You’re A Brand

IF PEOPLE CAN FIND YOU ON THE INTERNET, THEY WILL. IF THEY DO, THEN YOU’RE LEAVING AN IMPRESSION ON THEM.

Mix in all the times your name comes up in conversation and a few stilted conversations at a networking event and those faceless people now have a pretty strong impression of who you are and what you’re about. The more people you interact with, the stronger your brand is. All those little interactions stack on top of each other to become a unifying concept of YOU. In other words, a brand.

You don’t get a choice in having a brand, but you can control your brand.

Positioning

Good branding starts with extremely clear positioning. Good positioning is clear positioning.  Good positioning makes clients just show up. Referrals come from prospects who you’ve never worked with when positioning is good. Phillip Morganand Kai Davis are both pretty darn good at positioning and have both written about it extensively. My choose your niche process is a positioning exercise. Good positioning is a multiplier for anything you do that follows it, which is why it should be the starting point if you want to grow your business and authority.

Branding and Authority

If you have good positioning and create content that aligns with your positioning, then you will have the start of a good branding strategy. If your content displays your subject matter-expertise, then you will generate authority as well. As you narrow your focus with strong positioning, you’ll be able to quickly build authority in a valuable niche market.

Brand development is a direct by-product of many authority generating activities. If you consistently publish content about a single topic, your audience will begin to associate that topic with you. That’s good branding. If they consider you an expert in that topic, then you’ve got authority too.

Authority Generating Strategies Let You Control Your Destiny

When you create authoritative content, you’re getting a two-for-one deal. First, that content helps you brand yourself to your customers by relating you to the topic. It also helps you speak to them as an expert on the subject, building your authority. By owning and creating the content yourself, you’re able to display your authentic brand while showing-off your expertise. Creating your own content let’s you take control of your brand, audience, and authority by giving them direct access to your business’s most valuable asset, YOU! This means that they’ll be able to understand what you do, who you do it for, and how you do it. All without even speaking to you.

Learn more about building authority in the Authority Marketing Playbook.