How To Demonstrate Trust And Credibility RUNNING A BUSINESS And Position Yourself As An Expert

In business, I truly believe it is the perception that counts most: it's a very important factor to state you are an expert in your field, an authority, an expert; however it is a lot more important to demonstrate and articulate this. For instance, easily was to, say, visit your website; is it very clear you know your industry, sector or niche? Perception is reality. Or to become more exact, perception in the eyes of one's prospect is reality.

You will continually be judged first hand on what you present yourself to your audience. From your own business cards, to your site, to the way you dress, from the language you use. Even down to the purchase price you charge. Your prospect will always make assumptions, and for that reason that is why how you are perceived is indeed critical to your success.

So let's now explore some ways to portray yourself as an expert in your industry, sector or niche.

Firstly I would urge anyone, in virtually any industry to find yourself in the habit of writing. Or even more importantly to write and discuss your take on a particular issue or challenge your prospect faces.

We all prefer to deal with experts in our industry, and therefore if you can in to the habit of authoring specific reports, guides, whitepapers etc then you will be way prior to the competition.

The emphasis here is to write in regards to a topic your prospect is thinking about. Let's take a very easy example. Say you're an accountant seeking to posture yourself being an expert in your field. You would avoid dry subjects such as for example Corporation tax, VAT etc, nevertheless, you might want to discuss the 10 techniques your clients could decrease their goverment tax bill. Same information, only articulated in such a way that this means something to your audience.

I would also go one step further. Try to avoid a a couple of page check list, but produce material of stand-alone value i.e. light on the sales pitch, but heavy on education. I'm an enormous believer in the idea of 'educating first, sell second'. In fact by educating your audience you automatically position yourself as a credible authority and thereby sell your organization. There is an automatic association with you, from the breadth and depth of knowledge provided.

So to begin with choose a topic you know would appeal to your potential client. If you are stuck for ideas look at your industry press, look at what the commentators say; visit their blogs, or websites. What themes keep coming up? Or what currently in your sector may be the hot topic for debate?

Or idea might be to re-purpose or re-fashion some material you have already out together. For instance, could you fashion together a report or guide from some articles you had written before. Or if you give a newsletter could you collate these as a series and produce a short guide or report.

The key here's to provide some form of education to your audience.

If you're still struggling for ideas, then do this. Take a subject material that you know will resonate with your audience. Then give this topic lots i.e. "The 5 Ways To Overcome..." or "The 7 Challenges Faced By Every..." or "The 5 Secrets That Every XXX OUGHT TO KNOW...". You not merely have a compelling title, you also have (in this example) five sub topics to develop and discuss.

Writing shouldn't be seen as something that you almost need to force yourself to d, but viewed as something that can be an important section of your positioning arsenal.

Okay, now for the best positioning tool. Write a book. Yes, if you want to be seen being an ultimate expert in your field, then write that book! Now this doesn't mean you have to take six months out to write a 300 page tome. But even a 50-100 page, bound, guide offer a mountain of credibility. When you say you're an author, you will always assume a computerized authority.

Now i want to be clear, you will not get rich writing a book. Well, check here would be great in the event that you did - financial firms not the purpose. It's the perception being an author of a book affords you. You can find hundreds upon hundreds of business books published every year, and I guarantee this; whilst they won't all become big sellers, the authors will all be perceived as experts in their field.

Similarly, you don't have to find a publisher. Once you have written your manuscript obtain it self-published, or look for a company that can print on demand. Again, I don't anticipate that you will make a fortune from this, but you will from the credibility you get. It did wonders for my client, and when you put in the time, effort and energy as she did, then it'll do wonders for you personally.

I touched upon this briefly earlier, but also look for ways that it is possible to demonstrate your expertise through different mediums. This is also important, as different mediums might appeal more to different sectors of the marketplace. For example, would you record a brief audio on a subject that would appeal to your industry. Or, maybe you could record yourself being interviewed. Then you might utilize this interview as a lead-generation tool.

Similarly, perhaps you could video yourself giving a presentation, or record yourself delivering some training. Again, none of this has to be costly. With vast advances in technology, you don't have to spend a small fortune doing this, and nor do you wish to.

Just imagine I visit your website and I can download a short guide, or series of guides. There exists a interview you have recorded that discusses ways of overcoming some of the key challenges your prospect faces. Again, as a visitor I would definitely not read, download or pay attention to everything, however it's the perception that you demonstrate. Compare this to a 'traditional' website in your field, which is simply filled with copy centered on you as well as your business. Which of the two examples, clearly demonstrates expert status, and so who do you consider I'm more prone to wish to accomplish business with?

Andrew Ludlam are the owners of Maverick Marketing Consultancy, and is recognised as a respected expert on advanced marketing strategy and tactics. As a marketing consultant, trainer and author, he has advised many hundreds of business owners one-to-one, and more have attended his private training programmes. Andrew also publishes a fortnightly newsletter which includes some 2,000 subscribers.