Let’s call out a hard truth.
It is not necessary for the whole world to know who you are to be highly successful and a force of nature within your niche market.
You only need the right people to know who you are.
That’s where building your authority as a person and brand comes to play. Stop trying to be something for everyone and be the most amazing person for someone specific!
If you are dead-set sold to be something for everyone, expect this to be 10x harder. If not worse. Hell, maybe 100x harder!
It is always easier to focus your abilities and excellence into a micro niche opposed to going macro. Look, it’s a widespread problem I see and discuss with clients regularly. They’re trying to be the hero to the world instead of the hero in their marketplace.
Luckily, becoming an authority on a micro scale is easier than you think! Don’t be fooled though. There is no “set it and forget it” quick fix here. This involves detailed planning and quality execution.
If you are looking for that 10-minute tutorial/fix just leave now I can’t help you.
Follow these tips to build authority with the right people:
#1. Specialize – Without question it is easier to become well-known if you are extremely good at something. But if you become really good at something specific? Now you’re pouring gasoline on the fire.
- Example, say you are a real estate agent in New York City. You don’t want to just be another of the 1,000’s of realtors grinding those same low-end MLS listings. You want to be the realtor that specializes in high-end New York City properties. Maybe you specialize in brownstone buildings, or upper-east side. Find your sweet spot and own that market segment.
#2. Identify your target audience – Who are you trying to serve? What does your ideal customer look like? Develop a composite of the people that you want to know you. Are they a certain age? Male, female, or both? What income level do they have? What profession are they in? What hobbies do they have?
- Be as detailed as necessary, but not more detailed than necessary. It is important to know who you’re trying to reach.
- Avoid wasting your time with those who are not in your niche. Focus your time and efforts on that micro-niche you have identified for yourself.
#3. Rise above the noise – What does your audience need? What is the common problem they all have that you can help them identify? Center your message around this need and your ability to solve it.
- Noise is simply non-meaningful messaging. Be meaningful to your audience.
#4. Become the authority in your niche – When people want to solve a problem, they don’t want another expert, they want an authority. But how does the average person spot an authority? They’re certainly not authorities themselves, or they wouldn’t need you.
Consider these ideas to make sure you are being positioned as the authority in your niche:
- Put content in front of ready-made audiences. There are others who already have the attention of those you want to reach. Target their audiences with your advertising and content.
- Offer Digital Learning. Create a free course offered through your website. Put together niche-specific webinars that appeal to your micro audience (weeding out the macro). Giving back value will always put you in a position of authority.
- Put content on social media and on your own website regularly. It’s important to be consistent with your postings, so stick to a schedule. Remember to repurpose content. Record a 1-3 minute video, transcribe it and turn it into an article, pull article bits for social media content, etc.. Take each bit of content down the rabbit hole so you start developing really specific content for your audience.
- Write a book. It’s not as daunting as it seems. It would only take a few pages a day to write a book in a couple of months. NOT AN E-BOOK. Everyone and their mother have done one of those already. A real book, you can market to your niche as a complimentary offer, and then bring them into your marketing sequence.
#5. Network your ass off! You can gain traction and authority by association. Interview the experts in your field of work. Whether it’s for a podcast or just an interview series on your website. It’s a great way to get your name out and start elevating it with the talent around you.
- Example. Back to that New York City Realtor – Interview people in the mortgage business, assessors, surveyors, builders, etc.
Becoming an authority in your niche will have it’s advantages. Over time you become the person other people want to interview and learn from. That takes time, hard work, and a dedication to what you do exceptional so the body of work stands out on its own.
Remember, it’s OK to be different. In many ways, that will be what defines you and separates you from the pack.
The real world within your niche is going to be a lot smaller than you may have realized. Don’t trick yourself into thinking the pool isn’t big enough because it is. There is abundance in the digital realm for everyone. It actually means you have a larger chance of being seen within your micro-niche because the path to being seen is that much shorter.
Work smart. Be yourself. Show your value.
