of your target audiences.

Ready to roll?

I’m here to guide your business to greatness through influencers. Let’s chat strategy. Any questions? You know where to find me.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Updated September, 2023

The post Why Influencer Marketing is Hot and How You Can Use It appeared first on // 551 Media LLC.

I’ve even seen it on bumper stickers and coffee mugs (note to self… I need to get one of those).

Pop culture holds a lot of lessons for us, especially where leadership and business are concerned.

We hear stuff like this all the time with movie franchises like Star Wars, The Matrix series and others.

When I think about influencer marketing though, I think Star Trek.

You remember Captain Kirk and his loyal crew, right?

Kirk always gets the girl (green ones too) while Spock and McCoy debate the merits of logic over emotion – or is it the other way around?

There’s Scotty who always manages to fix the engines at just the right moment.

While Uhura, Sulu and Checkov find ways to help Kirk solve the problem facing them.

These characters are great, no doubt about it.

Yes, I admit it guys, I am a long time fan of this show, especially the original series.

The stories are engaging and hold up over time.

Now, for those of you who aren’t familiar with this iconic TV show, Captain Kirk and his crew go out and explore the universe.

They have a mission to seek out new life and new civilizations.

This is how they expand commerce as well as their Federation of Planets.

As a business person, you’re like Captain Kirk and his crew — and you have a mission too.

Your mission is to seek out ideal consumers and turn them into paying customers.

So, let’s explore this theme a little further.

New planets are like Facebook groups, blogs, YouTube channels, forums, even events.

These are all places where your ideal consumers gather and mingle.

Now:

Piloting the Enterprise in search of your ideal consumers, you’ll find some planets that are good prospects.

Engaging with your consumers there means you have some options.

You can advertise to them… but that’s disruptive and people get wise to ads and find ways to block them.

Just check out the influencer marketing statistics and you’ll see what I mean.

You can choose content marketing – which is a good strategy, but that takes forever to get traction.

Or, you can work with influencers –people who already have the trust of your ideal consumers.

And as a smart marketer, naturally you choose the most effective and fastest route to reach them:

Influencers.

But what happens when you beam down?

Remember when captain Kirk and some guys in red shirts beam down to a planet together?

As this picture illustrates, the guys in the red shirts always die.

Poor red shirts! They got no respect.

It became a running joke with the show’s fans.

Beaming down a party of red shirts is like picking the wrong influencers.

Poor selection is a waste of money as Paul Johnson points out in Adweek.

This is why I emphasize proper influencer selection with all of my clients and students.

However, when Captain Kirk has the right team with the right skills, yes, there might still be some trouble, but you know they are going solve the problem.

Not only that, they’re going be able to enroll another planet into their happy Federation of planets.

And the Federation gets bigger, gets more citizens and grows.

And Star Trek gets another happy ending: the Enterprise crew saves the universe.

Your business should be the same.

Because Kirk and team go down well equipped, they solve problems and they add value.

And you’re no different.

So what does all of this Star Trek stuff have to do with how you treat influencers?

I’ll tell you about that…

When I saw this post by John Obeto, a technology / healthcare influencer, on his blog Absolutely Windows, it really struck a chord with me.

In it,  John goes on to explain that he was invited to attend a medical / healthcare event — as an influencer.

As I said, he covers tech and healthcare, so having him there made a lot of sense.

His mission was to cover the event, interview interesting people and blog about the experience.

Also, by being there, John got to make new professional connections.

Everybody wins.

But when he bumped into another influencer on the show floor, things got interesting.

After some polite introductions, John asked the other influencer what he covered and why he was there.

The answer was astounding…

The young man explained that he has a blog about hot rods, of all things. We’re talking about souped-up cars!

The trouble is, he didn’t understand why he was at the event. Why he was invited or why he was pressed to go.

But it gets better:

Evidently, he did post to his blog a couple of times about his child being a preemie and the challenges he and his wife faced.

(Note: This is how he got noticed by whoever invited him)

But he went on to explain that his contact, a “social media person” needed to have “bodies at the event” — so they pressed him into accepting the invitation.

They paid for his travel and hotel which is the least they could do.

But, he still felt pressured.

