How To Establish Yourself As An Expert

If you’re looking to boost your business’s visibility, it’s time to establish yourself as an expert. Positioning yourself as an expert will help establish your personal brand, as well as that of your company, helping you maximize your visibility and business potential.

Who is an expert? An expert can be anyone in any industry who wants to share their breadth of knowledge with the world. We’ve all got the potential to be considered an expert; it’s simply a matter of getting the public to view you as one. Truly becoming an expert takes time and consistency, but here are three ways to get you on the right track.

Make Yourself Known

The first step to getting others to view you as an expert is having the confidence to call yourself one. A lot of us are hesitant to do this. But the truth is if you don’t believe it, no one else will.

It’s also important to have a clear vision of what your expertise is and make it as specific as possible. Simply being a “communications expert” isn’t going to make you stand out anymore. Homing in on your unique area of expertise makes you the go-to person when someone needs information.

Share Your Voice

A large part of being an expert is sharing your opinion. A great way to do this today is to use social media to promote yourself and your content. An expert creates their own content through a blog or regularly contributes articles to other sites. Sharing other people’s content is fine, but it’s not going to prove that you know what you’re talking about.

As a budding expert, you should always watch out for opportunities to comment on breaking news. Start by building solid relationships with a specific group of bloggers or journalists. Let them know your specific area of expertise and that you’re ready and willing to help should they need a specific quote, facts or data.

Leverage Social Media

Social media has become a powerful tool that when used effectively can help establish you as an expert. It’s not enough to simply post anymore. Today, it’s all about engagement. Don’t be afraid to start a conversation with other users and experts in your field. Building relationships with other experts is a great way to earn respect, generate third-party credibility and become an expert yourself.

Don’t forget to use relevant hashtags so others can find your content and engage or share it as well. Also, stay engaged in industry events, participate in Twitter chats, contribute LinkedIn articles and anything else that you think will get your name out there. The more active and consistent you are with your engagement, the more recognizable your name and personal brand will be.

So, there you have it, three action items you can get started on today. These tips aren’t going to propel you to expert status overnight, but they will bring significant attention to your brands—personal and professional—over time. The key to success, now, is just staying consistent.

Flackable is an award-winning public relations agency representing financial and professional services brands nationwide. To learn more about Flackable, please visit flackable.com. Follow Flackable on Twitter at @Flackable. 

This is an updated version of an article originally written by Sydney Brodie and published on 10/13/15.