Where are you in the Expert Brand Journey?

Yesterday, I was reminded by Nick Richtsmeier of a concept I used to share in my marketing which I will be sharing more of, which is this:

Most People Running Expert Brands Don’t Realize They’re Running an Expert Brand.

It’s true! Most people whom I would call an “Expert” aren’t building their business like they understand what kind of business they’re running (or that they have a business at all).

Call it “Founder-Led”, if you must, but if you are:

• Selling a low volume, high-ticket service (usually teaching or consulting of some sort)
• Relying on trust and Authority Factors rather than being a commodity
• Not running a “faceless” brand where there is no one attached to it

Then you are, by definition, running what I call an Expert Brand.

And Expert Brands require fundamentally different types of marketing, messaging, copy, branding, etc than ecommerce brands like supplements, hair products, face creams, and so forth. Which means, you cannot play by the rules of a faceless ecommerce brand and expect to do well.

Expert Brands fall into one of three primary categories:

• Category 1: The Commodity Service Provider
• Category 2: The Solo Consultancy
• Category 3: The Expert Business

The Commodity Service Provider

The Commodity Service Provider has more Commodity Factors than they have Authority Factors present in their business. They price low, every offer is bespoke, and chances are, their only offer is: pay me in hours. They work for and with everyone, doing everything, and they aren’t too picky. Or if they are treating things seriously, they are running a high volume, low ticket venture.

The Solo Consultancy

The Solo Consultancy is where Experts start recognizing that they are Experts and being taking things a little bit more seriously. In this category, “solopreneurs” tend to start niching down a little, begin make some rudimentary offers, and begin treating their work as a real brand.

The Expert Business

Finally, the Expert Business is where the Expert treats their business as a proper business. They are building out their Foundational Marketing Assets, they’re starting to accumulate Authority Factors, and they’re taking all of this seriously.

Why this matters:

If you don’t understand what you’re trying to accomplish and how buyers evaluate Expert Brands in ways that differ from other types of products, then you’ll never stand out and attract the really smart, really sophisticated clients you love working with.

And chances are, you’re doing things right now which don’t easily signal the type of Expert Brand you’re running.

I’ll share more on why this matters tomorrow but in the meantime… what kind of Expert Brand are you running and do you want to stay where you’re at, or shift? Let me know in the comments.

— Lynn

P.S. My name is Lynn Swayze and I’m “The Expert’s Copywriter.” I help Experts to dramatically improve their messaging and offers so that more smart people buy what they have they’re selling.

You can bypass Big Tech and the algorithms by subscribing to my daily email list at LynnSwayze.com/Daily