Are you familiar with the term "expert positioning"?

1. Get ultra-specific about your area of expertise – in other words, find your niche. 

It is very difficult to be considered an expert in a field when you are acting as a “jack of all trades,” so to speak. That means figuring out what industry you really want to be known as an expert in and carving yourself a role there is a must. If you think this will limit your ability to reach a wide range of customers and negatively impact sales, the opposite is true – you will actually attract more customers/consumers and opportunities through your newly minted expert status.

Are you not yet sure what your “thing” is that will allow you to stand out as an expert? Read more about how to discover your unique niche here.

2. Share value often. You may already be an expert in your chosen topic – but if your audience doesn’t see you as one, you haven’t achieved ‘expert’ status yet. So your job is to make sure your audience knows you’re an expert by sharing valuable information with them on a regular basis. You can do this by…

• Regularly publish educational blog posts that relate to your niche
• Appear as a guest on an industry leader’s podcast
• Host Q&A sessions on social media
• Build a thriving social media presenceTry to help your audience solve their problems as often as possible and understand the value proposition you bring.

3. Present yourself to the press. One of the best ways to increase your authority and quickly achieve expert status is to be featured in the media. When you appear in print, you gain instant credibility because you benefit from the relationship the publication has already established with its readers. To get exposure, contact the newspapers and magazines your ideal clients are likely to read and offer to be an expert on a hot topic. It’s also a good idea to put together a press kit – a document that includes all of your qualifications – so your desired publication can see why they should interview you.

4. Demand premium prices. Experts are not cheap. Raising your rates is an inevitable part of your journey to expert status, and while it can be scary or uncomfortable, it will also only make your ideal client feel more confident about hiring you. Think about it – would a truly in-demand expert charge a small fee or reduce their rates? The answer is probably no, so you shouldn’t.

If you’re running a product-based business rather than offering services, that doesn’t mean you need to charge an arm and a leg for your products to demonstrate your expertise – but it does mean you should charge premium prices for your time, whatever that means in the context of your business.

5. Use social proof to your advantage. For your consumers, what others have to say about you is infinitely more powerful than any claims you might make yourself. Therefore, the more social proof you have – basically proof that others trust you and view you as an expert – the more likely you are to attract new audience members who think the same way, contributing to your ‘expert positioning’. Here are some examples of social proof you can use to build your authority:

• Endorsement by a respected industry expert
• Customer Testimonials
• Business References
• Social media followers and engagement

As a digital marketing consultant, one of my areas of expertise is helping CEOs step into their authority and truly become known as the best in their business. If that’s what you want for yourself, learn more about booking a strategy call with me here to start your epic roadmap to expert status.