Today I want to just make a quick video to discuss the idea of being an expert. One of the things that you’ll find, as you develop your expertise, you don’t have to sell near as hard as you once did. Meaning you don’t have to convince people to take action on a recommendation, the things that you offer and you sell. You simply let your expertise being the motivating factor in the mind of the other person.
So, the real question is how do you develop expertise? First of all, you have to become a student of whatever your field, your niche, is going to be. Now let me be clear on this, you can be a expert in a wide variety of topics. What you need to understand is in the market place you want to create a unique brand for each area of expertise. So, in my life, I have expertise in the world of internet marketing, and so there’s a brand that comes along with that. I have expertise in the world of Church ministry. There’s a brand that goes along with that. I have expertise in the area of real estate investing and there is a brand that goes along with that, as well.
So,, the way all these areas of expertise get developed, is first of all, experience. Just simply getting out there and doing it. Learning how to do things out in the field. Figuring out what works, figuring out what doesn’t work. The second piece of this is, you become a lifelong student. You are always studying. You’re always fine tuning. You’re always learning more. Much of my day is spent reading. It’s spent learning. It is spent doing trial and error. Figuring out the little adjustments that make things work that much better. These are the things that bring about expertise.
One of the things I often tell a consulting prospect, “There are many people you could hire, there are very few who are experts. Most people know theory, very few are practitioners.” I am a practitioner. It’s one thing that sets me apart. My clients know that before I put anything in front of them, I’ve already been testing it with my own money, with my own businesses, with my own products. And so, that is valuable to them. So, when I make a recommendation, when I say you need to spend money here, there’s not really any resistance to that, because they trust the expertise. But the expertise doesn’t come immediately, it’s something that has to be nurtured and developed over time.
So, here’s the challenge that I’m going to make to you. First of all, are you reading constantly? Are you reading, are you doing things to sharpen your skill set, to sharpen your mindset, to expand your horizons? Secondarily what are you doing, “in the laboratory”. What are the things that you’re trying out, that you’re testing, that you’re refining, that you can bring to your clients, your customers, the marketplace, to create greater value.
And then finally, are you branding your expertise? Do people know that you are the very best at what you do? That you are an expert, an authority in your field? And if you’re not, then you need to make those words a part of your language. I am an expert and authority in my field.
Anyway, those are a few thoughts for you today. Hope you have an amazing day, and I’ll talk to you soon.
