Five tips on how to be seen as an industry expert

People who are looked up to as an expert in a particular industry have a much better chance of business success. Many business doors get opened and the media often call on you to speak on behalf, or about, your industry, giving you and your business great visibility and marketing opportunities.

Here are five tips to help you be seen as an expert in your industry.

Make yourself visible online

With the internet and social media, it has never been easier to make yourself heard and to make yourself visible.

One of the easiest ways to use social media to be seen as an expert is by sending links to relevant and interesting articles on your industry. Not only can you link to your own information e.g. in the form of a blog post, but you can also link to articles written by other people.

It’s your time spent acting as a gatekeeper finding all the interesting stuff that makes you valuable to others, and something that will make them see you as an expert in your industry.

Make sure you actually get involved with your industry

Using the internet and social media is a step in the right direction but if you want to be seen as an expert in your industry you need to really get involved.

You’ll never be seen as an expert if you don’t join the top organisations and associations linked to your industry.

Attend industry talks, and meet other people in your industry. To reach the next level and really become visible in your industry you need to be one of the people volunteering and speaking at industry events.

Write about your industry

In the first tip, we said that it’s a good idea to share interesting and relevant articles related to your industry. If you want to take it to the next level, you need to be the person writing the articles that other people share.

These articles can start off as blog posts on either your personal website or your business’s website, but you should then aim to get your articles published elsewhere, such as newsletters from industry associations, and even newspapers and news websites.

Talk to the media

Whenever your industry does something that gets it in the news media outlets are going to be looking for related stories, viewpoints, or figureheads to interview.

This is a great chance for you to be seen as an industry expert – you should pitch topic ideas to editors of newspapers and news websites, as well as editors of TV news.

Make sure they know that you are the expert of your industry who should be the person to tell the story. The media will then come back to you in the future whenever they need an expert of your industry.

Write a book

One of the best ways to be seen as an expert in your industry is by writing a book, and it’s never been easier to do so.

Think about how your insider knowledge of the industry can give a viewpoint that hasn’t been written before.

Even if a traditional publisher doesn’t take up the book, you can always self-publish it.