If YOU Lead Will THEY Follow?

Friends, Fans and Followers – The New Barometer for Business Success in the 21^st Century!

By: Kellie Kuecha

OK I vow to not be another talking head and certainly not another Social Media Expert on this topic but I think I bring some pretty valid points to the table when it comes to whose leading, whose following and one’s ability to strongly influence others! I was just challenged over on Facebook when I asked the very question, “If you lead will they follow?” The person wrote, “People don’t need to be led.” I strongly disagree and I will validate my point in just a bit. In the past few days (and often) when a big event, particularly women’s conferences or any sort of major gathering of people come to town, I often get a barrage of emails, text and chat messages asking if I am attending. Are people really inquiring about my attendance as a means to make their own decision about attending? Does my decision have an influence on their perceived value of the event? Maybe, maybe not, but I believe so. I learned a long time ago that leadership comes down to your ability to influence others. As a leader and influencer we must recognize that everywhere we go, everything we say and everything we do gets branded to our name and will most definitely have an influence on others seeking to make similar choices - so we must choose wisely.

When I first launched Women that Win (my conference business) years ago, there was a Boca Raton based, very prominent restaurant looking to change their demographic to a much younger, business oriented clientele. That restaurant used their marketing dollars to pay us to eat there, entertain our VIPs there and host our social gatherings there. Why you ask? Because they knew our decision to do so would influence their target market to do the same. While I cannot name the restaurant I am sure it’s one you have all come to know, love and respect in our local community. I have forged hundreds of deals like this that have worked in a similar fashion, but this type of exchange and marketing only works when you are prepared to deliver BIG value. That restaurant relied solely on my company to LEAD their ideal clientele down the path and through their doors. I was not and am not a PR agency, but in the eyes of the restaurant’s General Manager, I was perceived as someone with a strong influence and a loyal following. Now on the flipside, if I am not personally hosting or sponsoring an event, I am very careful about which events I do attend and promote as my name will get branded to the event and those in attendance. Choosing your appearances and putting your stamp on something is a strategy that must be carefully thought out. Are the attendees your target market? Do the movers and shakers in your industry come to such events? Do the people in attendance share the level of success and income that you aspire to have? What kind of perceived value would Demi Moore have if all the sudden she started appearing in C level movies? Have you thought about how your appearances affect your perceived value? OK back to my original point!

For many years I built up a very solid event business with high quality speakers, incredible production, lots of attendees and an unmatched take away value. That was how I branded myself in the early days of my career in helping women. I wanted to be known as the girl who put on the most incredible conferences with the highest take away value. The events were not about me in fact I stayed very much in the background. In addition, my goal not to compete on price or to be the cheapest game in town – a lesson that would go on to serve me well in business in later years. However, in order to succeed in my mission of putting forth the highest quality, highest value events, I had to first seek out what others were doing and find ways to add tremendously more value than they were.

At the time I got started there was only the Office Depot Success Strategies for Women and Balance Magazine’s Annual Women’s Conference. Two incredible events pulling similar audiences but neither filled a need that I had as a small business owner - a sense of belonging to something much greater than just the day itself. I also felt a void in value to the small business owner looking for tangible takeaway tools that could be implemented on Monday morning. Both events were fabulous but boasted large name celebrities whom I found difficult to relate to. Influence has a lot to do with someone’s ability to see themselves in you, it’s called relatability. Sadly, neither annual conference is still in existence today.

Since that time however, there have been scores of women’s conferences come onto the scene and as a result, I discontinued putting on conferences for a few years. Why – not because I believed the competition would deter my posse from continuing to flock to my events and not because I allowed some friendly competition to run me out of town but because I felt it was time to just marinate. I didn’t want to run with the herd. I believe sometimes you have to sit quietly and just let the juices flow. Soak it all in. Work on other endeavors and watch what is cooking around you. A good artist will do that. I am an artist. I am not a text book marketer nor am I a cookie cutter event planner. My body of work is different and my posse appreciates that about me. A good steak ages with time and an aged steak is oftentimes the juiciest! I knew for me to stay true to my own evolution, I needed to stop holding events that were focused on other people’s messages. I needed to evolve my own voice, my own message and sprinkle the other messages in between. The question is, would my posse be waiting in the wings for my comeback? You betcha! How do I know? Because they are my loyal friends and followers and they continue to beg for more!

I love when I get the inevitable seemingly weekly question where did your events go…..ahhhh….soon, very, very soon, is what I say. If you were a fan of the BeeGees or Shania Twain would you still be a fan if they came out of hiding and released their next album or launched their next tour? Most certainly you would. Many of us are loyal lifetime fans just waiting in the wings for the beloved people we follow to re-emerge, with a bigger, better and stronger message than the first time! Why? Because those artists have built incredible brands, permeated our hearts and turned us into loyal fans, friends and followers. Other new artists coming into town are not going to shake that!

