Tony Hughes published a list of his top 100 strategic social sellers – “Unicorn’s” in Tony’s parlance. I was connected to three of them when I read the article, but I was curious about how they made the list and what contributions they made to their followers, so I invited each of them to connect with me. This turned into a meta-social-knowledge acceleration program.

Over the three days I pushed out invitations nearly half accepted my request within twenty-four hours. Twenty-five percent of the time I found their email addresses somewhere in their profiles, in a few other cases I dug it out from blogs or company websites. For the majority I simply indicated they were a “friend” and sent a two sentence email: “I’m a Tony Hughes fan and found you on his Unicorn list. I’d like to connect with you on LinkedIn and follow your work.” It doesn’t get easier than that.

Eleven people sent me a “thank you” email, and most were personalized, but also included highlights and links to additional resources they created for people related to social media, linkedIn, sales force training, and other powerful content. I received several offers to write guest posts on blogs, and found one connection ten minutes from my house – we’ve already made plans to meet in-person.  Craig Elias actually called me while I was still cranking out requests. We had a powerful conversation on a range of topics. His “Trigger Event Selling” process resonated for me and I’m looking forward to spending more time to incorporate his ideas into my work.

Their generosity wasn’t confined to LinkedIn – it spilled onto Twitter where I generated eight new follows. Profile views on LinkedIn generated activity on my website when viewers clicked on links to articles only available on paullaherty.com. Celina Guerrero even commented on my latest article on LinkedIn.

This is an accomplished bunch – they didn’t make the list by sitting around to catch up on television. Most have authored one or many books, host their own blogs or websites, all of them are active on social media, and only a few have conventional W-2 jobs. Several have sales training backgrounds including with Miller Heiman and the Anthony Robbins Companies. Several lead social media or sales force effectiveness teams at bigger companies. They’re Act-On, Infusionsoft, and Hubspot fans. Pipeliner CRM actually has four people on the list, while only four or five were official LinkedIn Influencers, two are current LinkedIn employees. As a group they’re deeply curious – since the tools and techniques they’re expert in didn’t exist when they started their careers. They are selfless givers who recognize the rewards for help and knowledge freely given allows them to earn income from the trade-secrets and valuable approaches locked away for the exclusive use of their paying customers.

Here’s the big secret – great content isn’t always behind a pay wall and it doesn’t have to come from a book.

1. Craig Elias’ “Trigger Event Selling” – A powerful framework to focus people who are ready to buy – don’t waste any more time.
2. Aaron Ross’ “Why Sales People Shouldn’t Prospect” – This is a goldmine and should be read by anyone who doesn’t have sales experience but touches the process.
3. Jill Konrath – From Topsalesworld, “Why Half-Baked Ideas are Perfect Sales Conversation“
4. I’m already a huge Colleen Francis fan and subscribe to coaching content at EngageSelling.com, but she provides free resources there too, and it’s always relevant and professional.
5. Michael Brenner published “How to create an army of social contributors (for free)” It’s excellent – and I recommend another project he was involved with, Business 2 Community.

During my call with Craig we discussed techniques – I asked him what he would have done earlier – and he explained how useful webinars could be to reach people. He suggested two ways to increase participant list size and engagement: first, partner with a company that wants to promote a product or service, to provide the foundation; next, find other experts who complement your skills to fill in gaps or expand the  scope. Great advice. Did I mention it was free? And he called me – all I had to do was answer the phone from a number I didn’t recognize. We’re old friends now.

Anything is possible if you just focus on how. Thank you Tony Hughes!

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Paul’s talk – “Personal Branding and Digital Footprints” is a discussion about how people connect, learn, and grow. He introduces ideas and techniques you can apply to achieve your goals, enhance your career, and help other people along the way.

Paul Laherty leads Deloitte’s relationship with several major airlines. Over the past fifteen years he’s led teams in Sales, Marketing, and Finance at American Airlines, Advito, Travelocity, Diio, and Cornerstone Information Systems. Paul’s an instrument-rated pilot, writer, speaker, world-traveler, former Army Officer, a husband, and father.  He helps people and organizations achieve significance, travel safely, and think differently. Paul publishes at paullaherty.com, and is open to connecting on LinkedIn at LinkedIn/paullaherty, or twitter @paul_laherty.