Linda is a professional speaker, business consultant and PhD in Psychology – Industrial/Organizational student at Walden who recently shared some exciting news: the publisher of Rowman & Littlefield read her article in a trade journal and asked her to write a book! As a professional speaker for over ten years, Linda has effectively branded herself as a body language expert. We asked her to share her story of how she was able to define her niche and develop her brand.

Linda’s success did not happen overnight. A progression of networking and professional activities led up to the publisher contacting her for a book deal. Linda created a solid public speaking business by following a marketing plan that emphasized building on prior experiences. As part of her marketing plan, Linda created a bi-monthly E-Zine on the topic of body language, which built her reputation as a subject matter expert. She then contacted trade journals to market her E-Zine and articles to them. Currently she has been published in more than 100 trade journals. Most recently she contacted the editor of the trade journal for the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), who liked her idea for an article and approved the proposal. Linda said that the article turned out to be a “goldmine” as the publisher of Rowman & Littlefield read it in ASAE’s journal and then contacted her to write a book.

As it often happens, Linda’s outreach led to other opportunities. She found a niche (in her case, body language) and focused her efforts on that area to build a solid brand. She established her reputation through public speaking events, writing good content, attending networking events every month, sharing her knowledge with other professionals in her field, and staying focused on her big-picture goals. Linda suggests that if you niche yourself in a specific area and diligently stick with it, you will increase your chances of success. Linda is using her PhD in Psychology as another building block to a successful career. She says, “Everything I’m doing at Walden is focused on body language which aligns with my business.” She believes that her PhD will give her even more credibility, and it will open additional opportunities in publishing and higher education teaching.

Written by Dina Bergren, Career Services Advisor

If you have a success story to share, please email us at careerservices@waldenu.edu.