As a small business owner, it’s much easier to sell products and services, whether it’s a sitebuilder or not, when everyone considers you an expert and an authority in your field.
As a matter of fact, when you become an authority, you won’t need to be actually selling anything; your products and services will start selling itself on your name alone.
How do you become an expert, an authority in your industry? Some people use search engine optimization so that when people look for the services they offer, their businesses come out ahead in the search engines.
The challenge with traditional SEO, however, is that it costs a lot and it tends to be overwhelming particularly to beginners.
The trick it seems is to establish yourself not just as an expert, but an authority, and the entire process takes on a new approach. What’s the difference?
An expert is an individual who manages to acquire considerable knowledge on a subject, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that people will pay attention to them.
An authority is in fact an expert with an active audience which relies on them for information, recommendation, and validation with regards to premium products and services.
Consider what people do in the face of authority: they pay attention to what that authority says, and the authority’s word in effect becomes law. Audiences trust that person to be right about their field of expertise and will defend them loyally.
Let’s discuss a few lessons strategies that will help you become an authority worth listening to and following in your own industry.
Steer clear of labels — have a mission instead
We like to assign labels to people so we can understand them; it’s just how people are, and it’s one of the reasons why you might have a hard time standing out.
When you call someone a doctor, lawyer, marketer, skater, or biker, it brings to mind all sorts of assumptions and conjectures, and it’s easy to imagine what that person is like and what they stand for.
If you use any of these simplistic labels for your brand (e.g., business owner, life coach, consultant, marketer) people will immediately see you as part of a large, prevailing group that they already have templates for in mind; and this will make it a challenge to stand out.
Have a mission instead. Remember that you’re not just another business owner; you’re you. You’re not a motivational speaker, you’re Tony Robbins. You’re not a CEO, you’re Richard Branson. You’re not a talk show host, you’re Oprah.
Before you start out, have a clear mission to inspire people and to become valuable. It won’t matter whether people love you or hate you initially. You’re going to be impactful and that’s a good place to start.
Don’t call yourself an expert, show it instead
If you call yourself an expert but your content fails to prove it, your business will suffer as a result. Your focus shouldn’t be on making fancy blog posts or posting witty comments on Twitter.
Instead, try to write as if each post was worth $10,000 for your business. This would make you write differently, don’t you think? If you manage to blow your readers’ minds every single time, it will undoubtedly leave an impression.
Take a look at some of the more established experts, and review their articles. Many of their posts average between 4,000 and 5,000 words and their depth of content alone pulls in more page views than any marketing gimmicks out there.
Create dozens of quality evergreen articles and product reviews and give them out for free. That should get people interested. When you dissect other people’s product launches, do a better job than everyone else — this should be possible if you are indeed an expert in your field.
Show it, and word will spread. When people see how much content you’re dishing out, they’ll start to wonder what’s going on with your lazy competition.
Don’t follow conversations, make the conversation
This is the true signature of an authority: it’s not that they have the smartest replies in a conversation; it’s that they make the conversation. They bring attention to things other people forgot, they ask pertinent questions, and they put their name on the line by taking a definite stand.
They also tend to raise controversy (not just for publicity’s sake, either) because they’re vocal about whatever they stand for. How do you take a stand?
Tell your audiences “THIS is what’s important. THIS is what’s wrong.” Your position should be that it needs to be said, whether or not it makes you popular.
Know what your mission is, and make an effort to improve your industry, whether it’s providing a free sitebuilder to startups or not. When an authority says something, they push their stand — because it’s not only an opinion, its conviction. It’s an intrinsic confidence that you know what’s right for a good reason.
Ready to take your business online? Use Bookmark’s sitebuilder to get you started.
Originally published at www.bookmark.com on December 9, 2016.
