The Concept of Influencers

 

While the goal of this blog is to help develop the networking capabilities of gay, Asian men, one of its perks is access to a growing network of influential individuals. I say growing because the network doesn't exist yet. But it will if you help build it. Let's put it this way, you help build it, you'll have access to it.

 

And while building such a network sounds like a daunting task, many believe it's not a matter of getting thousands of members. Far fewer. The idea, as documented by this pyramid above, is to gather a small number of the right individuals.

 

Who are these individuals? Before we discuss that, think about how most people make big decisions. Rather than go about the research themselves, they ask a trusted advisor, a friend, relative or coworker. That "laziness" is a characteristic in a vast majority of shoppers.

 

A level above that lazy group is a much smaller bunch of knowledgeable advisors (the in-the-know friends, relatives and coworkers). Let's call them "prosumers," where they are interested in testing things out, discovering what's good and bad and living on that "bleeding edge." In this chart above, they're 7% of the population.

 

Then there's the 1% who advise or "influence" those prosumers. Let's call them "influencers." They're magazine writers, bloggers, journalists who actively investigate and compare goods. They help guide prosumers who actively seek their direction and advice.

 

Gay Yakuza can serve a purpose in gathering influencers and prosumers among the gay, Asian male community.

 

Why only GAMs (or mostly GAMs)?

 

Esteem-building reasons aside, its all about generating empathy and creating solid, niche groups. By creating defined, niche groups, we can eventually solicit underwriting for our activities. Think of niches like suburban chicken farmers, soccer moms or celebrity cat lovers. These niches define themselves by common interest, aspirations and motivations--all of which are important insights to manufacturers and service providers.

 

Stick with me here. If we first of all, agree to create this group, we could develop a set of lifestyle mantras that can pique the interest of manufacturers and service providers. If we can convince them we're influencers or have access to them, we can convince them to underwrite us.

 

For instance, say we found 10 like-minded GAMs who have a history of gathering others for parties, fundraisers, business ventures, picnics, whatever. We meet in an online conversation and agree that impeccable style is one of our common traits. We could find a retailer (online or brick-and-mortar) that our missions overlap. Maybe it's a Nordstrom's. Maybe it's Amazon.com. So it would make perfect sense for them to underwrite any activity we choose to take part in--be it a national conference or an online webisode. If we budgeted right, I'm sure we could immediately secure a $50,000 underwriter.

 

Think about it.