Your Numbers Are Something, But Not Everything

There have been several discussions lately about the significance of the numbers like Klout and PeerIndex. Jennifer James created a list of the mom bloggers with Klout over 40 and she interviewed the founder of PeerIndex. This sparked a lot of the recent conversations. I wrote about Klout being the new followers number, but I wanted to expand on the importance of these numbers.

I agree with Mizz Information that these numbers are not everything. Numbers do not show whether you are a hard worker, a good writer or reliable. Mizz Information and I disagree about whether the numbers matter at all. The numbers do have a place. You need to start somewhere.  If your numbers generally are higher in several indicators, it’s more likely that you are more influential. Not always, but a place to start. From there, you need to dig deeper.

No number replaces networking and hard work. You need to put yourself out there. Even if you have the best numbers, you need to make connections. You can not live by numbers alone. You can not expect PR and brands to find you if you don’t put yourself out there. The A-Listers did not get to where they are by waiting to be found.

The importance of numbers is driven by the client. Management loves numbers, therefore, they do matter because people look at them. I would prefer to know what people are seeing about me, so that I can complete the picture myself. The reason you see so many different numbers is because no one number is perfect.

(Resource: Jay Baer wrote an excellent post at the Social Media Explorer today about 6 Social Media Success Metrics You Need to Track)

But it’s YOU that makes and keeps those relationships. If you have really high numbers, but you are always late, you can’t write and never follow through, things may happen, but they won’t continue. You need to be able to back up those numbers with hard work.

If you feel the numbers do not give the whole picture about you, then complete the picture. Add a media kit to your blog and add the parts of the picture that are missing. Be sure your profile page is complete with the whole picture.

Do not let the numbers be the entire picture!

Let’s Talk! What are your thoughts on numbers? Do you feel your numbers are an accurate picture of you? What do you do to complete the picture?