How To Build Authority In Any Niche (Even With No Experience)

Building authority is something that so many creators struggle with.

And one of the biggest reasons this happens is because they're going about it in the exact opposite way they should be...

Here's what you DON'T want to do:

• Choose a random niche you're interested in.
• See what other big creators are talking about.
• Post their lessons as your own and hope to go viral.

Alex Hormozi says:

"You shouldn't sell advice for things you haven't done."

And he's very outspoken about feeling that creators have imposter syndrome because they're trying to fake it instead of trying to do it.

So how do we build authority in our niche if we don't have experience...?

In this deep dive I'm going to be showing you how you can BORROW authority from top creators, entrepreneurs, and the world's best in their given fields.

First I'll show you what I mean by "borrowing" authority, and then I'll show you how the top creators use it across different platforms (even AFTER they have tons of authority).

Some creators we will be analyzing are:

• Tim Ferriss
• Dickie Bush
• Alex Garcia
• Alex Hormozi
• Chenell Basilio

You can use this tactic to build authority in virtually any niche, with no experience required ahead of time.

And the best part?

You get to follow your obsession as you do it.

 Dickie Bush

In the images above you can see three examples of Dickie Bush and his business partner Nicolas Cole borrowing authority from other writers.

Their objective is to not only teach the lessons of these other incredible writers in attempt to get more views on their content, but also to borrow authority from them by being able to dissect their lessons in a way that spreads incredible free value within their niche.

But before we break these down a bit more, let me first share a quote from Dickie Bush that he shared about the beginning of his writing journey:

"Rather than sit down on the first day and say 'Alright everyone who is reading my stuff, I'm the expert on writing now! I'm going to go talk about writing'

I said: I need to learn this thing. I'm going to go study the greats ahead of me, and then talk about what I've learned from them and how I'm applying THEIR lessons to MY writing."

Examples he shares:

"Hey, here's how Tim Ferriss writes."

"Hey, here's how Gary Halbert writes."

"Hey, here's how Eugene Schwartz writes."

And this is the EXACT mindset swap needed from most creators online.

Rather than feeling the need to copy and paste your favorite creator's lessons in your own words...share them as THEIR lessons, expand on them, dissect them, and build upon them.

When you take those lessons and USE them (over time) there will definitely be changes in the way you implement them that are specific to YOU as a creator.

Implement the lessons, use them, learn from them, experience them, and then you can go and teach them as your own.

Note: We're going to see this from Alex Hormozi below. He still borrows authority from other authorities, but he also learns, implements and then teaches them based on his experience in implementing them with his own tweaks (usually after making millions with them; but you don't have to wait that long).

But let's take a quick look at the examples above:

1. Stephen King: Dickie is breaking down "7 rules anyone can use to become a better writer" based on research he has done into Stephen King. King is the authority, and Bush is building his own by being able to dissect and teach them.
2. Jerry Seinfeld: Nicolas Cole is breaking down 10 lessons he has learned from Seinfeld, and in turn borrowing authority/building his own.
3. Tim Ferriss: You probably get the point here, but I like this example because of the simplicity. Bush is teaching 10 frameworks that he learned from listening to Ferriss' podcast.

Do you have books, a podcast, a YouTube channel, or anything else that you're constantly binging to learn more about?

Well then you already have ammunition for your authority building content.

 Alex Hormozi

Alex Hormozi says this is his "complex content model":

My complex content model: 

1) Do shit

2) Talk about what you did

3) Repeat

Which is right on brand with how he teaches people to do the things before teaching them as their own.

So we're going to start with how he has done that in the past, and then work into how he ALSO borrows authority.

Hormozi originally made his money with his company Gym Launch, which he sold for $46 million.

While building Gym Launch (and now while building his personal brand) he used tactics he learned from other incredible creators in specific areas.

We can actually see A LOT of the influences and mentors he pulled from directly corresponding to the books he recommends:

• DotCom Secrets by Russell Brunson: This was his mentor that first told him he needed to pivot out of running gyms and instead teach others to run gyms. Hormozi has used MANY of Brunson's funnels (webinars, upsells, etc.) in his brand(s).
• One To Many by Jason Fladlien: Jason is the webinar King and Hormozi learned a TON from him. If you learn Fladlien's methods you can see them being used step by step in Hormozi's presentations and webinars.
• Influence by Robert Cialdini (and really anything by Cialdini): Hormozi uses and discussed marketing psychology A LOT, and gives credit to Cialdini often, but not every single time he uses one of the methods that are now widely recognized.

There are a few key points for us to break down here as we discuss these books and their authors:

• Hormozi DOES give them credit by sharing them within his top book recommendations (and with Hormozi's following this does A LOT).
• Hormozi DOES NOT give them credit every single time he uses one of their methods in his businesses because he has now used them to make millions and millions of dollars and made tweaks and changed to make them his own.

