Small businesses often rely on a brand name or owner’s reputation for its success. It’s the reason many people choose to be franchisees. Why reinvent the wheel and build prestige when it’s been done? Those who want to build their own brand, however, need to position themselves as industry experts. Here’s how to create and position content to become an industry expert.
Read More Than Average
You’re to be teaching beginner to intermediates about a given subject. Therefore, your own knowledge needs to exceed the average person’s as you near expert status. Some will advise that it’s best to wait some length of time before deeming oneself an ‘expert’ unless you have been practicing in an area for a substantial amount of time and been recognized by awards and esteemed peers. Reading more than most enables your blog to become the go-to place. It’s especially helpful if you can disseminate particularly dry or complicated material.
Answer Questions
As referenced, industry experts know a lot about particular subject matter. Show what you know by helping others, answering questions in forums and popular industry websites. Rather than telling people you’re an expert, you’ll be showing your expertise by answering others’ questions. Rather than being reactive and waiting for questions, be proactive and ask followers if they have questions they would like you to answer. Get a sense of what questions are the latest or most vexing and donate a blog post to each.
Make Friends with Other Experts
Birds of a feather flock together, so it’s best to rub online elbows with experts in your arena. Otherwise, you may not get their endorsement which could send mixed signals to followers, onlookers, and potential customers. Therefore, make nice with other experts by reading their blogs, attending conferences, and following them social networks. Furthermore, making friends could lead to professional references and affiliate partnerships. Once you make friends, invite others on for guest posts or publish material on their site.
Showcase a Case Study
Show what you know through a case study. Use a present or prior client to showcase your services to readers and other peers. Anyone can state they know how to optimize a website but expert SEOs supply case studies. Do the same and gain the respect of onlookers and coworkers. Figure the best way to promote and relate the information. For example, landscapers should supply plenty of pictures while an SEO service may provide screen shots of site analytics.
Use a Guest Post Service
A guest post service can place your content in the right places so more people see it. Otherwise it can take a while to network and find friends in the right online places. A service can help educate on the proper ways to contact other webmasters and find the right sites to target.
Speak at a Conference
First of all, you need to get invited to speak or chosen among candidates. Secondly, you’ll need to be successful in conveying what you know in an educational and entertaining way. Thirdly, you’ll need to rinse and repeat, finding future conferences and building upon your expert reputation. Find major and minor speaking engagements and apply to be featured.
Publish a Book
Provide others with your know-how by releasing some type of book. Alternatively, release a video series or host an online class. Basically, you need to give to receive. If you provide the public with your expert knowledge, you will be recognized as an expert and a go-to personality for cutting-edge news. Be strategic, however, about pricing, self-publishing, etc.
Be Able to Use Multiple Formats
A decade ago, most blogs were in text format. There were not many alternative ways to express opinions or showcase knowledge. Today, one has the option of using short video clips, memes, video recordings, and more to connect with followers. An expert is able to reach people of varying preferences for receiving information. For example, some prefer visual stimuli while others are auditory learners.
Publish on a Regular Schedule
You’ve seen family members, friends, and coworkers mention they are starting a blog, get hyped for the first few months, and hardly publish at all if ever again. It’s all too common. If you’re going to be seen as an expert, you need to be seen regularly by the public. A high number of published posts helps keep your name in front of people, making a continuous impression. So, start coming up with ideas.