And to fit this into our analogy here about Star Trek…

This automotive blogger was the Star Trek “red shirt.”

Why?

Simple… he was left to wander aimlessly around not knowing what he is supposed to do, or what was expected of him.

He was sent into the unknown as cannon fodder.

As a result, he added zero value and he got nothing of real value in return. Zilch.

This did a disservice to him and to those who pressed him into going.

Now, let me ask you something…

Would you toss aside a golden nugget if you found one on the ground?

No, you wouldn’t.  You’d hold onto it and might even make a nice piece of jewelry out of it.

The point is, you’d value it and you’d find the right use for it.

Influencers are like golden nuggets.  You don’t cast them aside when you find them.

Nurture influencers … don’t treat them as disposable Star Trek red shirts.

This fellow influencer who John met was treated as just another “body” to have at the event.

Nobody comes back to look for him or beam him up.

Treating him like this means he’s nothing more than a transaction, disposable.

Guys, this is marketing at it’s worst, especially with influencers.

Choose your influencers carefully and with a plan in mind.

You’ve got to understand that congruence is king.

When it comes to working with influencers, congruence is the factor that you’ve got to focus on, over and above everything else.

It doesn’t matter if it’s for your personal brand, your small business or a Fortune 500 client.

You’ve got to know your ideal consumer.

The people who you want to turn into those long-term raving fans and longtime customers.

To do that, you have to choose influencers who already have their trust.

They have your ideal consumers as audience members… readers, viewers and followers.

So congruence is about agreement, harmony, compatibility … between your ideal consumer, influencers and you.

But there’s even more to it:

Using influencers is using leverage, like when Captain Kirk uses his judo moves to flip his opponent!

Gotta love Kirk!

Think leverage.

You reach many by using only a few!

Own this idea, guys.

You get the benefit of leveraging the TRUST they’ve built up over time with their audiences.

And that’s something to take seriously.

You’ll be rewarded many times over.

Make new friends and get new customers by working with influencers.

Make sure the influencers you choose make sense — are congruent with you.

Then make sure they speak to your ideal consumer, the people you want to turn into customers.

Be sure to beam down, like in Star Trek, to a planet with the right influencers.

You’ll be kindly welcomed!

Look, I hope you’ve enjoyed this little lesson today as much as I have.

I really enjoy kinda weaving the whole Star Trek theme into it!

But, no matter what, come join me in my free Facebook group: Influencer Marketing for Badasses

I’ll see you on the inside.

The post What Star Trek Can Teach You About Using Influencers appeared first on // 551 Media LLC.

Here they are:

• Sell a benefit
• Secure and use social proof
• Use the law of scarcity
• Leverage influencers to get to your target customer

As an example, I’m going to talk about someone who I really don’t like.

He’s a real schmuck.

He’s such a schmuck he’s in jail for the next 150 years!

And who says crime pays?

His name is Bernard Madoff.

Why am I writing about him?

Well, I used to work on Wall Street and during a recent dinner with friends, Madoff came up in conversation.

My friend asked me how he could get away with it – a massive ponzi scheme.  For years.  Decades.

How massive?  Try about $50 BILLION.

So, I took a careful look at how he perpetrated the greatest ponzi scheme in history.

This post is the result of my findings.

Here are the 4 key rules you need to know to grow your business to unimaginable heights.  These are THE rules Madoff followed:

It’s a short video (please let me know what you think in the comments).

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlOV2_SIUww[/embedyt]

I want to be clear…

I’m taking a negative story and turning it into a positive one, hopefully giving you guys some value that you can take back and apply to your own businesses.

I do not condone this guy.

I do not make any excuses for this person.

I personally know people who were hurt by him and very badly.

Also, it’s important to know that thousands of lives were destroyed by this man. Not only did he destroy all the people that invested with him, but he destroyed his own family.

Entire charities were wiped out. Charities that were helping people all over the world.

Now;

It’s really important to know that Madoff had two businesses:

The first business is what put him on the map … a credible clearinghouse business for over the counter stocks.

He made a very nice living with this. He could have had a great life, just doing that.

The second was the investment advisory business, this is where he accepted money from other people and invested it for them. This is where he stole their money and perpetuated the ponzi scheme.

