Why You Can Never “Get” Expert Status In Your Marketplace
Most of the assets “expert advisors” seek out in the marketplace aren’t really items that can be “gotten.” Take, for example, trust, credibility, authority, and expert status. These things aren’t treasures to be seized. These treasure are gifts that must be given to you.
So let’s say you want to achieve expert status in your marketplace. My recommendation is that you stop trying to grab it. Stop seeking that out. Start behaving in a way where that status is granted to you.
Trust must come before this status is granted, however. How do you generate trust?I’ll tell you. For the sake of this exercise, let’s say you’re in a service business where you work with clients.
The Three-Step System For Being GIFTED Everything You’ve Ever Wanted From the Marketplace
Step #1… You need a source that provides a consistent flow of leads; people who have problems you solve. Get clear about who you are going to serve and figure out where these folks already are. Good leads make everything better. You don’t want leads that “come by chance.” You want to build a system that finds them — a system that you control.
Step #2… You need a leveraged way of earning a spot in the hearts and minds of your leads. My preferred method for this is a media platform. A media platform is a podcast, newsletter, video series etc. published on a consistent basis that everyone is made aware of. And it’s something that is strategically aimed at the people you are trying to attract. It is designed to be inherently interesting to them.
Step #3… You need “open doors” to the other things you offer (services, products etc.). These need to be well thought out in terms of presentation so your prospects are naturally attracted to them. A “pushy” advisor isn’t someone people respect for too long.
Now here’s the interesting part…
Step #1 generally takes the most work.
Step #2 generally takes very little work but ends up doing most of the “heavy lifting” over time, even though it does take time.
Step #3 becomes the easiest step of all if you’ve done Step #1 and Step #2 well.
And one more tip: start with Step #2 FIRST. Get your media platform created and start publishing even before you’re talking to anyone.
***********SPONSORED LINK*************
Why Paleo will make you FATTER
Here’s why eating Paleo will make you fatter…
Going cold turkey on your favorite foods is a recipe for disaster. It simply won’t last. And after a few days (or weeks if you’re extremely disciplined), you’ll be bored, frustrated, and tired of eating the same tasteless meals every day.
Claim Your Free Cookbook With Over 100 Delicious Fat-Burning Recipes
*******************************************
The most challenging part of this whole system is finding the patience to let it work for you. This takes time. Why? Is there some flaw with this system that some marketing guru could solve so we could have instant results?
Ha! Despite what anyone says, doesn’t your heart tell you there’s no shortcut to trust, credibility or authority? Of course there isn’t. I’m sure someone will try to sell you one however.
Trust is earned; so are authority and credibility and expert status. Ultimately, these are given to you by others. So you have to wait until someone decides to offer you these gifts.
Trying to wrestle them from a prospect’s hands just ends up making you look stupid.
The “Four-Letter Word” That Supports This Approach
So where does that leave you while you’re waiting for these gifts of trust, credibility and authority to be offered to you by the marketplace?
Well, the answer leads us to a topic that most people would rather not talk about.
It’s a little thing called “personal responsibility.”
This is where a lot of people jump off and go searching for an easier path. So if you’re still reading, then congrats, you’re in the minority.
When you fully accept responsibility for everything in your sphere of being, you realize there’s only one person to blame for everything.
You can’t blame the Republicans, or the Democrats, or the schoolteacher who shamed you, or the “government,” or the banks, or your parents, or all those “lazy” people that aren’t pulling their weight around you. Ha!
This is the secret. In fact, from where I sit, it seems to be the biggest secret of them all!
Want to kill fear? Then accept responsibility. Want to stop chasing things other people think you’re supposed to chase? Then accept responsibility.
Want to become the respected expert in your marketplace? Then accept the responsibility for conducting yourself in a way that is deserving of such a position.
With that simple act, you are granted unlimited power. You are also granted limitless responsibility. And for many people, that’s a deal breaker.
When respect, authority, credibility, and expert status aren’t things you can hunt down and take, that leaves you with only one asset to create them.
That asset is your own conduct. That includes what you think, speak and do. Fortunately, you are in control of this asset.
And while it’s not so smart to go around telling the world how great you are, it does seem to be effective to allow your clients and customers to spread that message for you. Do you have your happy clients and customers speaking for you? Do you have them telling your story? Helping that to happen is just one of the many things that you control.
You also control your ability to serve more people, better, through your media platform. This is a one-to-many publication. So serving a million people is no harder than serving a handful.
Each day you wake up, you look at the things that are in your control, and you figure out how to add value to the world using those things.
When you offer these gifts to the marketplace, the marketplace can respond with gifts of its own. And the list of possibilities includes things like trust, credibility, authority and more.