Thinking

If you’re an independent consultant, expert, or professional services provider, one of the biggest goals is to establish yourself as THE go-to authority that clients seek out in your specific area of expertise. Being regarded as the recognized authority allows you to command premium fees, be more selective with clients,

Building authority and creating expert content with the goal of becoming a recognized authority – or a thought leader – is not an easy path. It’s work. You need to dedicate time, effort and resources to be dedicated to the strategy. So, is it worth it? Today I had a

I may have a Guinness World Record. I don’t know if they have “Longest Time to Start a Podcast” record, but if they do I have that locked in.  I first started planning a podcast in July 2014, and it pains me to say that it took nearly 7 years

What action are you taking for 2024? In advisory services our role is to steer our clients with well-informed advice. ➡️ This advice is often rich and crucial. ➡️ But ultimately advice is worthless without action. ➡️ The real value of advice is the action it prompts. Without follow-up action,

We’re in the final run in to the holidays, 2024 is around the corner and at this time of year many of the folks I talk to are thinking about their content & authority strategy for the next 12 months. What do you envision for your business in 2024? Are

Yesterday I wrote about the fact that authority marketing is slow and why you should do it anyway. TL;DR: because just like going to the gym, you WILL see life-changing results if you can trust the process and stick with it for a significant period of time. And I know

Yesterday I wrote about the three roadblocks in building authority. Let’s dig in a bit more into #1: getting results from authority takes time – measured in months, not years. First of all, let’s look at why is this a roadblock TO building authority, rather than a limitation OF building

I’ve found that there are three main roadblocks to building authority: Getting results takes time. Inbound leads from your authority content is measured in months and years, not days and weeks. Creating content is very time consuming, and experts are typically business leaders with very little spare time. Even if

If you’re like me, you got into a consulting type business because you love solving complex problems and helping people. You most certainly did NOT get into it so you could do marketing and sales. And yet the marketing and sales part is essential. Someone has to do it. Wouldn’t

In my last post, I shared the real business benefits of being recognized as an authority in your field. Let’s talk about how a focused approach to content authority marketing can help you get there. A strategic approach to content marketing means having a clear understanding of content marketing goals

I’ve been writing about how to become recognized as an authority and thought leader. But let’s be realistic: it’s a big commitment of resources, particularly your time*. Is this commitment worthwhile? Let’s look at the business advantages of being recognized as an authority or thought leader: Enhanced Credibility: When you

The words we choose have a power to change the perception of a thing. Yesterday I wrote about how “content” is one of those terms where I believe the generic nature of the word may create a dangerous tendency for the entire concept being undervalued and maybe even written off,

An authority platform is a trusted and respected source of information. It is created when an expert is present in a space, publishing educational, expert *content*. “Content” is one of those words that can be problematic. It falls short of conveying its true significance as it is so incredibly bland

I am not as polarizing as Alan Weiss. “I poke people because people need to be poked if you’re on a plateau, even if you’re happy with that plateau. All plateaus erode because of the laws of entropy. The only way that you’re going to be successful is to continue

I heard someone use the phrase a “marketing asset for life” and that struck me as powerful concept. Your body-of-work is out there, working for you 24/7/365. There’s a compounding effect of consistently adding to your body-of-work. Each new piece of content – be it a blog post, podcast episode,

Yesterday, I discussed some of the downsides of a dependency on referrals: It’s unpredictable, you can tap out your network, they can bring in bad-fit prospects if your business changes, your network shrinks as people change jobs or retire. This makes it hard to grow, change your business model, and

When I researched building authority as a marketing strategy, I surveyed over 1,000 consultants at firms sized 1-200. Referrals are the number one source of leads for independent consultants and firms sized 2-10, 11-50, AND firms sized 51-200. The main reason that consultants rely so heavily on referrals for business

What’s the common thread here? Read Exercise Write a book Start a podcast Choose healthy food Spend time with family Catch up with old friends For many these are in the Important/Not Urgent quadrant. They don’t demand immediate attention. They have payoffs far in the future. Often they’re uncomfortable. Put

I wrote about the huge benefit of having a platform where you can invite someone to share your stage. This ability to invite and showcase a guest is a major benefit of podcasting as a component in your overall authority platform, and a super-power for networking. There’s another major benefit