Tag: expert

    How to Create an Inner Circle

    There are many different types of inner circles that you can create in order to expand your business. But, the idea is that you offer great value to a few people for less work than one-on-one work. You can use inner circles for group coaching, teleseminars, webinars and more. However, you need to know how to get started.

    * Grow Your Business – First, it’s important to focus on growing a client base, an email list, and a following on social media. You want to have a good number of clients / customers that you service before you start an inner circle.

    * Increase Your Credibility – Work on your credibility factor by participating in your social media networks, responding to emails quickly, and improving your profiles. Write more guest posts, get your name out there and show yourself walking the talk.

    * Build Your Authority – Guest blogging, blogging on your own website, being interviewed on radio or for print publications, and getting your name known as an authority within your niche are important ways to build your authority. You can also write a book and publish it.

    * Create a Private Community – You can start with a free private Facebook group to test out your draw. If you get enough people onto the free group, you can start marketing a paid inner circle with more benefits than just discussions.

    * Develop Content for Your Community – Decide what type of content you’ll deliver in your paid inner circle. Will you offer webinars, teleseminars, group opportunities? And how often? How much work are you going to put into this part of your community?

    * Offer Tremendous Value – When you start a paid inner circle, it’s imperative that you offer a lot of value to the subscriber. People expect a lot for something called inner circle because they want to get as close to you, the expert, as possible.

    * Charge the Right Fee – Put together how much work it’s going to take to offer the inner circle, how much effort you want to put in, and then charge accordingly. If it’s going to take you 20 hours a month working on the community, then you need to charge the right amount. Granted you will be spreading the offer out to multiple people, so the fee each individual is charged won’t be as high as one-on-one time.

    * Make the Offer Limited – Don’t allow just anyone into your inner circle. If you decide that you’ll limit the group to 50 people, stick to that. Price your group accordingly. If it fills super-fast you can raise the price later.

    Creating an inner circle that feeds your audience and you can be a challenge. But, once you do it, you can learn so much from your inner circle. This will help you with product and service creation, make your current offers better, and increase the lifetime value of each customer.

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    How to Make a Wow-Worthy Profile

    Today, a social media profile can either make you or break you. If you haven’t given a lot of thought to your profiles, then it’s time to pay attention to them. Most people, before following, liking, or friending you on social media will click and look at your profile to ensure that you’re the type of person they want to follow.

    Not only that – potential clients, customers, and employers look at social media profiles to determine whether or not they want to do business with you. Thankfully, it’s not that hard to make a good profile and you can use components of any profile on one social media network, tweak it and use it on another. After all, you want your profiles to be cohesive across all channels.

    It Starts with a Great Photo

    If you’re creating a personal profile to represent yourself as a business owner, then you need a great headshot that represents the professional tone of your industry. Set up a good photoshoot with changes of clothing. Make sure to get your hair and makeup professionally done for a photoshoot. Great places to find people to take pics and do your hair and makeup at a low price are local colleges and university photography and cosmetology students.

    Provide Directed Information

    You don’t need to put everything you’ve ever done on your profiles. Instead, pick and choose what you put on the profile based on what you’re trying to accomplish. Remember to phrase everything toward your audience. They should read your profile and immediately understand what you do, who you do it for, and why you do it.

    Distinguish Yourself from Others

    Depending on the platform you’re using, outside of your picture you probably have other things that can showcase what you do for people. Some social media networks like LinkedIn allow you to put video, slide shows, PDF documents and more for your audience to be able to review what you do and the results of what you’ve done.

    Keywords Still Matter

    If you want to position yourself as an expert and authority in your niche, learn the keywords and terms that are used to find those experts. That way, when someone searches for someone who does what you do, they can find you because you’ve used the right keyword phrases and words in your descriptions, summary, and experience.

    Keep It Up-to-Date

    You want to try to at least update your profile on a monthly basis. Update your status as often as the network average. For example, they say to update Twitter three to five times a day, Facebook about three or four times a day, Instagram once a day, and LinkedIn once a day. If there is no activity on the profile it will seem as if you aren’t active in your business. People might pass you up.