First, Sell A Benefit

The first principle, the number one thing that Madoff sold above all else was a benefit, and we all know that benefits sell and features tell.

Well, in this case, the one benefit that he sold above all others was security.

Why security?

Why didn’t he sell big investment returns — which so many other managers, money managers or wealth managers do?

Because Madoff understood his target customer extremely well.

(I’ll get to how he targeted his customers later)

Because all financial markets are uncertain. They are filled with risks, and as people, as creatures, we inherently don’t like uncertainty.

We don’t like doubts; we don’t like risks.

And the stock, commodity and the bond markets are filled with these uncertainties. This is why they go up and down all the time.  Fluctuate.

These fluctuations are called volatility.

And many ultra-rich people suffer from the fears that you and I do; they don’t like change, uncertainty and risk any more than we do.

That uncertainty is equivalent to fear, and Madoff understood this really, really well.

Madoff decided to sell the benefit of security.

He didn’t promise to beat the markets or even other wealth managers.

He promised his customers their money would be safe because he knew the markets than they did.

His mantra was, “You could be safe with Madoff.”

Do you see how powerful this is?

As to how he was able to promise security, he told people he had a secret trading system that performed well in all market environments.

This made his returns what a Wall Street person would call “unusually consistent.”

This should have been a suspicious marker. This should have been a red flag to his investors.

Soon you’ll see why they didn’t question him at all…

Second Rule: Get Social Proof and Use It

The reason investors didn’t question Madoff was because he used the principle of social proof.

Madoff used this one like a pro.

We all talk about social proof and using it in our own marketing:

• Customer testimonials
• Press mentions
• Mentions of prominent people
• We show pictures of ourselves with influential people

Here’s what Madoff did:

The first thing he leveraged to his advantage was the NASDAQ. And if you’re not familiar with it, the NASDAQ is a stock exchange for what’s known as over-the-counter stocks.

I’m not going to get into what all that is, but take my word for it; it’s a stock exchange. It’s a huge one. Companies like Microsoft are listed on it.

Madoff helped found it, and he was the chairman for several years.

This is a huge deal. It gave him immense credibility and it caused people to trust what he said, because he knew what he was talking about.

The other thing was is that he sat on the board of directors for what is known as the NASD.

All you need to know about the NASD is it’s a regulatory organization for the securities industry.

When you think about it, this is the equivalent of being a bank thief and sitting on the board of advisors for the FBI or something.

He also made a point of being included in exclusive clubs and being seen with very wealthy people.

His use of social proof is one of the main reasons people didn’t question his unusually consistent investment returns– because he was hanging out with people that other people think are very smart, very connected.

People assumed that Madoff was legit because of all this and he couldn’t possibly be perpetuating some kind of a Ponzi scheme or fraud, which is what he was doing.

Rule Three: Use Scarcity

The third principle that Madoff really worked to his advantage was scarcity.

He made people think that it was difficult to invest their money with him. His target clientele was the ultra rich people, businesses, and even charities. And his fund was marketed as being exclusive, and sort of behind a velvet rope, kind of like a nightclub.

We all know nightclubs keep people waiting on the line outside to give the impression that, ‘Oh my gosh, that club must be hot, because there’s 1000 people outside waiting to get in.”

Meanwhile, there could be only ten people inside, but those 1000 people outside have no idea.

This sparks the herd mentality in you so that you want to get in. You want to be seen as being on the inside or in the know with the smart, the rich people.

Madoff did something else that was kind of unusual in Wall Street business:

He didn’t normally meet directly with investors.

This gave him a sort of Wizard of Oz aura.

He kept things very buttoned up and secretive and he didn’t allow emails, even, for key staff. He also asked investors who put their money with him not to talk about him or his firm.

And he never actively sold his fund to people.

He usually told them that the fund was closed to new investors.

If you approached him and said, “Hey, Mr. Madoff. I’ve got $5 million, I’d like to invest my money with you.” He’d say, “Sorry, the fund’s closed. I’m not taking any more money.”

If you persisted and you said, “Look, Mr. Madoff, I really want to invest with you. I’ve been trying for a long time, how about if I up it to $10 million?”

