Becoming and Influencer - Be The Authority of Your Brand

Here is a perfect story of credibility branding in action, in particular the part about becoming an influencer yourself. The post below was offered by Bill McCloskey at Bill’s Blog

Here is how my credibility branding model sums up his anecdotal story:

· Take what you know a lot about and start offering your insights as a commentator to publications, influencers, bloggers etc

· Start a blog! Start writing about what you know

· Breaking news strategies, leverage breaking news to offer yourself as an authority to comment; be a talking head on the big news broadcasts SPECIAL OFFER click here to download a free PDF on the basics of how to execute this strategy just click here to download)

Why do all this? This is part of an overarching strategy of adding credibility to your brand. This is not a trick, manipulation or spin it is leveraging what you know into a form that gets your insights and expertise out there, enhancing the credibility of your company and products (AKA your brand). This added credibility allows users to fast track the decision making process. You are the one they want because the trust factor is in play.

Building your own Personal Brand Part Two

            By Bill McCloskey at Bill’s Blog

I started writing for publications in the early 90’s. At the time I had just started working in the new and niche world of high end 3D animation. One day I noticed that one of the sales guys at the company I worked for had an article published in the main trade journal. Using his name as a way in, I called up the editor and pitched them a story. The upshot was they agreed to keep it in their files as an “evergreen” story, one that could be run at anytime and if they had space to fill, they’d use it. Of course, no money was offered.

A few months later I received a solicitation in the mail about subscribing to a new publication called 3D Design Magazine. I called them up and said: “I’m not interested in subscribing, but I’d love to write for you.” My background, plus the fact I had already placed an article with their competitor, proved a winning combination. I was offered a job as a columnist and two days later they called again to say their technical editor had left and would I be interested in that as well. And so I started writing monthly columns on 3D and eventually pitched them on the idea of a series on a new 3D for the Web technology called VRML. My writings on VRML made me a VIP in the early world of rich media on the web and led to one of the first really great gigs of my career: VRML Evangelist for SGI and put me at the birth of rich media advertising for the web.

Comments

[holly]

I'm impressed with Bill's assertiveness and confidence. Ha! I'd probably feel guilty and get a subscription and then talk about my expertise! It just goes to show you never know until you tell people what you want rather than assuming what they are thinking!