    Keep Professional and Personal Separate

    When possible, keep your professional life separate from your personal life. But, realize that people who are actively searching for you, especially on Facebook and Instagram, may find your personal profile as well as your business profile. In this case, ensure that you set your account settings properly.

    Making a wow-worthy profile is an important component in being active in any community. Creating a stand-out profile requires just a little effort and can be done over time in just a few minutes a day. Take the time to work on one aspect on one social network each day and your profiles will truly be wow-worthy.

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    How to Position Yourself as an Expert

    One of the best ways to improve your value is to become an expert. Positioning yourself as an expert requires knowledge, skill and perseverance. If you don’t have those things right now, you can develop them as you move to position yourself as an expert. So don’t worry if you’re not there yet; you can get there.

    1. Determine Who Your Audience Is – Knowing who you want to work with and help is very important, because you will be able to create better services, products, information and education for them if you know who they are.

    2. Decide upon a Niche – Once you know your audience you can narrow down your focus to one problem your audience has. That is your niche. If you can solve a major problem that your audience has, you’re golden.

    3. Develop Your Brand – Once you figure out who your audience is, and what your niche is, you can start developing a brand. Is the brand going to be you, or is the brand going to be the solution? One will always require your presence, and another might be salable. It’s up to you.

    4. Get a Professional Website Created – You can’t present yourself as an expert with an amateurish website. It needs to be professional, and unless your expertise is web design it’s not likely you can do this for yourself. The words on the site, the design of the site, the images on the site, all need to be created by individual experts.

    5. Set Up Your Social Media Profiles – As you brand yourself, you’ll need to set up each of your social media profiles so that your brand works throughout the internet. While each social media site has its own personality, yours should show through.

    6. Start Blogging and Getting Your Ideas Out There – Even as your website is being perfected, you can blog to show your expertise. Write your blogs directly to your audience to educate them about their problems so that you can start offering your solutions.

    7. Write White Papers – A white paper is a good intro to organizing information to educate your audience about their problems and your solutions.

    8. Make Videos – Creating “how to” and informational videos and posting them on YouTube is a great way to position yourself as more of an expert.

    9. Write eBooks – As you gather more material, you’ll eventually have enough to put together an eBook without too much work.

    10. Publish on Kindle – You can publish your book and sell it via Kindle free. It’s a great way to get new customers.

    11. Consider Publishing a Paper Book – Once you’ve successfully published a Kindle book, you might want to take it a step further as you get a large following and publish a paper book. You can do this with print on demand via CreateSpace.com and Amazon.

    12. Go to Live and Online Events – Networking at live and online events will help you get used to the idea of being at these events so that eventually you can present at them. It will also help you build relationships.

    13. Present at Live and Online Events – With your books you have a platform for your message, and you can now take that and speak at live events, both online and offline.

    14. Get Active on Social Media – Don’t just set up social media profiles and be invisible. You want to participate, share your knowledge and connect with others so you can build relationships.

    15. Get on a Speaker’s List or Two – Contact different groups and offer speaking services to them. Create a “one sheet” with the information about the types of talks you give.

    16. Keep Going – Don’t stop; keep going. Each thing that you do will build on the next thing, and before you know it you’re positioned as an expert and the sky is the limit.

    Becoming an expert is a process. At first you will feel as if you’ll never make it, but everything you do builds on the next thing and eventually it will snowball to true success. Once it happens, part of you will feel as if it happened overnight, but in truth everything you did above built on the next thing and finally people started seeing you as an expert.

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    Ten Ways to Take Advantage of Industry Leaders’ Expertise

    They always say that two heads are better than one, and that’s very true. It’s even truer when the two heads are experts. The fact is, if you can locate and hobnob with experts you will soon be seen as an expert too.

    Finding industry experts isn’t difficult because they want to be known as experts, and true experts know how to get the right publicity to be seen.

