Start-up Fever

There’s not a lot of topics that I get excited about enough to talk about incessantly though if you follow me on Twitter you know that Android is one of those topics I’m most passionate about. 

Lately I’ve found myself going on about a few companies to just about anyone who will listen, both online and off.

I’ve talked up baristas about Klout. I’ve gone on about Square to just about everyone I know. Recently I’ve discovered Wahooly which is a perfect match for the enthusiasm in which I spout on about products and services that I truly love.

If you’re in any social media circles at all, you’ve probably heard about Klout.

Love it or hate it, Klout wants to be the Nielsen ratings of social media influence. Klout measures a persons social media influence in particular topics based on how much content you create, how much action your content drives and some other secret mix of herbs and spices that at the very least have people talking. 

Those users who actually opt into the service tend to be a very passionate group of people who in some cases get in an uproar when they see a drop in their Klout score akin to webmasters when Google does an algorithm change that makes their site drop out of the top 10 results.

While I’m not quite that extreme, I do like to keep up to date with my score and what topics Klout thinks I’m influential about and what others think I’m influential about, so I combined my passion for Android and Klout and created this app to check my score. 

What really made me sit up and pay attention to my score was a recent perk to get in with a company called Wahooly. 

Wahooly and Klout partnered to give a select group of influencers (those with a Klout Score of 35 or higher) the opportunity to get a piece of the “next big thing”.

Wahooly lets you turn your social influence into equity by becoming a brand ambassador and I love this idea. I love this idea so much that I almost want to do the opposite and keep it a well guarded secret.

I’ve read a few posts from different detractors talking about how they question if promoting start-ups in this manner is a conflict of interest but I think they fail to see the big picture (and also assume that people are mindless automatons).

Marketers get paid every day to push products and services in your face that they could care less about - to me, that should be a conflict of interest. They are telling you a story based on market research. Most start-ups don’t have years of market data to rely on and take a huge risk trying to make it.

If you’re truly excited about a product or service I think that enthusiasm will come out naturally and your followers will see that in your writing. Social media users as a whole tend to be a pretty savvy bunch who catch on quickly and if you’re not being genuine, you’re users will see through that. 

So if you have a Klout score over 35 and want to turn your social influence into some equity, you should check out the Wahooly perk and join me in getting a piece of the next big thing! Sign up at Wahooly.com