Establish Yourself as an Expert inYour Field

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People like doing business with the best in their field, so make sure that’s you. Become a recognized expert in your field and you move from being a salesperson to a resource or a trusted adviser. This is what all the top sales professionals
manage to pull off.

Position Yourself as an Expert

All other things being equal, most people tend to make a decision mainly on the basis of price. To upset that dynamic and move things more in your favor, you need to become the recognized expert in your field. More often than not, this is accomplishes by having some news items and press items available that cite you as an expert.

Basic Methods

In simple terms, becoming recognized as an expert in your field super-charges your sales results because it differentiates you from everyone else. It may sound difficult to become recognized as an expert but in reality, there are three reasonably quick, easy and simple steps involed:

1. Article marleting
2. Press releases
3. New query services

Article marketing: You can write one or more articles and either submit them to the trade magazines that cover your industry or post them to article directories on the Internet. These articles will give you credibility and generate loads of potential new clients. If you post your articles to EzineArticles.com, other website owners and newsletter publishers will include your articles in what they are doing. Make sure you include a source box at the bottom of your articles like this: “John Doe is a full-time Widget expert and marketer in Anytown, USA. To learn more, and to receive John’s free widget newsletter, please visit www.widgets.com. You may also contact John directly at john@widgets.com.”

Press releases: You can issue a press release using a service like PRWeb. com.
For a cost of around $80, your press release will not only be sent to every major
media outlet, but it will also be picked up by Google News and Yahoo! News. You
can then print your press release and hand it to your prospective client as a way
of introducing yourself. Press releases also work exceptionally well in getting your
name out there and listed on the major search engines.

To write a good press release:

Convey some interesting pieces of information

Quote yourself as an expert in your industry

Do it in a newsworthy way that is not sales-like

News query services: Subscribe to a new query service (like PRLeads.com) and industry. When journalists are researching their stories, they will then contact you and quote what you provide. With a little bit of luck, you may get mentions in major publications or news sources that can become absolute goldmines of future business. Admittedly, the succes of this strategy is at the whim of the reports involved, but this tactic can provide impressive coverage if you succeed.

Once you start doing these things, you’ll soon find that it’s a good idea to have a media kit available that incorporates these different elements and other background information. You can give your media kit to prospective customers as well, and have it available anytime you give a public presentation. Your media kit can link back to your personal website where you can make available samples of your work, articles about yourself and loads more resource material.

Advanced Methods

Establish your own personal PR agency that is dedicated to buliding your profile: Have a personal website, a dedicated telephone number and fax line that people can use to contact you independent of your current work contact details. That way, when you change employers, you don’t have to start from scratch. Build your career first and foremost and look at your employer as someone who provides the products you sell, for which you are paid a commission or performance fee, nothing more.

Work on building your legitimacy long-term: Write articles for your local newspaper or local business journals. If they use what you provide, do follow-up articles with a different angle or another aspect pd your specially. Then take the clippings of the articles that have been run and use them to approach other larger media organizations. Work hard to continue getting your name in print or appearances or interviews aires as many times as possible.

Consider writing a book: This may be a collection of articles you’ve previously developed or some entirely orginal work. You can start off with an e-book that is available from your website, and then move to print on demand or eventually a traditional publisher. Regardless of whether you have self-published or not, the fact that you’ve written a book about something is incredibly powerful. It cements your credentials as an expert in your filed.

How to Become Established as an Expert in Your Field

Submit articles to trade magazines and issue press releases that quote you
as an industry expert

Make yourself available to reports doing research

Use smart PR tactics

Have your own telephone, fax and website separate from those provides by
your employer

Keep building your profile long-trem

Write a book about your industry