This year I have comitted to be more consistent in managing my online presence. So I started off this year conducting monthly webinars on positioning oneself as a thought leader. I am a business coach, and my circle consist of many coaches and consultants. It baffles me how many of my colleagues still have absolutely no online presence! I’m currently pursuing my doctoral degree for the purpose of entering the academia world. With all the academics who are truly experts in their field, it surprises me how many of them don’t have an online presence.
We all have a story. We all have lessons and skills we have learned over the course of our lives. You can take the things you already know and position yourself in the marketplace as a thought leader. Positioning yourself as a thought leader allows you to take advantage of today’s global marketplace, thereby gaining a competitive advantage over your competition, increase your revenue potential, and increase your authority and impact in your industry. Thought leaders drive the conversation in the marketplace and shape perceptions.
During the three webinars we conducted I discussed:
- the various ways you could share your expertise;
- how to use social media and online marketing to position yourself as a tought leader; and,
- the rules of success in the new information age, among others.
I also shared nine tools that could be used to build your thought leadership platform. These included:
- a professional website;
- a professional email;
- a consistent social media presence;
- blogging;
- a newsletter list;
- podcasting;
- information products;
- a membership site; and,
- joint ventures.
These may seem like simple tools, but I notice, over and over, how very competent and wise leaders overlook these tools or use them incorrectly. The game of business has changed, and we have to learn the new rules. We do the world a disservice when we allow the knowledge we possess to end with us.
Duplicating our knowledge, and automating the process we take prospects through our signature system, can create residual currency of knowledge and income for generations. This includes having a strategically planned and well designed sales funnel and marketing processes. We must design clear systems by which prospects are introduced to our brand, and we build upon their interest and desire in a way that moves them to take action. Our sales funnel must include free, low-level, mid-level, and high-level products. And as promoted by DuctTape Marketing, we must have organized marketing process that build our know, like, and trust factor with our prospects. This process must also move these prospects to try, buy, repeat, and refer our expertise to others.
Again, these processes can be automated in a manner that saves us time and money. By properly positioning ourselves in the marketplace as thought leaders, we can create a community of followers around our expertise that can outlive us. You are an expert. It’s time to let the world know it, too.
As Roger Deveau says, “You are an expert. It’s time to let the world know it, too.”