~Issue Number Seventeen~
August 19, 2011 [Next Issue: August 26, 2011]
Hello Friend,
As an Internet marketer, your goal in establishing your brand is to set yourself apart from the competition. If you are selling a product or service that others offer, YOU need to be the one that people trust and come to.
One of the best ways to establish and solidify your brand is to position yourself as an authority in your chosen niche or marketplace. If you are THE authority, why would someone buy from anyone else online?
Sounds great...but what if you are selling a product or service that you don't have years of experience behind? Can you still be an authority that people can trust? The answer is YES! You just need to position yourself in the right way.
Read our Stomper Intelligence Report: "You're Not an Authority...YET - How to Sound Like an Expert Without Being One." You'll get some great tips on adding authority to your brand. Just remember to make a plan to implement what you learn!
Lee Collins
Managing Director
StomperNet, LLC
"Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise.
View life as a continuous learning experience."
~Denis Waitley
You're Not an Authority...YET - How to Sound Like an Expert Without Being One!
By Colin Theriot
As marketers, we undoubtedly must create a wide variety of content in our chosen niche; in order make inroads into any online marketplace.
Some niche marketers are lucky. They already happen to be passionate and knowledgeable about a profitable subject; so creating engaging content comes easy.
However, most of us are not so lucky, and to have a profitable business, we need to get involved in markets that they initially know very little about.
Obviously, there's no time to become an expert on every subject we approach. But you can't expect to get away with the grade school tricks you may have tried when you didn't actually read the book for your report.
Those tricks just won't fly when it comes to your business. You need to learn the skills to write with authority on your subject so that people get a sense of trustworthiness from you, and are therefore willing to rely on your recommendations.
Fortunately, you can develop the skill of SEEMING like an authority without needing the deliberate practice or experience required to become a bona fide expert.
And don't worry, there's nothing deceitful here. We're simply presenting the information you already have in a way that will build rapport with your audience, and cultivate a leader/follower relationship.
1. Know Your Audience
This is overlooked by many writers who try to write to all readers. This tends to lead to dry, disengaging content.
So you should SPECIFICALLY choose your audience. Don't write for everyone. Think about what you're promoting, and think about the ideal consumer of that product or service. Don't generalize. Be specific. It even helps to find a testimonial for a product and then pretend you're writing your content as a letter to them.
Thinking this way will go a long way towards making your content engaging. When you have a specific person in mind, you tend to write in a more naturalistic manner. Since you're targeting your ideal customer, your content will resonate more deeply with them, and this can lead to instant rapport and influence.
2. Identify Your Place In the Spectrum
Now we also need to identify the depth and breadth of information that already exists on your given topic. How much is there to know? How broad is the niche? How many sub niches are there? You really want to get an understanding of the "size" of your niche's "world" - and you do this not by researching the subject, but by researching the PEOPLE who are interested in it.
You do this by finding the forums, blogs, and communities where your target audience congregates and discusses the topic. See how much they already know, and what it is they want to know more about. See where your audience falls in the "spectrum" of the available information on your subject.
Try to determine where in that spectrum your ideal consumer will fall, and then determine where YOUR experience level is, relative to them.
The goal here is to be slightly above where your target consumer is. We're not shooting to be the expert, but rather someone with a level of knowledge only slightly higher and only slightly more experienced than the reader.
We don't need to go for overkill, because in most niches,the BEGINNER level is where most of your potential customers are. Besides that, someone who is closer totheir peer level will be perceived as more relatable, and that's a little bit of bonus rapport you can get that you wouldn't if you came across as a high-falutin' expert.
Another reason we do this spectrum exercise and study the actual people in the niche is because it will help you avoid promoting "beginner" material to someone who is already at the "proficient" level, and vice versa, will keep you from going way over the heads of "beginner" level folks with "expert" level stuff they just aren't ready for.
3. Pick a Topic and Decide Your Stance
Now, by this time we know whom we are targeting, and we know how much they know, and we know how much (and what) it is they WANT to know more about. Now it's time to give it to them.
First, you're going to want to decide on your topic. This should be easy, as you probably got plenty of ideas from your earlier work. That's why I want you to start by researching your audience first. 99% of the time they will TELL you what to write about so you don't even need to think about it.
You want to make a note any time you see a question like "What is better...X, Y or Z?" This is a BUYER question. And best of all, it's easy to research, because they've already given you X, Y, and Z to look up. Hopefully, you can get paid somehow for selling X, Y, and/or Z. If so, it's perfect. If not, it's still an opportunity to gain authority. Comparison and Contrast is a form of communication that implies authority for the author, because it's inferred that you need to have some superior knowledge to write it.
Next, pick a definitive statement to make. Take a stand on the subject, draw a line in the sand. In the example above, decide which option you're going to back, whether it's X, Y, or Z. It's very easy to decide - go with the majority opinion (you should know this from your earlier research). But be decisive. People who are asking questions are looking for someone to make the decision for them. Being decisive implies authority. (But don't overdo it - see Section 5 below).
