We often depend heavily on authoritative advice on what to think, do, or buy. We have little time to do this for ourselves, so we lean on know-it-all experts, or "mavens," to direct our scarce attention. This article offers a three-stage process for building a maven reputation in your field.



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Stage 1: Identify a Role You Can Play as a Maven in Your Domain

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Malcolm Gladwell helped popularize "mavens" in his blockbuster study of social trend setting, "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference."

Gladwell posits that a maven is someone who gathers extensive information on a subject, and knows exactly to whom to deliver it. Because mavens are continually seeking knowledge and love passing it along to others, they contribute much of the fuel behind the tipping point formula, in which ideas, products, messages, and behaviors ultimately explode into "word-of-mouth epidemics."

What kind of positioning would you like to have? Think about how the "experts" you hear, watch, or read about today package their messages. Each may have a distinct "persona," or character profile, that makes him or her stand out. A few of the many "maven personas" you could adopt are:

* Researcher - who filters, assembles, and delivers cutting-edge information

* Contrarian - whose unusual or controversial convictions intrigue audiences

* Intellectual - whose education, knowledge, and experience create authority

* Futurist - who predicts emerging trends that can shape people's decisions

* Synthesizer - who collects and integrates information from many sources

* Cross-pollinator - who sees interconnections among ideas in diverse fields

* Common person - who's "just like us" and has solved our burning problem

* Advocate - who fights for an audience's interests and keeps them informed

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Stage 2: Identify One or More Potential "Audience Personas"

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In this stage, you focus on the audiences with whom you are trying to connect. To begin, brainstorm the types of general audiences you already serve, or might want to serve. The more narrowly you can define your domain, the better.

Many people would stop there, without drilling deeper. Within each domain, however, lies a range of specialized sub-audiences who could be drawn to specific aspects of what you have to offer. They comprise distinct, and possibly separate, slants or perspectives that your offerings and marketing outreach eventually might address.

Whether or not you already have an audience base, start by identifying one or more fictitious characters who represent your specific audience, and who will become your "audience personas." These personas portray typical consumers of your information, product, service, Web site, or whatever you will be developing. You might identify three to five or more personas to explore in depth.

Make your personas as realistic as you can by giving them names, genders, ages, professional or personal roles, hobbies, educational backgrounds, friends and families, and major challenges.

Identifying personas can be especially valuable when no specific client or customer exists, such as when developing something for a nameless, faceless mass market. It can also, however, work extremely well when working with a client, to help pinpoint specific kinds of concerns and options that would not have been readily apparent.

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Stage 3: Create Your Offerings and Promotional Materials

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To establish a strong connection between the "maven" and "audience" personas you've identified, consider the following:

1. Choose a "maven" voice or perspective, particularly for information-based products (for example, researcher, expert, advocate, contrarian, futurist, synthesizer). This is the role you're adopting for yourself as the idea-person in your market. Select this approach based on what you feel most comfortable with and how well it would sustain the attention and interest of your audience.

2. Select a structure for organizing your ideas, such as problem/solution, chronological, modular, numerical, or compare/contrast frames of reference.

3. Develop an outline, proposal, or specification, and fine-tune as needed.

4. Create and polish a series of drafts of the content, proof, or prototype. For information products, if you can imagine having an informal conversation across a kitchen table with one of your audience personas, you can explain even complex ideas in a clear and engaging way.

5. Then ask a group of trusted colleagues to review or beta test your material, and also help you derive a snappy, memorable title.

Now you're ready to start promoting!

In conclusion, whether you seek customers, clients, subscribers, partners, affiliates, or investors, strategically building your expert status by connecting your "maven" and "audience" personas will help tip your audiences in your direction, and set you apart as the undisputed champion of your cause.