One very important way to be able to grow your business and brand is to enhance and increase your credibility in the marketplace. Enhancing credibility enables you to strengthen your brand perception, not only for you personally as a leader, but also for the entire organization you lead.

In today’s business world, relationship is the key word. For any relationship, trust is not something that can be taken for granted. Especially in marketing, the more you can increase your trust level amongst employees, peers, your client base, the more business you are able to attract. Building a trustworthy relationship will be a key factor in building a positive impact on your growth in sales.

There are several ways to get started on building trust and credibility as a leader in your industry. One way is to be a thought leader. Whether you are selling a product or service, consultanting, or your service is labor intensive, you can display your expertise by sharing your wisdom in your field as a thought leader. Every industry requires improvements and innovation. When you step up to the plate to challenge the status quo and share your years of experience, people will start to notice and flock to you for advice and wisdom.

Here’s how to get started.

To be an effective thought leader, you must be able to commit to take time out of your busy schedule to educate the public on your topics of expertise. You can share your knowledge by writing blogs and white papers, putting together a short seminar on YouTube, Facebook Live, or Vimeo, or sharing tips on Twitter or LinkedIn. If you’re not a strong writer or if you lack the time, you can always look within your staff to create a strategy or look externally in the form of a freelance or ghost writer. A ghost writer can listen to your thoughts, take notes, and craft well-written articles for you to review and publish on a regular basis.

This is a highly effective, low cost way to share your knowledge, communicate your thoughts, and improve your trust with fellow peers and potential customers. Time and effort spent in communicating your expertise and knowledge will always be time well spent. It will challenge you to think creatively, improve your business, and increase your credibility in the marketplace. Eventually, people will seek you out to ask for your opinion or even to host seminars regarding specific topics. This will give you even more visibility and inspire others to advocate for you and your business.

And always remember…

Clarify your brand. Download 5 Steps to Successful Marketing