Hello and welcome to my new Blog, entitled: Expert Positioning. My name is Andeline Williams-Pretorius and I plan on sharing valuable information with my readers, information that could assist with your journey of Expert Positioning.
But what is Expert Positioning? An individual or an organisation positions themself as an expert when they package their knowledge, experience or product in such a way that it stand out and get noticed. This ability to stand out makes it possible for others to acknowledge you as an expert in your field. The great thing about it, is that you are able to attach a higher fee to your services or products.
How do you position yourself as an Expert? There are a number of areas to explore when it comes to expert positioning. These include the following:
- using your inspirational life-or business story to get great publicity,
- standing out because of your hobby or talent,
- the traditional route – an educational qualification,
- brand building; and
- entrepreneurship.
When breaking down the above, I have more than 70 methods (plus their how to’s) that you could use to position yourself as an expert in your field. This list is constantly growing, because I make it my business to speak to experts whom I admire to make sure that I constantly learn and grow to ensure that I give my clients the best.
I obviously share all these methods when I present my training program. However, for the purposes of this Blog post, I’ll share only two methods here.
1. Become an Author (write your book) This is one of my absolute favourites. I sincerely believe that everybody has a story and that everybody should write a book, whether it is for commercial purposes or for personal use, like record keeping to leave a wonderful legacy. Holding the final product (your book) in your hand, is one of the most rewarding feelings there is.
Before you embark on your book writing journey, there are a few very important things that you need to consider. Writing a book requires commitment, focus, planning, and passion. It is perfectly okay if you start out not being exactly sure of how the story would progress and what the final copy would look like. For the first time writer, their book writing journey is often like a trip to an unknown destination – full of unexpected twists and turns.
Be open and receptive, because the ideas will come to you, often, when you least expect it. Keep pen and paper next to your bed, because you may wake up in the middle of the night with an idea that you know you cannot afford to forget. Write them down. Such ideas are real gems.
Planning your book Most new authors are in a hurry to get started and as a result, forget the very important planning stage. I once had a client who wanted me to assist them with getting publicity after they’ve published their book. Unfortunately, I had to turn this person away, because their book was full of errors and it seemed as if their manuscript had been nowhere near an editor.
I had time to review their book, before I had contacted them with this unfortunate news. I coulnd’t risk attaching my name to such a badly created product. I suggested that they make the necessary changes, including figuring out who they were actually writing for. This person didn’t appreciate my feedback and never came back.
Some of the questions (during the planning stage) that you have to reflect upon
- What do you want to write about?
- Are you planning to write a novel or do you want to write a book in which you share your expertise with the reader?
- Who is your audience? W would be interested in reading your book?
- Do you have the time to sit down and commit to the writing process?
- How many pages would you like to complete per day?
- Who would do the editing of your manuscript?
- Who would publish your book? Are you going to self-publish or do you want to get published by a national publishing house?
- What are the pro’s and cons of self-publishing?
- What are the requirements when it comes to getting published by a national publishing house?
- And what about the Barcode (UPC) or EAN?
These are just some of the questions that you have to ask yourself when you plan to write your book. I focus on the rest, when I do training or during one-on-one coaching sessions. Enquiries are welcome.
Your book could take you places
- Did you know that being a published author is something that gives you an immediate upgrade in how people view you?
- Did you know that your book could secure you wonderful publicity?
- Did you know that you could submit your book to the Department of Education to be considered for inclusion into the school curriculumn?
- Did you know that being a published author, is one of the best ways to position yourself as an expert?
- Did you know that you could make your book available on Kindle?
Getting published by a national publishing house. What publishers normally ask for. When sending your proposal to a national publishing house, you have to include the following: A synopsis – short outline (not longer than one page) on what the book is about and the first three chapters.
This will give the publisher a good idea about your book and assist them with making their decision on whether to publish your book or not. Do your homework with regards to your audience and include this in your synopsis. It normally takes up to three months before you receive an answer.
Need help with preparing your proposal? Contact me.
You too could receive wonderful publicity, after becoming a published author.
