Would you rather be seen as…
…a salesperson competing for the same market as a crowd of other (similar looking) sellers?
…or an EXPERT, revered and idolised by customers and brands alike, whose expertise is competed for?
That’s the question we left you with in our Position Yourself to Greatness article.
By now, you should’ve come to a sensible conclusion.
If you’re one of our head-screwed-on, noodle-using blog readers, you would’ve opted for the INDUSTRY AUTHORITY option, every time.
If not, good luck slogging your guts out for the next 20 years, with little growth or time to put your feet up.
Where’s the Gold-Dust?
The ‘celebrity’ status that all businesses SHOULD be fighting for, isn’t as far away as most brands (who give up on it) believe, and…
…that makes it a whole lot EASIER for the rest of us.
While many abandon their efforts, trusting an AUTHORITY POSITION to YEAR AFTER YEAR of service, the rest of us can supercharge our speed to the top dog spot using a simple 10 STEP PROCESS.
Hang tight, here’s a strategy that will TRANSFORM YOUR BUSINESS:
Authority Positioning #1: Where?
Before you start your ascent to the top, you’ve got to know WHERE to focus.
Honing your efforts into niche areas, will save you work and MASSIVELY reduce the time spent reaching EXPERT STATUS.
If you’re serious about becoming an AUTHORITY, create and use a CUSTOMER AVATAR. You’ll be able to target your market a lot better.
In order to find the ‘WHERE’, you must discover places that your target market, competitors and industry commentators CONGREGATE.
These can be social networks, blogs, groups, threads, websites…
…it all depends on INDUSTRY.
Authority Positioning #2: Centre Yourself
When you know where they are…
…put yourself in the middle of them.
Join the groups, create profiles, become a presence in website/blog/thread comment streams…
…it doesn’t matter! As long as YOU ARE WHERE THEY ARE.
Authority Positioning #3: SHOUT!
That’s right, start shouting…
…not literally. We don’t want you to bust a blood vessel.
Create content and publish it in the places your target market, competitors and industry commentators CONGREGATE.
The type of content you publish DOESN’T MATTER, (although, a greater variety will reach a wider audience) so if you lack writing skills DON’T PANIC, the game’s not over yet…
…create videos, record podcasts, design infographics…
…do SOMETHING!
All you’re aiming to do is PROVE that you really KNOW YOUR STUFF!!!
So, don’t hold back on the top tips, the guides, the amazing insights…
…because the more valuable your content, the faster you’ll move towards a POSITION OF AUTHORITY.
When you’ve published this amazing content, you have to ensure your target market see it.
Einstein Marketer suggests PROMOTING POSTS, RUNNING ADS and COMMENTING on similar articles.
If you’re running a brand or business, PUBLISH content that makes your staff AUTHORITIES too.
Attach names and profiles to all content. Your BRAND is already associated with the great content if you can attach a name, and make somebody within your business an authority too…
…the effects of the AUTHORITY POSITION will be doubled.
Authority Positioning #4: ENGAGE
The valuable content that you’re regularly pumping out should be aiding your target market…
…but some of them may seek additional advice about PROBLEMS that are SPECIFIC to them.
They don’t want to pay to fix their problems (probably because they don’t have the money), but they need help from an EXPERT…
…your business needs to be THAT PERSON.
This type of interaction will be your first as an authority, so get the practice in while you can…
…and do your utmost to help these people. The work you put in for FREE here, will come back around.
N.B. It doesn’t matter if you’ve already got paying customers asking for advice, because they will have bought your services via SALES, MARKETING or REFERRAL channels.
The people that contact you, have reached out because you’ve started to ESTABLISH yourself as an AUTHORITY.
Authority Positioning #5: GROW
When you’re in the right place and you’re creating the correct noises, you’re going to grow.
If you make it step 5 and you’re not GROWING, you’ve made a mistake somewhere on your journey.
The main aim of this stage in your ascent, is to develop the QUANTITATIVE FACTORS (numbers) associated with your business…
…this can be social media likes, shares and comments, conversations, reviews, videos, customer stories…
…the more, the better!
You can do this by ASKING customers to interact with your brand (e.g. via email, or social networks), ENCOURAGING them to (offering incentives), or actively PROMOTING yourself with ads.
Einstein Marketer recommends a mixture of all three.
Authority Positioning #6: Social Proof
Put simply, social proof is the act of people looking at what others are doing and (usually) replicating it.
There are 6 different sources of this POWERFUL PSYCHOLOGICAL phenomenon, and you’ll need to use as many as possible. (Check out our Social Proof Blog)
And when we put these into practice, using large numbers, or recognisable names it automatically creates a…
…MAGICAL SENSE OF AWE.
This aura will fire you closer to the POSITION OF AUTHORITY you’re after, much faster.
Authority Positioning #7: SHOUT LOUDER!
You’re well on the way to becoming an AUTHORITY but, this is not the step to become complacent because…
…THIS IS WHERE EVERYONE ELSE QUITS!
People walk away from the magical foundations they’ve created, because their positioning is fairly decent now.
They just leave their JOURNEY of AUTHORITY to organically grow and things slow…
…
…
…right…
…down.
Forget them. Einstein Marketer won’t let you end up like that.
You’re going to go the opposite way…
…you’re going to SHOUT LOUDER!
That means content, but not the same content we’ve been producing all the way up to this point…
…we need to go BIGGER and LOUDER.
This will create a much stronger sense of AUTHORITY and EXPERTISE.
So, speak at industry events, guest lecture, offer free services in exchange for EXPOSURE (if possible), publish a BOOK, appear in industry-relevant news (interviews and articles), review competitors…
…do as many of these LOUD IDEAS as possible!
Whatever you choose, just do stuff that ONLY EXPERTS DO!
And if you’re a brand, don’t forget to put the names of your staff behind this content!
Authority Positioning #8: MORE SOCIAL PROOF
Yes, we know we need masses of social proof at STEP 6, but following your SUPER LOUD CONTENT…
…you’re going to have a wave of new, HUGELY VALUABLE SOCIAL PROOF POINTS!
Use them! Everywhere!
Authority Positioning #9: BIGGER AND MEANER!
Size really matters now.
Your social proof points, loud content and constant engagement need GROWTH to back them up.
It’s time to strike because the iron is HOT!
Go after LARGE AUDIENCES, create and administer groups and be ULTRA-AMBITIOUS!
Remember, our strategy at step 1?
You should now be one of the WHERE’s.
In other words, your website, social media profiles, blogs, conversations are now the place that your TARGET MARKET IS CONGREGATING.
Look after them, help them flourish. You’ll automatically become BIGGER AND MEANER.
Authority Positioning #10: PICK YOUR OPPORTUNITIES
You’ve made it to the top, but it’s easy enough for one wrong step to knock you off your perch…
…so be wise…
…pick your opportunities.
After all that work, you can decide what clients to take on, where to exhibit your skills and how to present your social proof.
You’re a top authority in your industry. Don’t ruin it!
You’re Top Dog
All that effort has been worth it. You pushed on when others faded, but you’re not finished yet.
If you’re truly going to stay at the top of your game, and keep pretenders away from your perch, you need to keep cycling through stages 7-10.
NEVER STOP!
If you really want to be revered and idolised by customers and brands alike, this ten-step process can cut years off your arrival time.
The power is in your hands now. Good luck.
Did you enjoy this article? What do you think of about the position of authority? Leave a comment or send us a message, and we’ll reply as soon as our social media manager has untangled himself from his laptop charger.
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