“No, no. The fund is closed to new investors.”

“Well, what about $15 million? Okay, I’ll put $20 million with you.”

And this is what he did, he constantly said “no” so that people would want it even more.  They knew that the opportunity was scarce.

Finally, Leverage Influencers

Madoff was a master with people. He leveraged influencers who were trusted and respected.

His target customers looked to these influencers for advice, for help, for guidance, and Madoff sought these people out. He wined them and dined them, and once they invested, they would tell other people about it.

This is how he sold without selling. This is the difference between marketing and sales.

So Madoff used influencers to reach out and connect with his target customer. And he was very, very well-aware of who his target customer was.

Madoff is Jewish, so he sought out other rich, Jewish people. His own people.

Madoff made it a point to meet top investment pros who were Jewish or big-time investors.

Big business people. The ultra-rich. Celebrities.

Because with their blessing, many other people in that community would then seek him out and approach him to invest.

That’s not to say he only took Jewish people’s money; he didn’t.

He would take anybody’s money who was willing to invest — all of it in some cases. But he targeted his own Jewish community because he knew those people so well because he was part of it.

This included notable people in our society including Auschwitz survivor, activist, Nobel prize author Elie Wiesel.

Madoff worked hard to make introductions to people like this. This is how he marketed without selling, like I just said.

He cozied up to notable people like this. He gained their trust and then he got the trust of others who respected them.

They were attracted to him.

Let’s Sum it Up

What are our takeaways?

Well, guys, like I said at the beginning of this, we’re here to do good.

We’re here to help people.

We’re here to provide superior value and just because I went through an example involving an evil guy like Bernie Madoff, doesn’t mean we have to behave like him.

We can take those same four principles and we can apply them for good purposes, to build our businesses, to provide our customers with something that they really want, really need, and we can all move forward together, and we can actually improve society that way.

Want more?  C’mon over to Facebook and join our free private group.

I look forward to seeing you there! Click on the image below!

The post How Bernie Madoff Grew His Ponzi Scheme to $50 Billion Using Four Rules appeared first on // 551 Media LLC.

I think my readers and viewers would describe me as a gadget/tech reviewer, while brands and marketing types would describe me as a tech or video influencer.

For me, though, I am really someone who loves consumer electronics and is passionate enough about it to write about the subject and make videos about them because I want to share that passion with others.

I’m just a guy who loves gadgets with a big personality!

Is Gear Live your full-time job or is it more of a passion project?

It’s both.

Gear Live is much more than a full-time job.

It’s a company in its own right, and as an entrepreneur, and video influencer, I face all the challenges that any other business owner comes up against.

The thing about entrepreneurship, though, is in the vast majority of cases, the business owner is doing what they love.

To do this, requires passion, though.

I am kind of a one-stop shop, in that, I pretty much do it all – I don’t have a staff.

Most people think I sit around all day playing with toys and then writing about them at my leisure.

Or they think that making a great YouTube video is as simple as pointing a camera at a smartphone, hitting record, and talking.

It takes much more than that to keep people engaged and interested in content.

As an example, the other day I posted a video that was about 6 minutes in length.

That video took about 4 hours of shooting, and another 3 hours of editing before it was ready to be shared.

And that doesn’t include the upload process, the social sharing, and the writing of the content that will live alongside the video!

The magic is in making something that is hard and takes a lot of time look effortless.

How did you get started building your audience?  What steps did you follow?

I wouldn’t say there was really a specific audience-building strategy, other than making content that I’d like to see.

When I create something, it has to be something that I would be interested in watching or reading.

So my audience is people who are fans of things I am a fan of, and people who are interested in the things I am interested in.

That turns out to be early adopters of consumer electronics, with a good overlap in the gaming space as well.

That was the start.

As time went on and more people found my videos, either through my fans sharing them on social networks or emailing them to friends, my audience expanded to people who were more generally interested in personal technology – after all, who doesn’t have a smartphone these days?

Just because you own one doesn’t mean you’re an expert.

When you are seeking out tips and tricks, the best apps to download, or which device to upgrade to next, my content is helpful because it’s useful from the research perspective … like when you want to make a purchase.

