So you want to be an influencer. Whether you follow Technorati for trends on what’s next in digital influence, or your aim is to be ‘discoverable’ as a social media influencer, you’re going to have to put in work to get there. The following 25 steps will get you on your way to being an influencer in your chosen field.

25 Steps To Becoming A Digital Influencer

1. Be patient. This won’t happen overnight. It will take years of effort and commitment (yes, years).
2. Don’t obsess over sites like Klout, Kred, and PeerIndex. (Seriously, visiting once a day will not help your score).
3. Be generous. Share your knowledge and expertise freely.
4. Have a great idea? Give it away.
5. Build Twitter lists of people in your field you admire. Learn from them.
6. Proactively build a diverse network.
7. Find blogs of thought leaders in your industry. Comment on them. Share them with your network.
8. Don’t obsess over your social media follower numbers.
9. Be a voracious reader of blogs, books, trends, etc in your industry. Share what you find.
10. Obsess over your social media follower numbers (sigh).
11. Remember not to obsess over your social media numbers.
12. Join Twitter chats in your industry.
13. Find conferences and events to attend. Make a point to meet some of your social media connections who will attend. Have coffee / beers / conversation with them.
14. Be real. Don’t get so focused on your personal brand you lose the person. Personality counts (unless you’re a jerk).
15. Don’t be a jerk.
16. Join LinkedIn Groups in your field and share your wisdom.
17. Look for any and all opportunities to speak at conferences (virtual counts).
18. Start a blog (If you’re at least a decent writer, and have ideas to share. Guest blogging counts).
19. Be generous. Share your knowledge and expertise freely (again).
20. Join Quora. Follow and answer questions in your field of expertise.
21. Write a book (see #18).
22. Did you do something really cool and innovative in your space? Share how you did it, and what you learned (back to the ‘give it away’ theme).
23. Help people in your space for no reason other than wanting them to benefit from your experience.
24. Thank people who help you along the way
25. Be generous. Share your knowledge and expertise freely (yes, this is a constant theme).

Did I leave any off that you feel are important characteristics of a digital influencer? Share in the comments!