The Greatest Entrepreneurial Secret
By Mark S.A. Smith
The greatest entrepreneurial secret is become a recognized expert in your business world. Whether your a banker, sales professional, contractor, retailer, masseuse, medical professional, or lawyer, being a recognized expert in your field creates an identity you cannot buy. Not with advertising, not with billboards, not with radio and TV commercials.
When you’re the recognized expert, the press calls on you when they need information and options — and prints your ideas. When you’re the recognized expert, publishing companies want to print your book. When you’re the recognized expert, people are willing to pay for your advice, knowledge, goods, and services. And it really doesn’t matter what fee you charge.
So, how do you become viewed as the recognized expert? If you’re an expert in your field already, it’s a matter of letting your market know about your expertise. One of the fastest ways to be proclaimed an expert is to make it easy for the media to call you an expert.
Newspaper, magazine, and newsletter publishers have to fill their pages every issue with material that serves and benefits their readers. All you have to do is make it easy for them to do their job, and they’ll gladly call you an expert. The easiest way to help them is publish an informational booklet that they can draw on for filler.
Here’s how to create your booklet. During your most creative time of day, grab a cup of coffee, or a glass of juice, and sit down with a piece of paper and pencil. Brainstorm ideas that people need to know in your area of expertise. Jot down the simple and the sublime, the obvious and the esoteric. Use reverses — do this, don’t do this. Apply ideas from other areas to your area of expertise. Write things down that people haven’t thought of and stuff everybody knows. Write down 50 to 100 ideas.
Next day, sit down with your list, and put a check mark by 20 to 50 of these ideas that no one else is really talking about or that are critical to the success of your profession or your customers. Then every day, two or three times a day, write just two paragraphs on each of the topics. Don’t cover them in depth, just get things going. If you have short examples, use them.
After two or three weeks, you’ll end up with two paragraphs on lots of topics that editors can use for filler, and readers will pay to read — you’ll have a short publication that is a wealth of information. Add this copyright notice to the title page: “Copyright 1996 your name. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint quotes and excerpts is given and encouraged. Please include the following credit line: Reprinted from “Your title,” your name, your toll-free telephone number. Take this to a printer, typeset, create a cover, put a price of $9.95 on the cover, and print a thousand copies.
Find publications to send it to. Don’t limit them to your current markets. You’ll be surprised at the publications that need what you have to offer. Look at magazines that come across your desk. Mail to the managing editor. They’re responsible for the publication getting out, and will steer your booklet to the right person, or keep it themselves for their deadline. Look at Newsletters in Print located in the reference section of your public library. This guide lists contact information for small newsletters listed by interest. Look at other publication directories such as Standard Rate and Data Service (SRDS). Review the directories of associations for their newsletters.
Mail your publication along with a cover letter that points out how this information is important to readers, that they can reprint it with the credit line, and offer to write a custom article for their readers. Consider including a testimonial letter from a satisfied client. Consistently mail to publications, sending out a few everyday.
Expect the phone to ring with orders from readers wanting to order the your booklet, and expect checks to arrive in the mail for your publication. Send out your publication promptly with an offer for your other products and services. These orders will lead to future business.
Expect editors to contact you to write more. You’re on your way to being positioned as an industry expert. Then clients will call you about your services, and they won’t care what you charge.
Mark S.A. Smith www.oceinc.com Reuse encouraged and permission granted for non-commercial use when including this copyright notice and Web link.
Mark founded Outsource Channel Executives Inc. (OCE, Inc) in 2003 to serve clients who were looking for ways to successfully take their products and services to market. After 22 years of working in and with high-tech sales and marketing channels, Mark identified that channel success depended on building value, driving demand, forming a powerful network, and protecting profits. A recognized business expert, Mark co-authored Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, and Guerrilla Trade Show Selling.