It’s not just entertainment for like-minded gadget fans.

In the world of YouTube, which do you consider most important, subscribers or views and why?

I focus more on views myself.

I want to get my videos seen by people who are interested in seeing them, or who would be helped by them.

The subscriber count doesn’t mean much in my opinion, because it is so easily gamed, and is also done at a whim.

Someone can hit the subscribe button and then never see your videos again simply because they weren’t on YouTube when it showed up at the top of their feed, or for other algorithmic reasons.

So, I would rather than 1 million views and 0 subscribers than 1 million subscribers and 0 views.

Do you use a marketing strategy to grow your audience? If yes, what is that strategy?

The only strategy I employ is to make sure I make videos that I think people will want to see.

Think of the audience before you make the video and plan out exactly how you will get the point across and how it would best be received.

Keep your audience in mind.

From there, I make sure to share it across the social and influencer networks that I am a part of.

All of my Twitter followers, Facebook followers, Instagram followers…just because a person follows me on one platform doesn’t mean that they follow me on all, or that they subscribe to my YouTube channel.

I make sure to go out to the people, rather than expecting the people to come to me.

That’s how a real video influencer has to think.

How important is having a video “go viral” to subscriber growth?

If you are asking how important a viral video is to getting your subscriber number to grow, I guess it would do a good job at that – but I don’t know that it is really meaningful in any way.

A video going viral is normally because of something about that one, specific video.

How often do you hear the term “viral video” compared to the term “viral channel”?

Viral videos are kind of like fads. People like them for a while and then they disappear. I am more about staying power and consistency.

Do you have a video crew who helps with your production or do you do production and appear on camera?

I do it all.

I’m behind the camera setting up shots and making sure things look good, that the colors are right and the white balance is on point.

I do the staging of the area where the video will be shot to make it look interesting.

Of course, I am on camera talking about whatever needs to be explained and showing up as the face of my brand.

When all is said and done, I am also the one at the workstation editing the video and trying to turn a couple of hours of footage into a nicely packaged 4-10-minute compelling video.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be that way though.

If you are great on camera but don’t know anything about editing or shooting, you can get help in those areas.

I just personally like to be involved in each step of the process because it all interests me.

How important is having the right gear to being successful at online video?

You definitely need to have the right gear – it’s important. I’ll give you a quick rundown of all the gear you need as a bare minimum in order to be successful on YouTube:

A video camera.

That’s it.

No, really. That’s all it takes.

Does your smartphone record video and audio?

Perfect, then you have the ability to shoot a video and upload it to YouTube.

No one has ever seen someone’s video and then said to themselves:

“Before I conclude that this person is a success, I need to take inventory of what gear they used in order to produce this. Only then can I determine their worthiness of success.”

No one does that.

Some of the most-watched videos were shot using a cell phone.

Don’t get caught up in the gear aspect, and it is very easy to spend a bunch of money on expensive cameras, lights, editing workstations, lenses, microphones, and the like.

Forget all that.

Just get started with what you have, and grow from there.

If you could improve one thing about your current video strategy, what would it be?

I love creating content and talking tech – and I’d love to remove any other barriers that require my attention that are also necessary.

For example, I have an accountant who handles business finances because I’m no accountant and I’d rather an expert deal with that.

Another area that would help with videos specifically is having someone who can handle my sales and sponsorships.

The process is time-consuming and takes me away from the camera but it has to be done.

What’s your advice for people looking to get started? What should a newbie focus on first?

Just start.

That’s it.

There are so many lists out there for what you need to do to get started on YouTube or in video or with blogging.

The longer the list gets, the more intimidating it looks.

My advice is to just use what you have, record something, and upload it.

Get used to doing it.  Make it a habit.  Post on a regular schedule.

Don’t worry about the views, the subscribers, the comments, or anything else.

Don’t compare yourself to other channels or other people.

Just start doing it, and get used to it, and things will start to make sense.

You’ll start to get a knack for things, you’ll see what works for you and what doesn’t.

The hardest part is just getting started!

Got a comment or question? Pop in the comments below.

The post Video Influencer Andru Edwards of Gear Live: Putting the Audience First appeared first on // 551 Media LLC.