Are You Seen as an Expert?
To keep visitors coming back to your blog, establish yourself as the go-to expert in your industry or field.
What is your expertise? What is your passion? How do you tap into everything you know, everyone you’ve met, every place you’ve been, everything you’ve learned.
Start by making note of ALL your experience (write it on paper or create a document on your computer – just be sure to get it in writing) – volunteer and work– as well as your education (including seminars, workshops, individual/non-credit classes, etc.) and your interests, whether work-related or not.
Then, start thinking about how your unique experiences make you an expert.
For example, how do you believe problems should be solved in your field that you don’t see others doing? What do you see for the future, based on what you have seen and experienced in the past? Whom do you know/have you met with an out-of-the-box viewpoint?
Your blog should provide plenty of information, facts, figures as to the viability of your proposed solutions to demonstrate your expertise in custom-tailoring knowledge to prospects’ needs. Yes, you have to give away a lot to gain the attention, interest and then loyal following of readers. It takes time and a strong commitment to establish your following – and it pays off once you’ve established a relationship and your readers have learned to trust what you tell them.
Which brings up a crucial point – don’t ever make up figures or “spin” the facts to make your case or support an idea. For one, there’s plenty of information available online to back up just about anything you want to present. Second, if you’re caught “cheating,” all the time and effort you’ve put into establishing credibility vanishes in an Internet instant.
Post quality content on your blog: advice, resources, insider information, ideas, links, people to know/meet through social networks such as Linkedin – and invite readers to comment and share their thoughts, advice and contacts.
Write papers, reports, and e-books on topics of interest to those in your industry, prospective customers and/or your target audience, available exclusively through your website.
Offer presentations to industry networking groups to Kiwanis Clubs to PTAs to high schools and community colleges – and promote your blog at these appearances.
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