Is it possible to become an "authority" on a big topic?

Your question has two possible meanings, and I'm not sure which one you mean:

* Is it possible to become an expert or authority - i.e. extremely knowledgeable about a subject that you don't now know much about?

Answer: Yes, and most people who have seriously looked into this question agree that it takes roughly 10,000 hours of study and practice before you become a master of a topic.

* Is it possible to become KNOWN as an expert or authority on a topic that you are not now known for at all.

Answer: Yes, and most people who have seriously looked into this question agree that it takes a year or two to build a reputation from scratch if you approach it intelligently.

Marcia Yudkin

I wish you good luck with the entire project, but wouldn't you rather have your affiliate links on a site which you yourself own and control rather than on one owned and controlled by a company notorious for sudden changes in their terms of service and the removal of lenses they regard as "spammy"? Why did Squidoo seem attractive to you, for this purpose?

You can literally be an authority over many subjects but I would concentrate on just one. I do internet marketing, and I have various websites where I'm an authority over and have members looking forward to updates. If you want to be an authority over something, just do it!

I don't feel it's hard to become an authority if you enjoy the subject and are ready to spend time doing research and writing. The bigger question is how many people are interested in the subject?

Have you tested the market to see if there's any interest? Are there print magazines, forums on the topic? What type of communities exist? If you can find your audience, you'll have an easier time connecting.

Have you done a thorough search for any sites relating to your authority topic? How much competition is there?

One thing to try might be to put together a small budget for Pay Per Click ads, come up with a list of keywords and see if you receive any traffic/clicks. For a little money, you might get some good feedback before you dive in.

Good luck!

gina, that's good advice - what exactly does a pay-per-click campaign do? Is that something that I would pay to hopefully generate traffic to my website, or the kind where I pay for ads that are linked to affiliates? Sorry there's just so much out there

Alexa, I agree. It's just a stepping stone though, you know? I'm just trying to get my feet wet at this point and it seemed like a good idea. Ultimately I would like to have my own website and write my articles for it, as you said.

packerfan, I'm not doing grad work in this topic, but a business related field. It's actually in accounting, hence the double meaning of the C.P.A. my name.. (cost per action) clever, I thought

What I like about the subject is that the more I know and learn about networking, the more of a benefit it is to me in my professional career. At the end of the day, my online efforts are for $$, but having that added benefit helps. I want to have a popular website with subscribers and earn a passive income. I'd like to learn all about IM and affiliate marketing and hopefully develop several sites producing passive income streams.

Good question Packer, got me thinking about my real intentions.

professional networking generate 40,500 monthly searches and has "low competition" based on google adsense tool. Secondly, there is only 1 of the top 10 in google search that I would click on based on it's appearance in what I'm looking for (tips, strategies ect), and it's just a blog post where the main site is on a variety of different things.

If I had a site that showed up on the first page, with actual beneficial material including videos and sets of examples to follow, I think I could attract a gathering.

I don't think building a Squidoo page with affiliate links is a good first step to establishing yourself as an authority in your niche. If I were you, I'd hang around related forums and build up somewhat of a reputation that way. You'll also make connections that you can then leverage to your advantage - get guest posts, maybe hire someone as a writer, etc.

You definitely want to have your own product or service if you're going to be building an authority site. A couple affiliate links will just look kind of bad, in my opinion.

What is the best way for someone out new to this area to get started and learn the ropes?

Should I keep writing articles and pushing affiliate products? Should I write articles on my topic of choice, networking, and add in some good business books to make a little cash (and keep the motivation up)

Should I just create a wordpress review site on a niche product and try my hand at it that way?

Does it sound like my professional networking site has any potential?

I think becoming an authority mainly depends on how people PERCEIVE you rather than how many hours of works you have put into a trade. I think what the author meant in outliers is that you need 10,000 hours to become a master at something: now I dont know if you are with me on this, but an authority neednt be a master..

Two easy ways to establish your authority in a short amount of time:

1) Get on video so that people know who you are. Most authority figures are well known public faces, and I think that video/tv marketing has something to do with it

2) Get an endorsement from a celebrity in your niche: if you are seen by your market with another authority, they will instantly assume you are an authority (classic marketing trick)

That's my two cents. To conclude, Id say that with the speed of information nowadays you can easily become an authority in less than a year. I would advise you to get a mentor which will show you the way, that can help you to skip all the trial and errors part.

