Why You Want to Pitch Yourself as an Expert on Blogs, Podcasts, and More
You understand that putting yourself out there is what helps to grow your client base. You attend networking events, volunteer for community events, and even speak on a local radio station from time to time.
Yet, you’re still wishing that you were more visible. You want to be the go-to loan officer in your community. You want to be able to share content with your customers that will help them, and even more importantly, you want to be the creator of that content.
Sure, you can direct your customers and network at large to podcasts or articles you’ve found online, but what you’re doing is directing them to someone else. You’re allowing someone else to be the expert.
Why? You have all the experience and education to take on the expert role — so own it.
Showcase Your Expertise
Pitching yourself as an expert for digital content like podcasts, blog posts, and video conferences is the first step in committing to embracing more visibility in your career.
You’re taking the risk and letting others know that you’re interested in sharing your message on their platforms. And when you do, you gain a much larger audience than you’d have if you were working local networking events or paying for advertising on your local diner’s placemats.
Angie Trueblood, a podcast visibility strategist, agrees and encourages all professionals to step into the spotlight and own their expertise.
In an interview for this article, she says, “So often, we focus our marketing efforts on activities that nurture our existing audiences, like the folks that are already following us on on our email list. That’s a great way to encourage those people to eventually work with us.”
Trueblood continues, “It’s important to always be generating new audience members. The beauty of pitching ourselves to opportunities like podcast interviews and guest blogs is that we are able to ‘meet’ entirely new audiences and bring them into those activities that will nurture them to become eventual clients.”
So How Often Should You Pitch Yourself?
The answer is simple: often, and in a consistent manner.
According to Trueblood, “Pitching for visibility opportunities is a marketing activity. And, like any marketing activity, the real benefit comes when you execute on a consistent basis…Traditionally, the leads we have coming into our business today are because of the marketing efforts we took three months ago. So, if we let our efforts ebb and flow, our incoming business opportunities will also ebb and flow, leaving us in a constant cycle of catching up.”
Worried This Doesn’t Work for Local Businesses?
If you’re a loan officer that only works with clients in one immediate location, you may be worried that pitching yourself as an expert on blogs, podcasts, or digital summits won’t offer you the return on your investment, even if that investment is just in time.
You’d be wrong.
The more visible you are in the digital landscape, the more comfortable your local prospects are going to be working with you. The more visible you are in the digital landscape, the more name recognition you’ll have and the more leads will come your way.
Trueblood says, “Landing opportunities in the digital media space helps establish your authority and expand your existing network. And, there are typically hyper-local blogs and podcasts that could benefit from your expertise when framed the right way.”
So the real question isn’t whether or not you should pitch yourself as an expert for digital platforms — it’s “When are you getting started?”