Establishing a Professional Internet Presence

Where do you begin if you want to launch yourself as a guru?

The first step is to brand yourself. Create an image. I use two pictures, because I have two personas. Gracepub is known by the image of a hairless dog. The image does not need to be computer generated or even a logo. It just needs to be easily recognized.

The next step is to write ‘good’ content on the topic. I join associations and subscribe to trade magazines. I put this information on my blogs and in free content sites. I subscribe to www.isnare.com because they broadcast articles to dozens of sites which helps increase my blog/website’s Page Rank.

The most important aspect is to add a forum where people can ask you questions, and subscribe as members. If you don't generate interaction with your audience, your time and money are wasted. I personally manage three forums, 5 newsletters, four MySpace lenses and have more than 6000 people on my lists and forums.

Once you have 200 articles on the net, consider writing a book. Not an ebook, but a book. Booksurge.com is a great source for beginners. You don't need to sell the book through bookstores. Just offer it on your website, and sell through amazon.com.

Yahoo Answers, writing reviews on comparison shopping sites like www.buy.com and yahoo shopping establishes a web presence as a guru. You can also comment on blogs, participate in forums, host chats, and work at sites where you can be ‘editor’ of your topic. This type of credibility is vital. The objective of promotion is not to get your name ‘out there’ but to get people to come to you and participate in your fan club and join your newsletter.

How much time should be set aside for this each week?

I promote one day a week and schedule my week to generate income first, promote second, and take care of paperwork last. If I do not finish my paperwork, then the last week of the month I switch promotion and paperwork.

How long does it take to develop credibility?

I have been in this business for 9 years. My credibility comes in the fact that I can stand at the front of an audience and answer questions with confidence.

Learn everything you can about your topic. People may not remember your lecture, but they will remember that someone in the audience asked a hard question and you knew the answer. I used this to build Gracepub’s credibility as a mentor and success coach for home based businesses.

Pick a niche and keep it as narrow as possible. You’ll never grow as a guru if you try to be everything to everyone. If your focus is on small hairless dogs, then don’t try to branch out to all hairless dogs or all small dogs. Covering more than one topic doesn't help increase your target audience in the real world.

Are there any helpful sites or tools you recommend?

I have a few blogs where I offer free advice to people building their businesses.

• Small Business & Work at Home
• Work at Home Success
• Inspired Author – Offers a free workshop in the chat room, Thursday nights, 7:00 Eastern open to the public.
• GracePub's Blog
• Entrepreneur.com
• Get Paid to Write Online
• From Behind the Editor's Desk - At least 30 percent of content posted is designed to help people promote themselves.

Plan For Success

Step 1: Pick a narrow niche. Focus on one element or topic.

Step 2: Learn everything you can. Learn the 'real information' through Associations, trade magazines, newsletters and courses.

Step 3: Write articles that solve problems and answer questions. No one wants someone to tell them what to do, if they don’t also tell them how to do it. A true guru empowers their audience.

Step 4: Mentor others to build a fan base. Use Wikipedia, lovetolearn, yahoo answers, and other high profile sites. Only join forums with more than 1000 members.

Some websites like Inspired Author and Suite 101 offer credibility and promotion in exchange for content. Writing for free can be profitable if the site receives more than 3 million hits a year.

The object of mentoring others is to create a fan base. There are several ways to do this. One is to buy ‘sign ups.’ You can buy signups at the same place where you can buy ‘targeted traffic.’

Step 5: Generate Revenue. This is the hardest part for most new gurus to understand. Step 1 – 4 are meant to brand you and establish a niche. They are not revenue generating. A good PR campaign will cost $10,000-$50,000. When you are finally selling information and being invited to public speaking engagements, you’ll have only invested time, but that time will be worth the value of a PR campaign.

All of my blogs and sites bring an audience to first level sites where I talk to people and get them to join my mailing lists or forums. The next step draws them to my websites www.enspirenpress.com, www.wealthy-writer.com, and my personal site www.writer-writer.com where they are ‘sold.’ This three step program helps me promote, establish myself as a guru, and generate revenue.

The biggest mistake is to try to sell your product and build yourself as a guru at the same time. Don’t promise answers, bring visitors to your website or a workshop, and then spend time trying to sell your product. You can either generate revenue, or establish yourself as a guru.