OK folks. Here is the next part of establishing yourself as a leader in your niche and that is to align yourself with the best people.
Even though my slant on this is affiliate marketing, the information here applies to any online business model (or any other business model for that matter).
When you’re a true leader, you’re never running solo the entire time you spend growing an online business. The top marketers understand that you work individually, but you stay connected with a team of like-minded leaders on the ‘net.
Don’t be afraid of your competitors – embrace them. Check them out, follow them, buy their products if appropriate. If you like what you see, find a way to use their experience to mutual advantage.
They can be guest bloggers or invite you to guest blog on their site, they can co-create products with you, and they can cross-promote you whenever you sign up as an affiliate to promote one of their products.
Don’t just look to people who are bigger in status than you are, either. You want to keep an eye out for rising stars in your niche and help make them well-known, too.
It’s not just competitors who you should align yourself with, either. It’s anyone whose products or services are related to your own niche in some way. There are often a surprisingly large number of related niches.
Let me give you an example.
Suppose you run a diet blog that teaches people how to embrace a healthy lifestyle through nutrition. You want people to adopt life long eating habits that improve their lives.
You can certainly promote other leaders in the diet niche – like someone specializing in juicing, for example – but you also want to connect with someone whose information is relevant, but not in the exact same niche.
An exercise and fitness leader would be a good example of this. People learning about good nutrition often want the whole body approach, which means moving your body and getting fit.
You also might want to align with:
* A parenting leader so you can help their audience learn about good nutrition for growing kids.
* An aging leader so you can teach good nutrition for senior citizens.
* A job success leader so you can offer information about staying alert and energetic during a long workday.
There are endless possibilities for someone if you think about the target audience who needs what you teach and then consider who else they might be learning from. Here are some more examples:
* A smoking cessation leader so you can help smokers quit their bad habit without gaining a lot of weight.
* An Amazon affiliate who runs a site about desserts so you can provide information on healthier dessert options.
* A skincare leader so you can teach good nutrition that helps your skin maintain its youth and appeal.
Take some time to make a list and then make it a point to reach out to those other leaders and form a bond with them so that you can help each other out as you both grow your online business.
I’m working on this part now myself and have some interesting items that I am investigating from established ‘authorities’ in my niche. Some have been a bit disappointing but others look promising both for my own use and hopefully will be helpful to you is your online efforts. I will post about my findings later.
In the meantime, I still have a bit more information for you about how to become a leader.
Til next time!
Barb
