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Establish Yourself as the Industry Expert
Christine Harrell
Becoming the industry expert is something that's taken, not given
. With persistence and confidence you can claim your spot as the expert in your industry. Your goal should be to get people to contact you when they have a question in your area of expertise. In order to do that, you need to get your name out there, define your niche, and establish your worth.
Distribute Free Content
Tens of thousands of website owners face the daunting challenge of stocking their websites with the fresh, informational content their visitors seek. To meet this growing need, numerous free content sites have emerged, offering publishing rights to thousands of articles on a variety of topics. In exchange for the article’s publishing rights, the author has a chance to promote themselves with a short bio and link to their website at the conclusion of the article.
Resources:
eZine Articles - Serving 110,229 Quality eZine Articles Written By 16,687 Expert Authors
Find Articles.com - Search millions of articles from leading academic, industry and general interest publications.
Radio Interviews
Hundreds of radio shows seek knowledgeable and interesting guests to satisfy their listening audiences. With the onset of satellite radio, internet radio and podcasting, the number of hosts seeking guests grows daily. You need not be a celebrity to secure a radio interview. Plenty of opportunities exist for individuals with knowledge in specialized areas.
Pitching yourself for radio is simple when you have a plan. Before you pick up the phone, make a list of all of examples that qualify you as an expert in your industry. Reference titles of articles and books that you’ve authored, names of awards that you have won, and testimonials from satisfied clients and reputable associations.
Design a short pitch for yourself using some of the things you listed.
When you call the radio show, start by introducing yourself immediately. A
fter your introduction, present a solid reason why the person at the other end of the phone should continue to listen by speaking in terms of how your knowledge can benefit their show.
Consider the goal of your first phone call to a radio station to introduce yourself and gain the producer’s contact information.
You may not book a show with your first phone call, but you can now send your press kit to the show’s producer and place yourself on their radar for the next time they cover a topic in your arena.
Resources:
Radio-Locator.com: A directory of every radio station on the planet.
Live 365.com: A directory of internet radio station
Podcasting News.com: A directory of Podcasts
Press Releases
A press release is an informative document written to alert the media of a timely event about your company. Your event doesn’t need to be a showstopper – thousands of press releases are written every day on topics such as a company name change or the introduction of a new product.
A press release, however, does need to be written to appeal to a general audience. The more unique the topic, the more likely your release is to get noticed. Newspaper and magazine editors depend on content for the success of their publications and often simply repackage well-written press releases as articles or blurbs.
Try adding a unique spin to the topic and devising a way to involve the public. For example, if your restaurant has introduced a new sandwich, develop a contest for the community to name the sandwich. While you’ve managed to alert the public of the sandwich’s peppery corned beef, savory mushroom sauce, and plump focaccia bread, the public gets a chance to win a free meal, and have their name credited on the menu.
Build your own list of newspaper and television contact names and fax numbers or hire a professional public relations company to distribute your article to the a large number of media outlets. Don’t gloss over small local papers as a recipient for your press releases. These are often a great place to begin building your publication portfolio.
nGenuity Solutions is committed to helping small businesses become successful in the ever changing online world.
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if you've got an internet business success story, a horror story, or are just plain frustrated and have a question. With your permission, we will post your story below the article so that others can learn from your experiences!
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Christine Harrell is a small business internet marketing consultant and the cofounder of nGenuity Solutions. nG's flagship product Easy Website Builder gives small businesses the necessary tools to build profitable websites through real time visitor analysis and push-button web publishing. |
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