In this post...
Discover the benefits of becoming an influencer, and learn how blogging helps you realize those benefits for your business. Also access my 9-Point Blog Post Planner that will help you plan a blog post, turning it from an idea in your head to a more-solid thing ready to take the form of words on the page.
Question: What do you want to be known for?
What word or short phrase do you want so closely associated with your name that, when the topic comes up, people think of you?
For instance, whose names come to mind when you think:
- Online Challenges
- Facebook Marketing
- SEO
- Joint Ventures
- Passive income
- Blogging
My answers are below.
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Here are my answers (note that yours may be different, and that's okay):
- Online Challenges - Alina Vincent
- Facebook Marketing - Mari Smith, tied with Alina Vincent
- SEO - Neil Patel
- Joint Ventures - Jay Fiset
- Passive income - Pat Flynn
- Blogging - Renae Gregoire
Ha ha, okay, so maybe not the last one. (Yet.)
Photo by Steve Harvey on Unsplash
Back to my original question: What word or phrase do you want people to associate with you?
This line of inquiry is important to follow because when you achieve that "comes to mind instantly" status, it'll be safe to say that you have influence.
What will it look like when YOU have influence?
Influence is a nebulous thing—until it isn't.
When you have influence:
- You'll have it over your industry. You can set trends. End trends. Pave the way for the future as you see it.
- You'll have it over your peers. You can blow up someone else's mailing list with one recommendation or mention. You can partner with others in your industry, bringing more goodness to the market.
- You'll have influence over your audience. too. You can sway their purchase decisions simply by sharing your voice. And you can generate cash whenever you launch a new product, service, or program.
The latter—generating cash—is yummy!
Photo by Maria Teneva on Unsplash
We need cash to continue to grow our businesses and our influence even more.
And that will happen because people trust you.
It almost won't matter what you're selling.
People are buying.
In their book Authority Marketing, Adam Witty and Rusty Shelton explain why this happens.
Note that although they're talking about "authority," I sometimes use the words authority and influence interchangeably, as in this instance.
Here's what the authors said [highlights mine]:
"The single most valuable benefit to becoming an Authority is accelerating the speed of trust. When you do so, you're not seen as someone who has something to sell, but instead as a thought leader that has something to teach. The key is to use authority to establish trust before you ever sit down with someone. When you do this, you don't have to establish your credibility or make the case as to why you're the best resource; you can go right to problem solving..."
That raises a question: How can you establish trust before you ever "sit down" or connect with someone?
One magnificent way to establish trust is to blog
If you've been blogging, then you've made it possible for people to get to know, like, and trust you even before you get on a Zoom call together.
When someone visits your site before meeting with you—which you know for sure they'll do because you do it, too!—they'll come across your blog, a place where they can get to know you.
They'll begin to understand your worldview, and see how you solve challenges.
They'll meet your clients through the stories you tell.
And they'll begin to know and trust you.
If you blog the way I teach, then people reading your blog might also experience moments of delight by discovering that you, too, graduated from the University of South Florida, or that your parents, like theirs, meet on a front stoop one hot July night in Philly (#TrueStories).
All of that happens with blogging.
To help you get started with your Authority Blogging, I created a "9-Point Blog Post Planner" you can use to have me whisphering in your ear for each post you write.
The planner poses a series of nine questions, the same questions I ask of my private clients when we're working on their blogging strategy and blog posts.
The 9-Point Blog Post Planner
Use this planner to stay on track with every blog post you write
The fearless, lifelong flier and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once said, "A goal without a plan is just a wish."
In this case, I'll say that a blog post idea without a plan is unlikely to happen. If it does happen despite the planning, it may not be as effective as it might have been otherwise.
When you download, you'll see how the Planner helps an idea for a blog post transform from being a mental construct to being a solid map for your post in a matter of moments.
