During the past two years, I’ve been making efforts to build my personal brand as a design and branding expert. Within the past 6 months, my following has grown tremendously, and I’m seen as a thought leader in the branding and [content] marketing industry. A HUGE part of that growth was discovering my voice and putting out more content about my niche. I learned that using different platforms to share my message allowed me to expand my reach and allow for consistent growth. How are 5 ways I was able to build my authority and become more credible and you can, too!

1.) Live Stream via Webinars and Periscope

Periscope is like mini webinars on the go, and I’m learning that is the BEST platform to build your personal brand.  Because the response is immediate, you build trust just as quickly as you can communicate. This is also honestly why I’m such a fan of hosting webinars now. Even though my emails value packed emails are AMAZING, nothing converts better than and builds authority like webinars.

There’s no faster way to build your authority online than live video. It gives an appeal that you’re in the room with your viewer. In real life, being a speaker is one of the top things you can do as an expert and live streaming is the online equivalent. If you’re not comfortable with live presentations, try doing a webinar with slides. This gives you a chance to practice using your voice more without being seen. After doing a couple, I strongly urge you to show your face. Building a personal brand as an authoritative figure means showing your face.

2.) Collaborate and/or Contribute

Being a guest contributor to other blogs is kind of like a mini collaboration.  Collaborating is a way for you to team up with someone in your industry and get in front of their audience. The best people to collaborate with are people who have a very similar audience (preferably larger) but sell something different than you. Any time an influencers mentions you on their platform, that automatically positions you as one of their colleagues. When people like Nicole, Regina, Mariah, or Mattie mention me because of our relationship or a collaboration, I am seen as an influencer as well.

Before reaching out to someone for a collaboration, I high suggest building a relationship with them first. Getting to know influencers increase your chance of additional future collaborations.

3.) Be a Credible Resource via “Mainstream” Media

A great website to provide a quote or interview on a mainstream media publication is HARO.com. HARO stands for “Help A Reporter Out”, and you are sent daily inquiries for journalists in different industries who are looking for experts to give feedback on a specific topic.

Another great way to have your name associated with the media is by having clients who are in the media. You can use verbiage like “my clients have gone on to be featured in….” When I was still shooting photography professionally, I had a listed of everywhere my work was published.

4.) Write Long-Form Content

Long-form content creates an experience for your reader which is an excellent way to establish credibility and appeal to your ideal customer’s sense of adventure. Begin creating longer blog posts (about 1200+ words) and create other content types like eBooks, how-to guides, and challenges. Although people are fans of “scrolling through” posts, the truth is, more people enjoy meatier content. More words on your blog posts increase your quality of SEO which means you’re more likely to show up in search engines. Your eBooks can be a more in-depth version of one of your current blog posts which gives you a greater opportunity to establish your thought leadership position. Creating long-form content that is downloadable also helps you generate more leads and increases the chance of your content being shared to expand your reach.

5.) Create Niche Content

In order to establish your expertise you must focus your content creation efforts on a few topics about which you’re very knowledgeable. Trying to build your brand around multiple, unrelated topics is confusing and creates a disconnect. You can’t be an expert in natural hair, advertising, finances, blogging, fitness, resume writing and childcare combined. Don’t think about being specific as limiting, think of it as targeting. Your audience may be smaller, but it will be more targeted. Once you have built a good foundation with your content, you can extend the subjects you cover as your audience grows. Master one topic first, then expand as you grow. It’s better to be EXCELLENT in one thing than mediocre in multiple things.

Interested in working with me to create amazing, credible content that will get you noticed in a saturated industry? Check out my strategy sessions.