    You can use Twitter to find them, or do a simple search for industry forums, online communities, blogs and events. Once you find them, use these ten ways to take advantage of them. This doesn’t mean use them in a bad way, though; make every action mutually beneficial. However, nothing is wrong with creating a strategy to meet and know experts, so that you too can become one. After all, this is how Oprah did it.

    1. Get on Their Email Lists – When you find experts that you want to get to know better, get on their email lists. This will enable you to find out how they communicate what products and or services they offer, which will enable you to learn about the potential opportunities for you to work with them.

    2. Interview Them – If you do a podcast, written interviews and profiles, or other types of interviews on your blog, send them your information and invite them to do an interview with you. Most industry leaders are happy to do interviews with people they feel are legitimate, so try to get a few less lofty interviews under your belt before going after the big fish.

    3. Socialize with Them – Social media is an awesome way to get to know all the movers and shakers in your industry. You can search for them via Twitter and also socialize with them that way. If they show up in person at a place you can go, go.

    4. Partner with Them – If you can identify an area where they do not have a product, but you know that with their expertise and yours combined you can create a joint project that will resonate with both of your target audiences, take the chance and send a proposal with references.

    5. Promote Their Products – If you both promote to the same audience and aren’t direct competitors, then you can freely promote their products. If you do a good job and become a top affiliate, they are more likely to take notice and want to joint venture with you.

    6. Take Their Courses – If the industry experts offer courses and information that will be beneficial to you, and you can be a stand-out student, take their courses, sign up for their coaching, and become known.

    7. Ask Them Questions – Don’t be afraid to ask an industry expert a question. You can send questions via Twitter or on Facebook and more than likely if you ask a good question they will answer it.

    8. Answer Questions They Ask – Sometimes industry experts pose questions that they want others to answer. Take the chance and answer the questions they have if you know what you’re talking about.

    9. Engage with Them on Social Media – Don’t just do one-word answers, and “like” and “share” without comments. Engage with them; discuss the questions and answers in more detail with them. You’ll stand out as someone who is intelligent and thoughtful.

    10. Push Yourself to a Higher Standard – By hanging out with, and talking to, and being with industry leaders, you’re going to naturally push yourself to reach higher goals. They say that most people earn an average of the five people closest to them, so why not try to be closer to successful people?

    Industry leaders are leaders because they learned early on how to network effectively. True leaders know that you’re going to learn more and be able to accomplish more outside of the office than inside it. Today, you can do a lot of networking completely online using social media like Google Hangout or Skype. The sky is truly the limit when it comes to getting to know industry leaders, and eventually working with them, if you set that goal in your sights and work toward it a little each day.

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    Ten Ways to Take Advantage of Industry-Related Community Sites

    There are web communities that are started by industry leaders and organizations that you can join. Some of them have a fee and some don’t. A community site can be hosted on a social network service like Facebook or it can be hosted on an individual website or other platform. It can consist of a forum, blogs, information center and more. When you find an industry-related community site to join, you might want to consider these ten ways to take advantage of them.

    1. Become a Full Member of the Community Site – Most community sites require you to sign up. Some require you to pay a fee. Most of the time, you have to use your real name and show how you fit into the industry. If you’ve chosen a good community site to join, a lot of the information you share will only be available to members. Sometimes you have to spend a little money to get the most out of a community site.

    2. Fill Out Your Profile Carefully – Since this is an industry-related community, you want people who view your profile to know where you fit in with the industry. A lot of times members will hire other members or recommend other members. The more accurate and clear your profile, the better.

    3. Introduce Yourself in a Professional Manner – At some point after joining an industry-related community site you’ll need to introduce yourself to the other members. Some sites have particular areas where they ask you to do that. Some even have surveys they want you to fill out in order to introduce yourself. Try to do it the way they want you to and be as open as possible.

    4. Answer Questions of Other Members – Once you’ve introduced yourself, and have participated in a few discussions, it’s fine to start answering questions that other members ask that you have knowledge in. This will help the members get to know you more and allows you to establish expertise.

    5. Interact with and Engage Members – Don’t just go on a community site and post your own stuff without entering into discussions. Discussions are what make any type of community work, whether online or off. Don’t treat the online community as anything less than real interaction.

