One of the ways to develop loyal customers and ensure a better standing in the business world is to become an authority in your industry. Not only will this promote your brand in an organic and natural way but it will also help you out in networking, due to the fact that your reputation will often precede you. In turn, this will help make your employees respect you more and create an immense boost for your talent attraction efforts. Still, becoming an authority in an industry (any industry) is not a simple matter. With that in mind and without further ado, here are six steps to becoming an authority in your industry.

1. Picking a narrow niche

The first thing you can do to persuade your audience that you know what you’re talking about is to pick a narrow niche. Think about it this way: would your audience believe that you know a lot about car batteries if you were to sell all car parts or if you were specialized in selling just car batteries? Of course, a lot of businesses don’t find this kind of exclusivity to be exactly profitable, yet, there are some industries where this can help you make quite a fortune. There are usually different models, sizes, manufacturers, and versions of the product that’s your primary focus. You probably wouldn’t even have that easy of a job managing it all.

2. Quality content

Creating quality content is, beyond doubt, the best way to connect with your audience on both personal and professional level; therefore, it needs to become a top priority. For starters, you need to understand that showing your expertise isn’t something you do through the use of specialized, often obscure terminology. Of course, using basic terminology is expected, yet, managing to give your audience explanations in a way that they truly understand is sometimes a challenge. Imagine if they’ve already visited several posts on the same topic and failed to understand anything about the subject matter. Then, they arrive at your blog and get an understanding of the situation. Who are they going to value and appreciate more?

3. Better google rank

The next thing you need to understand is the fact that your Google rank determines your trustworthiness in the eyes of your audience. There’s a statistic claiming that one-third of all Google searches end with the first result, while 95 percent of people using this feature never reach page two. This is not just because people are too lazy to invest time in proper research but also because they believe that these latter results are less reliable. Therefore, you need to hire the services of a professional SEO agency or, if you aim to be more frugal, consider the possibility of a DIY SEO project. Either way, your business is in for a considerable reputation boost.

4. Don’t be afraid to go first

When it comes to implementing new trends and business practices, a lot of entrepreneurs prefer to take a safer approach and allow someone else to test the waters. Even though some of these trends are expensive and going in head-first is unsafe, successfully pulling this off can improve your authority by quite a bit. First of all, people who are cautious about trends usually wait for early reviews and ratings and, by being a pioneer, you can become their source. This means increased traffic, increased credibility and respect even by some of your niche-peers, not just your regular audience. In other words, this approach definitely has its advantages.

5. Act like a leader

While it’s important to look past the surface, it’s also important that you look the part and actually act like a leader. The very choice of words that you use in your textual content or your stance in visual content (YouTube videos) and public addresses can determine how people perceive your brand. Charisma and leadership are incredibly potent tools and even if you’re the most knowledgeable person alive (on this particular topic) it’s uncertain if people will be able to grasp it without them. This is why learning a thing or two about public speaking and choosing a tad more confident tone in your writing might be a much smarter choice.

6. Have your stance

Every niche has its issues, problems and experience changes and it’s important that you, as a figure of authority, have a stance on all of these issues. Now, this is an incredibly important part and it is something where you cannot afford to go wrong. First of all, while it is expected for you to respond as soon as possible, it’s not smart to do so before you thoroughly research the topic at hand. Second, a lot of brands simply can’t admit when they’re wrong, which puts them in a much worse position. It’s OK to admit when you’re wrong; just don’t change your stance too often. To avoid this, simply don’t make any hasty statements.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, while authority has to do everything with knowledge and performance, the truth is that people often look for authority in appearance. In order not to miss out on anything good, make sure to cover all of these fronts.

Dan Radak is a marketing professional with eleven years of experience. He is currently working with a number of companies in the field of digital marketing, closely collaborating with a couple of e-commerce companies. He is also a co-author of several technology websites and a regular contributor to Technivorz.

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