Everyone wants to be one. And they want it fast.
Authority, influence and power might as well be the most desired and valued social recognition in the 21st century. We can blame it on the internet but I would say it was meant to be this way. We can’t help but change with the times.
And let me be very clear — it’s not just the millennials who crave for this. All of us do. We’ve always craved for social recognition to some degree. The internet simply supercharged our desires to new heights because everything’s so convenient, accessible and at your fingertips, literally.
Which brings me back to the main point — becoming an authority in your niche is a nobrainer. But working hard to become one is not everyone’s cup of tea. Even if it were, we are so confused about the choices in front of that us we’d rather waste our time doing something across a lot of things than focus.
Now, you and I know that isn’t effective, yet we experience FOMO if we don’t implement these insane strategies. Don’t we? Is there a way out? Definitely! It’s not easy though. In fact, I would say it’s damn hard work!
I believe if you want to dominate or become an authority, you should just focus on a single platform in addition to your home base (which should always be your own website/domain). And that’s it! Nothing fancy. Focus on creating a buzz where you think you audience is.
That means you will be posting on YouTube, if you’re a fitness expert/bodybuilding or a powerlifter. Sure, there’s a lot of competition there in this niche but if you want to stand out you will know what to do. In the same token, if you’re focusing on fitness for working professionals or the c-suite you should be creating content (including videos) natively on LinkedIn.
Do you see what’s happening there? You’re fishing where the fishes are!
If you want to argue about the “owned vs rented land” bit, save it. I know how that works. Remember whatever content you’re putting out on the rented land will also be posted to your website. You can publish them together or perhaps a few weeks apart (first on your website and then LinkedIn or any other social media perhaps or vice-versa, the sequence doesn’t matter). I would wait for a couple of weeks before posting the same content elsewhere but right now, Google doesn’t care as long as it’s helpful content.
Yes, the algorithms might change but Google’s intent is to make sure they provide relevant content to the ones who’re looking for it. For you that means consistently putting out relevant content.
I know what you’re thinking right now — Sunil, what about YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or the 38 other must have channels. Screw it! Yeah, I mean that. Go deep, not broad. If your audience is on Facebook, go there and make sure that you go all in. Whatever you post goes into your website and the popular posts can always be re-shared elsewhere.
The challenge right now is that we’re all over the place. This needs to stop. For everyone’s sake. There’s so much content out there that people will become saturated. (You can quote me on that!) It’s just insane to create content for all the channels out there. And I believe it’s bad for you because instead of building your business your energies will be invested in creating content.
Consider the energy that you’ll be spending content for just your homebase and that one social channel where you audience resides. It’ll be so much less than whatever the hell you’re doing right now.
Becoming an authority is a process and takes time. Spreading yourself thin isn’t the answer. Going deep and all in is.