How to Build an Expert Level Reputation For Yourself Within Your Niche
A lot of experienced Internet Marketers will tell you that you should always try to be an expert within your niche. This is almost always followed up with some form of the "fake it til you make it" cliched advice. From here you get to decide what you should be doing.
Instead of telling people to fake it, they should figure out what you can do to help your self become an expert. You can learn how to position yourself as an expert as well, but eventually you are going to need to prove that you actually know what you are doing.
Before people can see you as an expert, they need to actually see you. The best way to start this process is to use social media to get a jump on things. Your niche is what will show you which one is the best to focus on. The social site you want for a more professional audience is LinkedIn. Facebook and Twitter are also important parts of any social media strategy. The only thing you should be interested in selling is your image or your brand.
So don't try to market any products just yet. You should be trying to network with and engage people as best you can. And merely doing that will expose them to you and make them remember who you are.
The most common situation with IM marketers is they are not an expert, so then you need to create the impression. Since most online marketers are terribly impatient, that's one reason most of them fail. You simply cannot approach this with the get rich fast mentality. But short cuts and gimmicks are not a realistic attitude and usually results in a poor marketing campaign. You must take your time and create a road map that will give you solid direction and goals to accomplish. After that, just do what you can do every day because that is how you develop a good work ethic.
You should not devote to much time worrying about sattelite direct considering it's actually not that valuable in the end. Instead concentrate on more important stuff.
A great way, if the idea doesn't freak you out, to really cement your image as an expert is to do some public speaking. What you should do is contact local colleges and universities and arrange to give a lecture. Obviously this is going to be free and you won't be compensated but that's okay. You have to make the topic appealing to some segment of the student body or local residents. Write up a press release and publish it and make sure that you talk to the media about it. Ask friends to record your talk both with audio and video equipment.
Google is putting lots of emphasis on the quality of user experience which provides plenty of incentive to become a niche expert if you aren't there already. It's a good investment for your business because, over time, people are going to see that you truly do have an expert level of knowledge.