Ask Ali: "How Do You Establish Credibility When You Are Just Starting Out? "

Question: Hi Ali, how do you establish credibility when you are just starting out?
– Jeanette Henderson, Daniel Island, S.C.
Ali’s answer: That’s a great question, Jeanette! There are many ways to show your credibility, but let’s start with what worked best for me, which was becoming a “publisher”. Or at least I was perceived as one. Let me explain…
When I first started my business, an ezine (or e-newsletter) was the first thing I did that really helped me get noticed. I was a freelance copywriter and was already helping clients create newsletters, brochures, ads, and various marketing materials, so I asked them if it would be okay if I put them on my mailing list, and send them helpful information on marketing communications every week, or every two weeks.
I started with a list of 10 people who had given me permission to contact them (and as my now famous story shares, my list included my parents and my cat!). But, I sent out that ezine, and here’s what happened…
When my first ezine went out, pople started paying attention to what I was writing. And soon, my ezine was going to 20, then 30, then 50, then 100, then a few hundred people every week.
Best of all, my ezine was starting to generate some income. People were writing to me saying, “Hi Ali, a friend forwarded me your newsletter, and I saw your article on brochures. We need someone to come in and write a new brochure for our company, and I saw that you do consultations. Do you think you can come in and talk to us about it?”
Within six months of starting my ezine, I was working on projects for Dunn & Bradstreet, New York Times Digital, and Scholastic Books, just to name a few.
So deciding to share information on your related topic will automatically position you as an expert, and publishing an ezine is the best way to also grow a valuable mailing list.
For more help in this area, you’ll love my step-by-step Ezine Marketing Power system, which you can learn more about here.
Love and success,


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