Strategies That Build Your Brand, Sales & Credibility.
Looking for a simple, effective and modern approach to market your business? Traditional SEO is dead, SEM costs keep increasing, everyone is overloaded with content and social media is too overcrowded.
The fact is, in today’s world of constant distractions, most business owners struggle to get their marketing messages heard. So what can you do to stand out from the crowd?
You’d have to agree creating Authority is one of the fastest ways to break through the noise. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the owner of a retail shop, financial advisor, swimming pool manufacturer or an inventor with an ingenious product – people/businesses seen as the Authorities in any industry, get the lion’s share of sales and profits.
So how can you get started building up your authority?
There’s no one ‘perfect’ answer here so we approached the best ‘authorities’ we know in their respective industries and asked what they’d recommend.
Here’s what we asked…
Question: If you had 90 days to build authority (expert status) in your industry what would you do? What would you focus on, what would you avoid and why?
David Jenyns Twitter // Melbourne SEO & Video
~ Amazon bestselling author of Authority Content and lover of business processes and systems.
Building expert status and authority in and industry takes longer than 90 days… that said, I can definitely point you in the right direction. I made a quick video to explain my strategy further. Watch it below:
Aaron Agius Twitter // louder.online/
~ Intelligent, imaginative inbound marketing ideas that make some serious noise. SEO, Content, Social and more.
My answer to this really aligns with what Tim Ferris said in the 4 Hour Work Week when he defined what an expert was:
“Expert status can be created in less than four weeks if you understand basic credibility indicators,” Tim Ferriss
Some of the steps he outlined were:
Join two or three related trade organizations
Read the three top selling books on your topic
Give one free one-to-three-hour seminar at the closest well-known university
Give two free seminars at branches of well-known big companies such as IBM
Offer to write one or two articles for trade magazines
Join ProfNet \ HARO or similar, which are services that journalists use to find experts to quote for articles
If i were to drill down on the area of “write one or 2 articles for a trade magazine”, i would change that to focus on guest posting, and would recommend doing that by putting up a basic website and creating 4 – 6 posts on your topic with the knowledge you’ve now gained form reading the books etc.
From there, identify 10 relevant sites within your industry with good traffic and social following, and reach out to them to guest post on their site referencing the content you’ve created on your own blog for proof of the ability to create great content.
Not all will accept, but the ones that do then give you the ability to be able to reach out to editors at tier 1 editorial publications such as Entreprenuer.com, inc.com, forbes.com and more.
Find editors at these publications on Linkedin, reach out to them and cite your contributions to the industry relevant sites that you’ve guest posted on, and your own blog posts and offer to contribute some content.
You’re then able to say you’re a contributor at these publications which boosts credibility instantly.
This is all a lot of work, but there was no mention of resource restrictions here so i’ll assume you’ve got some help with this.
But my next recommendation would be to do what Navid Moazzez has has done so well and organise a Virtual Summit in your industry.
Identify the top bloggers and influencers in the industry, reach out and line up interviews with the, on set topics. Then package it all and release it on set dates.
The amount of influence that flows through to you from connecting with these influencers, as well as being the organizer of the summit is huge and is an instant credibility provider, as well as a delivering many other huge benefits.
Aaron Lee Twitter // ShortOfHeight.com
~ Trying to perfect the art of making cappuccino while running a business. Introvert with awesome hair. Follow me on instagram
If I only had 90 days to build authority in my industry, I would create a blog. A blog is the best way to build a brand as it’s a long-term strategy.
My strategy would then focus on guest blogging only. Here’s why
#1. Help increase exposure and builds brand
The greatest advantage of guest blogging is that it helps increase exposure, while at the same time help build credibility, brand, and portfolio.
Imagine getting invited to speak at an event packed with 10,000 people.
Many make a mistake of screwing this opportunity trying to ‘sell’. Instead, what they should have done is add value.
When you do so, then people want to learn from you more.
Continuing this strategy for 90 days will help you build a brand for yourself as people will continue to see your name over and over again.
In fact, last year I did something similar and had people commenting that they are seeing me ‘everywhere.’
#2. Build search engine authority
Another significant advantage of guest blogging is that it helps build links back to your blog.
Since every blog will usually allow one relevant link back via guest bio, this is extremely useful when building authority in the long run.
