4 Ways to Be the Go-To Person of Your Industry

Written by: Adam Gray

You know how some people seem to get all the breaks? For some reason they are really well regarded in their industry and everyone seems to talk about them as if they are an expert? You know how sometimes these people are not as good as you, but yet everyone seems to think that they’re better?

Why is this?

These days, it’s probably because they have given some thought to their personal digital brand and how they manage it. The truth about marketing , communication , business and even life is that more often than not it doesn’t matter whether you’re good or not, it matters whether people THINK you are good or not!

Related: How the Hashtag Became Ubiquitous

So, how should you…how could you…manipulate the environment to the point where you look like the obvious choice. Where people jump to the conclusion that you really are the go-to-person in your industry. It’s a lot easier than you think.

First , you need to make sure that you know more than your audience about the subject you want to be known for. Your audience are generally NOT experts in this…which is exactly why they’re looking for someone to help them. So, you need to do some research. You need to write some good (short) content (rather like this piece) which doesn’t answer all the reader’s questions but demonstrates that you have an opinion – the object of the piece is to stimulate a dialogue.

Second, you need to source regular content about your topic. You have to write some content (point one) but not all of it. There’s a lot of benefit to be had from sharing good content as YOU are then seen as the conduit and therefore people will come to you almost as an “editor” scouring the internet for things that they should read.

Third, you need to be diligent. Establishing yourself as an expert will probably not happen overnight. So, you need to tweet and post EVERY SINGLE DAY because people have short memories. You need to make sure that every time someone looks, you are there looking back at them. You need to make sure that you are always present. You need to make sure that this is your TOP priority. No excuses. No ifs and buts. Failure is not an option.

Fourth, you need to find a way to measure whether what you are doing is working. You may not get it right first time. The tone of voice, the engagement, the growth…it may take a few refinements to get the formula absolutely spot on, but it will definitely be worth it.

Before you rush off and start, think about what happens if someone starts to engage with you. Is your digital footprint good enough? As I said, people jump to conclusions so you want to make sure they jump to the conclusion you want. Go through your LinkedIn profile, your Twitter profile and your website and make sure that all of these are aligned, buyer-centric and make you look like a specialist in the subject that you want to be known for. People can only “specialise” in one thing…so don’t put a long list of specialisms otherwise you will look like a “jack of all trades and master of none.”

So, there you have it. Clearly there is a little bit more to it than that, but to be frank, not a lot more. As always, the secret to success boils down to hard work and doing the things that you know you should already have done.