THE Fastest Way To Grow Your Business in 2017 As a species, we think about sex a lot. Our DNA declares we have two primary, primal instincts: survival and procreation. So, when studies report that men and women think about sex dozens (maybe even hundreds) of times a day, it s not really that surprising. These thoughts are a part of our DNA. This programming is a part of who we are. The same goes for us entrepreneurs. But, instead of having two primary, primal instincts, we entrepreneurs only have ONE primary instinct: Growth. That s why with the New Year upon us, the one thought racing through our minds right now is: What is the fastest way to grow my business in 2017? While there are many answers to this vital question, there is one fail-proof way to grow your business in 2017, which is learning how to Position Yourself As A Trusted Authority You see, when you position yourself as a trusted authority, your ideal, target audience sees you in a different light, and you become magnetic. Prospects who wouldn t give you the time of day before now line up to seek your expertise. I know this may sounds crazy, but it s the truth. People are attracted to authorities. And when you position yourself as such, you ll be able to instantly grow your business bigger than ever before. Now, you should know that some experts will try to get you to believe that positioning yourself as an authority will take years. It won t. Or that there is some mystical secret behind having expert status. There s not. In truth, there are only 4 Factors You Need To Know To Quickly Position Yourself As A Trusted Authority 1. What you say, 2. How you say it, 3. Where you say it, and 4. What others say about you (and your message).
What You Say People are quick to judge. When we hear someone speak for the first time, we make a decision within the first few seconds as to whether we will really listen to him (or her), hear him out just to be nice, or ignore him completely. That s why the message you communicate MUST BE both relevant and interesting. Our brains are always looking for relevancy. If your message isn t relevant, then people cannot help but ignore you. That s why choosing the right target market is so important. The right market will find your message relevant, and they will pay attention to you. The wrong market will find your message irrelevant, and they will ignore your message without giving you much thought. Not because they re trying to be rude to YOU. They re ignoring you simply because your MESSAGE isn t relevant, and their brains choose to ignore the message (not you). Think about yourself for a second. When you flip through a magazine, do you read every advertisement? Of course not! Why? Because the majority of the ads aren t relevant to you! For example, if you re a man, the chances of makeup ads being relevant to you are slim. Oh, I know, there s a chance (and I m not judging), but I think you can agree with me that for a man to be concerned about makeup is rarer than a women looking through the same magazine. So, relevancy is the first key to your message being looked at and listened to. But relevancy isn t the only ingredient to your message s success. What you say must also be interesting! If your message is relevant but not interesting, you ll hold the person s attention for a short period of time, and then you ll lose them to boredom or some sort of shiny object. On the other hand, if your message is both relevant and interesting, you ll hold the person s attention indefinitely. So, now the big question becomes: How do you keep your message interesting? Being interesting is all in how you say it. How You Say It Keeping your message interesting comes down to HOW you say something. For instance, if you speak with a lot of enthusiasm and passion in your voice, people will pay attention. Passion is contagious and interesting to a lot of listeners. Another way to create interest is to truly care about the person you re talking to and trying to help. When people feel that you care about them, you ll make a connection, and they ll pay attention to you.
One of the most important factors to creating interest with your message lies in your ability to be yourself and show off your personality. If you re opinionated, then be loud and proud. If you re emotional and sensitive, then wear your heart on your sleeve. Don t try to be these things for show. Be yourself. The worst thing you can do is fake your personality. People will see though you, and they ll ignore your message. The second worst thing you can do is be vanilla, middle of the road, or wishy-washy. People don t respond to or get interested in flavorless messages. People read, listen, and watch polarizing messages. For example, why do millions of people listen to Howard Stern? It s not because he s the funniest guy on earth. It s because you never know what s going to come out of his mouth. Why do millions of people love (or at least love listening to) Bill O Reilly and Rush Limbaugh? It s because their opinionated and their messages strike a chord with their audiences. They re far from middle of the road. They re all the way on one side of the road, yelling about the people on the other side. There s a funny thing about being polarizing too. Stern, O Reilly, and Limbaugh all have more haters listening to their shows than actual fans. Why? Because, whether or not you agree with them or like them, they re interesting characters with interesting ideas, and they say things in interesting ways! Now, I m not saying you have to be like these guys. That s not the point. The point is you have to be interesting. You have to have something interesting to say. And you have to learn to say things in your own, unique, interesting way. Where You Say It In our society, certain types of people command authority. According to author and professional copywriter, Dan S. Kennedy, there are three types of professionals that command authority: Authors, Speakers, and Celebrities/Media Personalities. You know of Steven King, J.K. Rowling, and Deepak Chopra because they write books. You know of the late, greats Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, and Dr. Wayne Dyer because they spoke to audiences all over the world. You know of Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, and Bill O Reilly because they ve been on T.V. and in the media. You know about these professionals not just because of what they ve done or what they do, but because of how and where they spread their messages in books, on stages, and in the media. Do you think Bill O Reilly could educate and persuade millions of Americans teaching history to high school? He tried. It didn t work. That s why he chose to go back to school for journalism and get into the media. The media is where his authority and power comes from.