Having done my own test, I’ve seen that links are still an important factor when determining by Google how well your blog will rank on their search engines.
Shooting two birds with one stone is the best strategy.
Adam Connell Twitter // BloggingWizard.com
~ I help entrepreneurs reach more people online. Founder of @BloggingWizard. Fan of Firefly and Chinese takeaways.
Good question. This is a large topic but I’d start off with:
1. Publish content that showcases my expertise – both on my blog and top tier industry blogs
2. Leverage HARO (www.helpareporter.com/) to land PR opportunities
3. Publish a book based around my expertise
4. Launch an online course that takes the material included in the book to another level
I’d focus my efforts on these 4 since I’m more productive as a writer.
I could look at getting featured on podcasts/webinars etc, but I’m not an experienced speaker so it’s unlikely that my authority would shine through in those mediums.
If you’re more of a people person, then podcasts, webinars and speaking at events will be the way to go. Go with the flow, not against the grain.
That said, in an ideal world, jumping outside our comfort zones is a VERY good thing. But, if we’re on a tight deadline, leveraging our strengths is the way to go.
Alan See Twitter // Cmotemps.biz
~ Chief Marketing Officer ~ http://www.cmotemps.biz/ ~ AMA Content Marketer of the Year and a Forbes Top 50 Most Influential CMO on Social Media
LinkedIn, Twitter, and a blog are the components of my social authority power triangle.
This is an important concept to understand if your goal is to quickly develop a thought-leadership or expert reputation within your industry.
In fact, this power triangle is more powerful than compound interest because the combination makes it possible for you to be found, to find, and to engage your targeted audience from a position of leadership.
Your blog might be part of a (corporate) website that you wish to drive more traffic to. Use your blog posts to showcase your knowledge and personality.
Don’t sell, but use this platform to tell engaging stories that demonstrate your unique understanding of the challenges faced by your target audience.
Offer helpful advice and short antidotes that can be immediately implemented by your readers.
Use your Twitter profile to build and nurture your targeted audience. Spend time searching for and following profiles that match your targeted personas.
You should think of yourself as a “publisher” on this platform. In other words, you want to build a large, but targeted audience, supplying them with content they will appreciate.
Of course, tweets that contain links to your blog posts should be part of that content feed. In that way Twitter will become a main source of traffic to your website.
Finally, LinkedIn is used to firmly establish your industry credibility based on the professional material displayed in your profile.
Your Twitter page should also show your LinkedIn URL in order to make it easy for your Twitter followers to quickly validate your professional background.
LinkedIn also has a feature that allows you to post articles. Don’t hesitate to post your blog on both LinkedIn and your website.
There is nothing wrong with a “write once, post many places” content strategy.
With these three platforms working together it won’t be long before you will see your “expert” reputation grow.
Amy Lynn Twitter // AmyLynn.org
~ Voice Over Actor ✿ Amy Lynn’s Voice Overs & CEO of Annika’s. Market Research – Surveys – Focus Groups – Product Testing & More! Trekkie ✞ Lupus Survivor
This is my 10-step recommendation for building authority in 90 days:
1. Practice empathy (i.e. put yourself in your ideal customer’s shoes).
2. Spend time where your ideal customer hangs out online.
3. Practice empathy.
4. Offer helpful, no-strings-attached advice to those who have real problems.
5. Practice empathy.
6. Identify the common pain points mentioned repeatedly by your ideal customers.
7. Practice empathy.
8. Invite your ideal customers to join your email list where you provide practical, actionable, results-oriented solutions to the pain points you identified.
9. Practice empathy.
10. Repeat for the remaining 90 days.
Ashley Faulkes Twitter // MadLemmings.com
~ SEO and WordPress Specialist. Helping small biz, solopreneurs and other awesome peeps. Eats too much swiss chocolate.
In today’s saturated content marketing world one of the first things I would focus on to build authority is outstanding content.
Yes, content is king, and it needs to be epic. Don’t bother writing blog posts once a week. It is a waste of time, and internet storage. Go epic, or go home.
However, a lot of the SEO and content marketing pros will tell you that you need to create more than just an amazing piece of content.
You also need to make sure you cover a topic(s) that is ripe for the picking.
That is, no one has covered it in depth, yet. Then, make it as amazing and detailed, and actionable as you can. Here is an example I created a few months ago on internet business ideas.
