Authority Marketing and Life-long Education [Episode 664]

Adam Witty, Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Advantage Media Group|ForbesBooks and Bridget Gleason, VP of Sales for Logz.io and my regular partner, join me on this episode.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

First guest: Adam Witty

• • Adam started in sales and became an entrepreneur by creating Advantage|Forbes Books 12 years ago. The mission was to help business leaders create and publish a book to use as a marketing tool to grow their business.
  • If you write a book on the topic of what you do, people will immediately see you as the expert on that topic. The next step is to learn to make money with the book.
  • Advantage|Forbes Books centers around being a business growth company. Their other businesses are The Authority Institute, News & Experts, The Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs, and The No BS Inner Circle.
  • If you want to get to the top more quickly, then waiting your turn is too slow. Authority can be manufactured. You have to know your topic; then position yourself as an authority on it. Leverage authority to grow your business.
  • Authority marketing today beats corporate brand marketing. People do business with people, not with corporations. No one else will toot your horn. Be the advocate for your business.
  • The Seven Pillars of Authority Marketing are Content Marketing, Branding, PR & Media, Speaking, Lead Generation, Referral Marketing, and Events.
  • To grow your business, (1), you need more customers and, (2), you need existing customers to do more with you. Offer them more products and services that they value and turn your business into a growth machine.
  • When you have authority status, the quantity and quality of leads you generate and referrals you get will be higher. The other five pillars are Content Marketing — content in any medium you produce of value to your customer.
  • PR & Media — free publicity. The media cares about bringing stories of interest to their readers or viewers. Create a story. People buy on perception and emotion. Build the perception of your subject matter authority.
  • Speaking — a superior way to build a business, especially if you love to speak on stage and credibly deliver great content to the right audience. After you speak, there is a line of people who want to talk to you.
  • Branding and Omnipresence — professional, great quality content seen everywhere. Retarget your content with ads that follow it to various pages.
  • Events — dynamic in-person or virtual places where people come together to see, hear and learn from you. You have authority if you are a category of one.

Second Guest: Bridget Gleason

• Andy and his wife have been doing the Whole30® Eating Plan. Andy describes their progress. It has transformed how he thinks about eating. He feels great and is healthy.
• Andy is more alert during the day. He is getting good sleep. He recommends listeners to try it to change their relationship with food.
• Bridget has been following the 16/8 plan, where all food is consumed within an 8-hour period.
• Andy’s son has started the Whole30® program to get back into shape.
• In life or in sales, if you are not happy with the status quo, what steps do you take to improve it? Always strive to be excellent. Always apply curiosity toward finding ways to improve.
• Andy recommends Who We Are and How We Got Here, by David Reich for a study of anthropology, and The Anticipatory Organization, for corporate learning.