Are You a Guru In Your Market?

The Internet is full of gurus these days. You have probably seen it. Everywhere you look, you see people recommending their friends as gurus in their respective markets. But do we really have thousands of gurus in, let’s say, Internet marketing world. The answer is not really that simple. A lot of folks have made a lot of money before getting the title of “guru” while a few others have a lot of money because of it. Which group would you rather be?

There is a fundamental difference between the two groups. The first group has to work hard to achieve their status whereas the second group has an easier time getting there by using their title. Let’s say you are thinking about entering a market to sell a product. Unless you do heavy marketing for your product, you may not get the success that you deserve. But if you have a reputation as a guru in your market, you can sell things much easier and they don’t even have to be great products. This is where the difference between a tech genius and salesman is exposed. A tech genius puts so much time in the product, thinking that it will sell for itself. A salesman understands that even the best products could bomb unless there is a decent sales and marketing plan behind them. 

Being a “guru” is a sales tactic that works in most industries. A lot of people write white-papers or blogs to prove their “guruness” to the world. But they also use their network to get testimonials and proof for their claim. I can tell you that I am a guru in the Internet marketing world, but you wouldn’t just believe me, would you? You would probably check my background, my online reputation, and my testimonials. So as you can see, you don’t have to be a genius to be a guru. You need to be a good salesman. Having a blog helps. Adding a newsletter with tips and hacks helps too. But more importantly, offering value to your readers and asking for their testimonials and thoughts can go a long way towards achieving that status in your market. 

Should you aim to be a guru? Absolutelyt. In most cases, it is a given that being considered a guru can get people to listen to you. If a guru recommend a book, it’s worth looking at. If some stranger that you don’t know about recommends the best book in the world, you would probably be less impressed with the book. So you should always aim for that title in your niche. Having said that, all it takes to get there is a good product/service, a good sales plan, and a couple of good books (if you don’t know anything about your niche). 

So, are you a guru yet?