Graham McGregor: Make yourself an expert

Opinion

Marketing consultant Graham McGregor explains why it's so helpful to position yourself as an expert in your business.

I recently interviewed copywriting legend Bob Bly for my 'Unfair Business Advantage Report.' Bob has been dubbed 'America's top copywriter' by McGraw Hill and is one of the smartest marketing people I know.

Bob explained that what he'd been doing is getting his clients to position themselves as the top expert, the top authority, the guru if you like in their field.

Bob finds that whoever is 'perceived' to be the top person in the field often has the easiest time in business. They get more opportunities, they can charge more money, they are busier and they are more in demand.

Bob commented that the people who are 'seen' as an expert in their field are often not the best at what they do. However they are very good at positioning themselves as being an expert.

Now the easiest way to position yourself as an expert in your field is to provide helpful information and ideas that potential clients would find useful.

Bob explained that one way to do this is to write an article that is published in places like a magazine or newspaper. When people read useful ideas in an article they automatically assume that the person who wrote the article is an expert in their field.

Now writing an article doesn't have to be complicated to do. You can actually start with something I call a 'tip sheet' because it has useful 'how to' tips related to the products and services you offer.

Here's a good example: Many years ago I had a marketing client who was a personal trainer at a local fitness centre. He was not doing that well and didn't have any money to spend on marketing and promoting his services. So I persuaded him to write a simple two page tip sheet called "Seven Secrets to a Great Looking Body".

The tip sheet itself was very basic. It contained seven practical tips on what you could do to stay in shape and look good fast. One tip was on how to avoid injury when training. Another tip was on how to keep the training sessions interesting. (And of course tip number seven was to use a personal trainer like him.)

My client ran off 1,000 photocopies of this article and then he hand delivered these tip sheets into the letter boxes of expensive homes in neighbourhoods close to his fitness centre.

In the tip sheet he offered a free consultation and suddenly dozens of people picked up the phone and rang him. They said 'look I've been thinking about getting in shape' and of course they saw his article and he was positioned as an expert. Before long this personal trainer was making a six figure income and it all started with positioning himself as an expert. (Which is why something like writing an article with useful information is such a powerful marketing technique.)

In most cases the information in your article is the same information that you already share with your clients and customers every week.

In my interview with Bob Bly, he explained the simple steps on how to write a useful article and get it published in places like magazines and newspapers. (You can read the full interview with Bob in my 'Unfair Business Advantage Report.')

In the meantime, how can you position yourself as an expert in your business?

"Believe one who has proved it. Believe an expert"

Virgil, Aeneid Roman epic poet (70 BC - 19 BC)

Graham McGregor is a marketing consultant and the creator of the 'Unfair Business Advantage Report.' www.theunfairbusinessadvantage.com (This is free and has now been read by business owners from 11 countries.)