Influencers.  Today we think of them in the context ofsocial media.  As an agent or advisor, we can think aboutCenters of Influence in many ways. They might bepeople who advise others.  They can also be people whoknow other people.  People who can get you access to otherpeople.  People who can get someone to do something foryou as a favor to them.  Instead of looking at COI's fromthe inside out, it's a smarter strategy to become one of theminstead.  It's not that hard.

1.  LinkedIn. Work to build your network of1st level connections.  Avoid the bruteforce strategy of hiring a service that will send anonymousmessages to hundreds or thousands, expecting a smallreturn.  Look at your contacts.  Invite them toconnect.  Look at people in your industry.  Howmany people do you know in common?  Invite them. Make an effort to get to know them.  Renewrelationships.
2. Meet people socially. Whenever you attend communityevents, try to meet six new people.  Identify interests incommon.  When appropriate, exchange contactinformation.  Take notes afterwards.  This workswell if you treat them as the most interesting person in theroom.
3. Meet the kids andparents.  With clients,we think of selling up and selling down.  With closefriends, take an interest in the next and previousgeneration.
4. Renew vacationconnections.  You madefriends on holiday.  Keep up with them.  Duringthe pandemic, we had an excellent network.  We knew fromfirsthand reports on the ground how the lockdown was happening inseveral countries across five continents.
5. Send holiday cards. You might think it's fallen out offavor, but a Christmas card and a holiday letter keep connectionsfresh.

Using your influencer skills

An advisor in the Boston area hada friend who just lost his job.  We would consider it aspecialized field.  The fellow asked the advisor, "Who doyou know in the field?"  The advisor took the timeto connect him with someone in his network.  Theconnection turned into a job for the friend.  The advisorwas now an influencer.