The good news is – you don’t have to be a famous star to reap similar results in your world! Remember the song “You don’t have to be a star baby, to be in my show!” If you’re not ready to step out big and be the star then I will hold the space for you to grow! You can be the star in my show (subliminal hint here). The greatest gem about business today - is that we are all natural born stars given the exact same opportunity – and we get to choose our roles and the story that goes along with it! We no longer have to wait to be discovered by some big agent, the platforms are here thanks to social media! Which leads me back to my previous point! Only a small percentage of us will have the courage to step up and star in our own shows and the rest will sit back and watch - and that’s OK. Leading wouldn’t work if there was no one following. While it took me a lifetime to muster up the courage to star in my show- I love that I get to be the voice that sings loudly from my rooftop authentically and without inhibition. Free of fear and bold so that the watchers will become inspired to come up to the rooftop too! Gosh another tangent – let me get back to the main point!

“Good brands are bought, great brands are joined”. My most recent retweet by Scott Ginsberg. Boy I couldn’t agree more. Hasn’t leadership and influence really boiled down to three things - how many friends, fans and followers you have? For most of our careers that was an abstract, unquantifiable number. But the game has changed and today, we can see that number right in print! You ability to influence will reflect in the numbers! So now what? Sit tight as I finish my thought! Write this one down. Your ability to influence and increase your brand equity in the world of social media, depends solely on your ability to START the conversation, ENHANCE the existing conversation and then take them to a place to CONTINUE the conversation. It’s called LEADING and the “place” you lead them to can be online or offline! Get it? You get to be the star that leads them to that place! You see, I have spent the last two years doing just this. Starting, Enhancing and Leading my posse to places to continue the conversation where I sat back as a mini star among lots of other bright shining stars marinating my little heart away!

But the time has come and soon I will be putting out my big PINK flag and announcing the next evolution of MY signature events. A style of event that the world has never seen before. It’s taken several years to paint the canvas for my next phase and soon the time will come to unveil it however, I turn the question back to you. Could you disappear from the core function of your business (for me the event business) to marinate, still grow your income and most importantly create an even stronger brand along the way? You could if you previously established an indelible brand, you could if you had solid revenue streams that continue to make you money and the BIG one is - you could if your posse was pulling for you. I love Jessica Kizorek from Badass Businesswomen. She says “your level of success is largely dependent on the amount of people you have pulling for you!” That statement sums it all up! In the past few days I started using Twitter and paying more attention. I have been at the friend limit on Facebook almost since the start and it’s become quite a nuisance to get my message out in even bigger ways! As I peruse around Twitter, I have come to realize that influence is in fact, solely based on number of followers. You can’t acquire followers if you don’t have a ROCK SOLID core message. Do you know what yours is? And if you shouted it from the rooftops would it be interesting enough to stop people long enough to listen? Would it be strong enough for them to stop their friends and tell them to listen? That my friend, is how a movement begins.

So decide today - Who are you? What are you trying to say? Who are you trying to get to listen? What are you trying to get them to do? It’s a great place to begin! Remember, you aren’t in the business of schlepping products, vitamins, juices, coaching services, training sessions, insurance services and the like. You are in the business of marketing YOU and the unique value that you bring to the table that will ultimately change someone’s life! Your ability to carefully articulate that value in an inspiring message that you can shout from the rooftops will determine the amount of friends, fans, followers, income and influence that you get to enjoy.

While this article went in several different directions, I trust that you have learned some valuable lessons on leading and following. There are times when we must serve in both roles. Your heart will know best which role at which time is best for you! Now be sure to follow me on www.twitter.com/kelliekuecha and join my fanpage @ www.facebook.com/kkuecha. Ha :)

Kellie Kuecha is a marketing and branding expert specializing in women’s success. She is the CEO and Founder of The W.O.M.A.N. Club, Women that Win, Flow and Grow RICH, KidsBiz Academy and Women’s Wellness Society and a marketing and personal branding expert. Her journey into entrepreneurship began at the ripe age of 12 and she has been building businesses ever since. She has defied all the odds both in life and in business and has mastered the ability to turn adversities into advantages. She travels the world sharing her message and inspiring women to win in all areas of life! She is the mother of two young girls, Kayla and Karina, and has two bonus children, Brandon and Jason, who are all under the age of 12. All four children have their own businesses and are learning great lessons about the value of money, hard work and persistence. www.KellieKuecha.com