March 29, 2017
5
steps on how to be seen as the go-to expert for SMEs
- · According to the FSB (https://www.fsb.org.uk/media-centre/small-business-statistics) there are a record 5.5 million private sector businesses in 2016 and this figure is growing. Since 2015 the figure has grown by 2 million
- · In 2016, there were 1.3 million employing businesses and 4.2 million non-employing businesses. Therefore, the majority ie 76% of businesses did not employ anyone aside from the owner.
- · With owner led businesses, it is very common for them to wish to be seen as the leading experts in their industry as this will bring more visibility, credibility and more enquiries.
- · Female entrepreneur, Amanda Ruiz has created 5 steps for business owners to be seen as the go-to expert.
Are you an expert in your field?
Do you get annoyed at constantly seeing lots of
other ‘experts’ in your field dishing out their advice and you are shouting at
the television or radio or that magazine saying “That’s not right! I know the
right reply to that question!”
Well if that is you, is it time you stepped up and
put yourself out there?
Here are my 5 tips on how to be seen as the go-to
expert in your field:
- Start to write a list of the publications
(online and offline) and news outlets of where your ideal client ‘hangs
out’. If you are struggling to work this out,
you can ask up to 10 past and present clients which newspapers, magazines.
blogs etc they watch, read and listen to. You may find a common thread
there.
I asked this question in my Facebook group, quite a
few people read the local parish magazine!!! Going local is always a brilliant
place to start, and you could even ask if you could write a monthly column or a
6 part series for the local magazine.
The editor may be really pleased to have such an
esteemed expert in the village!
TV producers often start by looking at local news
stories when looking for experts so it does pay to be seen in the local
gazettes too.
- Once you have a good list of outlets where
your ideal client hangs out, my next piece of advice is to go to
the magazine aisles in the supermarket and photograph what you see. I
love doing this – I find it a mouthwatering experience. It is so
inspirational to pick up the target magazines and to leaf through them and
to imagine that one day soon you may feature in one.
So pick out your two ‘dream publications’ (and
obviously the ones most frequently mentioned by your clients that they read),
buy them and get to know them inside out. You may want to do this for a month
or two so that you can get used to the layout and the journalists writing the
pieces.
If it’s not magazines or printed matter but radio
or TV...do the same – tune in and listen for a good few weeks or months so you
get used to the format and you will be ‘visioning’ where you will fit in.
- Prepare your press kit or bio. I have just completed mine and you can check it out here.
The minute you have your bio prepared then you can go in and approach your
dream targets.
I recommend keeping your bio (or press kit) to one
page as people are so busy and may not click down to the next page, so try to
keep all the essential info short and sweet.
Ideas on what you should include in your bio if you
are positioning yourself as an expert:
- any awards you may have won
- a professional head and shoulders shot
- topics or key notes you talk on/ have expertise in
- affiliations
- testimonials
- you can even mention if you wish, your social
reach eg Twitter followers 20,000, Instagram: 35,000 etc. This will give
reassurance that you already have a great tribe with whom you could share
details about the forthcoming appearance – everyone wants more eyeballs
even the press for their readership / listening figures and this could
help out when pitching!
- So the next step when you have your bio all
ready for the sending, go back to those magazines / radio shows
and refresh your memory about why you should appear there and in
which section. Once you are fully prepared and have been checking out the
dream journalist contact for a few weeks (this involves liking or sharing
their instafeed/tweets etc) do your approach.
- Doing the "JournoApproach": see on
Twitter what the journalist is writing about that week and compliment their
work (be sure to check that when you do pitch, they are not on holiday as
this will be a wasted opportunity) and say: Expert available for comment
on travel / small business / (whatever your expertise is) See my press kit
here: (add your link).
Good luck and go for it!
-ENDS-
About Amanda Ruiz
Amanda Ruiz Press Kit available here
·
Female
entrepreneur, mentor, marketing and PR trainer
·
Started first
business in 2008. This was an online retail outlet selling luxury knitwear
produced in Peru, designed in the UK
·
Empowers business
owners to take control of their own self-promotion and PR so they can have the
confidence to pitch to the press
·
Amanda holds
monthly ‘Pitch Clinics’ where leading journalists are pitched to by
entrepreneurs keen to get their approach, angle and delivery right
Contact:
email: hello@amndaruiz.co.uk
website: www.amandaruiz.co.uk
Tel: (+44)7711 419595