Building Brand Authority Through Traditional Media!
- Writer for DDI on Medium
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 18 minutes ago
If we back up a little to discern the source of authority for a small service business owner, we'll quickly find that it doesn't come from being seen on The Morning Brew, being featured by Regus Trinidad and Tobago, or by LOOP and the like. But from having a command over navigating specific results for the people you serve through your work.
If you've been doing this unconsciously, as it relates to branding, you may either want to be seen as an authority or become one. But media isn't a doorway to achieving that, but rather amplifying it. If you're not in a position to do that, that's ok, too. You can work on getting there eventually by answering 3 foundational questions:
Who are you?
Who do you help?
How do you serve them?
YOU CAN'T AI YOUR WAY TO ANSWERING THOSE QUESTIONS
There's no ChatGPT prompt for expertise. Be first a partaker of your own fruits in order to confidently and successfully give it to others, and with time, an expert becomes the lens through which you're seen. But that clarity must first begin with you.
Once you have it, putting out content that projects authority and thought leadership follows naturally. And only then, working on the things that undermine it when you decide it's time to show up, at one of New York's biggest Trunk Shows, for example, makes sense.
This isn't the same as birthing solutions through ChatGPT to be seen as an expert
This isn't the same as sharing ideas through soundbites to garner attention
This isn't the same as selling workshops for high prices to create the illusion of value
This is about perspective and how you, bit by bit, create change over time with what you bring to the table, whether it's in an industry, country, or amongst a small group of the underserved. Here is a demonstration of this by Mickela Panday, political leader of the Patriotic Front.
You believe the clarity she has on the problem because you can feel the command she has over the talking points that matter, and this makes you trust in her solution. Amidst the stealing and AI-generated thoughts of her industry, her campaign feels like a breath of fresh air because of the groundwork she invested in upfront that is now paying off in the form of a micro-audience seeing her as the authority on "saving the country."
In other words, she brought the authority with her to her TV6 Morning Edition interview. She wasn't there to find it but to spread her message to a broader audience and, by extension, amplify what's already being said about her to earn votes for her party.
That's powerful and also inspiring. But achieving it takes commitment to the vision, and long-range planning, which, in my work, I see local small service business owners often lack the stamina for.
AUTHORITY PIGGYBACKING
Earning an opportunity (as Cru Nonpareil did with LOOP and The Express) to amplify your brand's reach will fast-track many things. Trust being one of them.
But cross-collaboration isn't about piggybacking on another brand to be seen as something you're not. That's witchcraft. And making it part of your marketing plan thereafter is just delusional. Cross-collaboration is about aligning values and vision, because you're already seen as an authority.
When Regus reached out to me to present in 2020, I was ready to give everyone the reason for the hope that lies inside me. I didn't need Regus to validate what I knew by experience in infancy. But mentioning it on my website surely strengthens that conversation.
Cross-collaboration is also about joining forces for a bigger cause. Authority isn't being vetted, but aligned when these things happen. Brands aren't expected to see eye-to-eye on everything, just where it matters to get more done.
This is important to understand if you don't want to be changed by the gatekeepers of the status quo.