As you can see, it goes above and beyond in almost every way (depth, examples, quotes, infographics, 15,000 words etc) and see how many shares it has – 7500. Not bad, huh.
Now that your content is ready, promotion is key. After all, epic content that no one sees is not so epic. So, you need a promotion strategy.
Such a strategy will range from social media, sharing websites (GrowthHackers, Inbound), influencer outreach, cold outreach and anything else you can think of. (Tip: Check out Robbie Richards epic post on promotion – great example of epic too!).
However, and this is the clincher, you won’t get as far, as fast, if you don’t have a solid network of people to help you with the promotion.
Empires are not built by one person. Ask the Romans.
Therefore, last thing I would do, and actually you need to do this before creating the epic content, is to grow your network. Get to know all the “players” in your industry, from big to small.
Find ways to talk to them (Twitter, blog comments, email), interact with them, help them and finally befriend them.
These are your supporters, your future friends and your promoters – when you come out with that epic content.
Don’t fake it. This is “your” industry, and these are not pawns in a game – but your future friends and network.
Earn their trust and respect. (If you want some solid tips in this area, check out Jason Quey and his epic post on SumoMe.)
Last tip. Perhaps long form content is not your thing? Keep in mind that this same style of “shock and awe” (epic) can also be applied to amazing videos, podcasts, social media and more.
Just do more than everyone else. Be better, more helpful, more detailed and more “epic” (sure epic is overused, but it is the right word to use!).
Now, go build that authority.
Barry Adams Twitter // PolemicDigital.com
~ Dutchman in Northern Ireland. SEO polemicist, speaker & lecturer, humanist. Founder @PolemicDigital, editor @StateofDigital. Occasional breaker of Wheaton’s Law
It takes time and effort to become a true expert in a field, and 90 days usually doesn’t cut it. It took me the better part of 10 years to be considered an expert in my own speciality.
However, if you really only have 90 days, you can use a few fast-moving tactics to make the best of it.
First, you need to realise that an ‘expert’ status is something that others accord you – not something you can declare yourself.
Whether or not you are seen as an expert depends entirely on whether others view you as an expert. So your main focus should be on building a personal brand as an expert.
Start by producing great expert-level content about your industry. Write abour your industry and make sure your content carries authority and insight.
Don’t just produce filler content, but write detailed and insightful pieces. That’s what will get people’s attention.
Then, reach out to others who are already considered experts, and ask for their feedback and opinions. Engage with these established experts on social media.
Comment on their content, asking tough questions and provide your own insight on what they write about. Showcase your expertise to the authoritive voices in your niche.
Towards the end of the 90 days, see if you can get a slot as a speaker at an event.
Use these speaking opportunities as further showcases of your expertise – i.e. don’t use them to sell and promote yourself, but to demonstrate that you truly know your craft inside and out.
Such speaking gigs will further establish you as a trusted voice in your industry, helping build your expert status.
If there’s an emerging trend in your industry that not a lot of people are familiar with, try to establish yourself as an expert voice on that topic.
For example, if you do SEO you could become an expert in the Google AMP standard. Learn all you can about such new trends, and produce helpful and trustworthy content around the topic.
Spread it far & wide using social media, and reach out to other authoritive voices to help spread your content.
But, most of all, realise that you can’t fake true expertise. If you just talk the talk but can’t walk the walk, people will eventually see you for what you are, and you can lose all your authority very quickly.
In fact, most of the true experts I know don’t consider themselves experts at all. They see themselves more as eternal students, always learning and trying to improve.
The old adage “the more you know, the more you realise how little you know” is true in any field. Don’t fall victim to the Dunning-Kruger effect.
Barry Feldman Twitter // FeldmanCreative.com
~ Focused on effective digital marketing #content marketing consultant #copywriter #creative director #social media advisor #author #rock n’ roller
Building authority in your niche calls for providing the best answers to the most challenging questions. Your task is to become the answer man, or woman.
Now hustle. 90 days is a short window.
The good news is you probably already are an authority in your industry. So you need not study “your stuff.” You know your stuff.
What you probably don’t know is precisely which questions are burning in the minds of your potential audience. What problems deprive them of sleep or peace of mind?
Spend your first 30-45 days on a mission to uncover these questions. Do the research. Document the questions. Prioritize them. Then answer them.
