As an entrepreneur, establishing expert authority in an industry is essential. The success of this ongoing endeavor will provide a powerful platform to build all other business development initiatives on.
For entrepreneurs and business owners who are having trouble establishing authority positioning and developing leadership influence in business, there are key mindsets and strategies to consider.
Developing the Correct Skill Set
A cursory glance at the marketing landscape may leave you believing that the highest authority positioning belongs to the individuals with the most social media savvy; however, in the real world of business, respect comes from another set of skills entirely. According to Harvard researchers, this skill set should include the following:
- Comprehensive technical skills - The number one way in which business owners generate respect is through understanding and generating solutions through ground level tech. Not only will improve the productivity of the business, but it also garners to the individual a significant amount of unassailable value in that some technologies have become the primary organizers of critical data. Knowing how to collect data is one thing; actionable interpretation of the data is quite another. Successful business owners are the ones who have created successful action plans based upon relevant interpretations of data. This is important to credibility and influence because with the right data, decisions are made confidently.
- Nimble approach to development - Entrepreneurs should have a thirst for change. When others are unsure of what to do, the owner must maintain his or her vision. This constancy is a rare commodity, and people, especially potential partners in a supply chain, are naturally attracted to it. Conversely, when opportunity to change presents itself, there must be a protocol in place to allow for it to be integrated into the business.
- Influence without Position-no matter what position is held in the organization, there must be the freedom to allow key players to exercise influence inside and outside of the organization. Success will be evident internally with cutting edge progress toward corporate goals; externally, the firm’s target audience will see their expertise as a strong competitive advantage.
Becoming a Systems Builder
In the modern world of digital commerce, the savvy entrepreneur can take care of many of the administrative aspects of a position through automated solutions. Today's business owners and entrepreneurs must utilize automated systems building in order to focus the majority of their energies on customer service and business processes across the organization, according to Stanford Business research findings.
Entrepreneurs who know how to build systems and scale, create authority positioning with their client base more quickly because they have more time to focus on delivering added value to their clients and customers as well as their internal team. In short, spending less time behind the scenes tinkering with the tech and more time upfront in public facing positions to become an educator and advocate for the success of your sphere of influence creates trust, which establishes authority more quickly.
Becoming a Known Expert
Google chairman Eric Schmidt has confirmed that the search engine will begin to prioritize pages that are linked to well-known online profiles. People tend to prioritize leadership in the same fashion, taking the word of an individual who has proven his or her mettle in a field with more gravitas. Think about it, the world has become so fast-paced that we do not have the luxury of time to research viable solutions to the end we may prefer. Our prospects feel the same way, and they tend to narrow their choices to the ones deemed trustworthy and respected. While this may be from a personal referral, many times their decision is derived from an online search. The solutions presented are filtered by credibility and information that delivered from an educational and authoritative approach is well received.
For example, I recently had a client tell me that they picked up a nice piece of new business because their prospect was impressed by seeing my client’s media mentions and interviews on a business show I delivered for them. The prospect certainly saw many other options and competitors to choose from, but they felt confident choosing a credible source.
Entrepreneurs with ground level credentials and verifiable evidence of expert authority are usually the ones performing with the highest efficiency. These business owners can quickly expand their reach through a blog, for example. Gary Vaynerchuk, is a good example of an entrepreneur who is well-known throughout social media, and they use that authority positioning to generate more business. Entrepreneurs will also benefit from the increased visibility they receive from Google for their prolific social media presence, when done the right way.
So, what can you do to establish your authority positioning? Begin with evaluating your true competitive advantage and how you solve vital problems for your target audience. Once this is clarified for you and your organization, you can then begin to map out a strategy to become the voice for the solution. Over time and with consistent effort, you will find that as momentum builds, you will begin developing what I call “Authority Positioning Assets” to aggregate into your “Authority Positioning Portfolio™”. This is the collection of your educational published content including, but not limited to: blog posts, articles in your industry publications, podcast or radio show interviews or even your published book.
When you shift your mindset to a giving and serving approach, you will see the impact from your newfound authority and influence soar.
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