What qualifies you as an expert on something? Other than a college or university degree, what qualifies any of us as experts? Perception. If people perceive us as experts on a particular Niche Market, then we can become experts.
In internet marketing, if you are seen as an expert you will make more money because people will listen to what you say, follow your advice, and buy your products.
Tips To Establish Yourself As An Expert:
1. Pick a Niche Market. If you’re a jack of all trades and a master of none, you won’t be very believable. Customers should be able to investigate and connect you to your niche more than once online. People will investigate products before buying and the more evidence they find that suggests your product is good and you are reputable, the better your sales conversion rates will be!
2. Learn a lot about your niche. Become an actual subject matter expert! How do you do that? Subscribe to blogs, read books, set Google Alerts, and research. The more you know, the more confidently you’ll be able to proceed and that will shine though in your copywriting.
3. Optimize your name in search engines. Not only should you do an SEO campaign to bring traffic to your website but you should also do a self-promotion campaign that attaches your name to your niche. There are a lot of ways to do this:
• Write articles for article directories.
• Write how-to articles.
• Create Web 2.0 pages.
• Write a lot of blog entries about your topic and tag it with keywords.
• Write guest posts for well known blogs in your Niche Market.
4. Get testimonials! Ask happy customers and peers to write testimonials about you regarding your knowledge in your subject matter.
5. Create online profiles on social media sites like LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook and other sites and make reference to your expert status in your subject matter.
6. Post on forums related to your niche and be as helpful as possible to others.
Don’t just be a self-proclaimed expert, put your money where your mouth is! Today’s online shoppers are savvy and will see through a futile attempt to hype up your brand and yourself.
Invest in your brand and your education so that you can confidently attract new customers and be a true internet marketing guru.
About Sean Rasmussen
Great ideas here Sean
I particularly like the Social media ones. Are there are other sites you would recommend?
The more the better Gee, there are loads of social media sites out there as you know
Hi Sean,
There’s so much to do to be recognized as an expert. I’m going to have to write a better plan so that I’m covering each of these areas.
It’s hard for me to see myself as an expert even if I know a lot about the niche I like. Because I know it it seems to be so normal and “common knowledge” that I sometimes wonder if not everybody knows what I know already anyway …
But even in that case it will help to put the word out wherever possible which niche it is that I love, just in case there is someone looking for answers. I will be on the hunt for a few more social media sites to put my profile out and I will have to streamline it a bit more so they all point into the same direction.
You would be surprised Renee. You may not consider yourself an expert, but I can tell you from experience that if you continue to write about particular niche topics, there will be many people who consider you an expert in that field.
Hi Renee
Just reading your message I feel the need to say something. You may not like thinking of yourself as an expert, but you do have expertise in a certain area?.
Does everyone do what you do the same way you do it? Has everyone had the same life experiences and training or development as you?
Do you think there are people out there who would like to know what you know? Can anyone teach this information exactly the same way as you do it?.
You have something unique. It’s called expertise.
Nice post Sean,
I have wandered about the whole ‘become an expert’ thing but have been put off because of not really having any qualifications or real expertise in anything so it is an interesting concept to say that it is people’s perception that makes the difference online.
Perhaps one day I too will be considered an expert on something… that would be pretty awesome!
Hi Sean
We don’t have to be a college professor, PHD candidate, scientist or specialist to be expert at something.
The niche I have created is nothing to do with my school education or my work experience. My niche is about the experience I had completely changing my mind and my life. I have expertise in this area because I did it successfully. I reached my goal of sacking my boss.
I know that there are many, many people who would love to have the ability to sack their boss and I know it doesn’t just happen over night. We have to change quite a few things to create a whole new way of living. I can teach these skills to other people. It is marketable. It has come from my own life experience.
If being an ‘expert’ put’s you off, then like I said to Renee, ask yourself what is your expertise? what do you love to do ? can you teach other people what you know? Have a jolly good think tank, ask your friends and family what they think you are good at. Have fun!
This is an excellent piece. I would like to say that if you don’t feel comfortable with being an expert, then think along other lines.
Think instead of what you cannot do – where you are actually weakest. Why? Because it is the nature of a human to be conscious of what you cannot do rather than on what you can do. This will turn out to be your expertise. Now you may not like it, but take some time to find out what all this means in your life, and you may just find some startling things happening in your life!
A friend of mine has pretty severe MS – now she is doing things to earn a little cash here and there, but nothing special. I suggested a blog about MS, and she said that everybody does it. My response was that nobody had her view, and that her views were not only unique, but that people might prefer her writing style to others. What is more, those people who have MS may want another blog about their subject. Of course they may not, but only time will tell, and in setting up a blog you learn a great deal. Even if you fail, you have learned something and might be onto a better niche!