Do so in the form of a publication or any type of substantial content asset where you’re most confident in your communications skills.
An eBook may be the obvious choice, but it could be a video series, podcasts, microsite, or course. The goal is the same in any case: become an instructor.
Next, instruct. Create a curriculum based on tackling the tough questions with insightful, action-oriented answers. Simplify the things the people in your market find complex.
And here’s a seriously powerful bonus tip…. Rally up other experts to embellish your content.
Create a faculty for which you’re the self-appointed principal. In doing so, you’ll build meaningful relationships, enlarge your reach, and earn even more authority by association.
Got all that? Good. Go. And good luck.
Brock Murray Twitter // SeoPlus.ca
~ Entrepreneur & Digital Marketing Specialist @seopluscanada
If I had 90 days to build authority in my niche (SEO/web marketing) here’s the approach I would take:
Web Presence Optimization
It is so much easier to do things right from the beginning versus trying to correct things as you go along.
My first step would be to ensure that my entire web presence is fully optimized.
Website: it should go without saying that your website should be fully optimized according to the best practices in terms of SEO and UX. Your site should be visually appealing, simple, blazing fast, and feature highly valuable content.
Social: Create and optimize your profiles on all the major social networking platforms: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest etc.
Include a picture, description, contact info etc. Start sharing content here and engaging with the community. Even if you are not fully active on other networks like Snapchat, Periscope, Tumblr etc., you would be wise to set up a profile on these sites/apps for future use.
LinkedIn: I put LinkedIn in a category of its own, even though it is of course a social platform. Put a lot of effort into your LinkedIn page and make sure it reflects your education, training, certifications, accomplishments, and interests.
You never know when your alma mater or volunteer interests will facilitate a connection with an influencer. Network, engage, and contribute.
Create Content
It doesn’t matter what great ideas you have running through your brain…if you don’t communicate them to the world, no one will ever know. You need to start creating content on a regular basis.
Content can be anything from a 100-word review to a 2,000 word in-depth case study; a 30-second Facebook Live video to an hour-long webinar; a 3-minute audio walkthrough to a 30-minute podcast interview; a helpful infographic to a 25-slide presentation.
Upon creation, don’t be shy about sharing it with the world. When you produce insightful, original content and know that it provides value, any inhibitions about self-promotion fly out the window.
Video Marketing & Remarketing
Don’t overlook the value of video. In an increasingly mobile world, video content is becoming ever-present.
Plus, as a content creator it’s a lot easier to produce video content than to write it (assuming you know what you’re talking about). Integrate a video marketing strategy with video remarketing.
Outreach & Collaboration
Authority status comes from having other experts in your niche and related industries trust and value your work and thoughts.
In order to reach that point, you have to actively network and collaborate with others.
Start small – follow influencers in your niche, in your city.
Reach out to people who you admire and offer something of value in exchange.
Be courteous and respectful of their time. Make a good first impression.
You’d be surprised how willing people are to lend a hand and help someone on the way up, whether it’s just retweeting a post, guesting on a podcast, or making introductions on your behalf.
Just remember to offer the same opportunities to others when the roles are reversed in the future.
Paid Social
Most of the strategies on this list are completely free, they just take time, effort, and know-how.
Still, there are opportunities where a few dollars here and there can really pay off.
You have to be willing to put your money where your mouth is and invest in your own future.
Use paid social (ie: Facebook likes campaign, boosted post, LinkedIn ads etc.) to increase social following for credibility. Note that this does NOT mean buying fake followers or likes.
Buy some honest paid social campaigns can pay off in a big way with real engagement.
Combined, these strategies can build authority in 90 days, as long as you are actually an expert.
No amount of tricks and mirrors will turn a clueless person into an industry authority if they don’t have the knowledge and insight to back it up.
If you know what you’re talking about, however, these strategies will prove to be effective.
Camilla Hallstrom Twitter // InfluenceWithContent.com
~ Want to turn site visitors into raving fans & loyal customers? Grab 4 powerful content hacks: influencewithcontent.com #HuffPost contributor
If you’re a beginner, and you’re looking to build authority with a blog or similar, these are the steps I recommend that you take:
The first step is to get in front of experts’ audiences
To build authority, you need to be perceived as an expert by other people.
Simply posting a few blog posts on your own site or sharing articles on social media won’t do.
