wWhenever I speak at a big event, people in the audience always ask me some of my top tips about industry influence. So here are two of them that come back down to basic guiding principles: Be yourself and be nice to people.

Disclosure is the best friend of authenticity.

Successful industry influencers are prepared to share how their background has contributed to what they are doing now and honesty is always the best policy. I became a dentist partially because my mom had really bad teeth in her late 30s and had to get dentures at an early age.

But I really became a dentist because my sister called me a loser.

I had finished my senior year of college and went to Belize for a weeklong graduation trip that turned into 6 months. My sister, who’d been practicing dentistry for several years, said, “Do you want to be a loser for the rest of your life?” Pretty soon I found myself at Texas A&M College of Dentistry, discovering my passion for building relationships and making connections while also helping patients.

Other questions to ask yourself while writing your expert story include:

● What made or makes you passionate about your desired area of expertise?

● What is your “why” and how does that relate to your story?

Remember that your followers or people you want to do business with want to know you’re passionate about what you do. Maintaining a consistent voice—your natural voice—is also key to effective expert stories. Whether I post a Facebook Live or host a podcast, I’m the same exact Glenn Vo—the same Glenn Vo, in fact, who rescued himself from loserdom by becoming a dentist. (I’m not going to lie, though: Belize was a pretty awesome place to live for 6 months.)

Consistency is also a priority in just what you post, too. A coffee expert should be posting about coffee—not how to poach salmon or fix a flat tire. A successful coffee industry influencer shares images that correlate with her story of, say, bringing her laptop every day to a local cafe to the point where she knew how to make every drink on the menu and decided to become a barista. She’s found her Triangle of Genius and now’s the time to show off her expertise.

Yep, be yourself.

Networks and Net Worth

Recently, a friend of mine, who is an architect, decided she wanted to double her income within two years. She had her expert story, but a key chapter was missing: the introduction. So she sat down with her financial advisor, who did a mind-mapping exercise with her. They started identifying ways she could double her income: she could:

● Charge more

● Work more

● Work faster

● Hire more people

● Build a better network

● Take on bigger clients

● Teach others

● Expand network

● Eliminate small projects

● Nurture network

● Create a video course

● Speak for pay

The financial advisor asked which one would have the most impact on doubling her income. She identified speaking for pay or doing a video course. Both ideas—in fact, all of them—tied directly to building, expanding, and nurturing her network. See? You’ll catch more flies with honey: be nice to people.

Are you consistently authentic and building your network?

Sometimes, the best lessons are the simplest ones. Consistently being your authentic self will build relationships with people that will serve you well. And as your network grows with people who appreciate exactly who you are, your influence and income will both grow.