Be the Leading Authority & Content Expert in Your Niche

Do you want to be seen as an authority and content expert?

Do you want people to experience you as powerfully online, as they do when you coach...

And do it in less than a few hours a week of your time?

My experience is that so many coaches are incredibly gifted at what they do.

They know they were born to help others and do this work.

But when it comes to online and building a presence, they don't feel in the same 'zone of genius.'

Even 6 or 7-figure coaches who have been doing it for a while and are 'fairly good at it.'

They resist it, feel it's a lot of work, confusion, imposter syndrome, don't have clarity/direction etc.

We all know that our online presence is important.??

So... How do we do it right and actually LOVE the process?

Here are four ways to be an authority & content expert (for 2-4 hours per week):

1) Become the local celebrity of your niche - when you coach you may have some variety of the types of people you work with, that's fine. But when you are creating your online presence, you have to narrow down.

We call this the double or even triple niche theory. Don't just be an 'Executive Coach.' Be an Executive Coach that works with fast rising VP's in Fortune 500 companies.

Be a specialist, not a generalist. If you're too general, your marketing or message won't land with anyone. It will be just noise. Just remember the grass is always greener where we water it (not on the other side). So pick a niche, stick to it and own it.

And hey, if you specialize and someone wants to work with you (who's not the 'perfect target market'), you can still take them on. But for marketing's sake, you want to be the authority of one very clear and specific niche. The broader you go, the harder it is to be the 'category leader.'

2) Build an amazing content strategy for this niche - To become a 'leader' in this field, think about what you're an expert in and then double down and get the best information on the topic.? Find appropriate videos, podcasts, articles, books etc that will help you give your clients exactly what they need.??

Once you've gone even deeper into your expertise on this topic (or topics), it's time to create your content marketing strategy.??

The easiest way to get started is by creating a list of 10 questions that you can answer from your own point-of-view and experiences (or simply 10 of the biggest questions your clients ask you).? Maybe you've already been doing this for your clients, so now it's time to organize these in online content format (instead of a worksheet). It could be something like: 10 Ways to Overcome Tough Times as a Personal Trainer or 7 Reasons Why You Should Always Optimize Your Toning Routine or 4 Common Mistakes Made on the Frugal Diet (And How to Fix Them).

Once you have that down, then create at least 3 more blog posts expanding off of each topic.? At this point I would suggest looking into some other expert's writing and seeing what format/layout they use to keep all of their work consistent.

You want to produce at least 3 high quality pieces a week and do it with a variety of content types (long form posts, articles blogs, videos, polls etc.)

Then share across at least 2 channels (one social media and one to your website blog/email list (even if your email list is small, just get started)).

Other ways to be seen as an authority... do more than just talk about what you know. You must act the part by being proactive with your knowledge and not waiting for others to come to you with questions or requests.

Offer professional consultation services in your area of expertise without charging a fee so that people can see what it would be like working with you before they commit. Or create a blog post series where each post is written from the perspective of someone who has been coached by you or worked with you and then share the posts on social media.

3) Expand your content beyond your network -? First off, don't share it with everyone in the world -- pick a few communities or groups that you think might be interested in your content based on your niche (ex: Twitter for trainers ; Facebook for personal development). Look around at others who have big followings and see what they're doing to build up a relationship with their potential customers.

Get yourself on as many other sites as possible, especially if they're linked to the same niche market with potential clients. The nice part about guest posting is that you get to reach out to different communities instead of simply spamming your own website (which will probably do more harm than good). When getting started, offer to write for free just so you have some content up there -- then after the first couple of articles, charge your own rate.

Make Yourself Known on Big Forums - Are there any forums online where you feel like a power user, where people come to you for advice and experience?? For example, I know many individuals who have been part of the "networking forum" community on LinkedIn or "Quora". They can answer questions efficiently because they've messed around with so many different methods and they've seen what worked and what didn't.? They are an authority in that space and people frequently seek them out first , when looking for help or answers.

If you're not already apart of these forums, then begin asking yourself how else could I connect with other professionals online in business? You should be active on forums (if possible), commenting back on others threads & posting your own blog posts.

When you develop this online voice, people will start to recognize you as an expert and send others your way.

4) Leverage Automation- The final way to be an authority and content expert is to work smarter, not harder.

So you can focus on what you love- coaching, leading or living your life!

To start off, block off 'content time' every week. This should be a 60-120 minute chunk to create content. Better yet, do it with an accountability buddy/power partner and have them create content at the same time as you.

During this time you want to get clear on what kind of content you want to create ie. create your top 10 questions (from clients or from your own experience) and then create 3 articles from that OR simply have a 'note' on your phone and write down content ideas as they come to you throughout the week.

Then during this time, take the best ideas and create 2-3 rock solid pieces of content around it.

Once you have that in place, to support in content creation, you'll want tools that do the following:

• Scheduling posts: Use a tool like Buffer or a VA/EA (virtual or executive assistant) to schedule your posts and keep you accountable. Consistency is KEY in content creation. Our clients get one from South America for $4/hour and they are INCREDIBLE
• Transcribe voice notes: My favorite is otter.ai. You can literally speak ideas into it, it will transcribe them and then you have content for days
• Use AI to automate and pull content from thousands of articles across the web: This is something I save for our clients, but if you can use AI in your content creation, you can cut out 80% of the time you spend writing articles (and it gets WAY better)
• Use pods to boost your content: Get a pod together of likeminded people who will like, comment and share your posts to boost the algorithm. We have special software we use with our clients for this, but if you create the right pod you can literally 4-5x your content views
• Use tools to grow your audience with dream clients (so more people can see it): Once again, we save these for our clients but there are great tools available for Facebook & LinkedIn

Conclusion

Hopefully this was supportive to you!

If you can niche down, create a great strategy, expand beyond your network and leverage automation - you'll become a leading authority in your niche in no time.

What was your biggest takeaway?

James Hodges

P.S. Here's some other free ways I can help you grow your Coaching business...

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-James