How to Rock Your Expertise

Posted March 11th, 2010 by Dr. Laureen Wishom and filed in Business Growth, Business Success, Publicity, Teleseminar

Tags: Achievement, Business Growth, Expertise, Marketing, Strategies, Success, Vision

A friend of my Sophfronia Scott, Executive Editor of the Done For You Writing & Publishing Company recently published this article. It is so on target with a subject matter that is near to my heart From Visioning Great to Successing Great™.

This article, How to Rock Your Expertise re-enforced the importance of visioning great, then successing great so that you become an “Expert Who Rocks”. Take a moment and read this article, I would love to hear your comments.

Before I forget, she is also the Editor of the soon to be released anthology: How The Fierce Handle Fear – Secrets to Succeeding in Challenging Times which details personal stories, proven techniques and tips on how each contributor handled fear and pushed through it. The book demonstrates that even the most successful business people (Experts Who Rock) like Donald Trump, Jack Canfield, Sophfronia Scott, Frank McKinney and I experience fear just like everyone else.

How to Rock Your Expertise! By Sophfronia Scott

Are you an expert? Yes! In what? You tell me. We’re all experts at something. You gain your expertise in one of two ways: doing a thing or studying it. I’m an expert in writing and publishing books because I’ve done it. My clients are experts in marketing, motivation, cooking, feng shui, and dealing with credit because this is what they do in their businesses every day. I can also say I’m something of an expert in the Beatles, cooking, potty training, gardening, yoga and road cycling because I’ve done or studied all of these things.

Having the expertise is important–you have to be able to walk your talk and pony up the goods when the opportunity presents itself. But here’s the rub: the opportunity comes from how you make your expertise known.

Wielding Your Expertise

You see, having authority is kind of a double-edged sword. People like to defer to people who have it, but if you’re perceived as a know-it-all who can’t or isn’t willing to share or teach for the benefit of others, then people (and by that I mean customers or clients) aren’t interested in being around you.

Former Vice President Al Gore is a perfect example. During his ill-fated run for the White House in 2000, he took a lot of flak in the debates for coming off as smug and condescending. Fast forward to 2006-2007, when Mr. Gore began putting his brains to use for the good of our environment. He filmed An Inconvenient Truth and suddenly people started seeing him as the kindly yet kingly professor who was compassionately letting us know we were headed for a world of trouble with the global warming stuff. They were even begging him to run for president again!

How can you demonstrate that you are willing to teach and share your expertise? With a book! When you craft a book, you seek to solve a big problem for the reader. You instantly start from a position of wanting to help, and that’s the first place where the reader will connect with you.

You start out by clearly outlining the problem and how it may be negatively affecting the reader. You let him or her know you have experience with the problem either from your own life or working with your clients. Then lay out your solution in whatever way you see as the best.

Don’t worry if it seems like you’re giving it all away. When people have a good experience they usually want more. In your case, they may want to hire you or come to a workshop so they can meet you in person. In fact some authors, like Dan Kennedy, encourage this by giving away free seminar tickets in their books.

What to Do With That Power

Even if you’re not an entrepreneur, you can still earn financial benefits from your book. Think of it like this: your book becomes your business. You use it to attract speaking engagements, teaching gigs, or even consulting work. You could develop a high fee workshop or intensive around your book. Many of the teachers in continuing education programs such as those offered through The Learning Annex (www.learningannex.com) are authors who have done just that. If you’re in the corporate world, think of this: few people get to walk around with the word “author” on their resume, so it’s sure to stand out when you’re hunting for your next job. In fact, it may bring you better offers!

With authority, you can also attract publicity, especially if your topic is tied to current events. Have you ever noticed that the guests interviewed on news programs are often introduced as “the author of such and such book”? Six times out of ten, the book is not one you’d find on the New York Times bestseller list. But is the quality of the exposure the person receives the same? You bet! You can get that same exposure for your business, too!

To have expertise is one thing—to really rock it is another thing entirely! Don’t be afraid to be generous, to put it out there with service in mind, and then enjoy the rewards you will reap for your efforts!

Sophfronia Scott is Executive Editor of the Done For You Writing & Publishing Company. Learn what a difference being a published author can make for your business. Get your FREE audio CD, “How to Succeed in Business By Becoming a Bestselling Author” and your FREE online writing and book publishing tips at www.DoneForYouWriting.com.

If you want to be an “Expert who Rocks” sign up for the Visioning Great Successing Great™. Virtual Retreat to be held on March 20, 2010. http://highachievingwomen.biz/?page_id=185