Are you a coach or a consultant – does your business hire coaches or consultants?

The answers to the question above seems to spark a bit of passion in entrepreneurial circles depending upon the definition one uses of each.

To me, a coach is charged with holding a client accountable to stated actions, goals and courses while a consultant is more likely to feel empowered to set the course of action. In my mind, there probably is no pure definition because a marketing coach or a marketing consultant, for instance, doing the best they can for a customer, will likely fall into a hybrid service to get the ball moving forward in any way possible.

Whatever you call it, there is no doubt that having a trusted adviser, one that calls BS when it needs calling, is one of the most valuable assets an entrepreneur can obtain.

While I am on the subject this might be a good place to invite you to join my live Discovery call and learn about the opportunity to become a member of the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network. You can find all the details here. 

So, what’s your definition of coach of a consultant – or do we do a disservice to both trying to label and define the practice?

Now, let me start off by saying, when I say “known,” I don’t mean “famous.” This post is not about turning you into the next overnight YouTube sensation or getting your Instagram followers to one million. This post is about truly becoming known as an influencer in your field, and while Instagram and YouTube can certainly be a part of that process, there so much more to it.

Being an influencer in your field gives you power. It gives you a platform to share knowledge and expertise on a topic that is important to you and your audience.

But in this noisy digital world, how do you stand out above the rest, get your voice heard, and actually become known? How do you get the opportunity to become an influencer? Why would someone pick you to follow and listen to as opposed to someone else?

As you get started, becoming an influencer in your field can seem like a daunting task, so I’ve broken down a few tips that can make this process seem more digestible. The keyword here is “process.” Becoming an influencer doesn’t happen overnight, but with time, patience, and dedication, you can get there.

“Begin with the end in mind”

Cliche, I know, but true. In order to become known, you must have a deep understanding of what you want to become known for. Pick something you really want to master within your industry and stick with it.

My friend Mark Schaefer (author of KNOWN) said it best when he said you need to find a sustainable interest. This interest doesn’t necessarily mean it’s your passion, but it has to be something that lasts a long time, affect enough people to make a difference, and be something you love (so that you’ll stick with it). Whatever your focus is, make sure it isn’t too broad, as that will likely give you more work than you’ll know what to do with and it will be harder for you to achieve influencer status.

Here’s the thing I can’t stress enough. Nobody starts out as an expert. You become one through constant learning and trial and error. You should start small and master a topic you truly believe in to the point that you generate your own thoughts around it and not just regurgitate information from others.

As a marketer, I’d be remiss if I also didn’t mention that it’s important to set goals in the beginning. This will help to keep you on track but it will also give you something to measure against to check your progress.

In addition to knowing what you’d like to focus on, you also must have a deep understanding of your audience. Learn as much as you can about them and commit to them. It will be these people who will help you grow and become known, so take care of them.

Establish thought leadership and authority

People are impressed by authoritative figures as they are seemingly knowledgeable and experts on their given topics. By being an authority and establishing thought leadership in your area, people will be more likely to trust and support you. As an authority figure, you will be able to help solve the pain points of your audience. Give valuable insight and advice to your followers and your influence and reach will be sure to grow.

Create content

I can’t stress this enough, you must put in the effort to generate educational and useful content on your topic of interest consistently and frequently in order to become an influencer. I’m not going to lie, this is time-consuming, especially as you’re ramping up, but they pay off is worth it.

You need to choose the type of content you’ll create, and this goes back to having a deep understanding of your audience as the content you develop must resonate with them.  You don’t need to be everywhere, you just need to be where your audience is (more on that later).

Keep in mind that you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. You can repurpose content you already have and extend the value of it. For example, a blog post can be repurposed as a video or podcast episode. An ebook can be broken into a series of blog posts. Get creative with this as it will save you time and expand your reach.

Get in front of your audience

I can’t say this enough: Be everywhere your audience is.

The thing is, no matter how great your content is, none of it will matter if nobody sees it. You need to ensure your content gets promoted to the right channels. Here are a few ideas to help ensure your content gets seen.

Blog – Blogging not only helps to educate your audience and build trust, if you blog often, it will help your rank in search engine results pages as well, which will help to expand reach as more eyes will be on it when Googling for relevant search terms.

Guest blog – Write guest blog posts on other people’s sites that cannot only link back to your own site to increase exposure but also extend to the audience of the site you published on.

Social media – Influencers must be active on social media and promote their content and messaging there. Be helpful, and not overly promotional in your posts, and be sure to keep your profiles current.

Speaking – Speak at relevant meetups, conferences, and any other speaking engagements that you can make it to within your field. This will not only increase exposure, but it’s a great way to get leads as well.

Get interviewed – Whether this is on TV, a podcast, or a written article, interview are a great way for your name to be seen and heard.

The big takeaway here is that you need to be present in all relevant channels. Identify what those are and get started!

