Small Business Trends

RSSPinterestLinked

In

Google

Plus

TwitterFacebook

SearchSearch...Events Inuencer Awards Book Awards

Comments Tools

Advertise Here

POPULAR

Digital Marketing Tips:How to Reach Back-To-School Shoppers via PPC

10 Ways to Improve YourOnline Marketing Efforts

Best Places to Turn YourWebsite Into an App

5 Reasons Why Content Marketing is

Getting Harder andMore Important

SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

Spotlight: SketchyLawCreates Visual Depictionsof Laws

426 Shares |

0

0

4 TweetTweet 310

5 Steps to Establishing Yourself as an ExpertOnline and OffJul 13, 2011 by Lisa Barone In Marketing Tips 18

Theres a lot of talk in the marketing blogosphere about the importance of setting

yourself apart from your competitionabout how to be taken seriously, you must

establish yourself as an expert in your eld. And while thats all well and good, no

one ever really tells you how youre supposed to establish yourself as an expert.

What goes into becoming an expert and how do you know if youre doing it right

or youre just spinning your wheels and getting no brand karma?

What should small business owners do to help brand themselves as authorities

that users will trust?

Below are ve tips:

1. Start Small: Im sure there are a number of things you want to brand yourself

and your company as being an expert on. However, start by picking one and

building your empire from there. What is the one thing that your company does

better than anyone else? Or what would you like to be known for doing better than

anyone else even if you dont right now? Become the go-to person for that. Once

you get that under your belt, you can expand upon it and add a lot of related

services.

2. Learn Everything You Can: Once you know what your area of expertise is,

dedicate yourself to becoming the master of it. Read blogs and forums to stay up

to date on the latest news, read discussions to understand the different pain

points, read print magazines and oine materials to hear from even more sources.

In order to be an expert on something, you need to be able to speak intelligently

on it, and that means understanding it as thoroughly as you can.

ShareShare 94

Popular

Trending:Trending: FacebookFacebook GadgetsGadgets TwitterTwitter NextivaNextiva July 14, 2015

RSS LinkedInPinterest

View All

DAILY TIPS

View All

SUBSCRIBE

Follow Follow @smallbiztrends@smallbiztrends 129K followers

Follow 17k

17k

Subscribe to our Newsletter Submit

Advertise Here

3. Create a Plan for Sharing Your Knowledge: Through blogs and social media,

small business owners are able to easily share their knowledge with others and

display their expertise for everyone to see. But have a plan for how youll do that

and use multiple formats. Maybe youll blog, offer webinars or speak at local

events. Or perhaps youll host a meet up in your area and write articles for popular

industry sites. Ideally, you should be doing a number of these things and sharing

information in all the satellite communities where your audience hangs out. Its not

enough to simply share the content; you have to share it where people are going to

notice and consume it.

4. Share Opinions, Even Dicult Ones: To really develop your standing as an

industry expert, you need to be comfortable sharing your opinion on whats going

on in your niche. Use your unique point of view and your way of seeing things to

share your passion with the people youre trying to reach. It can be hard to put

yourself out there and show your vulnerabilities, but you need to if you want

people to able to relate to what youre telling them. Share opinions on your blog,

through social media, at local networking events, and anywhere else you can!

5. Live What You Preach: People want to see that youre not only preaching best

practices, that youre also living them. Make sure youre implementing the same

things youre telling everyone else to implement and that youre not doing what

youve told them not to do. If youre trying to sell yourself as an authentic social

media marketer, people are going to get upset pretty quick if you start sending out

automated DMs or spamming them on Facebook.

Above are ve tips Id recommend to put yourself on the path to becoming an

expert in your eld. What did I miss? What traits or actions make someone stand

out as an expert in your eyes?

18 Comments

LISA BARONE

RSSLinkedInGoogleFacebookTwitter

Sponsored Content

Lisa Barone is Vice President of Strategy at Overit, an Albany Web design anddevelopment rm where she serves on the senior staff overseeing the companysmarketing consulting, social media, and content divisions.

EDITOR'S PICKS

10 Steps for HandlingUnsubscribes

Think About TheseSteps Towards BetterOnline Marketing

5 Reasons WhyContent Marketing isGetting Harder andMore Important

18 Reactions

July 13, 2011 at 11:13 am

Lily

#2 is important for people who consider themselves experts in a certain eld but arent

keeping up to date. These days, a college degree is not enough. It is mandatory to keep

updated with forums and blogs (google reader, anyone?) to make sure you know whats going

on NOW in your industry.

Nice article!

Reply

July 13, 2011 at 12:02 pm

Tamara

Excellent points made here. The recession, as well as the boom in certain areas such as social

media, has created an abundance of entrepreneurs/small businesses. It will be critical to be

able to set yourself apart from others, especially others in the same eld. We always talk about

niche markets, but if you are TOO niche, that cuts down on your potential customer base. Its a

ne line.

@msrasberryinc

Reply

July 13, 2011 at 12:21 pm

Carrie Schmeck

I especially like #1 and #3. Start small and have a plan.

