- How to create an authority engine as a founder.
So authority engine's my word.
It's kind of like how to think about getting
your message out there, creating content
so that people think of you kind of like an authority
and maybe an expert or a thought leader,
whatever words you want to use.
But as a founder, as a CEO of a company, how do you do that?
Because if you do it right, it's pretty cool.
You'll get access to people.
When you Tweet at somebody or you email somebody cold,
they'll actually respond because they can see online
that you're a real person that does real things,
or you'll get invites to invite-only events.
You'll get certain things that most people
don't even know exist.
You'll get invited.
The other thing you'll get is recognition
for what you're doing because if you're out there
and you're talking, people will recognize you for that.
That's how people get press.
Press begets press.
Talking and speaking begets speaking.
I'm not gonna use this video,
but I just want to share with you guys
sometimes when you're talking and you can't find the words,
you just go with it 'cause people see my videos and they go,
"Oh, Dan, you're so good on video."
No, I'm not.
This is not the first retake I've done in the session.
I've done four videos so far, and pretty much,
every other one, I've got an average
of 2.3 restarts so far, so I'm adding to the average,
but I wanted to keep rolling so that you understand
that it's not as easy as you think 'cause we're talking
about the authority engine, aren't we?
Aren't we talking about getting your message out there
to people, and if you're worried that doing it wrong
will mean you can't do it, or if you're scared to do it,
you can't start over, you can.
So actually, I'm just gonna keep rolling with this video.
So check this out.
You know, the challenge that most people have
is that they don't feel like what they have to say
is worthwhile, which is crazy because everybody's been
in the position where you were before you started.
If you're an entrepreneur and you're two years in,
somebody's still an employee
trying to start their first business.
So you have something to share.
Or they're worried that it's gonna take too much time.
Like, how do I find the time to create
the content you're about to suggest we do?
Or if I have investors, are they gonna worry
I'm wasting my time on the wrong things?
These are all possibilities, but they're not reality.
You know, when I moved to San Francisco in 2008,
I was trying to understand how the whole landscape worked,
and I started thinking about people that I was aware of,
right, that they were notable.
And what I noticed, the common thread
amongst all these people is they had a blog.
And prior to that, I never wrote.
I mean, I wrote, replied to emails,
but I had never written a thing, an article,
an essay, a statement of my beliefs
on the Internet for other people to judge.
But I realized that if I really wanted
to kind of get out there and be known
and really just kind of accelerate my career,
I'd have to learn how to share my ideas,
and I just started blogging.
And that began the whole path,
and since then, you know, I've personally built
a pretty large personal brand, and that's what I call,
again, the authority engine.
I've also helped create blogs with 350,000 unique visitors
like Flowtown, my two companies ago.
We had a huge blog in the marketing industry,
and then, with Clarity, my previous company,
I actually used speaking as a growth engine.
And so, there's a bunch of different ways to do that.
So what I want to share with you guys is
the three strategies to do that.
First is, really, positioning.
How do you think about the world?
Right?
What can you teach?
That's the positioning is wherever you are
as a founder and whatever industry you're in,
is what can you teach about that industry?
Also, what do you stand for?
Most people don't realize they need
to stand for something because if not,
there's nothing to say.
Right?
And people want to listen and hear
from people that stand for something.
So the first thing you gotta figure out is,
essentially, how to position yourself as an authority.
So that's number one.
Two is packaging.
Okay?
Which channel are you gonna use
to package your message and get it out there?
When I started, it was blogging.
Then, social media with Twitter,
and now, it's YouTube videos.
And then, speaking with Clarity, so really,
you can evolve over time, but I want
to suggest that you pick one.
Package your message into that channel,
and really learn about it, study it, get good at it.
You know, if you're a really bad writer like I was,
and I still think I am, but just learn to write,
learn to do videos, learn to Tweet.
I mean, these are all kind of arts and skills
that you can learn over time, and what's amazing
is that you'll be able to build an audience, right,
that'll give you access, that'll help you
find new customers, that'll make it so much easier
for you to hire great people.
So that's a second one is packaging.
And the third is promotion.
Right?
How are you gonna get your message out there?
Who's gonna help carry that message out there
because you can go on there, and I've had people
that have written a blog post every day for 365 days,
and at the end of it, they had 13 readers.
Right?
Their mother, their cousins, and their best friends.
So you gotta ask yourself, "What's my promotional strategy
"to build my authority engine?"
And for me, that's really thinking about partners.
It's about other experts in the industry,
other thought leaders.
It's about media and press and maybe contributing articles,
but this is part of a bigger conversation
that I usually sit down and work with entrepreneurs
to figure out because it's something
that I've just naturally been able to understand,
and it's what I share.
I'm gonna leave the link below this video
that you can learn more about creating
your own authority engine, but that
is the third one is promotion.
How do you get your message out there?
You know, I wanna ask if you have any questions
around your topic, if you're trying to figure out
what should I talk about, leave your comment below.
Let me know what topic you're thinking about,
what experience you have,
and I'll answer my thoughts on that.
I wanna ask you if you know anybody
that needs to see this video, share it with them
and subscribe to my channel.
And as per usual, I want to challenge
you guys to live a bigger life and a bigger business,
and I'll see you next Monday.