How To Be The Go To Person In Your Niche

When you are seen to be the go to person in your niche your celebrity stock rises and your visibility increases. How to become the go to person is something all speakers need to figure out so as to attract regular gigs.

The first stage to becoming a go to person is to define your niche. I know many people struggle with this, but if you want to dominate your niche you do need to be clear on which specific topic you choose to specialize in.

Let me explain…there are lots of programs that teach you how to speak professionally but very few that teach you how to sell from stage. By narrowing down my niche to this area I’ve become an expert on selling from stage.

So my niche is showing small business owners and entrepreneurs how to leverage their business through speaking and selling on stage.

Once you’ve figured which niche YOU are the specialist in, the next step is to become known as the expert or ‘go to person’ in your field…being visible will attract speaking gigs but how do you become visible?

1. Write a book and Get It Published:
   In today’s rapidly changing publishing market you don’t necessarily need a publishing deal. It’s very easy to get your book published on Kindle and you should be able to do that yourself. If you’re not a great writer hire someone to write it for you.

   TIP: It doesn’t matter who writes it but it is important that it gets written somehow and with your name on the cover. Then you can say you’re a published author and instantly your celebrity stock rises!

   The next critical step is to get noticed! It’s no use being a celebrity in your niche if the only people who are aware of your expert status is you and your mom – unless your mom is a large scale promoter of course! Let’s get visible!

2. Blogging:

   A Journalist who wants to know about XYZ will search for XYZ on the internet. If you are regularly blogging and sharing your expertise, your post or posts will appear in their search results.

   A little more digging on their part will reveal that you are also a published author and with a bit of luck, soon you’ll be invited to comment on pieces which will inevitably lead to your being given your own feature or interview.

   TIP: It doesn’t matter whether the research is being carried out for a radio, TV or newspaper feature, Journalists turn to the internet first. But make sure they can find you!



3. Social Media:

   Every social media platform you are active on gives you another presence in search results – although with that in mind I would recommend you choose two platforms and use them well rather than being present but inactive on all of them.

   As speakers, an easy task for you would be to create videos of yourself and ask previous clients for video testimonials and upload them to You Tube. Google owns You Tube so videos are often given a great ranking in Google searches.

   If when you’re found on the internet visitors can read your work, see you in action and hear the good stuff that others are saying about you then your chances of being approached by journalists and promoters will rise.

   Another great benefit of social media is that it provides a tool for relationship building. Do some research of your own to find out who you should be building relationships with then find them on social media and go connect with them.

   TIP: My big tip for building relationships is to give people the opportunity to talk about themselves. Don’t go straight in and tell them who you are…first spend some time letting them talk about who they are. You’ll receive a warm response if you spend more time listening than talking, trust me on this one.



4. Become the interviewer:

   I often say that one way to get connected with other experts or event promoters is to approach them and ask for an interview that you can share on your blog – either as a written post, a podcast or a video interview.

   Now I don’t recommend you make this request at the outset. Build the relationship first – if they are an event promoter then attend their event first and get a feel for their vibe. Introduce yourself and maybe thank them for putting on such a useful event. When you come to reconnect and request the interview, you’ll be able to refer back to your original meeting to jog their memory of who you are.

   TIP: Build rapport, be interesting and demonstrate your expertise during your conversations too as this also has the effect of making you memorable to the event promoter when they are looking for a speaker for their next event.

I hope this has given you a few ideas? Becoming a ‘go to person’ or a celebrity in your niche will not be an overnight achievement but if you put these steps into place, over time you will find yourself on the receiving end of more approaches to speak on stage.

What steps do you have in place already and what success are you finding so far? I’d love to hear your stories.