Authority Positioning Secrets: 6 Steps to Position Yourself as the Go-To in Your Field
Authority Positioning Secrets:
6 Steps to Position Yourself as the Go-To in Your Field
We live in a noisy world where we have more choice and with that, more competition than ever before. That applies whether you’re an employee and want to be not only considered but chosen for the promotion, managing the high stakes clients or the big budgets or you’re an entrepreneur who’s pitching for work.
The question is - how do people make the decision who to engage for a project, who to hire or to trust with this main client/ major project?
They go to the person they see as the trusted authority, the one who has established a relationship with the decision maker (and that includes a non-direct one – meaning without necessarily knowing the person properly which can happen through building a strong social media presence for example as well as referrals but also who’s proven their expertise on their topic which is demonstrated through content they shared or contributions made by speaking at conferences, podcast guesting & co.
So, when your decision maker is in the market for what you do and stand for … will you be the One, the Trusted Authority that they turn to?
If you’re not sure that the answer is a 100% yes – don’t worry because I’ll share with you 6 guaranteed ways how you can establish yourself as an authority on your topic/ in front of your decision maker / within your community.
1. Specialisation over Generalisation (Focus on a Micro-Niche)
If you’ve listened to epi 80, the first prediction that I shared when it comes to efforts that affect your authority building activities was the importance of hyper or micro-niche specialisation and risking that I sound like a broken record, I have to come back to this again for this episode as it’s not only easier said than done but often also ignored and then people wonder why they don’t get traction.
Here's the thing – if you’re talking about sales in general rather than sales in a particular industry for a particular sized business or accounting rather than accounting for 1-5 people local serviced based businesses – it’s very hard (if not impossible) to become known, respected and trusted for this solution. At least if you’re not a celebrity yet or have a gazzilion dollars to spend on paid advertising (yes- also as a personal brand).
If you want to attract not just any opportunities and people to you but the right one for where you want to go, you need to specialise in something. Pick a niche that narrowly focuses in on your ideal decision maker and what they need or want.
For example, while I provide a variety of coaching, consulting and training programs, my specialty and what I’m best known for is working with technical corporate executives who want to be known for a bigger message beyond their title because they either want to progress in their corporate career and don’t want to stay an executing employee but rather become an executive decision maker who is trusted with those high stake clients, is working towards joining a board and/or the C-Suite or want to expand their impact through consulting/ speaking engagements outside their role.
This is where 80% of my focus and energy (and with that, my content efforts) is spent and what many people including company or corporate decision makers recognise me for.
Trust me when I say that opportunities are everywhere and it’s too easy to say yes to everything, including those who literally suck out all your energy. I’d say especially when it comes to high touch work, may it be consulting, coaching or done-for-you services – working with the wrong type of client/ decision maker can cost you big times so the clearer you’re with who you can add the biggest value to and why, the better results you will be able to achieve (as you know exactly the type of challenges these people face and can speak their language) but also the more financial reward you can claim as – especially in high stakes situations – clients want to work with the best and are willing to pay a premium for.
Even if you’re an employee and can’t necessarily decide who to work with, I’d still go through this exercise as a) it sharpens your self-awareness which is the first step in making any change and b) it helps you being more intentional and mindful how you handle and show up in situations so you can manage your energy or even suggest other people who’re more suitable to work with this particular person. Too often, people don’t realise why they’re getting burned out from work. It’s usually not too much work but work with the wrong type of people and or working on the wrong type of tasks for you.
Anyway – getting back to step 1, specialising is key and hopefully the importance of it is clear now – the next question comes up: How do you choose your niche?
As much as I’d like to say there is this 1 approach or method … truth told, there is no one-size-fits-all answer, but here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you:
If you look back at your work history – who are the types of clients (it might be industry, size of business or certain departments) that you enjoyed working with the most and why?
When you research this industry / group of people you’ve narrowed down – what are some of the gaps that you’ve seen need to be addressed and are either not served enough and/or not in the way you can get results?
With that in mind – I always get back to my ‘connecting 2 worlds’ solution that I apply working with my clients and also introduced in my book: what are 2 worlds that you can connect that are unique to you and have helped you develop a certain skill set or enables you to provide a different insight or solution to a challenge?
