First off, if you don’t know who Louis Gray is, go check out his blog or FriendFeed right now. Louis Gray is one of the most active Tweeters, FriendFeeders or whatever you want to call it. He covers all kinds of emerging trends and technologies from online to offline tools.
Some days I don’t have time to look at all my RSS feeds or everyone’s messages on Twitter, but I do make time to check out what Louis Gray thought was important. He is one of my trusted sources. He is an influencer. Whatever you want to call him, I really appreciate what he does.
Online Influence
One story I like to tell is about how everyone has a handyman in their neighborhood that they ask for advice on what tools to buy. He has a shop and makes all kinds of stuff. He built his own fence and reroofs his house. You know he is going to give you good advice about the tools you are looking to buy, and you listen to what he has to say.
I like this story, because the Internet is finally getting to that point. I can find people like Louis Gray to tell me about new products or services, and I trust their opinion and want to know what they have to say about new trends around the net.
Louis Gray isn’t the only person I have found that provides me great content all the time, but he is one of the best at it (in my opinion). Depending on what type of information you are looking for, you will find different people who influence that area. This means you might have to dig a little to find the influencer in your area of interest.
How To Get Influencers’ Updates
There are many ways to get updates from your favorite influencer. A lot of times it depends on what services they use. FriendFeed is the best place to start (although it may not be soon), because anyone worth following their updates should be on there.
The other great thing about going to FriendFeed is that links to all their other profiles are there. You could follow their Twitter, Google Reader shared items, FriendFeed links or whatever you see fit. I recommend the services I just mentioned as the best place to start, but different people are active on different services, so be open to other networks as well.
Conclusion
Finding a great influencer like Louis Gray can make you much more efficient. I always feel up to date by checking his updates. Influencers are great at keeping you up to date on any topic you like. All you have to do is find the right person in that space.
Who do you follow? Who is important to you? Who influences you on a regular basis?
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September 2nd, 2009 at 2:30 am
You are too kind, Kyle. Thanks for writing this up and for following my activity everywhere. I knew there was a reason I was spending all this time!
This comment was originally posted on FriendFeed