Authenticity is the ultimate key. Finding what we do best and doing it.

Good thoughts. Thanks for the reminders.

Reply

July 13, 2011 at 1:57 pm

Robert Brady

You missed the easiest one.

#6 Tell people youre an expert.

People will believe anything right?

Reply

July 13, 2011 at 2:10 pm

Neal O'Sullivan

Youre all reading a blog created by a self-made expert. Mimic Anita and you will do just ne.

Reply

July 13, 2011 at 4:33 pm

Briana Myricks

Shameless promotion! People wont believe youre an expert unless youre everywhere with it.

Take any opportunity to plug your expertise, and people will remember you.

Reply

July 13, 2011 at 6:06 pm

Lara Fabans

I think we also need to realize that being an expert can also be a stair-step process. When you

know more about something than someone else, youre an expert to them. There will always

be someone who knows more than you, so dont be shy to say youre an expert since you are to

some. And always be learning and sharing.

Reply

July 14, 2011 at 8:51 am

John Trader

Lisa, as usual a very smart post with sound advice. The only tip I would add as to capitalize on

references to further prove your expertise in a certain eld. I realize that your post is building

up from the ground oor but once you have established a foundation, leverage the power of

references by asking others to spread the word about your knowledge through online and

oine resources. Realistically, as you start to establish that legitimate expertise people will

start sharing your blog posts, webinars, etc. and help to augment your knowledge and reach

but when you are rst starting off its always benecial to have a couple of your early fans,

followers, evangelists, etc. speak up for you on your behalf to get the ball rolling.

Reply

July 14, 2011 at 9:32 am

Aaron Eden

Lisa, your tips here made sense and a whole lot of it. I just started as a someone whos

passionate about social media ( and who wants to help people save time while engaging online

). Im not really that social until I have to face the fact that I have to connect. So, I just took my

passion and started building relationships online.. and oine. It amazes me how I just took the

stand and be my own expert. The pay off? I am bugged by companies who want me to help

them in their social media blue print just because I was enthusiastic about it.

Reply

July 14, 2011 at 10:05 am

Sam

Being a small business owner & being an expert in a eld is hard, but I agree it takes work to do

both. But it is worth it once folks accepts that you do know what you are talking about.

Sam

MyTeamConnects.com/blog

Reply

July 14, 2011 at 3:57 pm

Rob Carpenter

As you plan your strategy for branding yourself as an expert, Ive found that its helpful to tell

stories and anecdotes. Basically, the less abstract your points are, the better. It makes the

content and you as a speaker, more relatable and interesting.

Reply

July 14, 2011 at 6:28 pm

Simon

Good article.

I would add #6.5 Tell people you are an expert as you only need to know a little more and you

are.

Reply

July 14, 2011 at 11:13 pm

Tiffany C. Wright

I especially like point #4. When you share opinions that others disagree with, you open yourself

up to criticism. However no leader ever excelled without a healthy dose of criticism from

opposing viewpoints. Thank you for adding this pointand the detailed explanation.

Reply

July 16, 2011 at 11:01 pm

Mike Templeton

All great points. I think the most important thing is staying immersed in your subject area. Lilys

comment about a college degree not being enough was spot on, but it also means reading a

few books or blogs and then tossing it all aside wont work either. Youve got to constantly be

picking up on new things and staying ahead of the tide. If you dont, the water will come

crashing down around you and another expert will sail on by.

Reply

July 17, 2011 at 12:46 am

David Lawyer

Great list but the one thing above all, is to be patient. All of this can take some time. Be patient,

go thru the steps, go thru the process, stay the course and stay focused on the end game.

Reply

July 27, 2011 at 11:01 pm

@RSDonna

My #6 would be to never call yourself an expert. Along with the overuse of exclamation points,

expert is one of my top pet peeves (and dont get me started on guru, ninja). I think this

tweet from @CopyShark sums it up quite nicely: Expert is something others call you, and

something you demonstrate, not a title you claim yourself.

Reply

September 28, 2011 at 9:16 am

Jim

@RSDonna is right it is not right to claim the title of expert yourself.

5. Is very important. I have to ensure that not just myself but the people who work for my

business follow my ethos.

Great list thank you.

Reply

Pingback: Using social media INSIDE your business in the weekly roundup

LEAVE A REPLY

Follow Follow @smallbiztrends@smallbiztrends Newsletter Signup

About Small Business Trends

Founded in 2003, Small Business Trends is an award-winning online publication forsmall business owners, entrepreneurs and the people who interact with them. It is oneof the most popular independent small business publications on the web.

Together with hundreds of expert contributors, Small Business Trends brings you thenews, advice and resources you need. "Small business success... delivered daily."

Contact

Contact UsLooking for WritersAdvertiseSupportPrivacyTerms

About

CompanyNewsletterArchivesTrade Publications

Our Other Sites

Copyright 2003 - 2015, Small Business Trends LLC. All rights reserved."Small Business Trends" is a registered trademark. Powered by

Your email address will not be published. Required elds are marked *

Name *

Email *

Website

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail

Post Comment