295. Expert Interview: Be Bold, Awaken and Claim Your Authority

These days, there are many corporate refugees in the workplace. They have areas of expertise, but often are reluctant to see themselves as experts. It’s crucial to wake up to those strengths and be bold—and smart—about establishing your identity as a go-to authority. The first place to do that in 2016 is online, Hanes explains. “I always ask my clients the million-dollar question: when I type your name into a search engine, what am I going to find?”

“Attraction marketing is the key now. Nobody wants to be sold anymore,” Hanes explains. “If you can be that person who educates and advocates within a particular niche, you’ll win every time. You become a celebrity in your own circle of expertise. By taking care of the online basics—a profile and photo on LinkedIn.com, a social media presence, contributing articles and blog posts, appearing on podcasts—you begin to establish yourself as an authority.” One thing an authority often does is to write a book. Hanes and his team have created over 600 bestselling authors to date.