Expertise, Authority, & Reputations
Why Recommendations are an essential part of being an authority.
In anything you decide to do, getting the right help and advice can mean the difference mostly in levels of frustration. How big is your learning curve going to be starting a new project? Does it look easier than the reality? Is simple the same as easy? How do you find the right kind of help to locate the answers to the endless questions posed by doing a Google search?
Help is at hand – the world is filled with experts to guide, but selecting the good ones means relying on good branding, authority, and knowing how to identify those in whom you are seeking assistance from.
Easily Identifying Experts Requires Reputation, Branding, and Authority
If you’re the one seeking help, then knowing you are working with a professional who has credibility can be so hit and miss in many instances. As a marketing guru once said to me – ‘you have to be a far better marketer of what you do than a doer of what you do’. But the result of that is sometimes the glossy is just superficial shine isn’t it. And often we learn this the hard way - after parting with our money.
If you’re the one offering help - your authority comes down to how your brand stacks up and your profile reflects your reputation and expertise. When it comes to writing a book, you have to consider so many options. Just sit down and write? Join a program? Do a course? Get a coach?
Does it matter that X-Factor’s Simon Cowell has not personally had a hit record? It’s a subjective thing to say those who can do do, those who can’t teach. So, here’s my advice about getting help with a project like writing a book.
· Decide first how far you want to go with your project – a short book with lots of pictures to help as a marketing tool? Or a serious volume of helpful wisdom to project you onto Tedx Stages around the world?
· Then, consider your budget, your ability to commit to either a DIY or coaching option.
· Finally – ask for recommendations – don’t just fall for the slickest marketing campaign.
Here’s a great case in point – this week someone sent me a fantastic looking online program that looked simply amazing. So much so that I signed up – not only cos it was free, but it really did look like I’d learn something – and then I looked at the downloads when they appeared. Slick marketing...yes, very slick. But the content – all eight hours of it, was mostly four people waffling on in conversation about the half dozen or so slides – so the real nuggets would have been deliverable in one hour – with a lot of ‘now do this’ time. You can’t always trust what you see rolled out by the marketing department.
Why is this so important right now? Because we are being inundated with online programs, webinars, options for learning... and it’s simply more confusing than ever.
Recognising authority in those you wish to learn from has also become subjective in recent times. Because it is so easy to simply ‘look like an expert’. It’s like printing your own certificates in some instances. So, having a great reputation is even more important than being a recognised authority. Or is it? I think both are important and interchangeable. And for that, you have to simply be good, or even great as what you do, and how you do it. Not just once, but every time.
To discuss this further with any of the Indie Experts team check out our website and sign up for some of our Free Authority Hangout sessions. These are held on the last Tuesday of each month and feature casual conversation with Ann and Dixie about Authorship and Authority.