Another great thing that could happen after your book had been published, is that you could get a wonderful opportunity to share your expertise on radio or television. A number of experts have secured such an opportunity. However, your chances are much better when you have published a book – a good book.
During the first radio interview on RSG (about my book), the presenter / Producer mentioned that perhaps they needed to bring me back on a regular basis to talk about empathy and how we could implement it in all of our relationships. Well, this was a huge compliment and as they say: “the rest is history.”
I can now be heard on radio every Tuesday morning, between 09h00 and 10h00. Although I planned on sending a proposal to enquire about this, I didn’t have to. When preparing your proposal for radio, television or the printed media, remember to focus on how their followers: readers, listeners and viewers would benefit.
I am currently known as Empathy & Relationship Expert on SABC Radio: RSG for two years.
There is a lot more information that I deal with when focusing on this method: “Become an author.” However, I hope that this snippet gives you an idea of my passion to share real information with you, information that you would be able to use and implement.
2. Convince a reputable publication to tell your inspirational life- or business story Before we are business owners, leaders or experts, we are individuals with a background; individuals with a life story. As business owners and those who are still dreaming about starting their own business, it is important to have a marketing strategy and to be able to re-invent ourselves. With so much competition out there, those who will make it are those who could master this.
Every organisation has to advertise their business at some stage; however, many small businesses cannot afford to pay exorbitant amounts in advertising fees. Thank goodness for social media, because it provides a fantastic platform for the small business to advertise their products or services.
However, getting publicity by means of a great article in a reputable publication, or hearing your name or your business’ name, or hearing your product gets mentioned on radio, is priceless. It provides fantastic publicity and credibility.
BUT…
How do you do it when we do not have a marketing budget?
How do you do it when we are just a small business or an ordinary individual?
How do you do it when we are not a celebrity?
EASY…
You need to package your inspirational life-or business story in such a way that the media cannot help but take notice. Do not underestimate the value of kindness, the value of treating journalists and producers in the way in which you would like to be treated.
The important things to consider, before contacting the media include that you have to know what your agenda is.
One of the most important things to remember, is to never approach the media with the soul agenda of self-promotion.
Remember, producers and journalists are clever people and they’ll see right through you if this is your agenda.
Yes, we want the publicity, but we need to focus on what we could do for their readers, their viewers or their listeners.
I recently spoke with someone who enquired about the how-to of getting good publicity. She is a divorced mother, raising four children. She is in a professional position and struggles to make ends meet. Her story about her painful divorce and caring for her children could make for a very inspirational one, because the majority of the key elements are there. These are: emotion, adversity, ability to inspire, ability to grow and teach.
Apart from having these key ingredients, she lacked one thing: the triumph. I detected that she was still not over the pain caused by her ex-husband. As a counsellor and as someone who is trained to also listen for those things that people do not say, I listened attentively and I could sense that her agenda was to use the media to “get back at her ex.” This was not on purpose and she was not aware of it. I pointed this out to her by asking a few difficult questions. She agreed that she wasn’t ready and perhaps needed to work on first letting go of the pain.
Never underestimate the value of your story, whether it is simply inspiration or whether you had overcome great adversity or emotional pain. You could turn that pain into something very powerful and positive, something that could contribute to the greater good of humanity.
Need guidance on how to package your story so that that media would take notice? Contact me.
Expert Positioning is a great way to ensure more an better visibility, stand out and grow your business. I had recently been found on the internet by a media house in Europe. They were interested in interviewing me and had asked me to assist with recruiting more interviewees. Long story short – it was wonderful to get paid in euros. As a result, I am definitely inspired to doing more business with overseas clients.
Expert Positioning – if I could do it with so many odds that seemed to be stacked against me, than anybody can.
People often ask me: “Andeline, how have you done it? Isn’t this the question that we mostly want answers to – even in other areas of our lives. “How?”, “How, do I do it?” In the next Blog post, I’ll share a snippet of my personal journey with expert positioning; a journey that I believe had chosen me.
Your questions and comments are welcome. Thank you.
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