The term authority will mean similar things to a wide range of readers, the dictionary meaning is power of right to enforce, delegated power, personal influence.

The question is this, are you the Authority for what you do, the expert in your field. Are you the person that stands out from the rest, because you come across as the person that influences the market place or industry that you work in?

You might be asking how important it is to be the Authority for what you do and how does someone prove they are that Authority in their field or industry.

These are really good questions, why not start by ensuring you create great content you can share with others that demonstrates your knowledge and skill.

Place yourself in the position of being the expert in your subject, if you have qualifications that back up your skill then make sure these are seen by others.

It could be that you have a track record you can demonstrate your skill and expertise with, maybe companies that you work with or were employed by.

Where would you go to establish someone’s skill level or expertise, of course you would not be reading this article if you had not gone online.

So one place that definitely is used by many to verify you as an expert or the authority for what you do is the Internet.

Large numbers of people see Google as the Who’s Who these days, where as in the past it was quite hard to establish more about an individual, today you can just Google a name and you will often find one or more people listed.

Did you know that over 90% of people who have access to the Internet Google people before they do business with them?

The question you should ask yourself is this, what happens when someone Googles you, will they see you as the Authority for what you do, the expert in your field?

Even if someone Googles you and they find you, is being found enough to demonstrate you as the Authority in your market place. I can tell you the answer to this question is a definite NO!

Even if you have a relatively unique name unless you have built a considerable amount of online content you will not be seen as the Authority and in many cases Google will not even be able to find you, over my next few articles I will be sharing a series of steps that you need to do to ensure you stand out as the Authority so when people do a search for you, they will find you.

So why do I qualify as the authority for being found online and standing out when people do a search for you. Well my background is in Internet marketing since virtually the beginning of time, well the beginning of the Internet anyway. In 1997 I was working in London for a public limited company building an online business promoting books and audio books for a well-known Author.

The Internet struggled in these early years losing some of its credibility in 2000and the .com crash.

In 2002 I set up my own online business and started making money marketing eBooks, CD’s and DVD’s online and have been doing this ever since.

Information will always have a value and everyday people are searching for solutions to problems they have.

As the Internet has developed search engines like Google have had to change the way they function to stop aggressive marketers trying to cheat the system.

Over time I have learnt what works on Google and what doesn’t work, or put another way forces Google to slap (shut down) websites and other media that attempts to break the rules.

The first lesson to learn is to know the rules and follow those rules, by doing this you will gain respect from Google and steadily become the Authority for what you do.

So what do I mean by Authority, when someone types in your name, would you agree that if they only find you, then they will often assume you are the go to person or what you know.

If you then position yourself as the person who stands out for your subject, would you agree that a large number of people will assume you are the Authority for what you do.

My next article will be about ownership, because ownership is the first step in the process.

I really hope you have understood the importance of being recognised as the go to person for what you do. Clearly those of you who have registered as an Expert on this site understand the importance, the question is when someone searches for you, do you stand out?

Author's Bio: 

Derek Kemp is an Authority on Branding, an Internet Marketer for over 10 years, Author and Publisher, Public Speaker and International Business Coach.

His first book available on Amazon and Kindle is called Discover 5 Steps to being Found Online, focusses on the 5 fundamental principles any expert, coach, speaker, author or artist needs to follow if they want to be seen as the Authority for what they do. You can find out more about Derek at http://derekkemp.com and his Branding business at http://YourWorldClassBrand.com