How to Build an Expert Author Platform That Can’t be Missed

These days everyone searches for everything—even experts—on the internet. That means if the media needs a source, an organization needs a speaker, a publisher needs a writer, or a potential customer or client needs to purchase a product or service, they turn to Google, Yahoo, Bing or some other search engine to find the right person for the job. How do they find that person? They put search terms—key words and key word phrases—into the search engine and hit “search.” And, lo and behold, up come pages and pages of search engine results (SERPs). That’s why everyone wants to earn page #1 Google ranking, for instance. You want to come up first when someone searches for terms relevant to what you do.

Relevancy, however, is important, as is searchability or findability. You not only want to show up on that first page, you want your site to be relevant to those search terms or phrases so the searcher actually clicks on your site and not someone else’s.

Why is all of this important to you, an aspiring nonfiction author or published nonfiction author? Because you want to be perceived as an expert in your subject area. If you are findable on the internet under your search terms—and findable on page #1 of most search engines, you will be perceived as the expert in your subject area. This is especially true if you are a business owner writing a book to foster your business’s growth.

How do you become more findable and move yourself from page, say, #20 to page #1? Here are some activities that will help that happen:

1. Blog in a focused manner on a particular topic—and do this regularly and often. The more content you provide online, the faster you will rise on the SERPs. A blog is, by far, the best way to do this.
2. Be active on social networking sites – the more the better. Each bio you provide on a social networking site acts as a link, and sometimes your status updates will even show up on the SERPs.
3. Post articles to ezine article directories. These provide links back to your site, which increase your SERP ranking, and will be picked up by other sites, also increasing you ranking. Consider doing more than just posting at Ezinearticle.com, the largest directory, and using a distribution service, like submityourarticle.com. http://www.submityourarticle.com/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=1750
4. Write press releases and post them. These also provide links back to your site, helping raise you up in the SERPs, but they also tend to simply rank well with the search engines. You can try PRweb.com, but I highly recommend becoming a member at ExpertClick.com. Use my affiliate link and get $100 off (www.ExpertClick.com/discount/Nina_Amir). Instead of paying a ton for one release, send a release almost every day of the year for the price of your membership and it goes out to PRNewswire.com where the journalists are sure to see it.
5. Write a book. While a book will also be a link on the SERPs, it is the best business card you will ever have. A published book raises you to author expert status immediately. And every review, guest blog post, article you write, etc, will populate the SERPs, letting everyone know you are, indeed, the expert in your field.
6. Go out and speak on your topic. And then make sure you publicize where you are speaking using all the above resources. The organizations for which you speak will do the same. That’s more links back to you, which means you will continue rising up in the SERPs.

Before you know it, you’ll be on page #1, and maybe you’ll even be #1 on page #1. Whoo hoo. Remember, though. It’s really not about the ranking, and there are lots of sites where you can check your ranking; even if you are #1 you probably aren’t according to those sites. It’s all about searchability, findabilty and relevance. Remember that. You want:

• Readers
• Clients
• Customers
• The Media
• Publishers
• Organizations

to find you. That’s why you go to the trouble of making it to page #1.

If you want to become an expert, join my colleagues, Rick Deutsch and Bill Belew, and me for a full day of expert platform building.

Expert Platform Building 101
Saturday May 19
The Ground Floor – Silicon Valley
2030 Duane Avenue Santa Clara, CA 95054

Intense All-Day, Nothing-Held-Back Workshop
Learn how to build an online (blogging) platform.
Learn how build an author’s platform.
Learn how to build a speaker’s platform.
All in one information-packed day.
Get all the details on Expert Platform Building 101 here.
Register today to get the great early bird pricing deals…