Brand Book Bites from Lead the Field
– the book: Lead The Field: How To Become An Authority and Dominate Your Competition, a short thoughtpiece for people who want to position themselves as the expert in their field
– the brains: Adam Witty, founder and CEO of Advantage, The Business Growth Company, which offers turnkey publishing and marketing systems.
– the best bits: Lead the Field starts with a provocative statement:
“The higher up in income you go, the more you are paid for who you are rather than for what you do.”
The rest of the book is based on this point:
“If you wish to achieve fame and status in your field, you must design and implement an Authority Marketing plan that includes multiple strategies — including book authorship — to position yourself as an undisputed expert, influential authority, and in-demand celebrity.
Adam introduces “The Four Reasons for Authority Marketing:”
- Be known where you live.
- Be the one everyone wants to go to for a high-value product or service.
- Be the person whom others of influence want to stand next to.
- Leverage your authority for autonomy.
The book also outlines “The Seven Pillars of Authority Marketing:”
- Branding & Omnipresence
- Referral Marketing
- Content Marketing
- Lead Generation
- PR & Media
- Speaking
- Events
When I spoke with Adam about the book (see below for access to podcast interview), he told me that PR & Media is probably the most important pillar. He writes, “Getting your name and your company’s name mentioned in media is important because most people don’t believe what you say about yourself, but they’ll believe what others have to say about you.”
– the brand story: The short length of Lead the Field means it doesn’t get into any story with any depth but it does profile a few “Rock Stars of Authority Marketing,” including Suze Orman. I can’t say I’m a big fan of Suze, but I do think her story provides a good example of how to position yourself as an authority. Adam writes:
“Ten years ago, Suze was just another small fish in a sea of 160,000 other financial advisors trying to make their way in a fiercely competitive industry…Then she self-published a book, and she promoted that book hard. That book led to some media appearances that gradually grew to appearances on national television and radio shows, and because she was able to portray herself as calm and personable, people saw her and felt like she was speaking the truth; they felt like they could trust her. Suze was able to take all those little pieces of success and build them into more success so that, now, Suze isn’t a financial advisor anymore. She’s a media personality.”
– the bottom line: If you aspire to an authority position in your field, Lead the Field will whet your appetite for how to achieve your goal. If you want more specific and prescriptive information about how Authority Marketing might work for you, you’ll have to contact Adam. You can do that through:
- website for the book: http://leadthefieldbook.com
- website for Advantage, Adam’s company: http://advantagefamily.com
- email Adam: awitty AT advantageww DOT com
- free Authority Marketing Audit call: http://AuthorityMarketingAudit.com
Listen to my conversation with Adam to learn:
- Why it’s wrong to think that think the only way to increase your earnings is to increase your knowledge, skill set, experience, etc.
- What exactly is Authority Marketing?
- After PR & media, what are the next most important pillars of Authority Marketing?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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