How do you Gain authority in IM when starting out?

I've never seen anyone tell their audience that "they are new." And you're not telling a lie if you choose not to disclose that.

I think anyone has credibility if they offer good value. If you've been learning a lot from your reading then organize what you've learned, share it, see what happens and reevaluate. Over time you'll find your 'voice' and your content will become more solid and marketable.

Since you are new you kind of have to go with that. You're not going to be an authority overnight, but you can build up to that and chronicle it on your blog

Appeal to the people who are also new ... maybe a little bit newer than you and share your journey with them. Even though you are new, you probably know a bit more then someone "newer" so you have valuable information to depart.

Sure, some people are looking for people who are authorities now - but since you are not an authority now, those people are not your target market. You want to target the types of people that identify with someone who is learning along with them.

Hope that helps,

Lee

Well in your about section you can just tell people you are in the process of working through your goals. People may be able to relate to you more if they see that you are still working towards financial freedom and also you can inform your readers on your progress and they will be able to see you grow over time and develop that personal relationship with you.

Since I don't know you or your background I can't give you direct advice but if I had to write an "about me" page (and I will have to sooner or later) I would draw on my past experience and spin it a little.

"KEKilpatrick has spent 20 years corporate trainer for several multinational companies. A research expert he has spent countless hours writing, developing and delivering telecommunications technologies training for both the military and private sector...." Or words to that effect

Talk about your past work experience and if it's not marketing related use words and a tone that will highlight your knowelege that pertains to helping or training others... Just don't lie about yourself, you never want to put yourself in a position where your integrity is questioned (IMHO).

You can also write about your goals for your "students" and your commitment to helping them succeed...

As you gain experience in IM you can build on your "about me" page, it doesn't have to (and shouldn't) be static.

Just my 2 cents

You gain authority by demonstrating that you can market something other than IM products. Once you can demonstrate that you actually know what you are doing, then it will be much easier for you to market IM products/services bases on your actaul experience.

Sure, you can try to fake it till you make it like all these other people are advising, but your chances of being successful are small. Why not actually try to become proficient at IM before you try to make money off of other people trying to learn how to do IM? You will probably feel better about your self as a bonus.

You can seem like an authority by the questions you ask. If you come up to someone and tell them you are just starting out, you probably won't get business.

However, when you ask someone, "How's business?' and you have good rapport, they will tell you their problems. I spent about 15 minutes with a high-end flooring contractor and after 5 minutes he started to tell me EVERYTHING about his business.

The point is that if you listen, you'll know what types of questions to ask... and you'll seem more like you know what you are doing.

With all that said, learn to do just one thing well and you can talk about that 'til the cows come home.

Keep rolling,

Millard

You said you've been doing lots of reading and conducting lots of research so that in itself is "experience". You don't necessarily have to disclose that you've never actually launched a website/product that has been supper successful and made you lots of money and gave you the freedom to do what you want.

You should just be honest and talk about what you know on your blog and go from there. Once your blog has been operating for a while and you keep updating it with fresh content on a daily basis- NOW you have credibility. The hardest part for my blog was establishing credibility and getting my readers to trust me and return to my site on a regular basis. The only way I achieved this was through constantly putting up new and important content that my readers like.

You don't necessarily have to fake anything, you can just tell your story about what you've learned thus far. Blogging is an ongoing process and once you've been doing it for a month or two you have then built up the credibility.

As far as the "about me page" goes you can put whatever you want! You don't need to be specific and talk about all of your experience, just say that this is me and this is what I'm going to be talking about on this blog. That's the beauty of owning a blog! Everything you put on the blog is up to you and you don't need to be deceptive or lie or anything like that, just avoid the whole aspect of you being new to the blogging/internet marketing world and you can start building your credibility by blogging about important and useful topics. Once you've actually been in the game for a while you can update your about me page to say that you are now experienced.

Good luck with your blog launch, hopefully all goes well!!!

You should check out Dean Holland's blog. He is a Warrior here, and when he was very new to all this he started up a blog documenting his journey to online success.

I think he earns like 30 to 40k a month now, and he has only been at this for a year or two. He did exactly what you want to do I believe, and his blog is still around. It's been through a major new redesign, but I think all of his posts are still there. Just go back to his very first few posts and videos on there, and then look at some of the recent ones and observe how he has made that transformation from helpful newbie to successful information product seller!

Dean Holland Dot Com: Ethical Marketing And Internet Business Advice

Welcome to the club!

You don't have to tell them you're new...just don't represent yourself as a "guru," or an "internet millionaire". If you play it right, you could wind up standing out from the crowd by not doing that.

Yes, people are looking for the "easy money" button, but even though they might talk about it, not many have the deeply-held expectation that they'll become a millionaire overnight...even though the idea holds a very real allure to them (for many of the same reasons that people buy lottery tickets). What they will buy into (hook, line and sinker) is the possibility of making money online. "MMO" stands for "Make Money Online," not "Make Millions Online". If they truly believe you can help them make more money than they make now...you're set.

Bottom line...if you have a website, a product and start a list, you are immediately ahead of a decent percentage of folks that are looking for a way to bring in some extra cash, which means you do have something of value to offer. You just have to rearrange your misconceptions that only those making millions should ever try to help.

Short answer: Every person that finds value in what you have to offer (be it on your blog, in your product, or in your emails) builds your authority; every person that actually takes action and succeeds (I don't care if they make an extra $.50) has an even greater effect.

Offer value, teach what you do know, don't try to fake knowing things you don't, and the authority will follow.