What You’re Missing if You Don’t have Klout

The Internet is a beautiful thing when the average people can tout their clout without getting involved in some phony oil investment scams, or pyramid schemes. One of the coolest new ways to see how powerful you are and how others stack up is through Klout, a free tool for measuring peoples’ influence online.

What Is Klout?

Launched in September 2009, the San Francisco-based company founded by Joe Fernandez and Binh Tran, uses a scientific formula based on your professional and personal internet connections to develop a “score” from 1-100 on how far your influence reaches.

My personal Klout score is a respectable 50—but there is room for improvement.

More about The Klout Score

The Klout score is based on true reach, amplification and network impact.

True Reach is the number of people you influence. So make those tweets and posts count. You can sync most of your social networks with Klout to boost your score and gain points from poignant updates. Hey, they can even be controversial—just don’t go off the deep end.

Amplification is how you influence people. Are people moved enough by your content to pass it on? If so, you might have a high amplification score.

Network refers to people with whom you associate online. It might behoove you to link up with some movers and shakers here. They don’t have to know you’re just using them to boost your Klout score. That can be our little secret.

Linking Klout To Your Social Networks

Boost your power by linking your social networks to Klout! The following are social media platforms compatible with Klout: Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Foursquare, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Blogger, Last.fm, Flickr, and WordPress.

What’s In It for Me?

The higher your Klout score, the more swag you score. In my instance, I am eligible for 50 “free” business cards from MOO, shipping and handling not included. Ok, so that’s nothing too crazy, but I did earn a $10 credit at ScoreBig.com, a discounted theater, concert, sports ticket site. I also am eligible for a complimentary one-year subscription to Red Bulletin, a magazine featuring travel, art and music, to name a few—so I might take them up on that.

Klout claims that some companies pay to get in contact with users who have a high Klout score in order to give them free merchandise to further spread the positive word about their company. Klout even claims that some influencers earn “sweet perks like laptops and airline tickets.” Hmm…I wonder how many people one has to influence to get in on that action. You might need to be a Justin Bieber to score that kind of swag, but it can’t hurt to try now, can it?