    6. Volunteer with the Community Site – Many online community sites need help and they will be very happy to take volunteers to help manage message boards, add blog posts, find resources for members and more. If you want to volunteer just ask.

    7. Use Member Benefits – Industry-related community sites often offer benefits to their members. It’s important to take advantage of them. Many times they’ll have things you can get involved in, as well as job boards, special offers or even live events. Try to get involved with the community you choose to join.

    8. Promote the Community to Others – When you find a community that you like that offers a lot to your industry, tell other people about it. The more people who join the community, the better for you because that’s more people you can get to know and potentially work with.

    9. Ignore Wrongheaded Criticism – In many communities, especially free ones, you will have issues with bullies and “trolls”. The best way to deal with these people is to ignore them. If there is an authority to report them to, do so. Do not engage with them because people are watching you to see how you deal with pressure.

    10. Honor Privacy Issues – Many groups are private, and due to that, people will discuss things believing in a code of honor that what they say stays in that group. Be sure to not share anything outside of the group. Being part of a community means you honor their need for privacy.

    If you want to be seen as an expert in your industry, it’s important to be seen as much as possible in a professional manner. Joining a community that is related to your industry can help. You can join communities that consist of colleagues or potential customers or both. Once you join and start participating, you’ll find many ways to get known and grow your business.

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    Nine Ways to Show Your Expertise When First Starting Out

    When you first start out wanting to work from home and start your own business, it can be frightening and even seem impossible. It’s the old conundrum about how you can get experience without having experience. But, when you start an online business, you can make your own experience and prove your expertise with just a little work, and this is how.

    1. Blog Regularly Toward Your Audience – Start a blog on your website and blog directly to your audience with many forms of content, discussing many issues that the audience has. It’s a great way to get traffic, but it’s also a great way to demonstrate expertise.

    2. Write a White Paper about a Problem – A white paper is a long report that addresses a problem and then offers solutions to the problem. If you write a paper or two about individual problems your audience has, you’ll be able to show your expertise even though you’re just starting out.

    3. Publish a Book about Your Expertise – Writing a book and authorship is always a great way to show your expertise. Direct the book to your target audience and answer questions they may have. Address one problem and solve it and then you’ll get more respect that you do know what you’re talking about.

    4. Make Checklists to Help Your Target Audience – If you know the types of things that your audience has questions about, you can create helpful checklists, cheat sheets, or tip sheets that are available for view and/or download on your website or blog.

    5. Share Answers Freely on Social Networks – Social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, and even forums and message boards are great places to answer other people’s questions in a way that highlights your expertise.

    6. Become a Contributing Writer – Blogs, websites, newspapers and magazines all want more content and will take well-written, expertly delivered articles. Some of these will even pay you for the content. Write originally for each and rely on your bio to send traffic your way.

    7. Get on a Speaking Circuit – Create a couple of presentations that you could easily turn into public speaking fodder. Practice by putting that information on video on your blog, YouTube, and other places that take video. Make a “one sheet” which is one downloadable 8×11 sheet that tells about what you’ll speak on and your prices.

    8. Create a Dedicated YouTube Channel – Many people have become famous because of YouTube, and you can too. Use YouTube as a way to demonstrate your expertise on the topics of interest to your audience.

    9. Host a Free Webinar or Teleseminar – Technology enables you to do a lot to spread the word about your knowledge and expertise. You can do “how to” videos, and tip videos and more to show the world and most importantly, your audience, what you know.

    These ways to show your expertise when first starting out don’t require you to have a huge client roster, or even a following yet. Doing them will help you gain a following, improve search engine optimization (SEO) and help you build the work-at-home business of your dreams.

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    Eight Ways to Build your Expertise

    Building expertise is important for any business owner or person who wants to promote their business, products or services. When the public views you as an expert, they are likely to trust you more and want to hear more about what you are saying about a variety of topics. They will buy from you more readily because they trust you as an expert.

    Here are eight ways to build your expertise in your niche.

