5 ways to be seen as an expert
I hear a lot of business owners say they are struggling to convert clients on calls or per email, but they don’t want to be salesy or pushy when selling their services. And I get it; I feel the same way.
But looking back on the consultations calls that I have done, I see a common thread. Those times that I felt I really had to sell my service, or convince the potential client that building a strong foundation is necessary, I was talking to someone who was not my ideal client. The times that I had consultation calls that felt more like a conversation between 2 business owners getting to know each other and talking about the project, those were the calls withy ideal clients.
Some even told me afterwards that after speaking with a lot of other designers, they still came back to me. And 1 client did not even go ahead with the other calls that were planned. She mentioned that she felt an instant connection during our call, she got a few quick wins from the call, and I showed how knowledgeable I was.
If you feel you really have to push and sell hard during calls, you’re getting the wrong people on your calls. And this all comes back to positioning and how your potential clients think about you and what you can offer them.
So if you have the ‘wrong’ clients reaching out to you, there is something in your messaging, your content topics, the way you interact on social media that gives them another impression than the one that you want them to have.
Let’s have a look at 5 things you can do so that your audience does see you as an expert in what you do.
In this blog, you’ll learn:
How you can learn about the problems of your audience while building connections and grow your audience
How and when to grow your visibility
How interviewing other experts can help you
How you can learn from other experts
But that above all you need to believe in your own abilities
Solve your audience’s problems
Help your audience solve their problem. This one is always key because, in the end, your audience is following you for a reason. They are looking to solve a problem that they have (ok, and you have your competitors following you to see what you are doing, and other business who are hoping to get business out of you - but those are not the ones we should consider in this).
There are several great ways to get to know what your audience is struggling with like through interviews or surveys, ask questions or create polls in online groups or Facebook groups (others or your own) or include a couple of questions in your welcome sequence. I go more in details about this in my blog about market research.
The great thing about Facebook Groups is that not only you can learn more about the problems your potential clients have which you can use as inspiration when creating content for your blog, newsletter or social media channels.
You can build connections when you help them by answering their questions, and building connections is what it is all about. But this will also help with them seeing you as an expert, which in turn will get them to follow your social media channels or visit your website. I’m not saying spend hours and hours a day going from Facebook Group to Facebook Group to do this. Definitely not, because you can spend your time better elsewhere.
But if you do this strategically, set a timer on how much time you spend on this every day and use the search option in Facebook groups to search for keywords in posts that are relevant to what you offer and what your audience’s struggles are. This way, you don’t end up scrolling aimlessly through posts to find ones that are relevant and that you can answer.
Grow your visibility
This is a step that builds on the first one, and that is to grow your visibility. And I know that growing visibility is a goal for most business owners because we need more people, right? But the things is that if we don’t have the right message (aka don’t actually solve the problems of our audience), it does not matter if you have a small or large audience. It won’t all of a sudden work by spreading it to more people. So make sure you have step 1 covered first.
But if you know your message is working, then it’s time to spread the word through being a guest on podcasts, presentations in Facebook Groups, interviews, write guest posts or through collaborations. Off course there are more options, but the key is that you get in front of someone else’s audience that is similar to yours.
The best thing to do is to find a business that is complementary to yours. So if you are a copywriter, you could work together with a marketing expert, a coach or a designer that target the same market.
You can start small by asking the business owners you already know if you could work together on something. When you feel more confident, you can go to Facebook Groups like ‘Podcast Guest Collaboration Community - Find a Guest, Be a Guest’ where you can post that you are looking to be a guest. And if you’re up for it, you can always cold pitch to larger podcasts or outlets like Forbes or medium.
Interview other experts.
Suppose you do want to put more focus on being seen as an expert but don’t feel ready just yet for the above step. In that case, you can also interview experts yourself or create a round-up post with other experts opinion about a specific topic.
It might feel a bit odd that you are trying to position yourself as an expert by asking other business owners for their expertise. Why this works is because you are the one supplying your audience with this advice. But it also shows them that your business is not all about you but about providing your audience with the best information possible for them to solve their problems. And that you feel comfortable enough about your own expertise that you share other experts advice.
Follow other experts
Never stop learning about what works and doesn’t work. And this is where following other experts come in. This can be a tricky one because it’s easy to fall into comparing yourself with them and feeling even less secure about what you are doing. So try to find experts about your topic that are not necessarily competitors of you as this will help to creates some distance.
Look at what they’re doing, what topics are working well for them or what graphics are working well for them. And then, give it your own spin, tailor it to your audience or give your opinion why it would or would not work in your market.
Believe in your own abilities.
This might even be the most crucial step. I see this regularly when talking to other business owners or clients; they don’t feel like an expert. And this belief is holding them back to show up more, to start that (group) coaching program that they have wanted to for so long or to go on podcasts to grow that visibility.
If this is you, then try to think back to a couple of months ago or a year ago and remember how far you have already some. How much more knowledge you gained since then. How much more experience you have gained since then. Would you not be able to help someone who is at that point where you was 3 months or a year ago? Sure, you can.
I like how my coach Lisa Johnson from One to Many says it; when you are the smartest person in the room about a specific topic, you are an expert.
And if you still doubt yourself the best thing you can do in my opinion is help other business owners. One of my clients that was doubting her abilities was asked to answer a few questions from a junior designer wanting to know how she got her business to where she was. This was a week after we spoke about her belief she was not an expert (while I was telling her she absolutely was) and a couple of weeks before we would talk again. By the time we spoke again, she had answered the questions and gained so much confidence about her knowledge that she felt ready to start presenting herself as a mentor for other designers.
You might not be asked to answer questions like my client, but you can go into the Facebook groups and see how many questions you can actually answer. I’ll bet you; it’s more than you think.
If you want to know more about how to position yourself be sure to read my blog about how to make your business stand out or check these 3 signs it’s time to rebrand your business.
If you thought this post you might also like:
LOOKING FOR ANYTHING?
Popular items in the shop
FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM
FAVOURITE RESOURCES