4. Triangulate and Source
First, find at LEAST three supporting sources that back up your stance. Again, this is easy, because you're going with the majority opinion. When I say "Source" I mean that you want to credit the source of the supporting material. If it's authoritative (like a brand name or a resource well known by the niche), quote it directly. If it's just based on the opinions of strangers, simply cite it generally. Example: "Several other enthusiasts also agree." or "The readers on Site X tend to share this opinion."
What this does is demonstrate the breadth of knowledge you have on the subject. You know where the resources are, and you know what people think. Note, it doesn't say anything about the DEPTH of your knowledge. Depth comes with actual experience and expertise. But when we're talking about our general audience of internet searchers, you don't need to be an actual expert on the subject - just being an expert in where to FIND OUT more about the subject will work by proxy.
Be sure that when you express your stance firmly, you also give information as to WHY you arrived at this decision. This usually makes it really easy to mention your sources as well as convey the kind of factual material you would see in a non-marketing article.
You should begin to see now that the sense of authority in the article comes primarily from the "frame" around the facts. The facts are just the same, but when you firmly establish who YOU are relative to who the READER is, you create the leader/follower relationship that is key to making referrals and sales.
5. Respect the Minority Opinion
Now, earlier, I said to go with the majority opinion when you take your stance. The majority is rarely wrong, and even if they are, they're still the majority, so you won't find many people disagreeing with your stance.
But that doesn't mean you should ignore the minority opinion. You shouldn't support it, but you should state it, and present the common argument against it.
This is another tactic to demonstrate your breadth of knowledge. An uninformed writer would find it easy to simply go with the majority opinion, and therefore isn't as trustworthy. That effect is amplified when you're marketing because people will find your presentation one-sided and it will seem like cheerleading or railroading.
By including the minority opinion, you make people think you really do know your stuff and actually broaden your audience to INCLUDE people who share that minority opinion. They may not agree with you, but by acknowledging their opinion, you legitimize them, which again, builds rapport with your readers.
Another good trick is to be less forceful in your presentation of the minority than you are with your stance.
Whereas your chosen majority stance should be rigid (i.e. X is clearly superior to Y and Z), you should be only mildly dismissive, and maybe even include faint praise for the minority (i.e. Y and Z are not really *bad* but they lack the features of X - hopefully the producers of Y and Z will serve their customers and add more features like X has). This demonstrates a sympathy and oneness with the consumer audience that will again, serve to garner rapport and influence.
In closing, remember: when it comes to writing as a marketer, keep it personal and direct. It's less about WHAT you say and much more about HOW you say it.
Use the tips above and you'll be amazed at how quickly you can become a "player" in any niche you choose.
NEW LAUNCH of The Net Effect is coming this month! If you want YOUR business to be featured in one of our new interactive ads, you have just 7 more days to let us know! Don't miss out on this incredible new opportunity! Contact Suzanne now! * * * * * SEO Pro Comes to San Francisco! Finally: Discover How to Get and KEEP Your Website (or a Client's Website) Ranked at the Top of the Search Engines by Attending the ONLY Workshop Backed by the 5-Year Reputation and Proven Track Record of the World's Largest SEO and Online Business Training Company! Click here for details! How to Sound Like An Expert Without Being One
2. Identify Your Place in the Spectrum
3. Pick a Topic and Decide Your Stance
4. Triangulate and Source
5. Respect the Minority Opinion
Remember: Next Stomper SEO Intelligence Report:
Friday, August 26, 2011
Next Week's Focus: Link Building
OFFICE HOURS NEXT WEEK:
THURSDAY August 25th @ 6pm Eastern Post Panda Link Building with StomperNet Coach Freddie Brister Are you frightened by what you have heard about the Google Panda Update? Are you unsure of how to properly get links without fear of penalty? If so, then join Freddie Brister as he takes you through a tried and true step-by-step link-building process that works effectively with the Google Panda Update. StomperNet Members: Register Now
FREE LIVE WEBINARS NEXT WEEK:
TUESDAY August 23, 2011 @ 7pm Eastern The Myths & Facts about Business & Corporate Credit with Ari Page and Georgia Gotthardt One thing we hear over and over again is that funding is one of the biggest obstacles faced by entrepreneurs today. Not because the banks aren't lending, but people are applying for the wrong loans.. at the wrong banks. You're also probably not getting low interest loans from the 600 Billion that was injected into the economy to spur lending. Join National Experts Ari Page and Georgia Gotthardt on Tuesday, August 23rd as they show you how getting funding can be fun fast and easy. Learn how its It's YOUR Tax dollar money given to the banks - so that they must lend it to you! Register Now
THURSDAY August 25, 2011 @ 8pm Eastern
What it Really Means to be an SEO Pro with Lee Collins & our SEO Pro Trainers StomperNet is considered the Worldwide leader in Search Engine Optimization. We have spent the last 2 years perfecting our SEO Pro workshops with 2 key audiences in mind. Those who want to sell SEO and Internet services to clients and those who want to optimize their own business website.
If you have ever considered attending one of our SEO Pro Certification Workships, this is the webinar to attend. This webinar will get your questions answered. Register Now
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