When people see your name associated with the big guys, the public will start to perceive you as one of those big guys.
E. Brian Rose
If you are seen as an authority figure in your niche, you will undoubtedly sell more products, get more clients, and be a target for free publicity from the media.
It is well worth it to work on being perceived as one of the top experts in your niche or field. Here are some tips on quickly getting to that status.
Blog Blog Blog.
If you don’t have a blog, start one right away. Do not populate your blog site with PLR, write every word of every post yourself. Add a new post about your niche at least every other day.
It doesn’t matter how long or how significant your article is to the industry, just keep writing and posting. Don’t worry about how many readers you have in the beginning, just worry about fresh content being added regularly.
Once you have a couple of months worth of content, start telling the world about it. Use press releases and social media to announce the site and individual posts, put hyperlinks to your site in everything you write, including chat forum posts, emails, and even comments on other people’s blogs.
Comment Your Way In The Door.
Find the key players in your niche and start following their blogs closely.
Add your two cents by commenting on all of their posts, but don’t just throw up words to fill the screen… think about what you want to say and make sure your comment is adding quality content to this blog. Readers and the site owner will take notice.
Friend The Top Dogs.
Use social media to get in the inner circle of the top guys in your niche. Friend them, follow them on FaceBook and follow them on Twitter. Add your slick commentary to their posts and watch how quickly your own FaceBook friend requests or Twitter followers increase.
Chit Chat.
Identify the top chat forums in your niche and get an account. If the forum allows a signature file, add links to your blog and all of your social media accounts.
Now, start helping people. Don’t try and sell your products to other members, even if it is allowed. Just be friendly, helpful, and assertive. Do not engage in arguments, unless you want to be known as the town idiot. Use chat forums to engage people and leave them wanting more.
Get Published.
I booked guests on radio and television shows for many years. One of the first prerequisites that many producers have before booking a guest is that the guest is the author of a book.
It didn’t even matter if the book is worth the paper it’s printed on, you just needed to have to have a book to be on the list of guests. It’s never been easier to publish a book than it is today.
CreateSpace.com allows you to publish a book in no time and get that book in marketplaces, like Amazon. The biggest challenge is coming up with the content and even that can be a breeze.
If writing 200 pages scares the dickens out you, consider rewriting some PLR to beef up your content or even outsourcing the writing to a ghost writer.
Schmooze your way in.
I had been a successful online marketer for many years, but when I decided to move into the “make money online” niche, I was a new, unheard of name in those circles. Within months of releasing my first product to the Internet marketing crowd, I was a keynote speaker at a major Internet marketing event.
I’d like to say this happened because of my good looks and charm, but that wasn’t exactly the case. How did I do it? I did it by associating with the right people. James Jones has been a pillar in the IM community for quite a few years.
His followers loved him and there wasn’t a bad thing written anywhere on the web about him. So, when James called me and asked if I was interested in taking my product on the “webinar tour” with him, I jumped at the opportunity.
I flew out to Las Vegas to meet up with James, while he was putting on Practical Profits. In a small suite at the Tuscany Casino, I met Jason Fladlien, Rachel Rofe’, Tim Castleman, Wil Mattos, and John Rhodes.
These were some of the big players in the niche. They were introduced to my product and webinar dates were set up.
James then set up about two dozen webinar dates with more big names. I was an unknown name, but took an opportunity to show some of the “cool kids” that I was the real deal.
Once they made money with me and saw that I had quality products to offer, the door was open for me to come a calling again.
Interview Your Way In.
Anybody, no matter how new to the niche you are, can use this method to gain authority by association. All it takes is a few email requests to some of the bigger names in the niche you are trying to tackle.
You can conduct interviews by phone, Skype, or even email. Once your interview is complete, publish it to your blog and write five press releases about the interview, with both your names in the title. If you have audio or video, publish the interview to YouTube.
If you have a mailing list, start doing webinars immediately and start booking some authority figures onto these webinars. During the webinar, treat your guest as if he is a good friend. Don’t make it look like he is above you.
After the webinar, publish the replays everywhere and get some press releases distributed.
When people see your name associated with the big guys, the public will start to perceive you as one of those big guys.
Be Real.
Create a FaceBoook Fan Page for you, not just your products, and use it to let your customers know you are real. Tell your mailing list subscribers how they can “like” this page and interact with you.
It’s one thing to get an email from a faceless person, but it’s quite different when you see that this person has friends and family.
Let FaceBook be a window into your life. Post personal pictures of your family and friends. People are more apt to buy from somebody they “know” than a complete stranger.
