In our recent podcast episode we explored How to Choose Your Best Online Channel. Most of the focus was on the ins and outs of the different online platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Podcasts. And, nested within this conversation were some core principles.

Part of this was, three questions to help you choose your online channels. This is the first in a three part series to explore these three questions:

1. What positions you well?
2. What are you good at?
3. What do your clients want?

What positions you well?

A while back I was headhunted by an organization that wanted me to write content for their business. This was a bit of a shock to me. Even though I had written several books, published lots of ebooks at Book Rapper and published hundreds of blog posts, when I did an analysis of my strengths my writing came in at #8 on my top ten list. Essentially, I didn’t see myself as a writer and I most certainly didn’t want to spend all my time writing.

However, this was clear feedback on how I had been positioning myself. Effectively I was seen as a writer even though this wasn’t my intention. I realized this occurred because I mostly communicated with people through my writing and naturally as a result this is how they saw me. This meant my other skills were put into the background.

When you choose the right channels for you consider theses two steps:

1. Identify what you want to be known for
2. Devise ways to showcase this

The Obvious and Easy

The big challenge here is to ensure the best way to showcase your expertise. This might be easy if you are a:

• Writer – then write
• Interviewer – then interview people for your podcast
• Speaker – then share yourself speaking in videos on stage and in front of audiences
• Graphic Designer – show examples of your work on your blog or through visuals you post on Pinterest and Instagram
• Networker – run a private group on Facebook or LinkedIn
• Trainer – teach us how to do something on YouTube
• Relationship Builder – meet people and engage on Twitter
• Comedian – make us laugh in your tweets, video or audio

In these examples there is generally a neat fit between what you do and the way to present it.

[Tweet “Choose your online channels to showcase your expertise #businessexpert”]

The Obscure and Abstract

However, if you’re a business expert, this approach may not get to the heart of what you do brilliantly. For instance, when I reviewed my top skills I identified my #1 as my ability to customize ideas for people. Essentially, I would sort through the knowledge in my head, figure out exactly what the person sitting in front of me needed and then design a personalized solution for them. So how do I showcase this? Here are a couple of thoughts that may inspire some clues for you in your unique situation:

1. Video a live interaction with a client showing how you do this
2. Document the steps in the process that you take and show these as a flow chart or infographic
3. Create a case study that shows the starting position, the process and the end result
4. Interview the client about their experience of solving their problem
5. Keep it all mysterious and just share the results you achieved

Reverse Engineering

One of the ways that I have done this for myself is through Book Rapper. When I first started summarizing books I just did what I thought would work for me. What I didn’t know was that I had a unique way of thinking and creating the RAPs through my design of the visuals. It was only by doing this and sharing it with others that I realized that this was a process and a capability that few other people had. And, therefore if I describe how I create a Book Rapper issue then I’m also describing how I produce my unique value for my clients. Whilst I didn’t intend to create this result, when I reverse engineered it, I found my process.

How to Use This in Your Business

Here are a couple of tips to help you apply this to your situation in choosing your best online channel:

1. Do you neatly fit into one of the ‘obvious and easy’ categories or the ‘obscure and abstract’?
2. If it’s ‘obvious and easy’ then pick that channel and create some goals, a schedule of content and an action plan to deliver.
3. If it’s ‘obscure and abstract’ review some of the client work you’ve already completed successfully. Make an outline of the steps you took and reverse engineer your process.
4. If step 3 doesn’t work for you then you’ll need to test what works. From our five suggestions pick one or create your own. Then build a simple outline and ask for feedback from your clients or colleagues. Ask them: Is this a good way to showcase what I do really well?

COMMENT: What’s your unique position and how do you demonstrate this in your marketing material or your online channels?

Next: Part 2 in this series: What are you good at?