“The most important innovators often don’t need any technologies - just imagination and acute sensitivity to people’s needs.”
—Geoff Mulgan
Habit #9: Influencers Are Masters at Engaging and Enrolling Others
Now you have an idea of what community you might want to create, it’s time to talk to other influencers about your idea and seek their feedback and really refine your plan.
At this point, you’ve got a straw model of your community, which is intended to give you an image of what your building might look like, but isn’t meant to stand the test of time. Go out and talk to people. Once you know whether your straw model is the design you want, you can start to build it in a way that is meant to last.
Pick three or four of the influencers with whom you have already connected. I suggest they be people you authentically respect and admire and who are within your reach. They might be more experienced or advanced than you, but they will likely pick up the phone when you call, engage with you and be willing to brainstorm your idea. They are the people you would want to have involved in creating your community. In other words, go to those whom you would pick as the leaders of your community and ask them for feedback.
They have likely run into similar ideas, either within your same target market or in other areas. They are probably going to be a wealth of advice and feedback.
One of the primary ways you can engage others is to paint a vision of what you want to create and to use your passion to enroll others in that vision.
When you are highly passionate, people are drawn to you. Influencers who are far more experienced and influential are likely to offer their support. Your vision and passion will easily enroll them. For a brief period of time, they’re happy not to be leading, because in gifting you influence, they gain more influence of their own. They’ll lead in the other areas that are more specific and relevant to their own business.
In essence, you paint a picture of how their world will be different because of this community that you’re designing. Step into their world and their language to engage them and enroll them in the idea.
Unspoken Rule #14
If you are not passionate about your vision of where you are going, don’t expect people to follow.
This homework is an exercise in practicing how well you can engage and enroll other influencers. You’re going to be painting a vision that you’re passionate about and seeing whether other influential people are willing to come along for the ride. If they’re not, you can adjust and tweak the vision and then speak to other influencers about it. Do this a few times and you’ll have the winning combination.
Mistake number one, the very first thing you learned in this book, was not aligning with your passion. This is a good point to check in. Did you design your community around something that you are really passionate about? If you didn’t, it’s going to become extremely challenging to start enrolling other influencers as you move forward.
Passion sells. People are drawn to fun. If you’re not having a good time, you’re no fun.
Passion sells. People are drawn to fun.
If you’re not having a good time, you’re no fun.
If you’re not passionate enough to enroll the initial group of influencers you’ve chosen, you’re going to have difficulty enrolling others as you expand your community. Check in and see whether you’re really aligned and passionate about your goal. If you’re not, that’s not authentic for you.
Ensure you’re not practicing at business. Did you pick a community that you thought would be successful, rather than one that you thought would really make a big impact on the area about which you’re really passionate?
As you’re receiving feedback, as you’re seeing whether other influencers are engaging or becoming enrolled, you’ll know whether or not you’ve hit the mark.
During the early stages of planning, you have the best opportunity to refine and change your plan. You’ve only spoken to a few people and they’re certainly not going to think twice if you adjust and change, especially if you’re doing so based on their feedback. It’s likely that they’re going to be flattered that you took their guidance and will be more enrolled.
Be prepared. You will likely receive conflicting advice or feedback and that’s okay. Thank everyone for whatever feedback they give. Accepting feedback shows respect.
A common mistake you can make at this point is to assume you have to act on all the feedback that you receive. It’s okay to collect feedback and decide which points to act on later. You don’t have to use every piece of advice you receive. People want to know that they’ve been heard and they’re just as likely to enroll in your idea later, whether or not you adjust based on their feedback.
Will the idea make money?
The next step is to look at whether the idea would make money. Advice from other influencers can be useful. Ultimately, you’re in business to make money. It might not be the outcome or goal that you’re targeting, but if you don’t make money, you’re not going to make a living at it. And then you’re not in business. Money and influence can go hand in hand.
Who is going to join the community?
Think about who, specifically, you would invite to join this community. This is where you start to generate a list of potential names. You might have gotten some great advice from other influencers about this question. Some of them might have even offered to connect you with other appropriate people. Start keeping notes on possible members to invite and work that into your plan, because those initial contacts are going to become the heart and the founders of your community.
What logistics might be beneficial?
You have likely been given a lot of good ideas. Start making notes on the logistics you believe you want. For anything other than a mastermind, you’re going to need a website, at a minimum. There may also be other systems you want to put in play to make your community work.
Determine the budget this would require
Do you want a website and conference lines? Where will you meet? What people might you contract or hire to pull this off?
What’s the simplest or cheapest way to start your group?
It’s a great idea initially to set it up based on something simple, because you’re going to learn a lot from your trial runs and can adjust as you go.
How much of your time would be appropriate to build your community?
Consider designing it around the time that you have available. It’s important to calculate how much time you have relative to the amount of time this community will require.
This is your chance to reassess. If you love the idea of your community, then either scale it to the time you have or find a way to create the time to do it.
At this point you should be able to create and take action on a complete plan including: