How do you market yourself as an authority in your industry?

7 years ago

I think there is a line. There is Authority, and what I call false authority. Authority is when you give a tutorial on say a Wordpress modification from start to finish and it works. False Authority is when you give a tutorial on facebook posting or something and you give general ideas but not a clear step by step with a desired finished result.

For me.. Authority is in what you are writing about, that ends in a repeatable result. The same is true in my business endeavors... I provide results that I can repeat over and over. Authority then becomes a track record of positive results.

I think as key as a track record is... you CAN hype Authority simply be the words and tone of the words you use... I am going to be very honest here.. in many of my affiliate efforts I have not clue 1 about the subject matter at the start.

An example, I have a site dedicated to skinny jeans. From the point I saw the potential in building such a site ( not knowing a damn thing ) to the point the site went live... I kinda had a voice of authority. Its the education process in a topic that drives authority I think the most critical 2 points that are acquired in the education process is the 1) buyer profile, and 2) the seller profile. WHO you are talking to, and HOW you talk to them. CRITICAL CRITICAL CRITICAL.

Forget selling affiliate crap... the above holds true in any and every form of sales you may take on. Who you are talking to, and How you talk to them. Someone that can adapt their voice - their message ( be it verbal written or otherwise ) to ring true to the person or people you are communicating with... Golden!

Originally Posted by wordsandthebees

They say that those who can do; and those who can't teach.
To me though, I find those who are offering tutorials, online courses, marketing guidance etc have positioned themselves as real authorities in the industry. While they may or may not have an in depth knowledge of whatever it is they're trying to teach - they've (generally) got me fooled!

My question to the more experienced marketers among you is how have you positioned yourselves to become an authority?

People don't always have relevant qualifications yet people still seem to be flocking to them in droves because - well, because of what?

Qualifications clearly aren't everything so I can only put it down to clever marketing.

Would be interested to hear your strategies?

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EugeneWHZ

7 years ago

I think within your industry - when people around you do know nature of your business you need do do your best and demonstrate that your are professional. That would be the best marketing in this case and sooner or later "word of mouth" marketing will trigger without your participation.

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Rocket Media

7 years ago

You will become an authority if you are doing a good job at what you do. There is really no way to falsely become an "authority" these days. Content is king. Make good content and that will give you the authority you seek.

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savidge4

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Rocket Media

You will become an authority if you are doing a good job at what you do. There is really no way to falsely become an "authority" these days. Content is king. Make good content and that will give you the authority you seek.

In todays environment where Content is king... the above statement is oh so false.... I can tell you first hand I can write better than good content and not have a clue about the subject...

writing "Authoritative" content is as simple as finding the pain.. IE searching forums etc on questions that are asked... then go out and read articles on the solution, and then simply write contextual current relevant content that answer peoples question.

This process by no means makes ME an Authority on the subject.. but understanding how to write such content makes me an Authority on gathering and spitting content.

Give people what they literally are asking for.. and they will be back for more.

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jamiednm

7 years ago

Originally Posted by savidge4

In todays environment where Content is king... the above statement is oh so false.... I can tell you first hand I can write better than good content and not have a clue about the subject...

writing "Authoritative" content is as simple as finding the pain.. IE searching forums etc on questions that are asked... then go out and read articles on the solution, and then simply write contextual current relevant content that answer peoples question.

This process by no means makes ME an Authority on the subject.. but understanding how to write such content makes me an Authority on gathering and spitting content.

Give people what they literally are asking for.. and they will be back for more.

This brings up a good point - you may be able to write authorative articles about things that you aren't actually an authority on, so it begs the question - what is the difference between a person with the ability to write high quality, useful articles, and a person who is an actual authority on the same subject?

Surely, the answer is that to be a true authority, you must be able to use your experience and insight to be able to innovate, be critical of other ideas in the field, and develop ideas further and create truly original and completely relevant content.

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DABK

7 years ago

Nah, authority is about perception.

If I tell you to build a house, top to bottom, and you build the house, and the house is good, who has authority (and as what)?

If a man loses 100lbs, is he an authority on weight loss?
How about a man who loses 100lbs and writes a step-by-step, how-I-lost-100lbs book?
How about the doctor who studied hundreds of people who lost a lot of weight and tells you what the ones who lost the most and kept it off?

You market yourself as an authority differently, depending on the market.

In some markets, you need to add PH D, next to your name. In some markets, you need to have done it yourself successfully. In some markets, you need to have run studies. In all markets, it helps if you are named as an authority by others (as in being interviewed on TV) or if you've published a book. Or if you're named in a book. And, there are variations there, too:
The weight lifting coach who won Mr Universe is going to be perceived as more of an authority than a coach who has not. Sometimes, a coach who coaches coaches...

Sometimes, it's the one who's been posting on a forum...

or on facebook.

Remember, whatever it is you do, if your prospects ain't seen it, it don't exist.

Originally Posted by jamiednm

This brings up a good point - you may be able to write authorative articles about things that you aren't actually an authority on, so it begs the question - what is the difference between a person with the ability to write high quality, useful articles, and a person who is an actual authority on the same subject?

Surely, the answer is that to be a true authority, you must be able to use your experience and insight to be able to innovate, be critical of other ideas in the field, and develop ideas further and create truly original and completely relevant content.

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savidge4

7 years ago

Originally Posted by jamiednm

This brings up a good point - you may be able to write authorative articles about things that you aren't actually an authority on, so it begs the question - what is the difference between a person with the ability to write high quality, useful articles, and a person who is an actual authority on the same subject?

Surely, the answer is that to be a true authority, you must be able to use your experience and insight to be able to innovate, be critical of other ideas in the field, and develop ideas further and create truly original and completely relevant content.

The line is obviously "Experience". In the offline realm.. you can see the experience ...been in business since... PhD... referrals from friends etc. Online... all that goes away for the most part.. and even those things being there, there may still be skepticism. The online experience is all about TRUST. IF you understand how to develop TRUST.. Authority simply falls into place. Online.. people don't want to read about your PhD or your years of this and that.. they have a question, and they are hoping you provide an answer. Cross the TRUST barrier and throw in a pinch of salesmanship, and the world is your oyster.

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DABK

7 years ago

I agree, but not completely. I think online they throw trust in front of authority. Once they trust you, they check your authority, in other words.

Or, maybe, they balance, something like:
trust=80
authority=90 is less than
trust = 100
authority= 70
which is less than
trust=90
authority=90?

Originally Posted by savidge4

The line is obviously "Experience". In the offline realm.. you can see the experience ...been in business since... PhD... referrals from friends etc. Online... all that goes away for the most part.. and even those things being there, there may still be skepticism. The online experience is all about TRUST. IF you understand how to develop TRUST.. Authority simply falls into place. Online.. people don't want to read about your PhD or your years of this and that.. they have a question, and they are hoping you provide an answer. Cross the TRUST barrier and throw in a pinch of salesmanship, and the world is your oyster.

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savidge4

7 years ago

Originally Posted by DABK

I agree, but not completely. I think online they throw trust in front of authority. Once they trust you, they check your authority, in other words.

Or, maybe, they balance, something like:
trust=80
authority=90 is less than
trust = 100
authority= 70
which is less than
trust=90
authority=90?

Me personally ( ok I do this professionally as well ) throw damn near every amount of effort I can into trust. The only thing that may out way trust itself, is the positioning - in other words the structure of the page and where the trust factors are located.

I will agree that how much trust vs authority there is completely dependent on the type of page. A blog post will by the nature of the material be positioned more towards authority. BUT, in an instance such as this, the authority material is essentially developing trust in an effort to boost a CTA ( Call To Action ) I know what I am talking about, you can trust me... click here.

But lets throw some examples of online instances out... Say a lead gen page. You want the end user to call or to fill out the form... or simply get to the next step in the presentation process. Authority has nothing to do with this. These types of sites are 100% trust builders. breaking down the resistance to clicking through the next step and getting the desired result.

Starting with on point click bait, to matching page content, testimonials, having a form on a secured page, the silly little "we don't spam message" security badges, etc etc. Any and every lead capture page is all about benefit benefit benefit, surrounded by trust factors. The actual process in un itself, develops trust. They see a link, it said X the page delivered X and now they are asking for this and promising to deliver Y. They delivered X I trust they will deliver Y

Another example... selling product. Nothing nothing nothing but trust. Can you develop the needed trust level for them to drop in those 16 credit card digits. Again Authority has no play in this.

In the realm of single page closes, authority has no place.

The flip side of this is sales that may require a relationship. Using a blog or even a vlog as a platform to develop a tribe and sell repeatedly. Authority in this instance has a place. Authority IS the vehicle towards developing trust.

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atrbiz

7 years ago

I focus on Drupal and Wordpress site development, and charge $10k-$20k per site build. I've developed a quality list of client references and case studies over the years, which is a key tool in my closing process.

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Jack Russell

7 years ago

Align your company with others in your industry that ALREADY have credibility/authority/trust with your target market.

Make win-win deals where they can endorse you in return for a share of the profits they generate for you. If your new clients stick around for a while, the profits are all gravy provided you have a proven/quality product to offer.

Qualifications don't really matter btw, if you can show that the results your company get speak for themselves and make it a no risk proposition for potential clients to do business with you-ie.."we do this..you get that or you don't pay" offer.

Anthony Robbins/Frank Kern would call this "results in advance".

My two cents. Good luck mate.

Jack

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dksmith1

7 years ago

Authority means that you can do it differently, you are innovator, you are expert like smartest mind in their field that doesn’t mean that you have authority.
You need to have an experience and having advices of other expert too to be authoritative.

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eccj

7 years ago

Originally Posted by wordsandthebees

They say that those who can do; and those who can't teach.
To me though, I find those who are offering tutorials, online courses, marketing guidance etc have positioned themselves as real authorities in the industry. While they may or may not have an in depth knowledge of whatever it is they're trying to teach - they've (generally) got me fooled!

My question to the more experienced marketers among you is how have you positioned yourselves to become an authority?

People don't always have relevant qualifications yet people still seem to be flocking to them in droves because - well, because of what?

Qualifications clearly aren't everything so I can only put it down to clever marketing.

Would be interested to hear your strategies?

Write a book.
Radio show.
TV show.
Interviews.
Pictures with other authorities.
Speaking engagements.

You are right though, a lot of people who become authorities have no idea what they are talking about. This is especially true in the world of online marketing and sales.

I was a part of a launch of a guy who is now an "authority" in online marketing. He built a nice size email list talking about online marketing. He then sold to a successful product to the list so he became an expert on list building and selling a product to the list.

Whew

So out of this guys email list and course there were two guys who decided to become experts on other kinds of online marketing: one on CRO the other on link building if I remember right (it's been a few years).

So what does it take to be an authority? Well it doesn't take experience.

It takes being able to keep a straight face when you call yourself an authority and ask for huge fees though. Huge fees help in making you an authority.

It takes media output so you need to be disciplined in that.

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buyappparelonline

7 years ago

I am new in this field , and Still struggling and learning day by day. I have waisted bunch of $$$ but without a success. It means that there must something i am still missing.

Thanks
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savidge4

7 years ago

Originally Posted by buyappparelonline

I am new in this field , and Still struggling and learning day by day. I have waisted bunch of $$$ but without a success. It means that there must something i am still missing.

Having looked at your site.. yes there is a bunch you are missing. You have not developed trust in any way shape or form. There are structural issues ( I will point out in a moment ) There is no about us page. your contact page does not leave a point of contact as in a physical address ( you should ) There is no USP ( Unique Selling Perspective )

When it comes to trust and a site such as yours ( I have a few such sites myself ) you can start with building trust by implementing the idea that all transactions are run through Amazon. So you can say you accept visa MC Amazon Gift cards Amex and Discover. This simple little tactic takes you from being a boring affiliate to maybe almost being a legit store.

Your lack of about us and the poor contact page hurt your trust. You don't have to be some mega store or whatever.. an about us page how you are a single mom or a college student or whatever... be honest... this process will actually help develop trust and create a connection between you and your potential buyers. The contact us page... I personally have a real address and a phone number on all of my sites. if you are worried about your privacy get a PO Box and a separate cel number ( I have both of these ) You will be shocked how many people actually will call you. ( once you get traffic )

Structural issues.... On your contact page, your product page, your checkout page.. loose the side bar, it only hurts you

USP - this would tie in with your About us statement.... What ever your back story is.. items selected by a mom for moms.. or whatever. Separate yourself from all of the other affiliate sites out there.

I would say that all of the above are variables in the trust factor... all easy fixes and will get you on the road to possible success.

Your page content ( blog ) terrible.. what does any of that have to do with the products you sell? Here is what I do.. I look at Facebooks trending or Huffington Posts trending and find something thatI can tie in with my products. lets use this as an example ( Here's What Victoria's Secret Models Wear to Work )

One of my sites I sell Skinny Jeans... I use articles like the one above to show what trendy people are wearing, and then try to have matching apparel from my site to match the look. You can easily knock out a piece of content EVERY day this way.

Content every day is 365 pieces at the end of the year.. that's 365 potential pages that may rank and start getting you targeted traffic... Make the needed Trust adjustments and you might actual start making sales. It wont happen over night, but over time it will happen.

Good Luck

Thanks

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onlineworker11

7 years ago

By sharing lot of value and giving tips and sharing tutorials regarding different things within online marketing, etc to help others to become successful. I would say an authority goes the extra miles o to say in comparison with the "average" marketer.

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