The Missing Piece of “Authority Rules”

Brian Clark (of Copyblogger) recently released a report called “Authority Rules: The 10 Rock Solid Elements of Effective Online Marketing.” If you haven’t already, you should read it. I agree with everything it says, and I’m a huge fan of Brian’s work (I read just about everything he writes).

But I think “Authority Rules” is missing something important.

For those of you that haven’t read it yet, here’s a key excerpt:

In order to get the power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior online, you need to become an authority that others cite (link to) in their online content. Which means, of course, you need a content-rich website that demonstrates your authority in the first place.

So true. You do need a content-rich website that demonstrates your expertise. But what if you’re not very good at developing that kind of high-quality content?

You can try to improve your writing skills, of course. You can read Copyblogger and other websites religiously for tips that will improve your content development skills. Just because you can, however, doesn’t mean you should.

And that brings me to the one piece of advice that I think is missing from “Authority Rules”:

If you’re an expert in your field and great at what you do, but you’re not so great at developing content, get some help.

With all of the technology out there that makes it easy to do things on our own (such as publishing websites), it’s tempting to try to do everything on your own. Everyone can string a few words together, right? Why give someone else your hard-earned money when you can do something yourself?

The answer is that doing things yourself (especially things you’re not good at) will actually undermine your authority. When you publish content that is boring, poorly written, generic, or otherwise less-than-fabulous, it makes you look less-than-fabulous. And on top of that, you’ve wasted time you could have spent building your business.

When I put this website together, I started out trying to do it alone. I installed Wordpress, uploaded the Thesis theme, and made a few adjustments. I was proud of myself for getting it done! Look at me, a non-techie, developing my own website!

Then I took another look at my brand spanking new website and thought, “this kind of looks like crap.”

Why did it look like crap? Because I’m not a web designer. I don’t know how to take a generic website and make it look good. Sure, I could try to study web design, learn HTML and CSS, practice for hours on end, and then try to build myself a new site. But is that really the best use of my time? I didn’t think so. I hired a professional web designer (Jamie Varon of Shatterboxx Media, in case you’re curious) and I was thrilled with the results.

The bottom line? Don’t be so afraid to spend money on your business that you end up losing money. If you’re not a designer, hire a designer. If you can’t write, hire a writer (or at least an editor to review your work). It’s a smart investment if you’re looking to build authority online.