Are you seeing the difference here?

But alright, now that we've discussed how you can take lessons, use them, and then talk about them - let's talk about Borrowing Authority by teaching the lessons AS you learn them.

The big change here is that you're going to be teaching them as lessons specifically taken from the authority you learned it from (rather than as your own).

Here are some of the examples I shared in the image of Hormozi's YouTube videos above:

1. Why Mr. Beast Will Be Worth $100 Billion: Alex is not only leveraging the familiarity of Mr. Beast in his thumbnail, but also borrowing authority by teaching lessons that are directly stemming from Mr. Beast's tactics.
2. 8 Life Changing Lessons I Learned From Charlie Munger: This one is an easy one. Alex is directly teaching Munger's lessons, borrowing authority, and building his own by being able to dissect and teach them.
3. How The World's Richard Man Made His Money: I'm throwing this one in here because Hormozi is doing two different things. He's leveraging the familiarity of Elon Musk AND Bernard Arnault (by having them both on the thumbnail) but only actually borrowing the authority of Arnault, who he discusses within the video.
4. How To Get Rich [Full Interview With Dave Ramsey]: This video is an interview, similar to what you'd find on a podcast. And the reason this one is making its way into the examples is because when we discuss Tim Ferriss you're going to see just how powerful interviews can be for borrowing authority.

That said, Hormozi has TONS of his own authority, but still continues to borrow authority from others, knowing just how powerful it is.

 Tim Ferriss

We're going to keep this section short and sweet because I want to get to our specific newsletter example below.

That said, Tim Ferriss is one of my favorite examples of borrowing authority just because of how much he has leveraged it even after having so much of his own.

Ferriss has interviewed some of the leading authorities in many different fields.

Here's a list of just a few of the names that have appeared on his podcast:

• Dr. Brené Brown
• Mark Zuckerberg
• Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Ryan Holiday
• Dr. Jane Goodall
• Jerry Seinfeld
• LeBron James

And the list could have just gone on and one.

But...Ferriss actually had tons of authority BEFORE starting his podcast.

He was already a NY Times Bestselling author, and had published:

• The Four Hour Workweek
• The Four Hour Body
• The Four Hour Chef

Since then, with the leverage from his podcast, Ferriss has gone on to write two more bestselling books: 

• The Tools Of The Titans
• Tribe Of Mentors

And here's the kicker...

Both of these books are taking the lessons that Ferriss dissected from his interviews on his podcast and teaching them to his audience.

 Alex Garcia Marketing Examined

Alex Garcia runs the newsletter Marketing Examined and has become "The Marketing Guy" by borrowing authority and being able to dissect lessons.

I use his quote on The 6-Figure Creator Newsletter Blueprint page:

“You can build a 9-figure company with just newsletters."

He leveraged Twitter to grow his newsletter, and his newsletter to build his authority - and now makes seven figures a year with his case studies.

When he started on Twitter he blew up by writing 50 Threads In 50 Days.

Each one of these Twitter threads (which you can see above in the image to the left) were in-depth marketing case studies ranging from breakdowns of Facebook and Zapier to Steve Jobs and Walt Disney.

He then leveraged that authority and viewership to grow his newsletter, which in turn built even more authority, trust and expertise with his audience by delivering more in-depth marketing case studies.

And guess what? 

The cycle continued onward.

He then repurposed those newsletter case studies to Twitter which acted as a growth mechanism that drove more subscribers.

We've seen creators like Dan Koe, Justin Welsh and others swear by this methodology.

 How To Start Building Authority Today

Did you catch what is happening in this deep dive?

I'm borrowing authority from all of these incredible creators.

And I do this on a weekly basis with my newsletter (just check out the past case studies in the image above).

We have discussed different newsletter types and styles, and mine comes in as a hybrid between the thought leader and the researcher (case studies).

I leveraged the power of borrowing authority, and I also like to throw in my own experiences as well to build trust and more authority.

I learned how to do this with my first newsletter business in the fitness industry...

Here's how it went:

• I was just another jacked personal trainer.
• Yes, I had certifications, and the physique as "proof".
• But, I was just another fish in the sea...
• So I researched HUNDREDS of celebrities workouts and diets and dissected the lessons back to my audience to become an authority in the fitness industry and make over 7 figures.

Don't underestimate the power of borrowing authority.

Here are some ways you can get started with it today:

• Quotes
• Lessons
• Interviews
• Deep Dives
• Case Studies
• Book Reviews

And more!

So the next time you want to teach a lesson you recently learned, consider leveraging the power of sharing WHERE and WHO you learned it from.