In our Visible Expert℠ research report series, we’ve investigated the impact that high visibility experts have on their own firms and their clients, as well as the tools that experts use to build their profile. Now we’re publishing a comprehensive report that builds on everything that came before: “Visible Experts: How High Visibility Expertise Helps Professionals, Their Firms, and Their Clients.”
Only now, with the publication of this comprehensive final report, have we been able to bring all of that previously released data together and analyze trends in the way high visibility expertise is cultivated in the professional services marketplace. And what we found took us by surprise.
Not only do Visible Experts use identifiable and replicable tools to build their reputations, but a subset of these experts do it faster. And after a little bit of digging, we found out how.
The Rise of the Fast Trackers
At first, this subset of experts — who we dubbed “Fast Trackers” — were a mystery. These professionals ascended from one Visible Expert level to the next astonishingly quickly, going from Level 1 to Level 5 in half the time it took the rest of the pack. On average, the Fast Trackers spent only ten months at one expertise level before rising to the next.
We also found that Fast Trackers enjoyed key advantages over the rest of the already-elite Visible Experts, including three times higher fees and four and a half times higher odds of receiving speaking inquiries.
But how, exactly, did they enjoy all these advantages? How did they race through the milestones of visible expertise? Was there a method to their success? It turns out the answer was yes.
After analyzing the activities of the Fast Trackers, we identified the three core components of Fast Track expertise:
- Focus on a niche
- Utilization of content marketing
- Authorship of a book
Each of these components are explored in depth in the final research report. With these elements in place, our research suggests that Fast Track expertise is not only replicable but within reach for a variety of experts in professional services fields.
Comprehensive research on Visible Experts
In addition to our findings on Fast Trackers, the final research report includes a comprehensive breakdown of our findings on the Visible Expert phenomenon, including:
- The Client Experience and High Visibility Expertise
Why do purchasers seek high visibility experts, how do they find and evaluate them? What convinces them that you’re a Visible Expert, and what benefits do they derive from working with you?
- How In-House Visible Experts Impact Their Firms
How do high visibility experts impact their own firms? What branding and business development impact do they deliver? How do they impact billing rates and lead generation, and how do they help to close sales?
- How Visible Experts Market Themselves
How do Visible Experts build and cultivate their status? What are their top lead sources, and which marketing tools do they use? Which tools do Visible Experts emphasize, and how much impact do these tools make?
To explore the full data, you can download the complete research report, “Visible Experts: How High Visibility Expertise Helps Professionals, Their Firms, and Their Clients,” and our book, The Visible Expert.
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