4 Steps to Becoming an Industry Authority

NOVEMBER 27, 2019

Becoming an industry authority can be a major benefit to your blog or business, regardless of what industry you're in. It shows that you have a high level of knowledge about your field and that others within your line of work trust you. Once you've become an authority, you'll rise above others in your industry and be able to endorse key products or brands.

But how do you actually establish that authority? Here are four key steps in the process to help you spread your expertise far and wide.

1. Select a highly specific niche

To become an effective influencer, you should substantially narrow your focus, according to Hubspot. If you want to offer quality recommendations, you must know what you're talking about, and that means concentrating on a highly specific area of your industry. Don't recommend everything you come across or try to spread your reach across the entire field. If you wish, extending your reach can come later as you become more well-known.

The more specific you are, the better. For example, if you want to become well-known in the food industry, don't start a blog that discusses all kinds of food. Try to narrow it down — write about your experiences about restaurants in your city. This way, you can establish yourself as a source of insider knowledge.

2. Create a high volume of quality content

If you're working towards becoming an industry authority, you need to show that you know what you're talking about. This means demonstrating that you can offer genuine value to your followers and the brands that put their trust in you. In today's digital society, you have a lot of options for making that happen. You can produce blog posts, put together videos, or create podcasts. Make sure that every piece of content you create delivers genuine value to people who read it.

Influencer Sujan Patel suggests choosing a specific platform to focus on so your content creation is as effective as possible. If you're a great writer, that platform could be a blog. If you prefer speaking, you may find that a YouTube channel is more of your style. Choosing a single platform to focus on allows you to target your efforts and better serve your audience.

3. Make yourself easy to find

Of course, focusing your efforts doesn't mean you don't have to make an effort in spreading the word about yourself and your brand. Influencer Jeff Bullas suggests that if you're working towards becoming an industry authority, you should "try to be everywhere." If you want to become a successful influencer, you can't just post on your own blog and social media pages. You need to get your name out there.

Guest blog on another site, and comment on blogs belonging to high performers in your industry. Become part of social media groups related to your industry. When people look for content related to your industry, your name and face should come up quickly.

4. Keep growing your network

In order to become an industry authority, you need a network. Your network should consist of people who follow you and industry professionals who will help increase your knowledge, standing, and connections.

Social media is key when it comes to this. See who the people you admire are following to get ideas about who else to connect with online.

As an influencer, growing your network is an ongoing process. You need to regularly engage with your followers, make key contributions to your field, and remain a thought leader so that people genuinely care about your opinions and know that you have something to offer your industry.

If you narrow your subject focus, create content that matters, make sure you're appearing where consumers will find you, and keep finding new business contacts as well as continuing to engage with your existing connections, you'll start to become a top influencer within your industry.

Original article posted on the WordPress.com site, by Zach Wills.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe