Opportunities are all around you, but it's up to you to increase the likelihood that these opportunities actually manifest. Here are 7 strategies that will help you increase opportunities for your business.
2. Every day, potential opportunities are all around you — you’ve just got to increase the
likelihood that these opportunities will come to you.
If you create meaningful relationships with your customers, partners, and industry
influencers, you can position yourself to stay top of mind with all of them. And it all
begins with trust.
The following are seven simple ways to begin building trust,
positioning yourself to be top of mind, and creating opportunity.
3. AUTHENTICITYONE What’s true in your personal life is just as true in
your professional one: BS derails relationships.
When you avoid authenticity, you put
distance between your brand and your next
opportunity, and you make it difficult for your
audience to trust you — you can’t trust what
you don’t believe to be real.
4. HELPING OTHERS TWOIf you’re still skeptical about whether it’s
possible to create opportunity for yourself, try
doing it for someone else. It’s really easy:
Every time you talk with someone, end your
conversation by asking, “How can I be
helpful to you in the future?” Most people
will feel deep appreciation, and appreciation
is a ladder to a top-of-mind position.
5. LIKABILITYTHREE
Ch. 4
“IT’S WHAT I CALL
‘PAUL RUDD’ LIKABILITY.”
It’s hard to trust someone you don’t like. You’re
more inclined to trust and advocate for
people and brands that you like over those
you feel neutral or even negatively about.
That’s the power of likability. It takes work,
but investing in your likability will pay off in
trust and opportunity.
6. FAMILIARITY
FOUR
Ch. 2
FAMILIARITY IS SOMETHING THAT IS
CULTIVATED, GOING BEYOND SMALL
TALK AND LEARNING TO ASK THE
RIGHT QUESTIONS.
Your audience members may like your brand
well enough, but if they aren’t familiar with
you or comfortable with your relationship to
them, that won’t go very far. Familiarity is the
other side of the likability coin — it forges a
strong connection between you and your
audience. Cultivating a sense of genuine
curiosity about your audience and learning
to ask the right questions will help you truly
get to know each other and build familiarity.
7. BRAND AND THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
FIVE If you treat your brand as an afterthought,
you’re only reinforcing the barriers between
yourself and your audience. A vibrant,
flourishing brand is one of your most powerful
tools for creating trust and opportunity. It’s vital
that you invest in executive branding — not
just your own, but your entire team’s as well.
The more thought leaders you have
representing your brand, the more trust you’ll
generate with more audiences who can relate
to you.
8. CONTENT TRIGGERS SIXAs you learn about the needs, wants, and
personalities of your key audiences, you’ll notice
certain patterns start to take shape. These are
“content triggers,” and they’re key to
establishing trust and a real connection.
Use them as a guide for creating and
distributing content to scale that trust.
9. EDUCATIONSEVEN
Ch. 2
ONE OF THE EASIEST WAYS TO
EDUCATE YOUR AUDIENCE:
THROUGH HIGH-QUALITY
DIGITAL CONTENT
It should go without saying that the content
you create must be rooted in education and
offer value to your audience. Education is the
most important trust point because knowledge is
power. When you share your knowledge and
educate others, you’re building valuable
relationships and empowering people to
make their best decisions.
10. AND REMEMBER…
Trying to force another person to trust you is
manipulative and counterproductive. You can’t
make someone feel an emotion; you can only
create the conditions for that emotion to emerge
organically. These seven touchpoints offer ways to
create those conditions.
Integrate these practices into your everyday life with
your audience members, and you’ll begin finding
yourself at the top of many minds.
11. ABOUT TOP OF MIND
In the bestselling business and leadership book “Top of Mind,”
John Hall, CEO of award-winning content marketing agency
Influence & Co., presents a framework for building powerful,
lasting relationships built on trust
and scaled with effective content marketing.
If you’re looking to influence an audience, build authority in
your space, and create opportunity for yourself and for your
company, this book is for you.
For more information about “Top of Mind” and to access
special offers, exclusive resources, and a free preview, please
visit topofmindbook.com.
12. “An absolute must-read for any professional or company seeking
to build influence and lead their industry”
– Forbes
Order your copy today: topofmindbook.com
Top of Mind by John Hall