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Be An Expert

Written by: Will Turner

Article Overview: You can become a great salesperson by becoming an expert in your field.

Be An Expert

There are many characteristics that differentiate average or even good salespeople from great ones. One of those characteristics is that great salespeople learn the value of becoming experts in their fields. While this is true of salespeople, it is equally true of any profession. So what makes someone an expert and why should you care to be one?

Let’s start with why you should want to become an expert? The simple answer is that experts are sought out. That means they can choose who to work with, they can eliminate their competition and they can charge what they want. In other words, being an expert gives you the freedom to do the work that you love (assuming that you build expertise in an area that you have passion) and according to your terms.

We all know of highly regarded experts in different fields. They’re admired and respected. Their counsel and advice is requested and valued. Think of the last industry conference you attended. Who was the keynote speaker? Chances are you had an industry expert sharing valuable insights. After the speech, audience members probably flocked to the front of the room to talk with the speaker. Why? Because the speaker was perceived as an expert. Expertise enhances your credibility and attracts others to you.

So now for the $64,000 question; how do you become an expert? To answer this question, it’s important to first note that expertise goes beyond competence. Most people that have any experience in a particular field have some level of competence. Experts have a depth of understanding that goes beyond content information and overall knowledge.

A special committee of the National Speakers Association tackled the question of what makes an expert an expert in a well-researched White Paper. The White Paper, The Expertise Imperative, outlines different dimensions of expertise. A few of these include:

A perceived authority – An expert can relate the topic to real needs and answer questions extemporaneously. In addition, an expert’s opinion is cited with esteem and respect.

A contributor in the field – An expert publishes periodic literature and contributes original ideas that are recognized positively by others.

Longevity in field – To be an expert, you need to be in the forefront of your field for a number of years.

If you’re not an expert yet, here are some specific things you can do to continue your journey:

• Make sure that you are in a field that you want to stay in for 10 years or longer.

• Join professional associations in your field and become involved at the local, regional and national level.

• Attend professional development seminars/workshops in your field.

• Seek the counsel of other experts for advice on ongoing development.

• Read publications and journals related to your field.

• Read at least six books in your field per year.

• Write articles in your field.

• Be a mentor in your field.

• Find opportunities to engage others in discussions about pertinent topics (forums, mastermind groups, debates, panels, etc.)

• Contribute ideas of original thought in your field.


You won’t become an expert overnight. It’s going to take hard work. But with the right focus, effort and discipline, you can rise to the true elite of your profession.

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Re: How can I promote my site? - I think because you have a very visual product you should focus on creating valuable videos and post them to sites like YouTube, Viddler and Expert Village. Some ideas for videos could be an overview of how to create an animated movie, tips for editing, how to find actors ...etc...provide value to your customers and they will flock to you like a magnet. Rachel
Re: Service Or Product? - I agree with starting a Service-based Business in the economy. Here is what I think is critical: 1. Researching that your Service business has a market. 2. Marketing the Service with as much leverage as possible. 3. Product-izing the Service (aka Package Expert Knowledge). This will only help elevate you as "the" expert in your niche and make you accessible to people in different price points.
Introduction - Hi Fellow Entrepreneurs, My name is Rita Cartwright, owner of RJ's Word Processing Services. I am a Professional Administrative Expert offering virtual assistant services. I have been in business for 7 years and specialize in Internet marketing and word processing services. I also offer bookkeeping, transcription services, website design and maintenance, and general administrative assistance. I'm originally from Phoenix and graduated from Arizona State University with Magna Cum Laude honors. My degree is a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing with a minor in Spanish. I look forward to networking with each of you.
Re: What makes a good online review? - Hi Kevin, True that the net is inundated with information, but there are flaws too, like you are not always sure as to whether the information provided is authentic or not. Therefore many organizations have set standards maybe of their own or laid down by Authorities. But for the common man, there is always a chance of falling in the trap. When I search for some product on the internet, there are two options for me (and I believe for most of us). When we are into purchase of a product, we are mostly after a specific brand. In such a case, any review does not matter. But for the other products (when Brand Name isn't that important), I generally take into account the reviews. I consider both - Expert Reviews and Consumer reviews. But many a times, they don't publish negative comments of products. So I do a search on Google or other search engines for related content to know more about the product and generally prefer to read Forums, Online Communities and Blogs (in that order) to decide on the purchase. Regards,
Re: Website analysis - [quote="Evan":fgxldfxj]Hi AnonymousMan I am always looking for additional advice for my site - feel free to give some suggestions for EvanCarmichael.com! Looking forward to it![/quote:fgxldfxj] This website looks great, I wouldn't bother changing any of the colors or text as it currently reflects professionalism and business. When I first visited the homepage there was a lot of content for me to decipher so I didn't know where to begin. However my eye was soon caught on some of the hot forum topics so I visited the forums and never looked back at visiting any of the other sections within the website. In saying this I believe if you had more feature articles on the homepage it would most likely attract me to viewing other parts of the website. For example if you had a feature article called "Marketing Your Business: Top 5 Expert Tips" with a small relevant graphic and a small description of the benefits gained by good marketing contained within a paragraph or two, it would tempt me to click on the "read article" link and then continue to read the full article while visiting a different part of the website for a change. In regards to the Entrepreneur Tools section such as the Press Release Builder you could just about delete this section as the product is repeated 5 times, which is a waste of important homepage real estate that could be used for more worthwhile content. Homepage content could include content items such as the latest feature articles, competitions or electronic newsletter sign up box. You could also use a Free Report as a complimentary PDF file download for visitors who sign up to your electronic newsletter or forums. The Entrepreneur Topics are also very bland and boring to look at so I would recommend jazzing this section up or removing it altogether. You could replace this section with one of the famous entrepreneur articles and most likely increase the clickthrough rate to this section, as I am interested in these articles but always forget they are available. For example if one of Guy Kawasaki's latest articles was promoted on the homepage it would entice me to clickthrough and read the full article while visiting the homepage to get to the forums. Do you feel these tips are helpful Evan?


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