One of the most worn out books I own is Robert Bly’s How To Become A Recognized Authority In Your Field In 60 Days Or Less. The cover is falling off this little paperback book of wisdom. I have highlighted, bookmarked and notated many of the pages in it. And I keep learning from it.

But I am also spinning out my own ideas using Bly’s work as a starting point.

The genius of Robert Bly’s strategy is that you become successful by giving your knowledge and information away in the form of booklets, ebooks, articles, speeches, workshops, seminars, CDs, DVDs and by writing books.

He says, “Volumes have been written about selling and marketing, especially for entrepreneurs, small businesses and self-employed professionals. But there is one marketing strategy that, if you master it, eliminates the need to do any other type of selling or marketing ever: becoming a guru.”

A “guru,” as Bly uses the term, is not a negative at all. It is what he refers to as a person who has become a recognized authority in his or her field. In other words, rainmaking is marketing your professional practice or business by becoming a known expert.

Here are 11 steps I have come up with, fully given Bob Bly credit for sparking my own ideas, that you can use to become a recognized authority in your own field:

1. Start a blog on your topic. Write at least 2-3 paragraphs a day. Soon you will find that your ideas flow and you will probably be writing much more, but discipline yourself to write at least 2-3 paragraphs a day.

2. Don’t let any perceived technical ignorance keep you from creating a blog. If you can send someone an email, you can start a blog in about 10 minutes if you use blogger.com.

3. Don’t be embarrassed when the inevitable days come when you write nothing but junk. That’s not the point. Even your worst writing can be rewritten later after time has given you perspective on it. Your only goal at this stage is to be writing out your ideas about your field each day. It is a building process. Besides, at first no one will be reading your blog, so there is nothing to be embarrassed about.

4. For the time being, focus only on blogging every day for two months. Two or three paragraphs a day, every day. Then print out everything you have written. You will pleasantly surprise yourself that some of your material is very good. The rest may need revision and polishing, but it too will be useful.

5. Now take your accumulated writings and start writing articles using this material. Publish some of your articles online at some of the more than 400 article submission sites or article banks on the web. Just do a Google search for “article submission sites” and you will have more than enough places to submit your articles to.

6. Also write some larger articles for offline publications. Get a copy of the Writer’s Market, which is published by Writers Digest Books each year. Don’t attempt to send your articles to the larger publications (yet), for now target trade magazine
   Job Seekers: Make Sure That You Do A Good Job Of Contacting Recruiting Firms
   Often times we get jobseekers in the local market who submit their r?sum?s to our firm for specific positions, but they’ve never taken the time previous to the job listing to actually post their r?sum? with us. This causes us to ask ourselves why job seekers are not doing a better job of contacting companies like ours that specialize in sales and marketing recruiting.If you are looking for a new job or starting a new career search, make sure that you take the time to research all of the local recruiting firms that specialize in sales and marketing positions in your local market, and that you sys
   booklets, ebooks, articles, speeches, workshops, seminars, CDs, DVDs and by writing books.

   He says, “Volumes have been written about selling and marketing, especially for entrepreneurs, small businesses and self-employed professionals. But there is one marketing strategy that, if you master it, eliminates the need to do any other type of selling or marketing ever: becoming a guru.”

   A “guru,” as Bly uses the term, is not a negative at all. It is what he refers to as a person who has become a recognized authority in his or her field. In other words, rainmaking is marketing your professional practice or business by becoming a known expert.

   Here are 11 steps I have come up with, fully given Bob Bly credit for sparking my own ideas, that you can use to become a recognized authority in your own field:

   1. Start a blog on your topic. Write at least 2-3 paragraphs a day. Soon you will find that your ideas flow and you will probably be writing much more, but discipline yourself to write at least 2-3 paragraphs a day.

   2. Don’t let any perceived technical ignorance keep you from creating a blog. If you can send someone an email, you can start a blog in about 10 minutes if you use blogger.com.

   3. Don’t be embarrassed when the inevitable days come when you write nothing but junk. That’s not the point. Even your worst writing can be rewritten later after time has given you perspective on it. Your only goal at this stage is to be writing out your ideas about your field each day. It is a building process. Besides, at first no one will be reading your blog, so there is nothing to be embarrassed about.

   4. For the time being, focus only on blogging every day for two months. Two or three paragraphs a day, every day. Then print out everything you have written. You will pleasantly surprise yourself that some of your material is very good. The rest may need revision and polishing, but it too will be useful.

   5. Now take your accumulated writings and start writing articles using this material. Publish some of your articles online at some of the more than 400 article submission sites or article banks on the web. Just do a Google search for “article submission sites” and you will have more than enough places to submit your articles to.

   6. Also write some larger articles for offline publications. Get a copy of the Writer’s Market, which is published by Writers Digest Books each year. Don’t attempt to send your articles to the larger publications (yet), for now target trade magazin
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      In your face marketing and selling, visual communication dynamics, overwhelmingly influence our thinking and behavior. We are dynamically visual beings by nature. The eye is the most powerful information conduit to the brain -- continually feeding us images that create our perception of the world and shapes how we think, behave and respond.We think and dream in picture and images and the words we hear are processed and transformed into mental pictures. Images and sounds dominate human communication and as consumers we have come to expect media rich, entertaining dynamic visuals in advertising
      known expert.

