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The Authority Advantage

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The Authority Advantage

Building Thought Leadership Focused on Impact Not Ego

ForbesBooks,

15 min read
6 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Use expert personal branding to attract more clients and gain widespread credibility.

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Well Structured
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

In this game-changing guide, CEO of Forbes Books Adam Witty and Zilker Media founder Rusty Shelton share the secrets of establishing yourself as an authority in your industry. The authors explain how to gain a competitive edge in the digital age by building a compelling personal brand and using a variety of content to showcase your knowledge, communicate your value and attract clients. They argue that you need a solid strategy to exert positive influence in the public sphere, but if you can pull it off – with their help – you’ll find that true competence is more important now than ever.

Summary

Personal branding can give you a competitive advantage because it builds trust.

Many good leaders balk at the notion of personal branding. For example, Patti Brennan, CEO of Key Financial, Inc. and a Forbes top-ranked wealth advisor, once saw such efforts as “egotistical.” However, she came to realize that if she didn’t try to share her expertise with people outside her current sphere, potential clients wouldn’t know about her, or they might fall prey to advisors with less experience or with nefarious intentions. 

Having a personal leadership brand allows Brennan to create influence on a larger scale. This, she discovered, gives her a competitive advantage over other advisors and a solid foundation of trust with her clients.

Public trust in experts matters more now because trust in institutions is at an all-time low. Gallup reports that only 27% of adults have confidence in large organizations, including media conglomerates, government agencies and big banks. People want to deal with other people, not with corporations. That means a wealth advisor who promotes a personal mission to help others navigate...

About the Authors

Adam Witty is the founder and CEO of Forbes Books, and Rusty Shelton is Founder & Chairman of Zilker Media.

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