Your thoughts all look rather delightful if you ask me. Love it!

Your thoughts all look rather delightful if you ask me. Love it!

Thanks Christian. It really is all rather simple!

Good stuff, Michael. These are all great points. Some are easier than others to implement, but all are important. The only thing I’d add is to keep Klout and all these other ratings/rankings in context. It’s important to keep your “end goals” in mind, whatever they may be. Most of the “real” business and deals I’ve done online have come from people who would not know what Klout and Alexa are. That said, the points you make above help to enhance your online presence and establish you as an expert, which certainly DOES matter to any prospective client or business associate. Great article. Stumbled, Tweeted and FB’d. Paul

Thank you for this nice article!

Great article, Michael. I have seen my Klout score rise as I have interacted with others and fall when I was away on vacation, “Off the Grid”. I agree with you about keeping a positive approach online. This works well regardless of Klout. Other points of yours were wise advice, even without regard to Klout.

I gave you a +K in Blogging because Social Media wasn’t an option. Well done.

wow I don’t follow ANY of those rules, that I know of or at least on purpose.
I don’t pay attention to the numbers.
Build your community, tweet what makes you happy, be respectful to others and HAVE FUN.

Also
Tell the truth, Make it Matter and Never Be Boring.

Love to you micheal….great post

oh and PS don’t forget to eat your wheaties xo (thats what my momma always tells me) xo

Love this post! So simple. I completely agree with all points, especially the part about being positive. People really want to be inspired and entertained on social media, so staying positive is critical to building a respectable online reputation. I also like that you made a point of being on social media consistently for only 30 minutes a day. That’s do-able!

Question:

Create content every day. What does that entail? Are we talking Tweets or other fast-to-produce content or are we talking bigger pieces like Blog, podcast, YouTube?

Whatever you can manage Robert! Tweets and FB updates are content though definetely

Thanks Jessica
This means a lot to me and I am learning a lot from you every day

This article assumes that you should focus on growing your Klout score. This misses the point. Be helpful, open and friendly on Twitter and other social networks and your Klout score will take care of itself.

You could of easily titled this post “How to Succeed on Twitter”. Klout should not be a goal in and of itself.

My big challenge started right at the top with #1. I’m a huge sports fan and I like to engage socially around the topic I most enjoy so many of my posts pertain to that. Life has also taken me in some odd directions. I own two companies in completely separate industries. So that’s three areas of expertise that I could talk about. And finally, I just want to be myself online which means talking about whatever I want, whenever I want. I don’t want to have to stick to a particular area of expertise. I also don’t want to maintain multiple Twitter accounts. It’s been fun to watch Klout evolve, but this is an area that they (and Twitter) really need to address. (Twitter lists have helped to an extent, but ideally, it would be nice if I could select a niche when making a post. Then people could either choose to follow me in general or just follow a particular niche of mine.)

Thanks for posting! As always you post great info!

Thanks for your kind comments! What would you add?

Haha Russell if I had called it that nobody would have read it. There have been thousands of articles called that. Of course my post has nothing to do with increasing your score

Thanks so much Carolyn! Social Media is an option but you have to click “view all” on the right

You are very welcome Bart

You are very welcome Bart

Great to be connected to you on Empire Avenue and FB Paul. Actually my post has little to with Klout. Just used the headline to get it read

Thank you. I agree with being positive. I almost wrote something negative about the negativity.

I already commented on Facebook:

Very cool Michael. The only top I’m not 100% with you is the “always positive” Even if I sacrifice my Klout score but I am doing pretty well when I post very controversial and polarizing posts. And as such the only thing I would add to your post:

Be YOU – rather sacrifice your Klout Score then your identity!
I wouldn’t want to be a slave of a system just for some virtual points .

Thank you so much for this advice. I’ve got a question, maybe you can answer? You mentioned making sure to thank all who mention you. Well, what would you suggest to someone who gets mentioned hundreds and hundreds of times a day…now I’m certainly not being conceited here bc these ‘mentions’ are no more than just that, users who group my name with a bunch of others (using automated shout out helpers). These ‘shouts’ are usually nothing more than a way to get followers. I used to feel obligated to thank each and every one but I realized by doing so, I just brought on more of these types of mentions (clutter). I still thank every 1 out of 10 (which has lessened the craziness a bit) but I did realize that since I have stopped cluttering my own stream with these Thank You’s, my Klout score has in fact dropped. As well, I have started following more people back…this too has lowered my Klout score. So basically, your tips are great but I feel like I’ve gotten myself into a unusual situation that I can’t seem to figure out the best way to ‘exit’…any suggestions?

I cannot see the point of thanking anything automated Meredith. Nor doing it. I do do not even know what an “automated shout out helper” is. Twitter for me has always been a conversation. My post is mainly about facebook anyway. If you focus on facebook I think your klout score will rise.

Thanks Knikkolette

Yes Axel it may seem good to attract these people but are they going to be long term supporters and promoters of you and what they do?

Mike are you going to do an update to reflect the nwe scoring regime??

Great blog Michael.

This is very good advice Michael. Thank you for sharing.

Consistency and interaction is what makes for successful social media. Thank you for sharing those points, spot on.

Great points! Appreciate your expertise!

These people at Klout have quite a racket going, you could ask a toddler to pick a number between 1 and 100, the result would be as meaningful as a Klout score.

fabulous Michael, you really are a star

Great tips in general for good practice on social media…seems like Klout would just be another by-product of following them. #3 is especially spot on; I do try to do this, nice to see it articulated so clearly.

Great post! I completely agree w/you. The more i use social media, the more i realise that it’s really about being thankful for RT, likes, and so on. So easy to be listened at if you show you are a good listener too