Do you know why it’s important to learn how to position yourself as an expert? Because establishing yourself as an expert in your industry means that people in your industry will think you’re the best.
If you’re viewed as an expert, you’re viewed as the best.
Most people want to work with the best, learn from the best, and collaborate with the best. This means that if you figure out how to position yourself as an expert, you’ll be highly sought-after. Opportunities will be endless.
Furthermore, most people are willing to pay premium prices to work with the best and to work with experts. For many business executives, working with an expert is worth every dollar.
In fact, the moment a business increases its hiring budget, they’ll often seek out experts to hire, especially if they can now afford to hire a coveted expert.
Another great thing about learning how to position yourself as an expert, is that once you become viewed as an expert, you are highly trusted. This means that your clients and peers will trust you with big projects, large-scale public speaking opportunities, coveted media slots, exclusive contracts, and more.
Successful people have often established themselves as an authority figure or expert, in a particular field or subject area. They become known as the person to go to for their niche.
You will feel very significant if you’re known for something. Once you learn how to position yourself as an expert, you’ll be known for something, and it’ll lead you to amazing opportunities.
In this article, I’m going to guide you on how to position yourself as an expert. If you are able to establish yourself as an expert, incredible opportunities will come your way, and you’ll earn a much higher income than you do now.
In other words, becoming viewed as an expert is extremely good for business.
Let’s discuss some various ways you can work towards positioning yourself as an expert.
Specialize in a Niche Area of Focus
As soon as you decide you’re going to narrow your focus and specialize in a particular niche, you’ll fast-track your way to expert-level status.
It’s very difficult to be viewed as an expert unless you specialize in something particular. If you specialize in a service such as copywriting or closing, for example, you’ll get more clients than you would if you were a general freelance writer or a general sales person.
An expert eats, sleeps, and breathes his or her special skill. An expert’s sole focus is typically on that one thing they want to be the best at.
The reason this works is because you gain your audience’s trust when they know your focus isn’t split between various services, fields, or industries. Once it becomes clear that you’ve dedicated yourself to one niche, you’ll attract more clients and more opportunities.
Have you ever noticed that you tend to gravitate towards ‘specialists’ because you view them as experts? I want you to imagine that you’re searching online for a freelance graphic designer to design your new company logo. What would attract your attention more: A general graphic designer, or a graphic designer who only designs company logos, and specializes in logos?
That’s why it’s best not to claim to be an expert at everything, but rather an expert at one thing.
Get Media Coverage
When you’re trying to figure out how to position yourself as an expert, hopefully you won’t forget how important media coverage is.
I’ve been interviewed by Fox Business News Network and CNBC, as well as plenty of media coverage from Forbes and Entrepreneur magazine.
If you’re interviewed in a big magazine, or quoted as an expert in a large publication, you’re effectively positioning yourself as an expert.
Wondering how to accomplish this? One thing you can do is pitch people who write for large publications that have a target audience that aligns with yours. If the writer is intrigued by your story, they might contact you for an interview or a quote.
Worried that you don’t have what it takes to craft a compelling pitch to the media? Many people hire copywriters to write their pitch for them, so that it’s as persuasive as possible.
Another thing you can do is use HARO which stands for ‘Help a Reporter’ and sign up for email updates as an expert source for the media. Often, popular magazines and well-known publications will send out queries, looking for a particular expert in a particular field, who can contribute advice to their article or story. By responding to several of these queries every day, you’re bound to get some media coverage.
When people start seeing that famous publications are quoting you as an expert or interviewing you, you’ll immediately be viewed as an expert and you’ll be highly sought-after. Being featured in a popular magazine is a very effective form of social proof.
How To Position Yourself As An Expert Using Social Proof
You might be wondering, What exactly is social proof? Well, social proof is a social and psychological phenomenon that describes people’s natural tendency to ‘do what everyone else is doing’, ‘follow whoever everyone else is following’, ‘buy whatever everyone else is buying’ and copy the actions of others. The term was coined by Robert Cialdini in his 1984 book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
With the rise of social media, the concept of social proof has become much more powerful than Cialdini himself could have predicted.
For example, if your Instagram account has hundreds of thousands of followers, people will view you as an expert and be more likely to follow you. I currently have over 1.5 million followers on Instagram, and this just makes more people want to follow me and work with me. This is social proof at work.
Similarly, if your book is for sale on Amazon and has hundreds of positive reviews, this is another form of social proof that positions you as an expert.
You can call yourself an expert all you want, but it doesn’t mean much unless other people are calling you an expert, too.
I always say that what other people say about you is infinitely more powerful than if you say it yourself.
