Through research, you know your market exists. Not only does your market exist, the people in your market are hungry for your specific knowledge.



So HOW do you deliver your knowledge and help your customers trust you as an expert? Well, you can establish your positioning by doing a variety of things. Here are three ways to do just that.

First, declare yourself an expert. This is a critical step. If you don't see yourself as an expert, nobody else will either. So don't wait for anyone to tell you you're an expert. Or you will be waiting for the rest of your life.

Come up with a title for yourself. Declare it with confidence. Sign it to all your emails and letters. Add it to your voicemail. Once you start believing you are an expert, others will believe it, too.

In my case, I'm the one who started referring to myself as "The Email Marketing Authority." I perceived myself that way first, and now that's how I'm perceived in the Internet marketing arena.

Next, write and submit articles. Articles are a fabulous way to make yourself known within your given niche while building your list absolutely free. But let me be clear. These are not articles you have to get published the traditional way in print magazines.

You don't have to pitch an idea to editor after editor and hope one of them will want to publish your article. You can do it that way, but if you want to build your list, focus on the online publishers of the thousands of ezines on the Internet.

Articles for ezines only have to be 400-700 words. (Hint: you're reading one of these articles now!) So it's like writing an email to a friend about your area of expertise. When you write in a conversational style the way you write emails to friends, you come across as personable and that's very desirable.

If you aren't sure how to get started, just pick a subject and answer the following questions: who, what, when, where and how? If you answer those questions, you'll end up with an article in a short period of time.

Then all you have to do is submit them to the different article directories on the Internet. And by including a resource box at the end of each article (see mine below) with a link back to your site, you easily create free traffic for yourself.

Last, write eBooks and/or books. An article in CEO magazine stated that the Top Ten gurus in information technology ALL had written at least one published book. In other words, writing a book is vital to attaining expert status.

The moment you become a published author, people automatically see you as an authority figure. You can start by publishing your own ebook. That in itself is impressive and boosts your perceived level of expertise instantaneously.

But what if you were to write a book that becomes a number one bestseller? How much more authority are people going to attach to you? The GREAT news is that you can quickly and easily create your own book AND turn it into a bestseller.

Whether you're writing a book or ebook, think of it as a big "brochure" intended to drive traffic to your site. That means you need to make sure links back to your site are included in your book.

To encourage people to visit your site, offer them a free report or interview with another expert. Such a bribe is perfectly ethical and a proven way to increase traffic.