How I discovered The Upfluencer Formula
A Journey that started almost Twenty Years ago ...
Something momentous occurred in my hometown of Berlin 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗽 and overnight the world reversed their stereotypes about the German people
This was such a liberating experience for myself that I started a research project that would 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳-𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 and see me publish a book on “How Germany won the World Cup of Nation Branding”
Somehow this book made its way into the hands of the South African President Thabo Mbeki and I was 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 helping the 2010 hosts to achieve a similar turnaround of Destination Branding
This is when I discovered 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 – being the first and for a long time only voice in the media to advocate President Mbeki’s Brand Promise of “hosting the most successful World Cup ever’
Unbeknown to me at the time, I happened to activate the most fundamental 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆, the Principle of Reciprocation - which means you have to
❶ Be the FIRST to Give and
❷ What you give is UNEXPECTED and
❸ Highly PERSONALIZED
When you turn your focus from yourself to others, both in business and in life, doors will open that 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 – from Company Directorships to TEDx talks across the World & Industry Awards
And the best Way to win 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 and build deeply meaningful Relationships that will last you a lifetime, is to elevate others before you elevate yourself
When I applied Reciprocation in my own life (and business) I was able to
❶ build a 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 (on the likes of CNBC and Carte Blanche)
❷ help South Africa achieve the 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 in the history of the FIFA World Cup (92%)
❸ develop Strategic Relationships with Global Leaders, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁, Olympian Athlete and one of the most celebrated World Record Holders
❹ enable a Consulting Client of mine to grow their Business 𝟭𝟬𝗫 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟬 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀
❺ propel my FIFA World Cup Book to Bestseller Status with ½ 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗲𝘀 in Print
When I started to apply Reciprocation on LinkedIn and promote others rather than myself, I earned 𝟱.𝟳𝟱 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 Views in 10 Months
The Upfluencer™ Series
What is an Upfluencer?
What does the Upfluencer do?
What does the Upfluencer do?
What does the Upfluencer do?
What does the Upfluencer do?
What does the Upfluencer do?
The Rise of the Fakefluencer
What does the Upfluencer do?
The Rise of the Fakefluencer
The Upfluencer & Brands
What drives the Upfluencer?
The Rise of the Fakefluencer
What drives the Upfluencer?
What drives the Upfluencer?
What drives the Upfluencer?
The Power of Co-creation
What drives the Upfluencer?
What drives the Upfluencer?
The Upfluencer™ Formula
Keystone 1: Your Hero's Journey
Keystone 3: Your Messaging Pillars
Keystone 2: Your BIG 5 Questions
- Deciphering Your Leadership Archetype
- Determining Your Leadership EmotiVator
- Spelling out Your Leadership Storybrand
Keystone 2: Your BIG 5 Questions
Keystone 3: Your Messaging Pillars
Keystone 2: Your BIG 5 Questions
- What do you stand for?
- What do you stand against?
- What is your Superpower / Special Gift?
- What is your Origin Story?
- What is your Weakness / Vulnerability?
Keystone 3: Your Messaging Pillars
Keystone 3: Your Messaging Pillars
Keystone 4: Discover Your Archetype
for example these are my Key Messaging Pillars:
- The Secret of Life is Elevation (that is to elevate others)
- The Future depends on our collective Humanity & how we treat each other
- To be truly successful, you have to transform yourself from the Go-Getter into the Go-Giver
Keystone 4: Discover Your Archetype
Keystone 5: Decipher Your EmotiVator
Keystone 4: Discover Your Archetype
Carl Jung discovered the 12 ultimate personality types that are crucial to building a strong personal brand.
To learn more about Archetypes, have a look here
Keystone 5: Decipher Your EmotiVator
Keystone 5: Decipher Your EmotiVator
Keystone 5: Decipher Your EmotiVator
There are Seven Drivers of Motivational Intelligence, the so-called EmotiVators, that drive us in our lives and our careers
Keystone 6: Develop Your Storybrand
Keystone 5: Decipher Your EmotiVator
Keystone 5: Decipher Your EmotiVator
It is vitally important to communicate your personal brand on LinkedIn via Storybranding.
Done correctly, a Storybrand creates a very powerful emotional connection with your LinkedIn audience and helps to communicate your Success Story in a very compelling manner.
Upfluencer™ Outcome 1: Getting a Seat at the Table
Upfluencer™ Outcome 2: Constructing Your Leadership Legacy
Upfluencer™ Outcome 2: Constructing Your Leadership Legacy
One of the biggest challenges for chair persons of company boards is to reconcile the many egos and strongly held opinions of board members.
More than one chair has told me that a key characteristic they are looking for in prospective board members is the ability to put your ego second and place the interests of the collective first.
By demonstrating that you are an Upfluencer and actively elevating others rather than just yourself, you are a more likely candidate at the top table (and even job interviews).