    1. Become an Author – Publishing a book as an author can open many doors, especially if the book is well received. Today it’s easier than ever to add “author” to your list of accomplishments due to Kindle Direct Publishing. Don’t allow anyone to tell you that it won’t work and it’s not a good way to become an expert. It does, and it is.

    2. Become a Speaker – If you have a lot of knowledge about a particular topic, consider adding public speaking to your resume. Speaking to groups of people has long been established to advance expertise, and nothing has changed. After all, the audience members will automatically assume you know what you are talking about or you would not be talking.

    3. Create an ECourse – Teaching what you know to others is a clear sign that you’ve mastered something enough to demonstrate and teach it to others. You can put courses on your own website, deliver them through email, or put them on a third party site like Udemy.com.

    4. Promote Using YouTube – You’ve been given this awesome opportunity to spread awareness and get buzz for your niche in the form of the video sharing site YouTube. It has a built-in audience, and if you publish well-designed videos that target your audience, you’ll become sought after and popular.

    5. Blog Regularly – Don’t stop using your blog as a method to get your words out to your audience just because you move up in the world. Keep blogging at least weekly, but perhaps create longer content that is more authoritative in nature, providing a lot of in-depth information to your viewers.

    6. Become a Regular Guest – You can be interviewed on radio, in print, and online by making yourself available. Contact your local press and let them know that if they do stories on your niche, you are available to speak to them. They are good people but busy, so they’ll be more likely to use someone who’s offered than to chase down those who haven’t.

    7. Start a Mastermind Group – A private mastermind group is a great way to establish and build your expertise. You’ll end up with a good solid fan base that knows your secrets and understands how you tick. They’ll become promoters of your work, and in the process you’ll earn some extra income.

    8. Study Your Niche – Never stop studying. Time goes forward and things change. What was true just a month ago might not be true today. Don’t be afraid to change your opinions and ideas based on the information you learn. To stay relevant in a niche you have to stay connected enough to understand what’s new.

    Becoming an expert in your niche is an important way to boost your value and increase your income. Plus, if you know a lot about a topic, you should be proud to become a noted expert in your field after all the study and effort you’ve put into it.

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    Eight Ways to Get Help Inexpensively

    When you first start a business it can be on a very small budget. Perhaps you do not have the funds to outsource and pay as much or almost anything to get the help. Don’t worry, because there are ways to get help inexpensively.

    1. Fiverr.com – This is a website where people offer their services for just five bucks. There are providers who have moved up the ranks who charge more, but those starting out still are only five bucks. Take a look at their ratings and ask around who is the best one for the services you need.

    2. Your Children – Even young children can help you with your business; whether it’s data entry, filing, or cleaning the house to free you up to do other things. Older kids can do a lot of amazing things, so don’t discount hiring your own children.

    3. Your Spouse – It might be a hard sell to get your spouse to help you, but they are usually wonderful sources of work and they can be free, or you can legally hire them as a deduction in your business.

    4. Your Network – If you have joined any networks, whether they are colleagues or not, you can go to them to find people to help you inexpensively. Perhaps you can barter with each other to get things done.

    5. High School Students – You cannot legally use high school students who aren’t family members free, but you can pay them a bit less than you would an expert. Even if they just help you with housework and childcare, that is something that gives you more time to work your business.

    6. College Interns – Local universities and community colleges are great places to find interns to use in your business. This is a highly talented pool of people, especially when it comes to technology. It’s important to know that you do need to pay them something and offer them a lot of education.

    7. Elance.com – You can find inexpensive outsourcers on Elance. The price will vary depending on where the outsourcer lives and also what their expertise is. Make sure you put up a good proposal and set your budget.

    8. oDesk.com – This is another place like Elance which has people to hire that can help you inexpensively. Be careful and don’t take the lowest bid, as the lowest is not always going to be better.

    These eight ways to get help with your business are tried and true methods that work. You can get help without spending tons of money. You also have to remember that anything that you can get someone else to do is worth it if it costs less than you can earn per hour doing your main service or selling your main product.

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