Don’t Pretend To Be An Expert – Become One!
Experts on the internet are claimed so easily and fast that most of us totally discount the title “expert.” We watch people log-in online one day… asking questions about how to create a LinkedIn a webpage. A week later, this person has written an internet marketing ebook offering to share with you his last five years of “experience” from operating a business online. I have actually seen one individual do just this! He’s no longer in business since people saw through his pretense.
Part of why there’s so much mistrust online is that there are too many “pretend” experts. These are the people who believe that you should “fake it until you make it.” Don’t let this happen to you. Don’t discount the intelligence of your market. Instead, be honest with them and find something of value in your knowledge, experiences, training or RESEARCH.
The problem for the beginner is that he sincerely believes he cannot be a success unless he comes across as an expert. He believes that to be accepted, and to have people buy his products, he has to “talk the talk.” This is true to an extent. It would make absolutely no sense for someone to buy a book from you on a topic that you are admittedly totally unqualified to write about. So, for the beginners, it would appear to be an unwinnable situation.
Believe it or not, a beginner has an advantage that the old-timer does not have. He sees things through the eyes of a beginner. The old-timer usually biases from his past experience. Now he assumes far too many things. He takes for granted things that the beginner really doesn’t understand. That’s where the beginner has the advantage.
One of the most important decisions a person deciding to build a business online has to decide is “what” to build a business around. Far too many folks look at a niche they think they want to operate in and then they just copy those already in that niche. What they should really be doing is looking for holes or an unmet needs in that niche and filling them. The old-timer sometime will look right past some of these unmet needs, simply because of his perspective. This is where I think the beginner should focus.
When you notice a need for a product or a better version of the product, you need to pay attention. Look real hard to confirm there is enough need for that product… enough demand, and then ask how you can fill that need. You should reach one of two conclusions.
1) That there is no real demand for the product and that’s why no one is producing it.
2) There is sufficient unmet need to support a product and it may make sense for you to create it.
It sometimes makes sense to find an expert to help you create this badly needed product.
If you have trouble finding an expert in a given niche that’s even better. Since there is no other expert on that topic, it’s easier for you to establish yourself as the expert. How? You BECOME the expert. You do the research and hard work necessary to become the expert. If everyone else is too lazy to put in the work and become the expert on that topic – that’s even better!
Dig up all of the information you can find on the topic. Do the research. The information may just be hard to find, or it may be somewhat out of date. Dredge up what you can and begin compiling it into a product. If what you find needs updating, find a way to update it… find a way.
If you simply cannot find the information… if it just isn’t available, now you have a real opportunity. You need to track down whoever can help you discover or generate this information. In the United States, this could be a librarian or even a congressman. Congressmen have staff members who are there to help constituents with problems. Not being able to find information on a given topic is a “problem.” Call and see if your local congressman’s staff can point you in the right direction.
No matter what topic you’re looking for information on, there IS someone who can help you. There is someone interested in and probably doing research on that topic. Your job is to find and connect with them. They may work in a laboratory or at a university. They may be in retirement but still very interested in their old line of work. Your job is to locate the information and then package it for the market.
In the process of dredging up hard to find information that you need, or noticed a need for, something magically happens. You become the expert. Since you are now the source of information on that topic, where very little information was previously readily available, you become known as the expert. Since you did so much research, reading and studying the topic… you are now the expert. You are not the pretend expert, you are the real expert. You know more about the topic than almost anyone most people know.
I personally have seen many people use just this route to become recognized experts on a topic. The topics range from how to afford a house, to how to score higher on a test, to how to protect yourself from degenerative diseases. Look around you… read the papers… and I am sure you will see many people who have done similar things. They validate this path to becoming an expert. It’s a proven path and it’s also a well-known fact that people will pay experts for what they know.
Now the road map is unfolded in front of you. You only need to set out to become the expert. In the process, something else magical will happen. People will recognize you as a “real” expert because pretend experts are fairly easy to see through. What are you waiting for? You have the roadmap and only need to get started.
