One of the most effective methods of marketing any business is to position that business as the expert in its field. Being the expert in your field doesn’t necessarily mean that you are the best painter/plumber/photographer in the World, it means that you have accurately marketed and positioned yourself to the public as the “go-to” business in your industry. The public understands that you know what you are doing, and have the proof to back it up. How do you position yourself as the expert in your field? Read on, it’s much simpler than one may think…

Now more than ever it’s quite simple to get your message out to the masses. Online methods, which this article will discuss, are great for attracting business internationally. Offline methods, which a later article will discuss, are great for attracting local business. Without further hesitation, a few quick and easy methods to position yourself online as the expert in your field:

Website/Weblog

These are extremely powerful and easy-to-implement tools to interact with an audience. Increasingly, static websites aren’t engaging the audience well enough and companies are starting to turn to blogging. A blog is an excellent way to share your thoughts on the industry and really prove you know your stuff. For example, web design guru Eric Meyer is a highly respected and well-known expert in his field.

Social Networking Websites

If you haven’t heard of Newsvine, Squidoo or Ma.gnolia you probably aren’t alone, but you are certainly missing out on a great chance to interact with an audience eager to soak up information. The social web is in full force. Using the power of third-party websites to your advantage can be extremely beneficial and very low-risk. Start a Newsvine/Squidoo/Ma.gnolia account, post interesting articles relating to your industry, comment and write your own articles (if you don’t have a blog). People will eventually begin to notice that you are a knowledgeable professional and will be impressed. For example, here at Squidoo, the author has positioned himself as a knowledgeable expert on Podcasting. Currently Newsvine is in “beta” and therefore you need an invitation to sign up. This should change in about a week or two, but if you would like to sign up now, leave a comment with your email address and a quick sentence or two explaining why you want to check out Newsvine and I’ll send you an invite.

Forums

Forums remain a very powerful tool for interaction and networking. Find a forum dedicated to your niche, register and post like there’s no tomorrow. Sites like Forum Zilla are a great way to find forums relating to your industry. Forums work wonders if you have a website already which you can point interested parties to, but if you conduct yourself with professionalism and respect, you will develop many beneficial contacts. For example, GlobalPaw, a popular dog breeding forum.

It’s a lot easier than one may think to make your presence known online. Start searching for new and exciting ways to share your knowledge. Be active, be honest and be smart.