How to Establish Yourself as an Industry Expert
And Why You Would Want To
When your target market views you as the expert in your industry, you become the go-to source for your particular specialty. In such a position, you’re able to command higher fees than your competitors who may be seen as having fewer skills and less experience.
On the road to becoming a noted expert, you’ll develop a number of tools that attract leads or generate income through the sale of those tools. This gives you a solid reason to reach out to your target market and strike up an ongoing conversation.
After developing your materials, thoroughly market yourself and your ideas. Don’t simply post your materials online with no promotional follow-through. That would be like spilling a box full of post cards on the sidewalk before ever making it to the mailbox.
- Email campaigns have the power to drive recipients to linked sources.
- A traditional direct mail piece stands out from the competition because it’s no longer the normal means of communication.
- Online resources, like social media platforms, are less personal but have the ability to spread like wildfire as people share your ideas with their networks.
There are many ways to build your reputation as a leader in your field.
Write About Your Profession
Publish blog posts on your website to attract people searching for your topic. Once you’ve established your credibility on your personal site, seek opportunities to contribute guest articles to the blogs of other industry thought leaders who will endorse your professional reputation. Write articles for trade publications. Compose ebooks or white papers that require the visitor to register before they download your free content. Assemble case studies that exhibit the problems businesses have experienced and how you solved those problems.
Speak at an Event
Present your ideas at monthly meetings hosted by trade associations that include your ideal clients. Organize your own lunch-and-learn event and invite current and potential customers that can benefit from your knowledge.
Create an Online Presence
Impart relevant information through social media platforms. Upload original content to your website and provide links to those articles on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook. Answer questions in forums and on social media groups for people who are trying to learn more about your field of expertise. You don’t have to promote only your original content. Be sure to include the perspectives of other leaders in your industry through interviews. Get your audience to subscribe to your email notices so they can keep up with your article posts, book releases, or speaking events.
Write a Book
A great way to gain credibility is to author a book about your field of expertise. You could sell the book for a profit or offer it on your website as a lead generator. How-to books gain a lot of traction. Even if you don’t intend to teach your target market how to do your job, you will give them insight about best practices. This will instill confidence to hire the best person for the job — you — when they realize the task is too difficult or time consuming. Writing a book can be a major time commitment. Consider hiring a ghostwriter to get this gargantuan task accomplished.
Conclusion
Building your reputation as an expert will take dedication and commitment, but it’s worth the time. You have something of value to share with the business world. Think about what people who need your services would want to know. How can you help them understand more about your specialty? Lay out a plan of attack and get started.