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| THIS CHAP IS A "GO-TO GURU" |
In positioning and publicizing yourself as a master source, guru or expert in your chosen field (a major component of personal branding), you must make certain tactical and strategic marketing steps to build up you credibility ranking as an expert. And this is not based merely upon what you know (although you must have a good command of your subject) -- it is based upon 1) having a particular style or approach to the topic [which could well be a function of leveraging your speaking style, your favored side of an issue, or just your use of your unique personality] 2)being seen, being heard and being quoted and re-quoted in the various media.
The result of your success in this narcissistic endeavor is that you will be perceived as an authority, or as I prefer to call it, a "Go-To Guru" [a fine Lingovation that one, and with a rhyme thrown in as a bonus - Incidentally, you can see these nifty things as images just by clicking on Lingovations As Pictures -- it's like an art museum put together by a schizophrenic on LSD -- but interesting and thought-provoking, just the same]
I came across an article in CBS Moneywatch which I have re-posted here to give you some general ideas. after you've finished reading an article filled with (geez) conventional wisdom served up on a pallid platter (the article was useful) but not as cerebrally stimulating or as specific as my readers of The Mad Marketing Topics Blog generally prefer.
Don't worry. After the article, I will give you some actionable items to rapidly deploy in order to commence your self-branding campaign. Promise. Here's the article:
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(MoneyWatch) Influence is a funny thing. Once it required leaping through certain hoops: Winning political office, say, or starting a large business. But technology democratizes anything it touches, and now, thanks to social media, you can have followers even if you haven't done the sorts of things (like starting a major religion) that won you "followers" in the past.
I was thinking about this while reading the recent Inc cover story on Tim Ferriss, whose 4-Hour Workweek empire has turned him into the ultimate Silicon Valley lifestyle guru. Then there's Suze Orman and a host of other personal finance gurus, whose advice is very similar, but whose personalities are all outsized enough to win them followers and fans.
How can you build up the sort of influence that opens career doors for you?
There's luck involved, of course, and a lot of hard work -- more, alas, than 4 hours per week.
But here are a few ideas that seem to help.
1. Define your brand. Gurus need a topic. After all, few people become gurus in multiple unrelated areas. Anne Lamott writes fascinating fiction, but it's her writing on religion that gets her invited to churches -- which then become packed with adoring fans. What topic can you own? Ideally, it's one that's broad, but not too crowded with other gurus. Though even if it is, you can carve out your own niche (money for millennials; time management for entrepreneurs; fitness for the 50+ set).
2. Spin a good story. You don't need a degree in your guru area, but you do need some reason that people should listen to you. Often, this is a conversion story -- the sort of St. Paul on the road to Damascus narrative that humans intuitively like. I used to be awful with money, and here's what I learned! I used to work around the clock, then I figured out how to outsource everything!
- The secret to getting enough sleep
- How to plan (when you hate to plan)
- How to take back your time
3. Go direct. Traditional media is great (see below), but even major media hits have a limited influence if you don't have a good way to capture people's information and keep them part of your world. That means spending a lot of time on social media and blogging and building your database of names and email addresses.
4. Be easy to reach ... at first. If you are quoted in one major news outlet as an expert, chances are you'll soon be quoted in another soon. Why? Because journalists often Google their story topics, and find their expert sources by seeing who other people have quoted. If your email address comes up easily in a search, you'll get on the contact list fast. The more media mentions you get, the more credibility you have. After all, once you're quoted in, say, CBS MoneyWatch as a financial guru, it's not just you calling yourself a financial expert. It's a trusted source. Of course, after you get famous enough, you can be a little harder to reach, to build mystique. But in the beginning, it helps a lot.
5. Network like crazy. Influence is best shared. If influential people write or talk about you, some of that influence rubs off on you, which you can then share with others. Oprah has launched gurus in just about every major category (Nate Berkus in design, Peter Walsh in organizing, etc.) but usually it's a result of multiple influential people giving someone a nod. Do what you can to be interesting enough to get on the radar of the right people -- and the effect will start to multiply.
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As promised: here is a list of actionable items for you to deploy at your most immediate convenience or now, whichever occurs sooner:
1) Choose between three and five fields or areas of expertise that you'd like to be associated with and known for. For example, as Douglas E. Castle, I am known for A) entrepreneurial start ups, B) strategic business planning, and C) for being a trend-spotting Global Futurist. I am positioned as the Chief Executive Officer of CFI - CrowdFunding Incubator LLC.
2) Choose your position and personal approach on each of the fields. Are you going to be suspicious, sarcastic, aggressive? Are you going to address these issues in a way that is uniquely you? I'm known for my intellect, but I'm also known for insertions of parenthetical humor and wordplay.
3) Have a personal/professional blog on your topic and post to it at least twice monthly. Be certain that every post has social media sharing buttons built into it, and that your posts are broadcasted as RSS feeds by Feedburner or some other service, and that readers can also subscribe to receive your posts by daily email. Be certain to have a Blogger or Wordpress Profile, and put a picture (even a thumbnail) on the blog;
4) Join LinkedIn, join several of the groups that relate to your chosen topics of interest (your "guru picks"); post to them in the form of a new discussion, or a comment in another member's discussion. Your posts should be brief, memorable, quotable soundbites. Try to infuse your personality into them!;
5) Join HARO (help a reporter out). It's a place where reporters go to get quotes from experts to insert into their articles, and they are always vigorously looking for quotes on a variety of subjects -- and, the closer they are to a publishing deadline, the more likely it is that your notable quote will be utilized and immortalized in an article. You can reach them at http://www.helpareporter.com and they are a fabulous source of free, focused publicity. The more you work with any of the reporters, the more likely it is that they will come back to you for quotes.
I've given you the timber and tools. Go build yourself an an ark!
Douglas E. Castle
Sponsorship:
CFI CrowdFunding Incubator LLC
Global Edge Technologies Group LLC
ICS - International Connection Services
#MadMarketing
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