      Here are 11 steps I have come up with, fully given Bob Bly credit for sparking my own ideas, that you can use to become a recognized authority in your own field:

      1. Start a blog on your topic. Write at least 2-3 paragraphs a day. Soon you will find that your ideas flow and you will probably be writing much more, but discipline yourself to write at least 2-3 paragraphs a day.

      2. Don’t let any perceived technical ignorance keep you from creating a blog. If you can send someone an email, you can start a blog in about 10 minutes if you use blogger.com.

      3. Don’t be embarrassed when the inevitable days come when you write nothing but junk. That’s not the point. Even your worst writing can be rewritten later after time has given you perspective on it. Your only goal at this stage is to be writing out your ideas about your field each day. It is a building process. Besides, at first no one will be reading your blog, so there is nothing to be embarrassed about.

      4. For the time being, focus only on blogging every day for two months. Two or three paragraphs a day, every day. Then print out everything you have written. You will pleasantly surprise yourself that some of your material is very good. The rest may need revision and polishing, but it too will be useful.

      5. Now take your accumulated writings and start writing articles using this material. Publish some of your articles online at some of the more than 400 article submission sites or article banks on the web. Just do a Google search for “article submission sites” and you will have more than enough places to submit your articles to.

      6. Also write some larger articles for offline publications. Get a copy of the Writer’s Market, which is published by Writers Digest Books each year. Don’t attempt to send your articles to the larger publications (yet), for now target trade magazin
         Low-Cost Marketing With Postcards
         Here's a simple way you can generate lots of sales leads ...or traffic to your web site. Use postcards. They're highly effective and very low-cost. Plus, postcards provide the following 6 unique advantages over most other types of advertising.1. Maximum Exposure for Your Sales MessagePostcards are delivered "ready to read". Even people who usually ignore other advertising will find it hard to avoid looking at your message when it's on a postcard ...especially if you keep it brief.With other types of advertising you often lose prospects who would have been interested in your o
         ble days come when you write nothing but junk. That’s not the point. Even your worst writing can be rewritten later after time has given you perspective on it. Your only goal at this stage is to be writing out your ideas about your field each day. It is a building process. Besides, at first no one will be reading your blog, so there is nothing to be embarrassed about.

      7. For the time being, focus only on blogging every day for two months. Two or three paragraphs a day, every day. Then print out everything you have written. You will pleasantly surprise yourself that some of your material is very good. The rest may need revision and polishing, but it too will be useful.

      8. Now take your accumulated writings and start writing articles using this material. Publish some of your articles online at some of the more than 400 article submission sites or article banks on the web. Just do a Google search for “article submission sites” and you will have more than enough places to submit your articles to.

      9. Also write some larger articles for offline publications. Get a copy of the Writer’s Market, which is published by Writers Digest Books each year. Don’t attempt to send your articles to the larger publications (yet), for now target trade magazin
         10 Important Things To Tell Your Prospects
         1. Tell your prospects that you offer free delivery. This may cost a little money, but, you will gain the extra customers to make up for it.2. Tell your prospects that you offer a lower price. If you can't afford to offer a lower price you could always hold the occasional discount sale.3. Tell your prospects that your product achieves results faster. People are becoming more and more impatient and want results fast.4. Tell your prospects you've been in business for a longer period of time. People think if you've been in business longer you have more credibility.5. Tel
         sion and polishing, but it too will be useful.

      10. Now take your accumulated writings and start writing articles using this material. Publish some of your articles online at some of the more than 400 article submission sites or article banks on the web. Just do a Google search for “article submission sites” and you will have more than enough places to submit your articles to.

      11. Also write some larger articles for offline publications. Get a copy of the Writer’s Market, which is published by Writers Digest Books each year. Don’t attempt to send your articles to the larger publications (yet), for now target trade magazines that service your target clients.

      12. These trade magazines are much more flexible and likely to accept articles from unknowns. Most will even pay you a small fee for your articles, so you can now start covering some of your costs.

      13. Keep reprints of your articles for marketing purposes. They will make great inserts in your mailings and publicity kits.

      14. Keep blogging while you do all this, never let yourself write less than your daily 2-3 paragraphs. Your blogging produces your raw material that can be reworked and recycled into other formats.

      15. About the time you are basking in the glow of becoming a published writer, you will have written enough material that can be “morphed” into many useful formats. Your material might comprise a booklet you can send to prospective clients, or you might rework that booklet to be an ebook you can email to anyone who may help you build your business.

      16. Within a year, you should have enough material to start thinking about a bigger project like an outline for a workshop or a full-length book. It has been said that a book is the ultimate sales literature. Imagine a client who is trying to choose between you and a competitor. If you are the professional who can give this person a book you have written …well I think we all know how the client will choose.
      The real genius of marketing yourself by becoming a recognized authority is that clients will come to you. As an expert you will be able to charge higher fees than your competition and you will generally work with the best clients.

      COPYRIGHT(C)2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.