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Our Klout Stars series highlights top influencers and how they got to where they are today.

About: I’ve started and sold several companies. I’ve also failed brilliantly at several others. I write for the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and TechCrunch. I write for my own blog, jamesaltucher.com. I’ve published eight books, including 2 self-published (the last one was “I Was Blind But Now I See”) and one that was a comic book based on my blog (probably the first comic ever based on a blog).

1. How did you get started in social media?
I’ve been on Facebook since the beginning. In August 2007, I wrote a column suggesting Facebook would be worth $100 billion at some point and the amount of hate mail I got was staggering. I’ve been on Twitter almost since it was started. I usually try every social media platform that comes out. Working on my own ideas as well.

Expanding my profile in social media literally made me “social.” I made friends. Friends introduced me to other people. My “social network” became my real network. This real network expanded my investment opportunities, my self-publishing of my last two books (which never would’ve been possible without social media), the opportunities of my blog, and businesses I’ve been building that I have yet to officially launch. Without the trust afforded by an ever-increasing social/real network none of this would’ve been possible.

2. What role does social media play in your current job or industry?
Everyone in the tech industry connects via social media. This is a new cultural artifact. We all want to be around people who inspire us. 200 years ago we were limited to the people who lived next door to us. 100 years ago we were limited to the people we could take a train to and perhaps make a telegraph to (or rarer, a phone call). Now there are no limitations. We have 7 billion people we can reach out to due to social media.

3. What does influence mean to you? Who influences you the most online?
In general, I like to be around people who inspire me and uplift me. I think all people should seek that in their lives. Even 20 years ago we were limited in our inspirational choices by who was in our immediate vicinity. Social media has given us the gift of choosing our friends among the 800 million people out there who have signed up social networks. So influence for me is a direct measure of A.) how I am helping people and B.) my potential to be around people who can inspire me. And this is never going away. For the rest of our lives we will have more and more opportunities to help and, in turn, to be uplifted, by the friends we meet through our influence in social media.

Who influences me the most online? So many people it’s hard to list them all. I feel so grateful to be born in a time where I can turn on the computer and be instantly transported to a world filled with so many inspirational people that I never would have otherwise known or even been aware of. Friendship has layers and not everyone who influences you will become a “friend” but so far, several have and I am also grateful for that.

4. What advice do you have for someone who wants to take their online presence to the next level?
Three things: Bleed, Tell a Story, Provide Value that can’t be found anywhere else.

Connect with James on Twitter at @jaltucher

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Our Klout Stars series highlights top influencers and how they got to where they are today.

About: Ben Lang is the 18-year-old founder of EpicLaunch and MySchoolHelp. He’s now working on the marketing team at Wibiya, a platform for adding social features to your site. Ben sometimes contributes to Business Insider, Mashable and TechCrunch.

1.How did you get started in social media?
When I was 14 I started an eBay selling business and was looking for ways to gain more clients. I played around with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and started to understand how powerful they were in finding potential clients. Over the past few years I’ve continued to use social media as a means to stay connected to my network, build relationships and essentially learn about the world.

2. What role does social media play in your current job or industry?
Currently, at Wibiya, social media plays a huge role in my job. It’s the most powerful way for me to engage with our users and easily connect with the community we’ve built. Through different tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and now even Pinterest we engage the community in different ways and in the most effective manner possible. The fact that our product incorporates all of these social services on to one bar for anyone to customize and add to their site, makes it even more important for us to stay constantly be connected with out users through these channels.

3. What does influence mean to you? Who influences you the most online?
Influence to me means a huge amount of effective engagement with others. People such as Gary Vaynerchuck, Hiten Shah, Jack Dorsey, Eric Reis and Dharmesh Shah influence me every day by sharing fascinating content and responding to their followers through channels such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and more.

4. What advice do you have for someone who wants to take their online presence to the next level?
The simplest way to get started is by finding influential and interesting people in your niche. Find their profiles on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, About.me, LinkedIn, Tumblr and all the rest and see what they’re doing. Who they’re talking to. What they’re sharing. Use them as inspiration.

Focus on what interests you and start sharing everything that comes up in that niche. Start a Tumblr or WordPress blog and share your experiences and what you learn. Build your authority by guest posting on other blogs in the same area.

Connect with people that are passionate about the same things as you. The more you progress the more influential you’ll become in your niche.

Connect with Ben on Twitter at @Benln

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Our Klout Stars series highlights top influencers and how they got to where they are today.

About: Beth Kanter has worked in the nonprofit sector for 32 years and has been a Visiting Scholar at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation since 2009. She has worked with nonprofit networks and has trained thousands of nonprofit organizations in all areas around the world on using technology for socially-driven impact. Beth is the author of Beth’s Blog and co-author of the book, The Networked Nonprofit, She is also getting ready to publish her second book, “Measuring the Networked Nonprofit” with co-author KD Paine this year.

1.How did you get started in social media?

I started my blog in 2003 as a method to keep my trainer’s notes – not anything special. At the time, I was also a bridge blogger for Global Voices working with Cambodia Bloggers. In 2007, I was the first person to use Twitter for fundraising – I raised money to sponsor a blogger conference in Cambodia. My blog was a way to document what I was learning and my mistakes to avoid making them again. People started commenting and telling me how useful it was. Today, I have a huge readership.

2. What role does social media play in your current job or industry?

Nonprofits are at different levels of embracing social media. There is a segment of early adopters that are getting amazing results like Charity: Water and Momsrising. More and more nonprofits are starting to incorporate social media, but there are challenges. Many nonprofits don’t have a lot of resources in terms of staff and time, so it is hard to invest the time needed for an in-depth presence/strategy. Also, for some organizations, there are cultural issues in the way they work. Being transparent, the participatory nature of social media raise a lot of concerns. With that said, many nonprofits are overcoming those issues and seeing results.

3. What does influence mean to you? Who influences you the most online?

I’m influenced by great thinkers and great work and innovative ideas. Right now, I’m very influenced by Robin Good who is the best content curator on the planet! I am also very interested in Howard Rheingold’s work.

4. What advice do you have for someone who wants to take their online presence to the next level?

Follow your passion and be yourself, that’s how I got to where I am. In 2005, I was a bridge blogger for Cambodia for Global Voices. I was connecting with Cambodian bloggers because I was passionate about Cambodia (my 2 kids are adopted from there). Then in 2007, bloggers invited me to keynote their first conference, but they didn’t have resources to get me there. So, I took to my blog and embraced fundraising with Twitter and other tools. So, my passion is for learning and doing good in the world – and social media has helped me combine those qualities.

If anything, I would say the reason I am where I am in addition to following my passion and being myself is because I developed relationships first – and reached out to people to find out how I can be helpful – and not with any eye for getting something in return. I make it a habit never to have my first connection with someone be an ask for them to do something for me.

Connect with Beth on Twitter at @Kanter