What are ways those challenges have been solved so far and how can you separate yourself in a distinct way? For example- it’s very common in coaching to offer 3-12 months programs with weekly coaching calls. Now this is also how I started and with certain clients I still do it because it’s more of an ongoing check in rather than developing their initial brand strategy, but it only happens after we know exactly their competitive authority position and the ongoing sessions only focus on their day-to-day execution and challenges they’re facing. The initial strategy is developed in and through a VIP Day that is a potent and very focused way to work through all aspects of the brand positioning where we can then develop the marketing assets based on the insights we gain.
Hardly any other coaches offer this solution but since my ideal clients are usually executives who’re time poor and want to get results as quickly as possible, it’s a logical offer to provide it in this way.
Don’t be afraid to experiment not only the types of industries/ companies/ decision makers you want to work with but also how you can add the biggest value / the transformation you want to be known and trusted for.
2. Develop a signature framework / system
Once you’re clear who you want to work with, their biggest challenges and their requirements to get the transformation you can provide, the next step is to clarify how you best do it.
As I mentioned, I offer the initial executive brand strategy through a VIP Day that includes some pre and post work from my client as well as direct access to me for the next 60 days after the strategy day where we work through challenges, can go through questions but also assess potential tweaks required based on any changes that have come up.
Whilst my method to deliver the results I promise hasn’t changed much over the years, the format has. As I mentioned before, instead of weekly 1h coaching calls, I condensed the time spent together to a full day. However, I still work through the exact framework that I developed 7 years ago and only systemised and optimised the individual steps over time.
For you – what you want to get clear with are the steps required to get your decision maker from A to B and work out the best way to work through them. So it might be that you need to take an audit before you can assess the situation and make recommendations. Think about how you best conduct the audit. Is it through a quiz you develop, a workshop you run, interviews you conduct, tests you need your clients to complete etc. You get the gist. Then based on this first mini result, what’s next? And you work your way through it until you identified the key steps and then put a bow on it by naming your framework and also develop a visual for it so you can communicate your process easier as well as use it for social media.
This part – the communication and articulation of how you deliver results you want to be known and trusted for – this is one of the key aspects that distinguish an expert (who’s able to do the doing) from an authority (who’s also able to explain how they get the results and can get it across in a way that it’s easy for others to understand but also guarantees that the outcomes are predictable and replicable).
3. Connect studies with stories
Once you’ve chosen your specialisation (aka the result you can achieve for a certain audience as well as how you can guarantee it through your signature framework), it’s time to back it up with examples, case studies and stories.
I’ve mentioned in one of the previous episodes before how important it is to connect logic with emotions and back up science (aka steps and tools you use to get to an outcome) with stories (that you can support your claims by sharing previous outcomes and results).
It may not be directly the same to what you want to be known for – for example: you may have worked on a certain type of project in your corporate role, but you want to pivot slightly into a different type of project but can still use the same or similar steps/ approach/ tools etc.
4. Be where your decision makers are
So far, the first 3 steps were all about building a solid foundation and being able to back up your claims for your authority positioning. Now it’s time to share it with relevant people which means that you have to be visible where your decision makers are at.
This is where we look at choosing the right online platforms that are relevant for you to amplify your authority positioning in and you want to build your presence on as well as the channels you want to focus expanding your footprint in.
I always suggest starting with 1 channel and master it than trying to be everywhere and don’t get traction because you’re spread so thin and give up before you get traction.
For me, I only focus on LinkedIn since my audience is corporate executives or technical entrepreneurs and this is where they spend most of their time on.
I’ve cut back on Instagram a lot as a) only a fraction of my audience uses it for professional purposes and b) the organic reach has dropped so much and I can’t be bothered spending hours on creating reels etc. for little to no return.
My more evergreen and long-form content (and with that – my SEO efforts) are on this very podcast as I enjoy recording it and can also use the transcripts for my website as a blog to help it rank.
