How To Measure Your “Social Value”

In days gone by – in fact, not so very long ago – people in my position were judged by the number of books they had written. Sales “spokespeople” churned out volume after volume, and were held in very high esteem - and quite rightly so. Without them, my world would have been a much less interesting place; it was a big part of my education, and I am certain that holds true for hundreds of thousands of others in the sales space.

Then came sales articles sites and blogs – all in the last five years – and this offered us an alternative route to gain recognition; to educate; to hopefully inspire and motivate. At this point, book sales began to plummet, and today I am told by several well known publishers that a highly successful book is one that sells around just ten thousand copies. There are of course exceptions, like Linda Richardson, Jill Konrath and co, but 10k is the new benchmark. And yet, I have articles that have been read by more than sixty thousand people on one site alone, and I am not an exception.

Of course there is a huge difference between persuading someone to buy a book, and reading a free article, but it does beg the question where are people going to educate themselves these days?

And I would argue that now, we have a new measurement of one’s standing - or importance -and it is called “Social Value”

Our social value is made up of a number of factors, and whilst this list is not exhaustive, it is a very good starting point:

•Your Google presence and ranking.
•Your online reputation.
•Your business social media presence.
•Your personal website (present or absent).
•Your blog (present or absent).
•Your Facebook presence.
•Your LinkedIn connections and recommendations.
•Your Twitter followers.
•Your tweets.
•Your YouTube channel

When you look at that list, how do you think you measure up?

I fall short on Facebook, because I only pop over there to see what my children are up to, and I know I won’t find my clients/prospects there. I also do not have a great YouTube presence, but apart from that, I am doing OK.

I think what is really important is that we decide which of all of these are most significant to our own business prospects: For example, I know that my potential clients typically read my blog, check me out on LinkedIn, and do a Google search on me - I know this because I ask them after they have converted into clients.

I am not sure if I am totally tuned-in to it all yet, but it appears that I have been doing many things right without even thinking about it – “Social Value” is definitely here to stay, so we may as well make the most of it!

News: Excellent sales tip today over at Top Sales World from John Doerr “Your Six-Step Guide to Setting and Achieving Goals” HERE And I have to ask, have you downloaded this month’s magazine yet?