I love to watch food competition shows.
And one of my favorites is Food Network Star — the winner needs to have both cooking chops and a star-quality personality.
During the show, Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis often coach the competitors on the need to establish themselves a “food authority.” Essentially it doesn’t matter how much you know about making great food if you can’t communicate how to do it.
‼️ The same applies to your small business ‼️
Establishing yourself as a thought-leader or authority in your industry is an important part of marketing your products or services. Credibility is one of the primary factors for people to choose who to buy from. For many small businesses, the brand of the company is synonymous with the brand of the owner.
In order to establish yourself as an authority, consider the feedback given to many Food Network Star contestants:
- Right-size the amount of information you’re sharing to the opportunity.
You can’t cram an entire recipe into a 1-minute demo, and you can’t explain everything you know about real estate in one facebook post. Focus in on your topic until you have a portion that perfectly fits the appropriate word count or presentation time. - Be energetic about your topic.
If you aren’t excited about what you’re communicating, why would your audience be excited? Showcase your personality throughout your marketing. - Don’t ignore any stakeholders.
Sometimes contestants will only pay attention to the audience and ignore their co-hosts, or visa versa. This leads to the ignored group disengaging. Your small business should create messages that appeal to your customers, prospects, employees, and partners. - Give away your best advice for free.
In almost every challenge, contestants are required to give a tip for the viewer to cook better food. Your marketing will be more effective when the audience always receives an actionable take-away.
Need help building your personal authority to support your small business’s revenue goals? Let’s talk!