Why?
Most people don’t find their way to your blog or social media page if you don’t have an audience.
Instead, you have to get in front of other people’s audiences. Two things you should do as a new blogger is to guest post on other sites and create roundup posts where you interview experts in your industry.
Focus on sites in YOUR niche
To truly build your authority, you need to get sites in your niche to publish your guest post or participate in your roundups.
This way, you attract the right audience and subsequently, you’re seen as an authority in your field.
How do you do it?
First of all, you shouldn’t get caught up in jumping from one thing to the other (a.k.a. the Shiny Object Syndrome).
But as a new blogger, it can be difficult to take action, stay the course and build your authority in 90 days without a clear road map.
So, here’s one you can use:
Month 1
Start building relationships with people in your industry.
Connect with them on social media and comment on their blogs.
Read blogs you want to guest post on (and make sure to check that they accept guest posts).
Month 2
Continue building relationships. When you’ve added value to your target blogs (commented, shared and connected on social media), start reaching out for roundups and pitch guest posts.
Month 3
Continue working on relationship building, guest posting and reaching out to experts and publish your first roundup. That’s it- you now have an audience, and you’re seen as an expert in your industry.
Chad Pollitt Twitter // ChadPollitt.com
~ Faculty at Indy @KelleySchool, Top 20 CMO Influencer, @HuffingtonPost & @Guardian contributor, Co-founder @Relevance & Former @USArmy Commander
If I only had 90 days here’s exactly what I’d do – I’d write a two to four page guide chalk full of stats, facts and best practices. This would sit behind a form on a landing page.
Simultaneously, I’d be pitching every prudent online blog, trade pub and publication on letting me write for them.
As I secured bylines, I would write 2k+ word articles while prudently citing the guide’s landing page.
You see, in order to build an audience from scratch these days you have to tap into other audiences and give them a reason to become a member of yours.
To do this quickly you have to scale by writing original content with natural CTAs on websites with prudent robust audiences.
I wouldn’t even start blogging on my own site until I had a few thousand downloads from bylines.
It’s much easier to build authority on an authoritative website than it is from a brand new site.
Just a few years ago we could “build it and they came.” Today’s Internet is different.
Audiences are finite, so taking your content to them is more important than ever.
For most industries, expecting authority and expert status from owned media alone is a thing of the past.
Starting with earned media today is a recipe for quicker thought leader success.
Chris Dreyer Twitter // AttorneyRankings.org
~ #SEO specialist and CEO of attorneyrankings.org. Attorney Rankings provides full-service #seoforlawyers #lawfirmmarketing #lawfirmppc
The first thing I would do is learn everything possible about the industry I’m in.
I would model the masters.
Meaning, I would find the industry leaders and try to educate myself on what they do well, read their content, engage with them on social, etc.
I find that offering help to influencers in your niche with no expectation of reciprocation can be very rewarding and educational. In the beginning, I would focus heavily on education.
The next thing I would do is try to identify who my prospective client was, what were their pain points and what do they need assistance with.
By knowing your prospective client you can better serve them with the services you provide.
Pay very close attention to the questions they are asking frequently.
Identify the communities where your prospective clients hangout.
There are 100s of popular social media networks but for your niche some are more powerful than others.
For example, for the legal industry and most B2B businesses you’ll want to have an active presence on LinkedIn.
However, if you’re into DIY or recipes then Pinterest may be a primary focus.
You really need to know where your consumers are hanging out.
After, you’ve educated yourself in your niche, defined who your prospective client is, and where they hangout the next thing to do is to generate content.
The primary form of media you use also is dependent upon your niche.
Video is probably the easiest method of establishing rapport with your audience but I find generating written content on a blog is a great method of becoming an authority as well.
Try to also guest post on industry specific websites as well and some of the big hitters like Huffington Post and Forbes after you’ve established yourself.
I would avoid doing anything outside the scope of your niche. I find that being a jack of all trades is a huge weakness.
Stick to your core competencies and your consumers will be able to identify you as an expert more quickly.
Chris Makara Twitter // ChrisMakara.com
~ Interactive Marketing & Digital Strategist. Skilled in #SEO, #SocialMedia, #Automation & #Analytics. Football Fan, #Bacon Eater & Ambidextrous Bowler <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/72x72/1f642.png" alt="