We’re a funny lot, aren’t we? When someone claims to be an expert, our first thought is often, “how arrogant is this person?!”.
Is that fair? What if the person in question is actually building a successful business and is FAR closer to financial freedom than you?
This does seem to be something of a British disease. Over here, authority positioning is often viewed as ‘bragging’ (and that isn’t a compliment).
In reality, authority marketing is one of the most effective ways to attract the best clients. You just need to do it right.
Your expert positioning is a reality.
This surprises some people, but most of us already undertake some form of expert positioning.
As I’ve mentioned before, the ‘fake it until you make it’ approach to building a business doesn’t work. Instead, you need to position yourself with something called authority marketing (it’s another buzz phrase, sorry - but I’ll explain why it’s important in a moment).
The problem is that, while your expert positioning probably already exists, it’ll either be helping or hindering you, and it’s important to work out which side of the fence you’re on!
There are three methods of expert positioning people either purposefully or as is more often the case, inadvertently use:
- Arrogance. Some of the best sportspeople in history are also the most arrogant. Do you think Muhammad Ali would have been the boxer he was without truly believing in his abilities? Unfortunately, in the wrong hands, arrogance will turn OFF prospective customers.
- Being humble. This is a lovely trait to have, but if you turn up the Nice Dial too much, you’ll lack credibility and influence.
- Quiet competence. Get this right, and you’ll force the lights to switch on in people’s minds.
That’s right - being quietly competent is the key to successful authority marketing. It’ll make you magnetic.
The main prize is CERTAINTY
I’ve said it before: attracting attention is not enough for an ambitious business.
In order to build a successful enterprise, you need to draw people towards the brand and keep them there. And to do that, those people will need CERTAINTY.
It’s why the main prize in business isn’t expertise - it’s certainty. Your prospective customers want to be certain that you can help them.
Making false claims about your expertise won’t work; they’ll see right through you. Instead, you need to use that quiet competence we spoke about earlier to provide certainty with integrity.
In doing so, you’ll provide customers with ultimate peace of mind that you’re the right person for the job.
What does authority mean?
It’s easy to forget that the word ‘authority’ is derived from the word ‘author’. It refers to someone who has something interesting to say about a specialist area.
Authors don’t know everything, which is why being an authority in a subject doesn’t make you the unbridled expert in it.
However, just as authors want people to buy and read their books, you want your potential customers to listen to you and learn to trust your brand.
But WHY should they listen to you? It’s not because you know everything; it’s because you clearly know some useful stuff about something that matters to them.
Combined with quiet competence, authority is a very powerful marketing tool for successful authority marketing, and it’ll help you escape the feast and famine rollercoaster.
No one knows everything. In fact, if you claim you do, people won’t believe you. That’s where the arrogance creeps in, and it’s about as far removed from Ali’s arrogance as you can imagine.
By saying, “I don’t know everything, but I do know something useful about this” you’ll force people to sit up and take note. It’s believable, because it’s true. It’s why clients will always opt for certainty when choosing products and services.
If you can demonstrate through quiet competence that you understand their world (or, at least, part of it), along with their situation, and frustrations, they’ll be more likely to choose you over your competitors.
This is when expert positioning works perfectly in your favour.
