The Politics of Influence

Just catching up this morning with yesterday’s little kerfuffle in the Enterprise Software world:

In case you missed it, apparently this was all triggered by Michael Krigsman republishing Dennis Moore’s list of ‘Trusted Enterprise Software experts’ on ZDNet, CloudAve, Enterprise Irregulars and possibly elsewhere.

Which inspired this response - The awkward Art of Selfpromotion - from Martijn Linssen. Worth noting is that Martijn was not included in the aforementioned lists.

Also worth noting - neither was I. Full disclosure - I too am an Enterprise Irregular (as are Michael and Dennis). I am a considerably less active one these days, since I do not make it my business to be an ‘influencer’. So being omitted from a list like this perhaps is a slight blow to my ego (although not surprising since my Twitter feed and blog posts are not exactly focused), but has zero impact on my bank account.

Everyone and anyone is, of course, entitled to promote and/or publish their opinions and lists of who their ‘top’, ‘most trusted’ or otherwise important (to them) resources are. Whether it’s a blogroll, a Twitter list, or something more formalized, there’s nothing inherently wrong with doing this.

But what outsiders to ‘the Influence game’ need to also realize is the structure of how these networks work. Quality content matters, of course, but one also becomes an Influencer by both self-promoting as well as by building alliances and cross-promoting others with similar outlooks and views. In other words, it’s politics - and it’s also why, due to personal distaste for those politics, I have personally fought off repeated efforts to get back into ‘the game’.

This whole discussion reminded me of a review I read recently in the WSJ of the book Politics as a Spectator Sport.

In 2008, Rudy Giuliani’s team had wooed Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for months, eager for his endorsement in the contest for the GOP presidential nomination, and thought that a deal had been reached. Just before the Florida primary, Mr. Crist handed his endorsement to John McCain, which helped crater Mr. Giuliani’s chances in Florida. Mr. Giuliani didn’t forget. A few years later, when Mr. Crist was struggling in his bid for a Florida Senate seat, guess which former presidential candidate—still popular among ex-New Yorkers voting in Florida primaries—was only too happy to endorse newcomer Marco Rubio?

As a former Giuliani staffer (and undying loyalist), I find it delightful to read the words “Senator Rubio,” and I was amused to see that Mr. Cillizza has remembered the incident too. One of the guilty pleasures of his writing is the way he adroitly captures the deep personal hatreds that politics provoke—and that most reporters pretend don’t exist.

The stakes are somewhat lower in the Enterprise Software world but the ever-shifting alliances, informal backscratching arrangements and personal animosities are very much there.

For those involved in this little dustup (all of whom I am friendly with and wish to remain so), I hope you can resolve things amicably.

For everyone else, enjoy the show…

Relevant Influence - Discovering and Engaging with Influencers for Effective Social Marketing

Please join Wendy Troupe, Mike Maney, Matt Carter and (of course) me for a Terametric / Focus.com online Roundtable taking place Tuesday November 1 at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT.

One of the terms which is most closely aligned with the topic of Social Marketing is ‘Influence’. While it is clear that discovering and leveraging Influential individuals and organizations can play a key role in the success of your Social Marketing efforts, the ability to define, discover and leverage Influence is elusive for most organizations.

This session, which is part of Terametric and Focus’ monthly series on Social Sales & Marketing, will focus on:

  • What exactly is an ‘Influencer’? Why do they matter?
  • What are some best practices that real-world companies are using to identify and engage with Influencers?
  • How can you use social ‘big data’ to quantify, identify and channel Influence and Influencers in a way that our organization can use, and will make a difference in your specific market space?
  • Have celebrity ‘Influencers’ (i.e. Justin Bieber) helped or hurt efforts by companies to channel Influence in such a way that it pays off for their organization?
  • How do you become an Influencer for your brand, product or industry and how can it be leveraged?

TODAY - Influencer Marketing - The Key To Social ROI?

Join us for our roundtable teleconference on April 18th, 2011 at 11am PT/2pm ET with Michael Dortch, Lisa Rosner, Chris Selland, Michael Troiano, Jonathan Yarmis, and Joe Chernov where we will discuss Influencer & Social Marketing. Topics include: 

                                                                                                                                                
1)      How do you define ‘influence’ and ‘influencers’? Can influence really be measured?
2)      How much time, attention and money should companies spend relative to marketing to influencers?
3)      What are the specific tactics companies can use to reach influencers?
4)      Which tactics used to influence customers, partners and prospects should (and/or should NOT) be used to influence influencers? Where do Influencer and Social strategies intersect - and where do they diverge?
5)      Tell us about some success stories - and some failures.


Moderator
Chris Selland, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Terametric

Panelists
Michael Dortch, Principal Analyst and Managing Editor, DortchOnIT.com
Michael Troiano, Principal, Holland-Mark
Lisa Rosner, CMO, NetBase
Jonathan Yarmis, Principal Analyst, Yarmis Group 
Joe Chernov, VP Content Marketing, Eloqua


Follow the conversation:

On Focus: FocusMarketingRT topic page
   - Submit your own question and use FocusMarketingRT as a topic
On Twitter: #FocusRT

via focus.com

Just wanted to remind everyone of the Focus roundtable teleconference I’m moderating TODAY with a great group of leading minds in the world of Influencer marketing.

Please join us at 2 PM EST, 11 AM EST!

Infor puts it (almost) out in the open

The fact that this program exists doesn’t bother me, but the fact that it’s anonymous does.

There are plenty of ‘influencers’ (I hate that term, but Infor and most of the industry uses it so I’ll maintain consistency) who are buyer-focused, objective, and who wouldn’t be caught dead in a program like this.

But there are also plenty of others who are essentially extensions of vendor marketing departments.

Disclosure would be a great way to clarify who’s who. Infor would be doing the industry a service.

It would certainly help Infor’s prospective customers as well. Unfortunately, until and unless they change their policy on anonymity, it will do just the opposite and should raise suspicion among smart buyers of any purportedly independent ‘advice’ they receive.

Amplify’d from www.zdnet.com

Infor is pitching enterprise tech influencers to anonymously refer potential customers to the software company.

So much for disclosure.

This program creates new opportunities for industry influencers, independent sales professionals, and professional services firms, by letting you anonymously refer your clients to Infor for world class business software. In addition to getting up to a 15% referral fee for any company you refer to Infor that becomes an Infor customer, our referral partner program will allow you to offer more services and establish a long-term relationship with your clients and business associates.

The key item there is the anonymous part. How is an influencer or consultant supposed to keep the best interest of his or her audience/customer if he’s collecting referral fees without disclosure?

Read more at www.zdnet.com
 
See this Amp at http://bit.ly/gkTlme