BernieBorges.com Blog: Social Media and Web Marketing

3 Ways to Build Authority, Leadership and Credibility Online

In my (virtual) and physical travels, I speak to people in all stages of their career and in all phases of using social media. I often hear people voice a strong hesitation to become active in social networking for several reasons. There are two reasons I hear often.

One hesitation is about privacy. And, I do mean privacy. Many people simply do not want to share who they are and what they do online. I will comment on this in another post.

Another reason for hesitation is because some people believe that social networking is (gasp) beneath them. I must admit, I’ve never heard someone actually describe it that way. But, I am not one to sugar coat things. This is what they really mean.

So, let’s address how to demonstrate authority, leadership and credibility for the established over achiever with no online presence.

There are two issues in play here. One is the reality of  accomplishments of someone with impressive credentials. The other is that online, there is to some extent a level playing field. Therefore, unless you are of celebrity status like Oprah Winfrey or Barack Obama, most people must develop an online level of trust and credibility. But, that’s a hard pill to swallow for the over achiever.

This begs the question why bother? If you are a 50 year old Fortune 500 executive earning 7 figures per year, why do you need an online reputation or online personal brand? Unless your job is at stake, you probably don’t.

But, what about the person with respectable credentials but not at this superstar level? Why bother? It always comes down to a personal decision. There are many industries where established people with comfortable and established incomes have been decimated by the down economy. Most of those people never expected to be anywhere else but on top of the mountain. Those people have been humbled.

So, how do those people engage in social networking and personal brand building for their career, especially when they had it so good?

The first step is humility. The best of the best have been humbled by this economy. There is no shame in it.

The second step is to just do it. I mean, embrace the fact that your competitors are anyone with access to the Internet and comparable skills. And, it doesn’t matter where they are physically located. If you think your skills are unmatched, there may be some truth to that, but I argue probably just some truth. This world is made up of many smart people with specialized skills across all industries and the Internet makes them accessible to anyone, anytime.

Here are three steps I recommend to the high achiever to build authority, leadership and credibility online.

1.    Read Relevant Blogs
Identify a manageable list of blogs in your industry written by people whom you respect. Start with online versions of media outlets in your industry. There you’ll find people in your industry with blogs. As you read their blogs, you’ll begin to recognize their online voice and you’ll get ideas about how to shape your personal brand online. Engage with select bloggers by posting thought provoking comments. Take online conversations offline whenever possible.

2.    Use LinkedIn Extensively
If you don’t have a LinkedIn account (and many people in this situation don’t), create an account.  Aggregate content from LinkedIn Today and use the Signals function to follow companies of interest. In following companies you’ll also follow people. Likewise, you’ll start to observe their voice and you’ll start to get ideas. Quickly build up your connections simply by finding people you’ve worked with over the years. You’ll be amazed at how many of your past colleagues are on LinkedIn. Start conversations in LinkedIn and take them offline for deal making and career-centric conversations. I frequently hear stories of people reconnecting with colleagues from their past employment through LinkedIn and quickly getting job offers because of their established credibility.

3.    Write a Book or…
You saw this coming, didn’t you? You know that I’m all about content. Hey, it’s not just me. The world is all about content. Produce great content such as a book, or a blog or a video or podcast. Whatever format suits you, produce content on a topic that excites you and that you’re expert in and share it with your network, which by now is growing very rapidly. With your credentials, your content will take off in no time and you’ll be turning down offers just because you can…

The biggest challenge over achievers have is the mental hurdle to overcome that building (or rebuilding) authority, leadership and credibility online is even necessary. For many people, it’s just a matter of breaking the ice. Often, once they get started building their online reputation there’s no stopping them.

Are you one of them? Just do it!

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