Positioning yourself as an expert in your industry is a great way to set yourself apart from your competitors. I have an exercise for you. Start paying attention to the articles in your local newspaper. Notice in many of the articles there are quotes from experts in that particular industry.
For example, I have clients in the real estate industry and I am a real estate investor. So I monitor the news pretty closely for news about real estate and housing trends.
If you follow real estate at all, or even if you just pay attention to the media, the real estate industry is hurting. So at least once a week there is an article in the local newspaper about foreclosures, home prices, declining sales, "the bubble bursting," you name it.
And, in every article there are quotes from principals from the two same local companies that track the real estate market. Occasionally, there is a real estate agent quoted, and I've seen the same agent quoted repeatedly. These folks are the "go to" experts on real estate for the local media. If they want an expert opinion, they call these guys. And these guys get their name, title and company included in every article. That's free marketing. And, it establishes these guys as THE real estate experts in my market.
You can do the same for your industry. Forge a relationship with your local or industry reporters. Help them out by providing them information or trends for stories. Let them know you are available if they ever need research or comments in your area of expertise.
You can also write articles about your area of expertise and post them in online article directories, or pitch them to offline media.
These marketing activities will help position you as the expert, and can help generate more awareness of your business, product or service - for free - and can give you a leg up on your competitors.
Have you established yourself as an expert in your industry? If so, post a comment and share.