Upfluencer™ Outcome 2: Constructing Your Leadership Legacy
Upfluencer™ Outcome 2: Constructing Your Leadership Legacy
Upfluencer™ Outcome 2: Constructing Your Leadership Legacy
Contrary to popular belief, there is no one single leadership model that works universally.
Whether you are leading a corporate team, a sports team or even a country team, cultural differences and situational specifics demand that your leadership is shaped by the collective input of your team.
Possibly the number one imperative in leadership stipulates that people support what they create.
This is why empowering your team to co-create the roadmap to victory, will enable full buy-in from your team members and build your leadership legacy one project at a time.
Upfluencer™ Outcome 3: Becoming a Global Thought Leader
Upfluencer™ Outcome 2: Constructing Your Leadership Legacy
Upfluencer™ Outcome 3: Becoming a Global Thought Leader
When you are upfluencing other industry leaders and advocating a shared cause rather than your own, you will be seen as the one who takes your industry into the future, doors will open that you did not even know existed – from
- Company Directorships to
- TEDx talks across the World and
- Industry Awards
What I learnt from Trending 100+ times on LinkedIn™
What does 'Trending on LinkedIn™' mean
Analyzing what REALLY drives Your Audience
What does 'Trending on LinkedIn™' mean
As you will see below, some of my Upfluencer Stories earned 600k+ and many 100k+ views - and engaged more than 7.5m viewers on LinkedIn™ .
However, becoming an Upfluencer is not a competition but rather about the impact you make on other peoples' lives.
Therefore, in this context, going viral refers to posts that have reached 10,000+ members on the professional network (which is significant reach on the LinkedIn™ platform)
Understanding the NEW Algorithm
Analyzing what REALLY drives Your Audience
What does 'Trending on LinkedIn™' mean
The NEW LinkedIn ™ Algorithm only works when you do - in other words, unless your content is engaging and speaks to the real needs of your audience, the algorithm will not increase but rather decrease your reach.
That is why it is vitally important that you analyze your audience and decipher the psychographics of what they truly are looking for at a deeper level.
These are the four hurdles to clear when you post ...
Analyzing what REALLY drives Your Audience
Analyzing what REALLY drives Your Audience
Analyzing what REALLY drives Your Audience
Here are the questions you need to ask (and research) if you want to write content that connects with your audience and motivates them to respond positively (based on the Seven Drivers of Motivational Intelligence):
❶ Assurance: How can you reassure them that there is a brighter future awaiting them?
❷ Challenge: How can you challenge them positively to keep going when the chips are down?
❸ Connection: How can you make them feel more connected to the universal values of Truth, Goodness, Unity and Aliveness (as Maslow posited)?
❹ Significance: How can you make them feel more significant in what they are trying to achieve?
Rather than just focusing on problems and painpoints as other marketers do, appeal to the hopes and aspirations of your audience - and always be uplifting.
This is how I managed to earn more than 10 million content views on the professional network in 36 months (see the full list below).
Once you have deciphered what truly motivates your audience, in business as much as in their lives,
Choosing Your Hashtags Wisely
Professional News beats Breaking News
Analyzing what REALLY drives Your Audience
Create your content with specific LinkedIn hashtags in mind.
Linkedin content is categorised into Linkedin Hashtags that members follow.
The number of followers vary widely by each hashtag (e.g. #leadership is followed by 3,252,820 LinkedIn Members).
Hashtags allow Linkedin users to “listen” to topics that matter most to them, and in turn, create a better engagement for you.
Leveraging The Power of Inspiration
Professional News beats Breaking News
Professional News beats Breaking News
As you will have noticed, it is getting harder and harder to earn your aidence's attention through information - just talking about your product, even their painpoints and solutions.
Buyers have turned off against the flood of information and we are all suffering from an information overwhelm.
If you want to reach the hearts & minds of your audience, there is no better tool than inspiration - we all need to our daily dose of inspiration and people will remember you for a long time if you uplifted their spirits.
And you never know where your next opportunity might come from - some of my best opportunities came from people outside my buyer's spectrum who opened doors I did not ever know existed.
Professional News beats Breaking News
Professional News beats Breaking News
Professional News beats Breaking News
The Italians have a saying that goes like this "Qui va piano, va sano e va lontano" (The one who goes slowly, goes well and far)
The average life time of a viral post on LinkedIn™ is 4-7 days - after which views drop off dramatically
However, contrary to the algorithm, inspirational post kept picking up speed day after day, even after a full week - which indicates that good news that celebrates humanity and inspires us to embrace the goodness of others, can outlast the daily frenzy of breaking news and hyped news alerts.
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 7 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 14 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 14 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 14 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 14 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 14 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 28 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 14 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 28 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 90 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 365 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 28 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 365 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 365 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 365 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
2,572 New Followers & 3,426 Profile Views (in 90 Days)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 365 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
Dr Nik's Content Performance over 365 Days (as of 1 September 2024)
