SFE TV 02: Crafting the Expert Impression

Bea,

This is a BRILLIANT question. When I write pieces for outside blogs and sites, the #1 question in the comments deals with this issue…with owning your expertise and standing tall and proud as you share it with the world.

This is only natural. When you’re quiet, no one notices what you’re doing, which means they also don’t criticize what you’re doing. But when you make such a strong assertion–I AM AN EXPERT–you become vulnerable to judgement.

Added to this is the fact that most experts can’t point to a degree or certification that proves their status and worth. They have nothing to hide behind.

For most people, this is uncomfortable enough to keep them quiet; they have goals and dreams but settle for the seemingly safe route of conformity.

But not you, not me, and not everyone in the SFE community. We aren’t willing to settle for less than what we truly desire and truly have to give. But that doesn’t mean the worry and doubt go away.

For that, you need this:

1. If you’ve read any of my work, you know the most important thing is value. If you have value to offer, real value, then you have nothing to worry about. Naysayers and judges can do or say whatever they wish, but if you have valuable information that will make a difference in your ideal audience’s lives, then you’re golden. You’ve passed the ultimate test.

This is obviously true with you. You have experience. You have victories. You have outside proof–professors, mentors, clients. Bea, I have NO DOUBT whatsoever that you have the goods. You are an expert–not because you merely say it, as some unscrupulous people unfortunately do, but because you have done it.

2. Another common concern for experts: Everyone already knows what I know. I love this worry because it’s such an easy myth to knock down. The problem stems from knowing your topic too well. You see, when you spend years deep, deep in a subject, you forget what it’s like for a beginner. You forget how it felt to not know anything. And, so, you begin to assume what is simple and obvious to you is simple and obvious to everyone. That’s the trap. Once you’re fooled into thinking this, you doubt your value. If everyone already knows what you know, then you have nothing of value.

In reality, most people are starting at square one. Just look around you. The most popular information is almost always geared at the first steps. Magazine covers are littered with simple tips to do this and easy tricks to do that. Most books are written starting at the beginning of the system. Most coaching involves helping beginners get up and running, whatever the topic may be.

You already know far, far more than your average audience member, not because they lack intelligence but because they’re just happening upon a world that you’ve lived in for years.

As I’ve written many times before, to a boy putting on his first pair of shoes, the ability to tie the laces is a miracle. To him, you are the expert.

3. Another worry is fearing that someone has already done what you want to do. This one myth, sadly, keeps thousands of potential experts from sharing their unique insights and information with the world. They key word is “unique.”

Yes, the same topic has been covered. Yes, the same principles have been laid out. But never before have your ideas, your experiences, your life and its lessons been shared. You are absolutely unique, and so is your expertise.

I’m not bringing this conversation into the realm of fluffy self-help, assuring you that you are a unique spirit. This is far more concrete than that. It’s also the truth. If you work with ten business consultants, covering the same problem and looking for the same solution, you’ll get different answers from each one. They each have different filters, memories, attitudes, and approaches. Though they all live in business, their lives are vastly different. Just like you.

Nowhere else can people get your particular take on the subject. That is truly invaluable.

4. Just do it. Not the most savvy of advice, but sometimes you just have to shout down those voices in your head and move forward. You have the experience. You have the value. You are an expert.

Never forget that.

Jason

Reply

Valerie,

Thank you for your question. It’s clear that you’re an insightful viewer with an eye that goes much deeper than your average tinkerer.

My brand and business is built around helping five-figure experts become six-figure experts. To achieve this, things have to be sold, and that is a truly wonderful thing.

For too long the idea of selling has been thrown around as a dirty word, to be avoided at all costs. To “sell” meant to beg, push, swindle, pry, cheat, steal.

This is absolutely the wrong way to think about commerce.

Charging for one’s expertise is merely an exchange. John Smith, as the employee of Acme Corp, puts in his eight-hour shift and is given money in return. The money is a sign of value, value he earned by giving effort to the company.

Joan, the paid expert, spent a decade learning how to get a particular result. She invested years of her life and thousands of her income to gain this expertise. She now has value.

If John wants to know what Joan knows, they simply exchange value for value…money for information.

The same is true of a doctor, lawyer, teacher, coach, consultant, therapist, etc. They have valuable information gained through years of effort and energy and income, and they trade that value for money from people who need and want what they have.

Commerce, when done well, is a wonderful thing, bringing together two parties who gladly exchange with one another. It’s the foundation of civilization, as this has allowed specialists to improve in their particular fields, bringing us untold advancements around the world.

Selling is a good thing. These experts I featured aren’t prying money from unwanting hands but instead they are offering their years of hard-to-get experience and expertise in exchange for the value of their customers. What’s more, they all over deliver, giving far more value in exchange for far less.

For example, what I have learned over the course of my ten+ years online can help someone earn hundreds of thousands of dollars. I spent thousands of hours gaining this experience, and thousands of dollars. I think you would agree this is valuable information that can and should be sold to those who want it.

If a teacher is not expected to teach for free, why should experts? In the end, they are doing the same thing: educating their intended audience using their earned education.

When done right, there is no hyperbole. There is only the offer of information. They don’t have to give anything away for free; that is merely the way of the Web at this moment. They have every right to charge for every insight they’ve gained over the years. The fact that they offer things for free, is proof positive that the experts doing it right are doing a great service to their communities.

We must not look down on experts who earn a living with their knowledge. I look up to them, for it is their very information that gives people the freedom to change, to succeed, to be happy. They sell their wares, and their customers couldn’t be more grateful.

Yes, there are the hacks who do the name expert a great disservice. They push their products at every turn and care little, if at all, for their audience. These people are covered in “hyperbole.” But many are also like me, caring truly and deeply about their audience and wanting, above all else, to help them achieve their hopes and dreams.

You can, of course, be known as an expert without selling your information, but you’ll need a second job to pay the bills.

Jason

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