Being recognized as an expert in your industry has many business benefits. The benefits of positioning yourself as an authority in your industry include; getting higher ranking in users’ search engine results, having a higher chance of consumers buying your products and colleagues giving your opinions greater weight.
In my previous post, I outlined how enhancing your visibility in industry associations and organizations increases your reputation as an industry expert. In this post, I will explore ways in which writing enhances your reputation as an expert and thought leader.
Why Should You Write?
Among the ways of building your reputation as a thought leader in your field include guest blogging for trade magazines and industry blogs, ensuring you post on social media and having your business blog.
ADVERTISING
inRead INVENTED BY TEADS
To improve your visibility and build your authority effectively, you need to make sure you know the latest trends, news and field developments. You should then use this knowledge to pitch and publish relevant thoughts. You will gain since your name will appear under your article’s headline, and you may have the opportunity to include a bio at the end, but ensure it’s well written.
Note: when pitching article and blog ideas, take your time to provide links to authority sources and do adequate research. It will enhance your expertise and credibility, which prevents you from coming across as self-promoting.
RECOMMENDED BY FORBES
MOST POPULAR Pictures: The 10 Dangerous Cities in the U.S
TRENDING ON LINKEDIN: Five Things You Should Never Do As a Job Seeker For Free
Three Ways on How to Use Writing For Thought Leadership
Bear in mind that if you think by throwing a hundred articles at your wall and hoping that one or two will stick, you’ll not get the results that you need. Becoming an industry expert is easier than you think, but it requires you carry out a systematic plan and work.
Three Ways on How to Use Writing As A Tool to Become A Thought Leader
- Come Up With Your Business Blog
Successful business blogs are as result of providing online customers with the vital information that they need. They also back up this information with smart commentary and links to authoritative sources.
An example is FedEx’s blog. FedEx knows that many of its clients own e-commerce websites, so it ensures that it writes and posts articles that give these customers insightful information, for example, the post where Fred Smith talks about Robots, Autonomous Vehicles and much more.
For you to make your industry blog a tool to improve your reputation as the industry’s thought leader, ensure that you spend enough time reading about relevant topics in your industry. You should then identify related ideas. Another tactic is to make sure you know which sources are trustworthy and increasing your base knowledge.
If you do enough research, blogging will build your industry expertise, which will enable you to achieve better search engine rankings. The reason is that you’ll become an advocate and educator for your target audience and the answers that they are looking for.
- Guest Blog on Authority Websites
A common saying is that the company you keep defines your character. If you carry out guest blogging for Forbes, Harvard Business Review of for the Times, industry leaders will take you more seriously.
However, you should not just focus on writing for the biggest brand names. The best way is to know which authoritative sites are best known in your market niche. The best way is by finding out where your industry’s thought leadership is guest blogging. For instance, Neil Patel is the internet marketing thought leader. If you decide to Google “Neil Patel guest posts”, you’ll quickly get to know that his guest post appears in HubSpot and Forbes, among other sites. If you do internet marketing, make sure that you submit highly researched guest posts on blogs that are well-known in your type of industry.
- Embrace and Write Long-Form Content
Search engines prefer long-form information since it needs you to dig deeper into a particular subject than the regular blog that numbers 600 words. Remember that long-form content means that the writer has greater industry authority.
Consider getting into the routine of writing and posting long-form content such as e-books, white papers and even podcasts. Keep in mind that with podcasts, you can transcribe the text as well as post the audio. Research your topic well and post your long-form content on credible websites in the industry.
Research has shown that when a potential customer hears something about a particular business, they will search on Google first before buying from that company. The reason is they want to know what others are saying online about that particular entrepreneur or business, for example, from previous client reviews or just the company’s online presence.
Why Authoritative Positioning Has Value to Your Branding
When building your assets in authority positioning, make sure that you keep a collection of your sources’ URLs, and then use them to enhance your credibility. Just think about this: when you are mentioned in a business interview or media piece, the URLs of the media are inserted in your company’s SEO campaigns for your main keywords and branding name, what’s in your mind that will appear in Google’s top results?
Imagine that in the morning you’re in a critical business meeting. You could choose to go in the cold or decide to send your team members a package of the most authoritative and relevant business publications before you start. The package may include your guest blogs on the Huffington Post or Forbes. We can go a step ahead and imagine a scenario that you include one of Amazon’s best selling books. Just picture their face’s look as you step into the conference room.
Does it sound impossible? It’s far easier than you may think. The best strategy is to come up with a plan and take actionable steps, however small, towards achieving your target each week.
