How To Build Yourself As The Authority Figure In Your Industry
Today’s article is a guest post from Travis Petelle of Breakthrough Business Solutions. Travis has picked up on my thoughts on Authority Marketing and shares some brilliant tips on how to build an authority position in your business.
Building yourself as an authority figure in your niche could maybe be the best business you could do for your business. It promises simpler sales, more prospects knocking at your door, and overall a much simpler time getting what you want. Expecting this respect to just fall in your lap is foolish at best. You must take action to build yourself as the authority and that’s what I wanted to cover in this article.
As Ian stated in his article, Authority Marketing: The Essentials, becoming the authority is more than just having the expertise. There are plenty of professionals with expertise in your industry available. Each one of them probably has about the same amount of knowledge and expertise in the theme. What’s going to make you uncommon? What’s going to allow you to stand out from the rest of the crowd and have people beseeching to hear more from you. Building you as an authority will.
There are a number of ways to do this. You could add simple things to your website, make masterpieces that help your consultation, or get hosted in several locations. Allow me to show you some fantastic tactics that could easily increase your credibility and authority in your industry.
Instant Authority Builder – Become An Instigator
Writing a book and getting it published in your industry is one of my favorite ways to build authority. I often work with doctors, lawyers, and other professionals, and one of the main projects we focus on is making them a published instigator. When the public sees this, they instantly reckon of you as a higher authority. You are instantly seen as knowing more then others in the theme. It also opens the door to media coverage which I will get into later.
Becoming a published instigator isn’t as hard as you might reckon. If you aren’t much of a writer, you can always hire a ghostwriter to help you get what you know down on paper.
Depending on your industry, you might find it hard to get a book published by major publishers. There’s an simple fix to this as well. Get your own book published. Amazon offers an simple to use service that will circulate your book for a relatively cheap price. Just having that physical product with your name on it is what builds the authority.
Don’t Be Worried To Speak In Public
Public speaking is a fantastic method to build your credibility and the influence you have on prospects as well. The reason it’s such a powerful method is because you are helping the consultation. Public speaking is all about informing others. In a consultant’s example, once you show one member of the consultation how to double his business by contacting his database, he will start talking to his friends about what your speech did for him. The power of referrals is tremendous and public speaking is a key step to quick referral building.
Make Excellent Friends With The Press
When you breed attention from the press, your authority will quickly build in your industry. Even just a simple newspaper article about your business or a guest spot on a radio show can and will get customers knocking on your door. There are always new tales developing that are related to every industry. The key to grabbing the attention of a reporter or radio producer is making a captivating angle on these tales. Once you offer them something their readers will delight in, they will keep an eye out for your name and what’s going on with your business. Having a book and doing speaking events really helps place you in the press’s spotlight as well.
Building Authority From Your Website
You all know how vital your website is in today’s market. It’s where 9 out of 10 customers of any service or industry research before they buy. This is why it’s so vital to commence the process of building you as an authority from your website. It’s the first house they are going to look to learn more about you. Here are some simple things you can do to help start building that authority:
- Add Association Logos – BBB, BNI, Local Chamber of Commerce, etc.
- Adding logos of places like FedEx, UPS, and USPS helps. These companies spend a lot of money to market themselves and just having their logo can cause credibility to rub off on you.
- Have methods of payment accepted logos such as credit card logos. Shows you have been approved by 3rd party vendors who have spent millions building their credibility and they have approved you. You could also add PayPal or other online checkout logos if you accept internet payments.
- Offering a powerful guarantee and make it a logo.
- List a local phone number and a toll free number if marketing out of your area.
- Post icons that show as seen on Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Bing, etc…
- Include any awards you have earned even if it’s not frankly associated with your work. Charities often award these type of certificates, etc.
- Any press release or news tale featuring you or your business should be on your website.
- Splashing testimonials across your website in random locations shows that what you do facility.
- Celebrity endorsements will rock your credibility even if they are just industry specific celebrities. Having pictures of you shaking hands with the celebrity etc.
- Contact page including a picture of your office or building, Google Map, Fax , etc.
- Link to Secretary of States office with YOUR business listing
- A video of you speaking about your industry will boost your authority as well.
Becoming an authority in your industry is key to making a highly successful business. As the authority, people come searching for you…not the other way around. You get the opportunity to start turning down clients as a replacement for of wondering where the next one will come from. So, get out there and start learning how to influence people.
This was a guest post by Travis Petelle. He is the president of the consulting firm, Breakthrough Business Solutions, and actively helps small business owners through his blog – Not Your Everyday Small Business Advice. You can learn more about Travis’s methods of business improvement and increasing profits through his free guide – Five Step Formula For Explosive Progression.
Thanks Travis!
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How To Build Yourself As The Authority Figure In Your Industry is a post from: Get More Clients in Less Time: Practical Strategies, Proven Results