Be likeable

This may seem like a no-brainer, but I have to put it in here. The more people like you, the more likely you’ll be able to influence them, and the more influence you have, the more potential you have to grow your audience. I’ll say this a few times throughout this post, but building trust and rapport with those in your field is a must, no questions asked.

Be consistent

It’s easy to quit something. Anybody can quit something, but it’s the people that stick around and stick through the tough time and doubt that come through as experts and influencers on the other side. As I said earlier in this post, becoming an influencer is a marathon, not a sprint.

The more consistent you are with something, the more committed you’ll become to it and stick with it long term. To piggyback off that, be passionate about your area of interest. It will make the ride a lot more enjoyable.

Stay current

Know what’s going on in your industry both with trends and other influencers. Read books, listen to podcasts, subscribe to newsletters, the works! In addition, stay current on trends with your audience as well and know what’s going on with your competition. Don’t have tunnel vision with your efforts alone, be aware of the surroundings within your industry in order to truly become the expert in your field.

Make connections

Networking is perhaps the oldest trick in the book, but it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. In order to become an influencer, you must have a large focus on building relationships and gaining the trust of the people you come into contact with. By making connections, I don’t simply mean reaching out to somebody on LinkedIn. You must connect with people both online and in the real world. Nothing can replace that human-to-human interaction. Respond to comments, hold Q&As, and be present. The communication with your audience should be a two-way street. Make sure they know you acknowledge and appreciate them. Establishing an emotional connection is key to turning your followers into your personal brand ambassadors.

As you begin your road to becoming known, what has helped you succeed thus far along the way? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

There are countless books, websites, and even podcasts dedicated to the topic of business growth. (Or its second cousin twice removed – growth hacking)

Most of this teaching focuses on things such as the building blocks necessary to scale a business, the proven tactics required to employ robust lead generation funnels, or the people management skills vital for creating a winning culture.

All good and essential things for sure, but the race to grow revenue, acquire clients, and build process fails to take into account this underlying truth.

If you want to grow your business, you must focus on growing your client’s business.

I don’t mean to oversimplify here, but this must be your first goal. Do this, and there’s a chance everything else will take care of itself – or at least the time you spend on building process will become amplified.

Strip this idea to its core, and you’ll see:

For it is in giving that we receive.

I don’t intend for this to come off as even slightly religious, spiritual or quantum physics sounding at all.

The very practical fact is that if your client’s are showing growth and realizing benefits, things like your revenue growth, profit, and scale can happen with little friction.

Job one is getting and reporting the results you get for the people that pay for said results. Job two is growing revenue and systems.

You can have one without the other, but it’s oh so much work.

That’s the point of today’s post.

• How can you begin to base your business and marketing decisions on helping your customers gain greater results?
• How could you focus your content on your customers rather than your business goals?
• How could you create email campaigns, social media posts, training, customer support, repeat offers, tracking and reporting with this single question in mind – Will this help my customer gain a better result.

I’m not suggesting that you throw business best practices out the window in a blind effort to care more about results than your customer does, but I am suggesting that you base a few more of your decisions, campaigns, and projects on this idea to achieve real growth.

How many of your customers benefit from what you offer? Are they merely taken care of, satisfied, and happy or are they completely blown away, surprised, and loyal beyond reason?

That’s what comes from a focus on customer results rather than typical growth metrics, and that’s what leads to innovation and delight in business.

I have not always been successful at applying this concept in my own business if I’m to be terribly honest, but I do understand the power it holds.

It is far better to teach than to sell.

It is far better to understand than to be understood.

It is far better to create real impact than it is to simply build authority.

For in the results of others, we ultimately grow.

If the idea of leveraging your expertise to skyrocket your position in your industry while also virtually eliminating the need to sell ever again – all without spending big money – sounds appealing to you, then you need to read on.

About six months ago I launched an initiative to help members of the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network write and promote books they have written – this initiative is called Duct Tape Publishing and today I get to announce the launch of a new book written collaboratively by four Duct Tape Marketing Consultants.

The book is call Do Leadership: A Step by Step Guide to Doing Thought Leadership.

Thought leadership is such an abused term these days, but it’s certainly the goal of many a “so-called” leader.

In Do Leadership, you’ll get the exact roadmap for putting the idea of thought leadership into action in your business, career or life.

This practical guide is specifically written for Solopreneurs and Small Business Owners.

You can read all about it at Duct Tape Publishing.

Act fast and you can also grab a collection of book bonuses including templates and forms for putting the book’s lessons into action and a copy of another book written by a group of Duct Tape Consultants called Renewable Referrals.

Take action today!

What the heck, the phone’s not ringing like it was this time last year, something must be up. In good times it’s easy to get lazy and one of the first things to go is that genuine, I really appreciate your business and want to see how I can make your life better, approach to serving customers.

Okay, so customers are getting a little pickier with how they spend their money. Now is the time to reach out and get closer to those customers and let them know you are in it with them right now.

