3 Top Ways to Position Yourself as an Expert in Your Coaching or Consulting Niche
If you’re a coach or consultant, I’m sure you have noticed the enormous number of people in your niche all vying for the same attention. The videos, podcasts, articles, Facebook and YouTube ads, emails, tweets, texts, IMs, DMs, chat bots — well, you get it, the noise is almost deafening.
You have probably also spotted the hacks, the wannabes, the riffraff, and the outright con artists that plague your industry. Hoping to spam their way to the top with their clickbait and bogus offers, they claim to have the ability to scale your business to six figures or more in your first month, or help you lose 50 pounds in 90 days.
But among the rabble lies legitimate coaches and consultants with authentic offers and valid methods for helping their clients succeed. Unfortunately, these respectable individuals can sometimes be lost in the sea of imposters and charlatans.
So how do you break away from the herd and become known as the go-to person in your niche? The best way to gain credibility is to position yourself as an expert.
Here are three ways to do just that:
1. Create Content That Shows Thought Leadership
As previously mentioned, there’s a lot of noise in the coaching and consulting world, so to stand out you have to produce high-quality content that adds value to your audience.
In order to create this high-value content, you must first have a good understanding of your target market, including their needs, desires and pain points. This takes some research and listening. To find out how to research your target market, check out this article: 5 Sure Ways to Uncover Your Clients’ Deepest Desires.
Not only should you create a lot of value with your content, you must also present ideas and methods that adds a new light to your niche. Try to come at topics from a different angle to create a new perspective. Copying or recreating something that is already out there not only borders on copywrite infringement, it also shows a lack of ingenuity and ability to think for yourself.
To be a thought leader, you have to offer new insights within your industry. Your ideas may not always align with popular opinion but following the status quo will never allow you to stand out. Stand firm in your beliefs and ignore the naysayers. Rarely has anything innovative been met with widespread acceptance.
Here are a few ways you might present your thought leadership content:
- Podcasts
- How-to blog posts
- Guides
- White papers
- Industry news with commentary
- Research findings
- Infographics
2. Align Yourself with Influencers in Your Industry
Who you align yourself with greatly affects your own reputation and how others perceive you. This can either work in your favor or damage your credibility, so be careful of the organizations, influencers, and causes you choose to associate with.
That being said, collaborating with someone who is not a direct competitor, yet shares the same target market, is a great way to grow your audience, expand your influence and attract more prospects. I will use myself as an example. I like to network with marketers who work in the coaching and consulting space. We both appeal to the same audience, but where I specialize in the long-term, foundational aspects of developing a business, marketers take what I produce for my clients and create short-term digital campaigns. Despite the small overlap, we both benefit from combining our resources and sharing our audiences.
Here are some ideas for how to collaborate with influencers, thought leaders and other organizations in your industry:
- Take turns being a guest on each other’s podcasts
- Submit an article for their blog and post one of theirs on yours
- Do a live Q&A session on your social channels
- Co-host events
- Team up on a webinar
3. Produce Webinars and Online Events That Share Your Expertise
A third, and very effective, way of positioning yourself as an expert in you niche is producing live webinars and events in order to share your knowledge and insights and establish your affiliation with the industry’s “big dogs.” For live events that fetch a premium price you may need to include presentations from three or more experts.
Even when delivered through a virtual platform, live events can be costly due to advertising and speaker fees. Webinars, however, can be a less formal and cheaper way to present valuable content with an opportunity for a soft sell at the end.
Notice I said, “soft” sell. If you do decide to make an offer at the end of the webinar, be sure that it is short and to the point. Also, be sure the presentation provides so much value that your audience doesn’t go away feeling like they just listened to a two-hour sales pitch. That’s a huge turn-off that would only backfire.
If you’re wanting to take your business to the next level and develop a brand that positions you as an expert and resonates with your ideal clients, we are here to help you take your next step.
