Many entrepreneurs have locked themselves out of vast opportunities for sales, growth, and success because they are not taking advantage of one of the most powerful principles of marketing; the fact that people buy from people. Business is a human-to-human affair. This single principle makes the difference between ok performance and exponential growth and unfortunately, most entrepreneurs skip it. I’m talking about sharing your ideas online as an individual who is an expert in your space.

Entrepreneurs today rush to create and share content using their business name or branded social media channels. I get it, the business schools have taught you to separate business from personal affairs if you want to look professional. That advice however is outdated. In fact today more sales are being driven by the personal influence of founders, CEOs, affiliates, and brand ambassadors than by faceless brand names.

And before you throw stones, yes, there is value in building a brand for your business. But understand that those brands that are widely recognized today began with tens, hundreds, and then thousands of person-to-person connections and interactions. 

You are The Secret Sauce

While a separate brand identity works well to establish your business in the marketplace, it does not efficiently tell the story of the human behind the enterprise. When you share your ideas, insights, beliefs, and philosophy around your business, your prospects and clients get to connect with the human that drives that business. That single addition to your marketing not only elevates your business brand but also your personal brand as an expert.

If you want to sell more products, grow your business and open up new opportunities for success, start sharing your expertise, ideas and insights online as an individual, using your real name. The numbers have proven that this is a winning marketing strategy.

According to recent data from the Edelman Trust Barometer,

• Leads developed through personal social media activities convert 7x more frequently than other leads

• When brand messages are shared by an individual on social media, they get 561% more reach than the same message shared by the brand's social media channel

• Brand messages are reshared 24% more when shared by an individual rather than the brand name

• Content shared by an individual gets 8% more engagement than content shared by a brand

In other words, real people, with real lives are the X-factor that delivers “trusted influence”.

Why You Should Start Publishing Online ASAP

Sharing your expertise establishes authority.

When you share your ideas online, you stake claim to your territory and establish yourself as an authority in that space. Your name becomes synonymous with solving a specific problem and that elevates your personal as well as your business brand. People feel confident when they buy from credible, knowledgeable sources. They are more likely to trust you, buy other products from you, and become loyal customers.

People buy from people.

Humans are attracted to the story behind other humans. That craving for connection is built into our DNA. This means that selling is not limited to just your product. It is the journey and the background of the person selling the product. Your ideas, your process, your philosophy, etc. is all part of the package and the best way to articulate it is to share that content as part of your marketing strategy. Human beings want to know where things came from, how they were made, and who made them. The stories you tell about the work you do have a huge effect on how people feel and it also has a huge impact on how they value the product of that work.

Publishing is a form of networking.

By generously sharing your ideas and your knowledge, you will attract an audience that you can then leverage when you need it. It becomes your network, your pool of leads, a source of feedback and encouragement, and you may even make friends. This network is also a source of great opportunities including collaborations, joint ventures, co-hosting events, etc.

Get clients you love.

When speaking, writing, or sharing video content, you attract the people that you naturally like to be around. When you share what you love, the people who love the same things will find you. You get to create raving fans at every interaction and those fans become amazing clients that energize you and make your work fulfilling.

Get paid to speak.

Instead of waiting to be invited to speak at the next event, your online publications will attract those opportunities. Day and night, your content is connecting to a world of people and opportunities. New projects, mentors, speaking opportunities, investment opportunities, media requests, podcast appearances, and invitations to special events. It all begins with sharing your expertise online.

People will Google you anyway, you might as well be the one to tell your story.

In 2022, 90% of the buying decision begins online. That means that before people decide to work with you or buy from you, their first inclination is to Google you. If you want people to know about what you do and the things you care about, you want to be the one telling that story rather than allowing them to infer from other sources. When you create content, people can access your knowledge ahead of time and will already know what your philosophy is when they book a consultation.

It’s the springboard to becoming a published author

Publishing your ideas, opinions, and insights in a blog format allows you to gather feedback on what topics your audience is interested in reading. It also allows you to gauge how deep or wide you want to explore said topics. Once you have a collection of articles, you can package them into a book, a course, or other publication. And the best part is that you will already have a pool of buyers before you sign a book deal. Even if you don’t aspire to be an author, testing your ideas with a public audience is crucial to sharpen your skill and connect more ideas to create insights.

You exude credibility

People who write about their expertise are more likely to have clarity and confidence when asked to speak at an impromptu event. They are more likely to have a great elevator pitch and words of wisdom to share at networking or industry mixers. Writing sharpens your thoughts and allows you to communicate with ease and project credibility and authority.

If it’s not online, it doesn’t exist

Times have changed and the internet is king. If you have a wealth of expertise and ideas that could solve problems or help people, it needs to be online otherwise it doesn’t count. The more you write, the more you solidify your ideas and begin to connect ideas and form new ones. The more you write, the more you discover and the more you share and create opportunities for yourself and your business.

Start Here

Now that I’ve told you how important it is to share your expertise online, where will you begin? The simplest and most accessible way is with a blog. Each blog article has the potential to be repurposed into multiple formats including video, a webinar series, an expert talk, or short-form content for social media.

I know what you’re thinking… “I don’t know how to blog, where do I start?”

Don’t overthink it. Here are 3 ideas to get you going:

1. Write about the thing you can’t stop talking about.  It fascinates you, it’s fun or it’s important enough that you want more people to know about it.

2. Write about an idea that you have unique evidence or experience with. You have an original perspective or one that’s contrary to popular belief

3. Write about the thing that aggravates you. Rant about it in an article and invite others to join the discussion

Once you have some thoughts in mind, here are some general rules of writing that will transform your piece from good to great.

Plan your writing.

Define your main idea or key takeaway for every piece. Once you know your main idea, you will use it as a filter to make writing decisions. Leave out any material that does not help you defend it, there will be plenty of opportunities to write more articles. If you add too much text that does not revolve around the key idea, your piece will become muddled and confusing.

Do not write to project an identity.

Write naturally. You have many different writing voices but you have to choose one. It will take you many times to find your voice. Write a paragraph then ask yourself, does this voice feel like me or somebody I wish I was?

Use simple language.

Being clear and concise will help you reach more people and be understood the first time. Most people read at an 8th-grade level. Do not dress up the vocabulary and make sure you take your time to remove any jargon, acronyms, insider language, or clever quotes. Clear trumps clever any day of the week. Brene Brown says “Clear is kind.” Be kind

If you would like an impartial friend to give you feedback on your writing, send it to me. Angie at AngieMaina dot com. You are well on your way to creating an opportunity goldmine for yourself as an expert and as a business. I am rooting for you and excited to see how far you’ll go!