How to Become and Expert

Are you wondering how to get started in information marketing but feel you don’t have any information to market?

We love this article by Billy Ryan

The Real Definition of an Expert

The English Oxford dictionary’s definition of an expert is”a person who is very knowledgeable about or skilful in a particular area“. I actually disagree with this definition. It doesn’t actually matter how much knowledge or skill you possess, if you do not actively put it to use or share your knowledge you will never be known for your expertise.

I believe the real definition of an expert is “a person who uses their knowledge or skill in a particular area to become a centre of influence and give value to others“. It doesn’t really matter if you’re not an authority on any particular area at the moment, you can share the knowledge of people who influence and help you, in doing so; you too will be giving value, influencing and helping people.

So when it comes to looking at ways to make money or producing an income, the philosophy I go by is simple: As Zig Ziglar once said “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want”

The easiest way to earn money in this world is to become a person who finds solutions, if you can help improve the lives of others some way then you will always have the power to produce an income.

However this is just one part of the equation, the other part is learning how to share your knowledge; this is also known as ‘marketing’. Knowing how to market yourself, getting your name out there and building your reputation as an expert will guarantee your success.

Below I have shared with you eight different ways you can market your knowledge and share your expertise with people.

8 Ways of Sharing Your Expertise

Writing articles – Putting your expertise in writing and sharing it with your target audience is a very powerful way of letting people know your point of view. It is powerful because it leverages the trust and credibility of the publication. It’s also fairly easy to get published and will be like having free advertising. Magazines and newspapers are always looking for good articles to publish as it gives value to their readers without them having to do any of the work. Submit your articles to both print publications and websites that are related to your area of expertise or target market, and always make sure that you provide a link back to your website or your contact information.

Public speaking – Appearing as a speaker gives you the opportunity to broadcast your expertise to an extremely targeted and captive audience. Becoming known as public speaker also gives you instant authority, because it shows that people listen to what you have to share. Sharing knowledge and selling your expertise from stage is a skill that can be learned and if done correctly can be one of the most powerful ways of making money, so should not be ruled out. However if standing in front of a room makes you nervous, then why not serve on a panel of experts instead. You’ll get to sit behind a table and speak from notes.

Media Interviews – Being interviewed by magazines, newspapers or on radio & television can accelerate your reputation as an expert by reaching a large audience very quickly. Much like writing articles, interviews work by leveraging the credibility of the publication or media program you’re being interviewed on. Landing interviews is not that hard to do, test it out by approaching easy targets like association newsletters, neighbourhood newspapers, local cable programs or talk radio shows.

Become a story teller – One of the secrets of highly effective articles, talks, and interviews is to tell stories about your achievements or better still the achievements of people you have helped. When you describe the challenges they faced and how they overcome obstacles to accomplish their objectives, you will reveal the value of your role in helping them without feeling like your bragging about it. This technique is very powerful when presenting or pitching as you are using social proof to boost your credibility and build trust.

Use Testimonials – Let others talk about your value by getting testimonials. They don’t have to be work related; they can be from people explaining what kind of person you are, explaining your qualities. If you help someone or you do a good job for a client, ask them to write you a simple thank you note or make a quick video describing what you did to make them happy. Then share their words when making presentations or by adding them to your website and other marketing materials.

Build Your Portfolio – Artists are very good at using portfolios as a way of building trust and credibility to create future work, and we can learn a lot from this strategy. Images that capture your best work are very powerful, so collect photos, examples, and other evidence of your accomplishments and display them on presentations, your website or in other marketing materials. You don’t have to convince people of your ability if they can see evidence for themselves of what you can do.

Creating Products – Packaging your knowledge into free information products that prospective clients can sample gives them a compelling way of discovering your real value and build trust. Products like e-books, newsletters, reports, video & audio recordings allow you to showcase your expertise and share your knowledge. It also allows you to reach out to a wider audience as you are not limited by time or restricted by location.

Build Your community – Social networking is changing the way we connect and communicate with people. As social networks such as facebook, twitter and youtube become more popular so does their influence in people’s lives. There is a massive opportunity for people in business to use social media to build stronger and more interactive business relationships than ever before. More importantly for you as an expert, you can use these platforms to rapidly grow your reputation as a leading authority and expert in your specialist niche. You do this by simply adding value to your community and becoming a centre of influence amongst your contacts, If you grasp this concept and put it into action you will see your reputation as an expert grow rapidly.

Common traits of an expert

There is common theme to all of these steps and that is to give value to the people who you are targeting. If you start using these techniques in your business; you will have a very effective system for building your reputation, strengthening your brand, gaining trust and becoming a credible authority – Making money will not be a problem.