Do you think Zig Ziglar could have completely changed the sales industry just by going to a company s office and teaching sales training to their employees? Nope. Impossible. According to his sales and live appearances, Ziglar is estimated to have reached and influenced over 250 million people. Only his books and his speeches gave him that amazing opportunity to effect so many. The list goes on and on, but I think you get the gist. How and where you spread your message will position you as a trusted authority and give you access to more opportunities, more people, and more money than you have right now. What Others Say About You (And Your Message) The last factor to help position yourself as a trusted authority has nothing to do with you but everything to do with what others do and say about you and your message. You can speed this process along in three ways. First, you can elicit testimonials from current and past customers and clients. Second, you can brand yourself as THAT guy (or gal). And third, you can help people achieve immediate results. Let s briefly look at each way. First, when it comes to testimonials, it s important to note that prospects may not always believe what you say, but they more often than not tend to listen to third-party endorsements from current and past clients. That s why gathering as many testimonials as possible is critical to your success. You don t need hundreds, but the more the merrier. Second, when it comes to branding yourself, it s easier to stick out in a smaller audience rather than a larger audience. For instance, if you want to be known for web design, it s easier to target a specific market, like dentists, and position yourself as a web designer for that market (i.e. web designer for dentists). Not only will you have the funds to reach that market, you ll have the funds and the ability to quickly saturate that market with your message. On the flip side of that particular coin, it s easier to persuade people if you re unique and don t compete with everyone else. My friend, James Malinchak, did this early in his career when he marketed himself as that guy who teaches speakers how to make money in the college market. While every other trainer was teaching the same thing, he stuck out like a sore thumb (in a good way), and launched a very successful speaker training business that he still runs today. Third, when it comes to helping people achieve immediate results, you can t be afraid to give prospects some of your best material. For example, I recently started watching Dave Ramsey on his YouTube channel. On his show, Dave talks about seven baby steps to take control of your money. Step number one is creating a $1,000 starter emergency fund to help you when things go wrong. After taking a look at my accounts, I decided
I could immediately complete baby step one. Boom, done! Do you think that completing that step dissuaded me from getting Dave s material? Nope. In fact, I immediately got his book, The Total Money Makeover, because he helped me achieve that result. Your prospects will want more of you when you help them achieve a specific result! So, there you are. The four factors you need to know to position yourself as a trusted authority in your field and quickly grow your business in 2017. You may be saying to yourself, But, Weston, Isn t This Going To Take A Lot Of Work? Umm yeah! Of course it is. But let s be honest, you already knew that before reading this article because you know that everything worthwhile in life takes work. Especially when it comes to growing your business. Running a business is work. It s not easy. It s hard. It s demanding. But it s worth it! You know that, and I know that. That s why we re in business. That s why we label ourselves as entrepreneurs. That s why we re willing to work 60-80 hours a week for ourselves instead of 40 hours a week for someone else. We know that the work is part of the game, but we also know that the work is worth the reward. Otherwise, we d go get a job and stop the insanity that comes with running a business. Listen, deep down, I don t think work scares you. As an entrepreneur, the words work and risk are a part of your normal, everyday vocabulary. Those words have meaning. They are a part of who you are. So, if you are who I think you are, and you re not scared of work, then get started! Take some of the advice given here on positioning yourself as a trusted authority, and go grow your business! Weston Lyon Founder, Plug & Play Publishing www.plugandplaypublishing.com P.S. For a limited time you can get my new book, The Most Powerful Business Tool Ever To Exist, absolutely free (just pay $7.95 shipping and handling). Inside, you ll discover 28 ways a book can help you successfully position yourself as an authority, build your business, & dramatically propel profits in any business or economic environment on earth. Remember, this offer won t last long. You can read more about this amazing offer here.