This is especially true when a popular public figure or influencer endorses you as an expert. Whenever someone famous or well-known endorses you, this is an especially powerful form of social proof.
Provide Value on Social Media
Short Instagram stories, Facebook Live videos, and YouTube videos are a great way to show your followers that you are an expert on a particular subject.
You don’t want to give all of your knowledge and expertise away for free, but you do want to provide value in these videos to demonstrate that you not only know your stuff – you’re an expert.
You can answer common questions your audience has, so that you’re providing valuable advice and positioning yourself as an expert.
When you’re figuring out how to position yourself as an expert, you’ll want to keep track of the common questions and concerns from your audience. Make sure to provide expert advice on your social media that answers some of these common questions.
Publicize Your Awards, Accolades and Experiences
Be sure to tell your story to your audience about how you got to be so good at what you do, and how you became an expert in your field. Describe your experiences that lead you to your current expert-level status.
Furthermore, don’t forget to publicly share any awards, accolades, interviews or press that you’ve received. All of these media mentions and awards help boost your position as an expert.
You might be thinking, But what if I don’t have any awards or accolades? If you don’t have any yet, why not apply to be nominated? Sometimes awards are awarded through a voting system, and other times there’s a panel of judges. Sometimes, a submission of some kind is required to be considered for an award. With a support system behind you, you can try to get yourself nominated for recognition.
In 2019, I won the Eventex People’s Choice Event for Closers in Black. The award is based on votes from members of the public, and I came in second place. I also won one of the 2019 Best in Biz Awards and a 2019 Stevie Award.
Speak at Public Events
It’s not easy to get a position speaking at a public event. However, being up on stage in front of an audience definitely positions you as the expert. Everyone knows that the person up on the stage is the expert. I recently gave a public speech on the stage of StartCon Australia, and I’ve also done two TEDx speeches.
Speaking on these prestigious stages definitely helped me establish myself as an expert.
Whenever I’m given an opportunity like this, I make sure to prepare very valuable material for my audience. I make sure not to let such an important opportunity go to waste.
Testimonials, Testimonials, and More Testimonials
The more testimonials you have from impressed customers, the more you’ll be viewed as an expert.
I have received thousands of testimonials. Many of these are video testimonials from students who graduated from my High-Ticket Closer Certification Program (HTC graduates) with positive reviews.
These reviews and testimonials only make more people want to enroll in HTC.
Associate With A-Players
Don’t get caught associating with B players. Why? Because winners surround themselves with other winners. A-players surround themselves with other A-players. Experts should therefore surround themselves with other experts.
People will respect you more if they see that you associate with A-players and work with the best.
I associate myself with A-players such as Dan Pena and Jay Abraham.
So, where can you meet A-players? You can meet A-players at elite networking events, or within elite communities such as my HTC community or my Closers in Black community.
Charge High-Ticket Prices
Experts always charge high fees, and part of positioning yourself as an expert is raising your prices.
Many of my mentees have thanked me for teaching them how to charge higher prices. I equip individuals with the self-confidence and closing skills necessary to charge higher prices. It’s these premium prices that help position you as an expert.
No expert would charge a low fee, so if you want to learn how to position yourself as an expert, raising your rates must be on your to-do list.
If you discount your services or charge low fees, people will assume you must be pretty amateur and not an expert. Everyone understands that they get what they pay for, and they assume they’ll be paying more for an expert.
Write a Book
Although it’s a lot of work, writing a book is another powerful way to position yourself as an expert. You’ve heard the expression, “I wrote the book on that.” Well, the truth is, if you write a book on a niche subject, people will automatically assume that you must be an expert in that niche.
Imagine if you are trying to figure out how to position yourself as an expert in interior decorating. If you’re trying to close a high-ticket client, wouldn’t you be more likely to close that client if you could show them the recent book you got published on interior decorating?
I have published over a dozen books, including several books on High-Ticket Closing, and people started calling me the King of High-Ticket Sales.
I don’t really want you to call me that, so please don’t. The point is, because I teach a course on High-Ticket Sales and I’ve also written books on it, people know that I’m an expert in this niche. I’ve established myself as an authority figure on this subject.
The Closer’s Black Book is one of the best books I’ve written on the art of closing, and people buy it because I’ve established myself as an expert on this subject. The people who buy this book know that they’re going to learn about closing from the best, because I am a master at closing. Click here to buy a copy of The Closer’s Black Book.
Do You Need Help Figuring Out How to Position Yourself as an Expert?
If you need help figuring out how to position yourself as an expert, let me ask you this: Are you ready to invest in yourself? The Dan Lok Shop has several items that will help you learn how to position yourself as an expert. Click here to visit the Dan Lok Shop and set yourself up for success.
