Sell with Authority: Own and Monetize Your Agency's Authority Position

"The research asked participants to rank what attributes made an influencer believable and trustworthy. The relatability of the influencer was nearly twice as important as the influencer’s popularity. In other words, when consumers could see themselves in an influencer, they were far more likely to follow and trust that influencer. It’s not about having millions of followers; it’s about being someone you can relate to and connect with."

"Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose when they say in their 2017 book, Killing Marketing, that the future of marketing is turning what has historically been a massive expense for businesses into something that can actually become a revenue stream. Imagine if your work generated enough money to cover your fees, and then some."

"Essential number three is that an authentic authority is not a one-trick pony. That means you can’t create content so narrow it only works on one channel. An expert doesn’t have just one book. Or just a podcast. You can’t place all of your bets on one horse (or pony, to stick with our theme)."

"One of the biggest takeaways from this year’s study is that consumers assign a high level of trust to people they believe are “just like me.” When you think about the influence that ratings, reviews, and influencers have with their audiences, you begin to see the power of that belief."

"The one attribute that ranked higher than the trust we have in “people like me” is the trust we have in highly educated experts. The only three groups of people we trust more than people like ourselves are company, industry, and academic experts."

"Why would a client hire us to do what we can’t do for ourselves? They’ll either hire someone else or take the job in-house. We can’t be generic, or we’re going to get lost in the noise."

"A narrow niche, a strong point of view, and being findable in multiple places are the hallmarks of an authority position."