We all know we should be doing this kind of action systematically, good times and bad, so take your renewed customer focus and set-up processes that make sure you never lose it again.

Call 5/day and thank them

Go through your customer list and call 5 per day and thank them for their business. Get in the habit of calling customers and asking what more you could do – send hand-written notes. Apologize for ignoring them if you have!

Admit youâ€re slower

Address the slow-down in business and openly talk about ways to create win-win buying situations and offers.

Segment them

Not all customers are created equal, so treat them that way. Your most profitable, referring customers should get VIP treatment. You don’t have to downgrade anyone, just make sure your best customers know who they are.

Bring them together

Often your customers are peers and might enjoy the opportunity to commiserate with a group of peers, or at least network, over lunch.

Create a marketing board

Your best customers are probably advocates for your business, whether you know it or not. Create an informal board of your most involved customers and ask for their input and accountability in the development of your marketing strategies and tactics.

Get out from behind the computer and go out there in your customer’s world and get a better understanding of what they are going through and you can create loyalty that will bond you beyond price shopping.

If you provide a service, and you charge for your service by the hour, you’re headed for trouble. You are essentially selling a product with a limited supply. The only way to increase your business is to raise your rates. But even that will catch up with you because at some point the old apples to apples comparison with a competitor will check your growth.

The answer is to sell a result for a fee or sell a package for a fee, much like you might sell a product. See when you sell a product, nobody says “I’m not paying you $5000, it only costs you $10 to make it.” You price it and they decide if they value it enough to buy it.

But, that’s precisely what they say when you charge by the hour isn’t it?. “I’m not paying you $5,000 for that, it only took you 3 hours to do it.” See, the thing is, it may have only taken you three hours to produce this one result but it’s taken your 10 years of your life to get good enough to do it. Don’t think hours, don’t sell hours, don’t devalue your experience and expertise and ability to bring massive results to your customers by selling yourself short.

Have you ever delivered an incredible, six figure kind of result for a customer only to return to the office and fire off a $500 invoice? Have you ever felt a customer back down because they didn’t believe you could actually deliver the results you promised that cheaply?

But how do you get out of the hourly trap? I mean everyone else in your industry is stuck with it, how can you expect to defy it?

The secret to this seemingly cavalier advice lies in putting your energy into forging one of two paths.

1) Build a brand that speaks to a narrow market so thoroughly they are willing to pay a premium to experience it.
2) Create and document results so completely that no one will ever blink when you tell them your fee for the result.

When you begin to think this way it will completely change your view of the world and quite likely allow you to more fully serve your customers while enjoying making what your expertise and unique life experiences are worth.

I had a great conversation with Alan Weiss, a consultant well known for his Million Dollar Consulting series of books and some very strong opinions on this notion of value based fees. You can click on over to listen to our chat or download the interview here.

Join me live – Wednesday, Sept 24th Noon CDT – for a conversation with Alan Weiss, author of Million Dollar Consulting. Register here

Anyone who is currently a coach or consultant or who wants to become a coach or consultant can learn a great deal about the industry from one of the biggest names in business consulting.

We will discuss:
• The difference between coaching and consulting
• How to get significant results with your clients
• How to create unique positioning and branding
• The secrets to building a million dollar practice
• How and when to disengage with clients

Alan Weiss is a consultant, speaker and author and CEO of Summit Consulting Group, Inc. He is a 2006 inductee into the Professional Speaking Hall of Fame? and the concurrent recipient of the National Speakers Association Council of Peers Award of Excellence, representing the top 1% of professional speakers in the world. His prolific publishing includes over 500 articles and 25 books, including his best-seller, Million Dollar Consulting (from McGraw-Hill). His newest is The Million Dollar Consulting Toolkit

There is a thread that runs through most Eastern spiritual practices, such as Yoga or meditation, that urges the practitioner to go to the edge of comfort and push just past it before returning. The idea behind this is that the place you push to becomes your new edge for the next time.

Personally I think this notion applies very well to the small business and marketer.

One of the best practices you can adopt in growing your business is to continually look to marketing strategies and tactics that make you uncomfortable and then add them to the mix. Since marketing doesn’t always come naturally to most small business owners this indeed can take intentional practice. The thing though about moving beyond your edge is that you don’t really need to know exactly how you are going to do it, you simply need to commit to doing it and breath.

Here are a few suggestions that you might consider.

• Contact a local organization and offer to provide a workshop on something you are passionate about.
• Contact an industry publication, including blogs, and offer to write a killer guest editorial or post
• Contact an industry rockstar or journalist and request an interview for your podcast or blog
• Contact a high profile talk show and pitch your killer trend story
• Pull out a blank sheet of paper and create a list of goals that take your breath away

None of this is that hard by the way. It’s simply a decision. You can’t phone marketing in and expect to grow, you’ve got to go deeper and deeper, day by day, and push beyond your comfort edge.