Finding time these days to create or add to your “digital” credibility is a huge challenge.,

Perhaps you’re in a role that requires an almost constant attachment to the phone. Or maybe a lot of your time is spent on site visits. I have heard all the explanations, so I know it is difficult for you to find the time to build your authority through content and online contribution. However, not contributing in the social space can be more damaging and costly in the long term.Building credibility, authority and demand for your knowledge will result in a massive return for you, your company and the client experience. For example, a sales person can spend less time prospecting and reinvest the time saved into other areas. I am also a great believer that everyone is in sales regardless of where they sit in an organization.

Here are some activities sorted by time that you can consider to start building your credibility:

Minimal Time Commitment:

Take 30 minutes at the beginning of the week to schedule tweets, LinkedIn posts and even Facebook if you must! (see my previous post, They asked “Do you Facebook? I said no”), all about the areas of your expertise. These can be original ideas that provide value and helpfulness or links to useful content from other locations.

Medium Time Commitment:

Start contributing to groups, forums, or blogs that are in your focus area. Offer your thought leadership. Answer questions and resist the desire to sell or promote your company solution if it is not relevant. Be genuine and authentic and the readers will find you.

Develop relationships with other influencers or content creators in your field. This can be achieved by simply commenting on their posts, connecting at events, reweeting their content and following up. They will expand your reach and send recommendations your way in the long run.

Large Time Commitment:

Start and maintain your own blog on the area of your expertise, or offer yourself to be a regular contributor to a third party site. This does require a larger than average investment in time but research shows that creating regular content will generate upwards of 55% more visits to you and increase your visibility for search engines. Blogging will help you build the top of your funnel to pull in more prospects and hopefully more quality leads.

From my experience the “I don’t have the time” excuse underpins the biggest reason that people don’t participate and that reason is, people have no clue what to write about. There is this shortage of ideas. Equally challenging is the time factor of course, as we all have so many other things we have to do.

So start by committing some time, your competition are! Think about the wealth of knowledge you have and the value that can bring beyond what a website can do. Take part in conversations, start conversations and to coin Nike – Just Do It.