How To Start The Industry-Authority Ball Rolling

Authority is something that all businesses crave. This isn’t in physical terms, but having authority in design, ideas, culture and consumer appreciation. When a brand has authority, it has power over millions of people. The incredibly sweet part is, it’s purely built on trust. Your relationship with your customers and the industry will give you immense power to shift people’s minds and influence the experts to think as you do. Everyone can’t wear the hat of authority as there would be simply too many to dilute the power of trust. This is why there are always industry giants that base their authority off their success. In the smartphone world, Apple and Samsung are the top dogs. In the automobile industry, it’s brands like Mercedes, Ferrari, Jaguar and Tesla that have the most influence. Small businesses can have authority too, but you need to work on a few things.

The hangout for experts and professionals

Facebook and Twitter are great places to hang out if you love culture. Instagram is great if you like visual marketing. LinkedIn is a social media hangout space for professionals and experts. You need to take full advantage of this platform if you want your voice to carry weight within your industry. With many great features that allow you to post your content, write articles and reach out across the world, this platform should be used for content purposes only. These are the types of things you should be doing.

 

• Write regular blog posts about what you’re doing day-to-day. What kind of challenges are you facing and what kind of solutions do you solve them with?
• What advice do you have for other business owners that are struggling with things you have overcome recently?
• Write detailed articles about your industry, the kinds of things customers bring up to you and the solution ideas you have to fix them. 
• Start relevant conversations with other experts. Comment on people’s posts and share some of your personality and thought-process.
• List job opportunities, seek to hire professionals that can meet the requirements you have.
• Post video content that gives a peek into the behind-the-scenes of your business activities. 
• Film your experience at conferences and industry events, so you can become a recognized face at these functions.

LinkedIn is a phenomenal platform for experts and professionals. You don’t have any of the outside world clutter like other platforms. You know you’re going to be speaking to people who have a great interest in your industry and perhaps even, your business.

Make a friend out of publications

Many small business owners are shy of the media. It’s quite understandable, as your voice and face will be projected across the country and with the advent of online video-sharing platforms, around the world too. But don’t worry too much. Just be honest and speak solely from your heart about what makes you tick and the kinds of challenges you’re facing in your business. Speak with specific outlets regarding business, such as Entrepreneur, Business Insider and Forbes. Feel free to contact these outlets and let them know you’re down to do an interview. Just get your name out there and become a recognized name.

Play by their rules

Authority is directly linked and is survived by trust. However it’s not just trust with customers you need to worry about, it’s with relevant authorities such as Google. Other large companies that allow your business a platform such as Amazon are also just as important to have great relationships with. You can achieve this, by playing by their rules. In other words, obey the types of demands they give to achieve higher ratings on their platforms. Google would like you to create a mobile-friendly website and include more video content to be higher up on the search results page. You will also need to follow the SEO rules the tech giant sets. But if you’re questioning, what is seo for website purposes, you’re not alone. If Amazon links to your site, you will increase your authority with Google. The same goes for if a trusted news source such as the BBC or MSNBC links your site, it will further boost your trustworthiness with Google. Google would also like you to create a mixture of keywords and keyphrases, so be accurately descriptive on your pages.

Be a guest writer

Various media outlets for general news are great places to write guest articles. It’s within your best interests to contact an outlet you think would be a great platform, and ask to write an article about your industry, business and or key issue you see among consumers. However, going on a step further, look for outlets that are specific to your industry. If you work in manufacturing, seek out a manufacturing magazine or journal which you can have your article published in. Granted, your audience will be smaller, but you will be reaching further inward, into your industry. CEOs, C-suite and many other professionals will be reading your article, which will spread your name within the industry very rapidly.

Use news broadcasters

Many news networks are looking to interview business owners of all kinds. Contact a local and or regional network to see if they could run a story on you and your business. Doing an interview would greatly raise your profile and allow consumers and industry experts to get to know you a little better. It’s important you talk only about things you are familiar with, so don’t try too hard to look like an authority on your industry. Just be honest, have a conversation and speak a little bit about your ideas and solutions. You should rehearse and or train to be on camera, by having a few mock takes at home. Use your smartphone as the camera and get comfortable answering questions in full while staying in shot. Your face and brand name will be spread across the airways, giving you a trusted image. 

It takes time to become a trusted authority in any industry. However, to get the ball rolling, you should start using LinkedIn religiously and post your articles on relevant publications for your industry.