Of course, YouTube would be an amazing platform for this type of outcome also – if not even better – but I’m still not as well versed and quick with shooting the video and get involved in the heavy postproduction for it so it gets traction. It’s also a lot more expensive but it’s certainly on my radar but only after I’ve grown this podcast a lot more (by the way – if you get any value from this show, I’d love for you to share it with someone who could benefit from the type of content I’m covering … yep – shameless plug but hey … none of us does anything if we’re not told what we should be doing and social sharing is an incredible way to share the love)
5. (Content) Sharing is caring
Speaking of sharing … the next way to build your authority positioning is by sharing content on those platforms your decision makers spend time on but also considering the format that they prefer consuming content.
Again, there isn’t one size fits all answer and I always recommend a variety of types, like alternating text only posts with (short form) videos and infographics throughout the week. Having said that, this short-form content is more to create awareness around you but should only be the starting point to a more in-depth type like a longer-form podcast, blog post or video.
It’s easy to create a 50–200-word post. It’s not so easy to write a 3000-word article or record a 30min episode. It already demonstrates that you have a deep knowledge on the topic.
Since I wrote the book (which is 76,000 words strong – yep, by accident but still …), the discussions I have with corporate decision makers or even bigger podcast hosts isn’t whether we should work together but how we can make it work because they already have some reassurance that I know what I’m talking about and can be succinct in the delivery and don’t fluff around with words.
6. Boost credibility through others
Creating original content is one aspect for you to demonstrate your credibility and in-depth knowledge. Tapping into other people’s credibility who’re already respected and trusted in the field is another one.
It’s called social proof and can help you gain credibility faster as you’re leveraging off someone’s already established reputation. I’m sure you’ve heard of the halo effect – well … that’s exactly it.
It can be done through a variety of ways – from writing for a well-established and well-known industry publications to becoming a member of a prestigious and highly rated association or membership to working with a highly regarded coach, mentor or also client.
Who already has done their homework in your field and more importantly – how can you add value to them, so they’re open to collaborating?
It could be by you providing the stage (could be online as well) for them to share their thoughts.
Especially more senior leaders realise the importance of building their profile and presence also – inside and outside the company. It could be by you suggesting hosting a panel discussion where you bring together 2-3 high profile executives and interview them and share the insights on social media / internal newsletter.
The opportunities are literally endless – it comes down again to your goals, your personality, your resources, and your commitment to making it work which brings me into the final point for today’s episode … and that is …
Bonus step: Consistency over intensity
Especially early on, when someone is excited about achieving any big goal really, it’s usually an all or nothing approach. Going to the gym 7x a week, not drinking at all, quitting smoking cold turkey, publishing content twice a day … you name it.
Now this excitement usually wears off by week 4 at the latest when people realise, they’ve just burned the candle on both ends.
Instead – focus on consistency over intensity as it does take time for people to a) become aware of you b) recognise you and c) trust you.
Just because you’re seeing someone once doesn’t mean you’re ready to give them the key to your car for a spin (or to anything that’s important to you). Same goes for your decision maker – the higher the stakes and risks involved with what you want to be known and trusted for, the more interaction and touchpoints are required. Not just any though – but consistent and cohesive ones.
Consistency shows up in a few ways – from having a consistent brand tone and voice that you use in all your content and marketing materials to look and feel that you apply to your photos, videos, posts, presentations, proposal etc to the actual content pillars aka the type of content you’re talking about.
You want to avoid talking about Fintech solutions one day, the importance of using sun screen the next day and adding some memes around being a dad/ mum the other day (if that’s not a recurring theme and you can make sense of it in one way or another).
This helps people to get to know you and easily identify anything created by you.
Wrapping Up
There you have it – the 6 ways to establish your authority position which to recap again, are:
1. Specialisation over Generalisation (Focus on a Micro-Niche)
2. Develop a signature framework / syste
3. Connect studies with stories
4. Be where your decision makers are
5. (Content) Sharing is caring
6. Boost credibility through others
BONUS: Consistency over intensity
While it takes time, effort, commitment as well as resources to position yourself as an authority on your topic, the benefits you’ll receive will be worth the investment.
As the trusted authority, it’s you who gets tapped on the shoulder for opportunities rather than you having to chase them it and not only that – it’s also you who can demand more for what you do because you’ve already done the groundwork of letting others getting to know, like and trust you that you’re the one who understand your decision maker by speaking their language and have a way to get them the results.