Every day, you are either influencing or being influenced by someone. From conversations to chatting on social media, what you say has the potential to influence people. Your words, your text, your attitude and your actions are all influence carriers.

Have you ever sent a text message to the wrong person? Do you know the feeling you get when you realize you texted Jack instead of Jackie? Or you texted your boss instead of your friend? Let me guess… it’s awkward!! This is because your words carry value, this value has the potential to influence people’s thoughts or even how they feel about you.

Lets face it, we all have influence upon our selves, our futures and upon others whether we embrace it or not. I am going to share with you 3 tips to becoming a greater influencer.

But just before that, what is influence?

Influence is the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of someone.

Even better, influence is the capacity to add value to someone.

Influence is about others, it’s about making others better. It is not position, because position is only a platform for your influence. .

Have you ever noticed that people who influence you the most are those who genuinely care about you the most, not those who care about themselves the most? If you truly desire to become a person of greater influence, here are the 3 tips.

1. Value people.

Influence is adding value to people, if you want to add value to others, you must value them first. Care about them, know them and connect with them. When you genuinely value people, they will feel it and will easily be open to listen to you with less or no resistance.

People will sit up and take notice of you if you will sit up and take notice of what makes them sit up and take notice. ~Frank Romer

2. Value what they value.

I am passionate about music, I love music!! when someone asks me about my music, it’s so easy for me to talk about it because l know what l am talking about. When you value what the person you would like to influence values, you give them confidence to open up to you. That’s their sweet spot. Talking about what they are confident about allows them to freely express themselves .

Maybe you are not a music person, great that’s the whole point. The fact that you don’t naturally care about music but you care that they care about music wins you an opportunity to make it about them not yourself.

3. Become valuable to them.

I have met many people in life but l only have kept close to those who l believe make me a better person by adding value to me. It could be as simple as… they make me laugh, they believe in me, they bring out the best in me. Or they like to do the things that l like. I am very conscious when I say this… Of course …

Every person is valuable, but not every person is valuable to where you are in life.

If you want to be a person of greater influence, you have to become valuable to those you want to influence.

How do you do that?

Meet them where they are: in life and help them become better. Invest in yourself: You cannot give what you do not have. The more you grow yourself, the more you have the capacity to grow others. Be successful: Sometimes people don’t just need the nice words, they need help (Financially or leadership) When you become successful yourself, you can show them how you did it.

A person of great influence becomes a product of the product first. #smokewhatyousell

Finally, how do you influence someone you look up to?

If influence is adding value to others, there should be a way of adding value to even those you look up to. There is a way.

Value them Value what they value Be successful. But this time, use what they have taught you or inspired you with and be successful.

I promise, everyone likes to hear a success story that they had a hand in. By becoming successful you make them successful people.

So, there you go, take this truth and become a person of greater influence.