So let’s talk about “klout.” I’ve had a lot of friends ask me about this recently and been asked to write about it…what exactly IS it?…how do you get your klout score up?…is it important?…should we be competing for klout? Stuff like that. I’m not exactly a “klout” expert, but here are some great tips from Erik along with killer resources to help you get your klout in check, which btw, Erik’s klout score is way higher than mine. If any of you wanna team up with me to kick his butt, let me know!

Take it away, Erik!

Five Secrets I Used to Trick Klout. Sort Of.

It’s really been grinding Douglas Karr’s gears that my Klout score is higher than his, even if it’s only by a couple points or so.

He mentioned his anguish during a recent talk at a Northwest Indiana tweetup, and then again on his Marketing Tech radio show, so I know it’s getting to him. Still, Doug has set the bar plenty high, so to even come close to him on something is a pretty big deal, let alone beat him. (And since it’s the only thing I’m going to beat him in — ever — I want to hold on to this for as long as I can.)

It’s possible to game the Klout system, but it takes a long-term strategy. Sure, you can try to work it in short bursts, but the system will weed out people who don’t stay dedicated, mostly because they use cheap techniques that take too much energy and effort for an extended period of time. So I came up with my own system that will work, by tricking Klout into thinking I’m actually a model Twitter citizen. Here’s how I did it.

1) Be choosy about who I follow.

One of the things Klout pays attention to is the follower/following ratio, how influential my audience is, and whether they take action on my tweets. Having a big network doesn’t do me any good if I’m following junk accounts, abandoned accounts, or spammers.

I use Manage Flitter to unfollow people who don’t follow me and haven’t tweeted in the last three months. This way, I clean out all the deadwood on my network. Why run up my following count on people who won’t use the system more than once every 90 days? They don’t provide value, so they’re out.

I also carefully consider whether to follow someone. I’ll follow people if they provide good value, if they are real people and not brands, and if they don’t tweet crap, constant news headlines, or motivational quotes. I avoid the spam accounts, bot accounts, and the accounts that follow 2,000 people but have never written a single tweet. By following people who know how to use Twitter properly, my network is made up of people I’m happy to read and retweet.

2) Be choosy about who follows me.

I am actually a little choosy about people who follow me. I will “block & report for spam” any porn accounts, anyone who uses Twitter to promote their MLM or money-making system, or is going to do nothing but sell crap. By eliminating these people, my network is more engaged and more likely to read my tweets and react to them. I don’t need to artificially boost my follower account by letting in these spammers and fakers, and I would certainly never join one of those “find followers fast” networks that promise to boost my numbers.

3) Tweet good stuff.

If you want people to pay attention to your stuff and retweet it, make sure you say something useful. I will never tweet out motivational quotes, daily “good morning tweeps” messages, or news headlines after news headline. Instead, I send out things that will be useful, interesting or funny to my Twitter network. Since my network is made up primarily of social media folks, writers, and people with a sense of humor, I make sure at least half of my tweets will be appealing to one or more of those groups. The other half are real conversations and responses to other Twitterers.

Read the last two tips here: Five Secrets I Used to Trick Klout. Sort Of. | Professional Blog Service

Now, is your klout score going to make or break you? Nope…I don’t think so. When you’re real on twitter, it doesn’t really matter that much. Make it count. Or don’t. I think this klout stuff is fun for us competitive social media types…and to be honest, I don’t pay that much attention to it. But for those of you who are interested, I hope Erik’s post is helpful.

The comment section is open for your thoughts! Cheers!

That’s right. Bring it.

My presentation is on ghosting aka ghost blogging. I’ve entitled it “The Art of the Ghost” because that’s what I do, and that’s what I know. Now I want to share. Despite the controversy over the subject matter…the unauthenticated accusations (missed those rules again), I’ve been blessed, having made a great business, Linzstar Inc., by writing for other people and managing their social media. My clients are all over the world, in very different industries, the best of the best in those industries, and I love all of them. No, I mean, I REALLY do. This is one of the most satisfying occupations for someone who loves to blog and loves social media.

This will be my first time presenting at a blogging conference. I’m kinda nervous, yes, but I’ve got some great speaking gigs under my belt, which include undergraduate classes, graduate classes, and a high school. The presentation will be super laid back and conversational…as most of you know, that’s how I do it. A couple of things that will be discussed:

• How I got into ghost blogging
• Industries that are grateful for what I do
• Questions to ask / Conversations to have with clients to really tell their story
• The editing clipboard
• Ethics / Honesty
• How I use blogging and social media platforms to market online
• Having the confidence to be a social media rock star

I think this is going to be great. I’d love to see you there. So, here’s the deal: I get to give my readers and the people who are attending the conference a 10% discount off the tickets. They can be purchased on the Blog Indiana 2010 website…HERE. Just enter in the code “SPEAKTOME10” to get the 10% off!

Sweet. Okay. Questions? Comments? Looking forward to seeing you if I know you, and meeting you if we’ve not yet met. Cheers!

Photo credits to the talented peeps over at Metromix Indy, Michelle Pemberton, Jonathan Boho, and Frank Espich

• 5 things every social media marketer needs to know…
• 10 things to make you rock on Twitter…
• 8 social media rules to live by…

Blah, blah, blah…

It’s all the same. What happened to the real reason why we love social media in the first place? Because there ARE NO RULES! Sure, we all learned some type of etiquette (hopefully) as we grew up…please, thank you, excuse me…all of which are part of being human and communicating in a way that makes other people feel that you’re not all about you. (Some are better at this than others, would you agree?)

I mean, social media isn’t some grand, “need to know the rules” kinda thing, is it? Did I miss that 101 course somewhere? Did I miss THAT blog? Everyone has their own style and take on things. Social media is just another way to get it all out there. It’s like one big conference call that everyone’s involved with…some are paying attention, others are wondering what they’re going to have for lunch.

I don’t like rules. I like real. I’ve been that way my whole life (just ask my parents). I feel like if you get stuck in the social media “rule book,” you just discount every single thing that Seth Godin and Hugh MacLeod are teaching us. Communication is an art. Most everyone in the world is gifted with this art.

You can put whatever message you want out there and either people will listen or they won’t. I’m all about reading blogs. I’m much more inclined to read something that’s going to tell me about the new tech stuff (thank you tech crunch and wired). I’m all about reading about the new haps in business and social media stuff (thank you mashable). I’m just tired of all the rules.

In my humble opinion, I want to know what people are feeling, what they’re experiencing and learning. Now THAT is the stuff that makes something worth reading. Experience is where the true lessons are. And sharing?…well, that’s what makes me love you even more.

I think, in my world, that you should attempt to call someone back, who leaves you a message, within 24 hours. 48 at the latest (unless they call you on a Friday and you’re out for the weekend.) Even if it’s not communicating great news, at least call someone back and let them know. It’s so not cool to just leave people out there hanging.

**I do understand that sometimes people are busy and can let things slip from their mind. I am talking about the people who just ignore and make no attempt to connect after agreeing that there would be a follow-up.

So, my question to the Smaller Indiana community: What are some other business etiquette issues have you had to deal with? I think we would all like to know so we could try to avoid the madness.