Want people to pay more attention to you? Get attention with your actions or views. Dare to be a bit controversial – that alone attracts lots of attention, just be careful that you don’t overstep your boundaries, sound offensive, or hurt any feelings in the process.

Really, Authority just boils down to getting involved in the market you’re in and getting your name ‘out there’ so that people will recognize it. The more often you’re seen and heard, the more likely you are to be remembered and referenced. It’s just like any kind of marketing or branding. It’s all the same thing; repetition, frequency, and how often and how much other people see and hear of you (and your products or services) will determine how easily they remember you and how much of an impression you make on them.

Another point I was going to mention before about stating your opinions and views with confidence is: don’t be inflexible. It’s okay to make a mistake, you can still be strong in your convictions and know where you’re going and know what you stand for, but if it turns out your views were wrong, you need to have the strength of character to say, “Oh, you know what, new information helps me to see this in a different way and I feel differently about it now than I did before.” In other words, always be flexible enough to change your mind when new information comes to the forefront.

There’s nothing wrong with being wrong once in awhile and having the strength of character to admit it. You know it’s not going to change your core values, so you can change an opinion about something based on new information and suddenly seeing things from a completely different perspective. I think being open to other people’s ideas and other people’s input establishes you as a kind of person who has enough self-confidence that they don’t have to stick to something when it’s clearly wrong.

This shows others that you not only have self-confidence, but it also endears them to you all the more because they feel like, “Oh, wow! This person who’s truly an authority in their field actually values my opinion, and has actually listened to me,” and they’ll be a fan of yours for life.

I’m sure that you know by now the importance of expressing your opinions while also listening to other people’s feedback, engaging with them, and demonstrating that you value their feedback and input. In return, this makes you someone worth respect and admiration. Keep working on becoming well known in your niche or field to have others recognize you as the True Authority Figure that you are.

===========
By Joe Jablonski
===========
This article first appeared in the February 2009 issue of the MarketingDotCom newsletter. You can get a free copy of the latest issue for the price of shipping at http://the7figuresecrets.com

Making Money Online

Technorati Tags: Authority, Maintaining, More, tips