Authoritative Voice

Bruce T. Dugan (2nd from left) speaking at Marketing Summit

To gain credibility in your industry it is important to be considered an expert in your field. There are many ways to achieve that. Here are a few.


You might wonder "How do I become an authoritative voice?"

Well, it is a process, and you can take many different steps depending on how high you want to go.

One of the first ways you can establish yourself is to begin writing insightful articles. Initially, write your own blog to work out thoughts and ideas.  Use those posts as examples when inquiring if other publications would be willing to publish articles you write for them.

For instance, I pitched content ideas to Entrepreneur Magazine, and they followed up by publishing my expanded articles titled How To Grow Your Business and  5 Tips for Cash Flow Funding.

Bruce Dugan - L

It never hurts to be successful in your field either -- after all, you have to both talk the talk but also walk the walk.

In 2012 I went to India looking to establish a new outsource startup. The story caught the eye of an editor at Small Business Enterprise so they featured me on the cover, and in a 2-page interview.

With the launch of the new business, early success gained us exposure for the company in many other magazines, which catapulted me to the '25 Most Valuable CEOs in India' and, the marketing director who assumed the role of Managing Director to be highlighted as one of the '30 Young Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2018'.

To establish yourself as an authoritative voice you have to do what you do well. Our digital agency gained many other accolades, from 2014 Startup of the Month, Top 5 Most Promising Social Media Companies, top 20 Most Valuable Consulting Companies.

As a marketing company, it didn't hurt my credibility to rank in the top 1% of all TripAdvisor reviewers, nor to be an author of articles on various sites, ranging from business to entertainment (sometimes under my alias). 

Once there is some credibility, others will invite you to share your knowledge, as I did on CEO Hangout after the cover story came out in Small Business Enterprise. Most of the articles I wrote for CEO Hangout was geared towards leadership, entrepreneurship, marketing, and operations.

In turn, as you gain the exposure your authoritative voice grows. So within a year of posting the articles listed above, I began getting invited to summits and conferences as a featured speaker, like the Marketing Summit sponsored by CEO Hangout.

Bruce speaks at the Marketing Summit 2015

Your knowledge and expertise can be highlighted in many ways: in articles, you write, articles you're featured in, guest speaking invitations, radio, and even TV, as our client Eddie Fahmy has been on many occasions. And, you can write books a Vinil Ramdev does. Or, if you don't have the time, you can hire others to take your ideas and convert them into a book for you.

While specifics of your craft -- like in my case logistics, marketing, and technology -- are important, you can also share knowledge on other tips, as I did in 3 Tips to Working Remotely.

As I have written many times, however, no matter what you set out to achieve, it all begins with Getting Stuff Done! Planning is important, but don't strategize yourself out of business by analyzing to the point you're standing still.  And remember, share what you know and ask what you don't.