photo by starrynight1

What is a gatekeeper?

In medieval times a gatekeeper was in charge of lowering and rising a gate that protected the castle. They let people in and kept others out, depending on what their affiliation was with the community and king, as well as what the intent of the visit was. Gatekeepers were extremely important to the protection and survival of the community, yet they were either discounted or ignored. In the personal branding arena, you have to play the role of the gatekeeper or someone will still what is rightfully your’s.

Gatekeepers in today’s world need to own their domain (in more ways than one ). If you go into web 2.0 with the objective of positioning yourself as a social media expert, marketing legend or another consultant, you are allowing others to be the gatekeeper. In this way, you have to seek approval from them to survive.

5 Steps to Becoming a Gatekeeper

1) Differentiate or die

Let’s face it, you can’t own your brand if it’s a commodity. Person A is just as good as personal B if they share everything in common and you can’t compare and contrast their personal brands. You have to stand for something, as well as be authentic, transparent and actually show your personality. I do this by filming podcasts so you get to see my emotions, body language, etc. Observe what everyone else is doing and find your place in the world.  Creativity is the key.

2) Niche or itch

If you don’t choose a niche, you will be a needle in a haystack. I’ve said this before that if you are heading into the web without a well-known brand name or a corporation backing you (at least at a director level), then you need a niche. If you fail to select a niche, you will have an itch in an area where you can’t scratch. Yes, this means that you will watch everyday as you are ignored, not placed in the press and fail to build a community. Stop itching yourself and find a place that is relevant to your brand. If you can capitalize on a new trend that is preferred.

3) Google or Froogle

It’s obvious that I’m trying to rhyme at this point. Google’s legacy product service was called Froogle. Instead of trying to rank high on Yahoo! or Excite, concentrate on Google. I can honestly say that Yahoo! and other search engines are inaccurate and don’t have a good algorithm. Google is the background check or permanent record for our brand. Think of Google as the drawbridge from medieval times that is sometimes hard to control, but with enough effort, you can pull it up to protect yourself. To command your gate, seek to become #1 for your brand name and your topic. In natural search it can be hard (refer to #2) but if you pay for keywords, then you will at least show up until your “naturally #1.”

4) Determination or extermination

Referring back to #3; if you fail to proclaim your brand name as the top result after a Google search, you should become determined. Terms such as “mistakes” and “failures” are really dumb. Forget about them immediately and focus your energy on building your brand to claim what is rightfully yours. Without the will and desire, your hard work will disappear into the confined of the 60th page of Google. If you care enough, the determination will come, so choose the right topic in the first place.

5) Visible or miserable

Say you claim your niche before everyone else. Cool! Oh but there is a problem. If your website is not easily found, then it is if it wasn’t established in the first place. Once someone discovers it, they can even copy it and use stronger promotional strategies to “raid your castle.” How about you focus on search engine optimization, social network profile building, and the creation of blogs to help you put up the drawbridge before anyone else can enter? If your strategic then you will be the “first man in” and be positioned as the pioneer before everyone else.

Benefits from being a gatekeeper

• You will be asked for permission to enter your field, creating a barrier to entry.
• You will be the #1 contact for the press.
• You will own your presence on Google, thus positioning you and placing your brand on a pedastal.
• You will be associated with your topic to a point where when someone speaks about the topic, your name always comes up.
• You will have power over everyone else interested in your field.