All the best,

Bertrand.

Anything is possible. I became an authority on providing women and some men (?) discounts on high heel shoes. On top of that I did it solely with forum marketing. My website (no you can't see it) is simple. Has an opt-in page, and an image of a very expensive high heel shoe (that is easily recognizable to those interested in them) blended into the sites background.

That's it. Nothing fancy. The content is about two pages of text, talking about how if you sign up for my list you will get weekly coupon codes for disocunts and free shipping on shoes. How do I make money? The emails are filled to the brim with aff links. To the brim!

I now post in over ten forums that deal with high heels and other related niches (costumes, lingerie, and more adult topics as well). These posts drive traffic to the opt-in page, which builds my list, which in turn increases my income.

So how do I know that I am an authority?
Because other members on said forums will point new members to check out my posts or profile, where conveniently the link to my site is. No doubt, when other people (complete strangers mind you) are pointing OTHER people in your direction, then you've become something.

I think in the corporate world they call that "branding." In IM we call that becoming an "authority!"

As I began this post, I stated anything is possible. If I can become an authority as an online Al Bundy, then no doubt you can do it in your niche.

Yes you can.

Get your own site, not some Squidoo nonsense, make a wordpress site, put a forum on it. Have lots of good content, related subjects and topics. The rest is only a matter of time.

Write a book and have it published. Don't have time? Get some quality PLR that allows you print rights and publish that under your name. You don't have to have a huge amount of prints made. Just enough to take some pictures and plaster it all over the web. Shazaaam, you are now an authority on your topic... in fact, you wrote the book on it!

No sir. authorities are born, not made.

you're just not cool enough. sorry!

but really, what the hell kind of question is this.

The reason I asked is because I was told to stick to a narrow niche.

I'm really just trying to get started and asking questions..

Should I start somewhere other than a full website that will require a lot of time/possibly money? Should I play around with other methods of affiliate marketing to get an idea of SEO and traffic generation?

And NO IM NOT talking about writing articles to build credibility in this other area that I want to become an "authority" on.

There is a tremendous amount of information on the Internet so if you do enough research, you should be able to accumulate a great deal of relevant information on the topic you wish to present.

Some of the info you can provide links to and others should be unique articles based on your research. Either way you should be able to eventually show people how you can benefit them with the information posted on your website.

It will take some time and require hard work but should be well worth it in the long run. Good luck!

I think it'd be tough to be seen as an expert if you don't own your own website.

Like, really tough.

Unless you work for a major news or magazine and regularly contribute to their site.

So yeah- definitely get your own site, put up quality content, get some press releases, maybe author a book on Amazon's publishing platform, etc.

I'm not trying to be an authority without a website..

There are two options that I've been discussing and they aren't related. The "authority" site, and then doing product reviews, affiliate marketing and that type are completely unrelated to what I intended to do with the e-book/authority website.

There is two ways to become an authority in a topic;
1 "Act" as if you know all there is to know about the topic,
2 Know all there is to know about the topic.

Obviously, the latter is best for the simple fact that if you do know a lot about the subject, people will notice that. If you pretend to know it all, it will be just a matter of time before your budding reputation is on the line when someone calls you out on inaccurate info. So, basically one needs to be truly educated (formally or self taught) on the topic. Most good marketers and leaders will say that this topic that you are to establish yourself as an authority in should be something that genuinely interests you. People often go into niches with the money in mind first, and the niche second. It is better to go at it by looking at your own interests, knowledge and skills. Niche first, money second. Research the niche in depth to be sure of direction of efforts. Determine what people are talking about, what they need, want and what the "problems" are that group has. Then it is simply a matter of addressing those points found. All this can be top notch and better than the leading competition, but still not get found or ranked. A component of becoming an authority is to get in front of the right people. To really dominate a niche, you need to get both figured out, top of the line content and pro SEO and backlinking. If the topic is well covered and presented, it will be shared.

So the break down would be as follows;

identify own interests, knowledge and skills, make a list of 5 or so and research them,
Identify specific niche and find your keywords and domain,
Ensure content/topic is well covered, is up to date, specific and relevant, be careful not to go too broad to start,
Talk with authority and reference where applicable,
get in front of your audience, forums, blogs, etc
Encourage sharing and interaction.

I felt this was a great addition to my previous comment. It's definitely possible to become an authority on a forum yourself, with or without a website. Here's some excellent proof of this.

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...marketing.html