The rise of today’s knowledge economy has replaced traditional educators. Experts have gained popularity without needing a single credential to their name. They’re “do-it-yourself” experts who flout the old-fashioned rules of getting an academic degree to be granted the status of “expert.”
In the book Millionaire Messenger, Brendon Burchard argues that anyone can be an expert. It takes time and effort, but with the right tools and resources, and motivation for learning, you can call yourself an expert on just about anything. If you’re willing to take on the challenge, you can build your knowledge and master any subject.
However, you might be doubtful as to why anyone would trust you as an expert. After all, why would anyone want to listen to you? There’s too much noise. How can you be heard?
Being an expert means being unique
Yes, your voice can be lost in the sea of experts who are just as equally knowledgeable. That’s why you have to differentiate yourself by being unique. There’s a lot of experts, but there’s only one you. What do you have that no one else does? This is the question that you should be asking yourself to get started.
After all, everybody knows something and has something to say about it. It’s no longer necessary to go to school to be an expert. But an expert still has to be credible. There are many ways to obtain that credibility. If you’re someone who wants to develop your expertise into a profitable career, read on.
What do we mean by expert?
Let’s examine what it means to be an expert. Synonymous with “expert” is “guru”, “know-it-all”, or the person you go to for information and advice. An expert has to know what they are talking about in the subject or topic that they specialize in.
However, it doesn’t mean that you need to know absolutely everything about the topic, but just enough so that you’re more knowledgeable than the average lay person. It works to stay one step ahead of the lay person and predict what information that they are after.
The traditional ways to become an expert
Formerly, to become an expert, you would have to go to school, get a degree, and do well in your career. It would’ve taken several years to reach the status of “expert”.
But these days, people are rewriting the rules and conventions of what it means to be an expert. The fast track to becoming an expert no longer requires you to sit in a classroom. You no longer need to toil away studying for exams to obtain a degree.
How can you become an expert?
The secret to becoming an expert is that an expert doesn’t need to know everything, or at least, not from the start, because everything can be learned.
Sure, certifications and degrees lend credibility to your claim of being an expert. However, many people are successful experts without a single expensive credential to their name.
Now, with the world wide web, you have free resources, ones that won’t break the bank, at your fingertips. You can tap into a well of knowledge that used to be available to only a few people.
In addition, you can get free access to many courses on websites such as Coursera or Linkedin Learning through the public library. All you need is a library card.
Build your expertise by taking action
Do your research and read everything you can get your hands on about the topic you want to build your expertise on.
Also, learn how to speak and write eloquently. Learn how to present yourself like an expert. Examine how an expert speaks. Study their body language and their vocabulary. Take a few courses on public speaking or on how to craft a written piece with a compelling message.
Evidently, learning is in itself a skill. You have to have a hunger for knowledge and seek it in unexpected places. You don’t even have to like book learning. You can learn from other experts in your network just by having a conversation with them. But you must enjoy absorbing information and synthesizing, or creating something new from the information you’ve learned.
Your message must be persuasive
Your audience may trust you more if you’ve gone through some sort of training or certification. It’s your choice if you want to add those credentials to your name, but this is not always the case.
This is because you can be persuasive at selling your message. Your marketing strategy can make up for the fact that you don’t have the education or qualification. But if you are skilled at knowing your subject inside out, you stand a fairly good chance at making it as an expert.
Why would anyone want to be an expert?
There’s a lot you can do with all of that free knowledge. It’s useful to be an expert if you want to be trusted and listened to.
In fact, being an expert opens many doors to aspiring entrepreneurs. It can give you the chance to start a business based on your area of expertise. Many opportunities can be open to you if you are trustworthy and credible.
What to do with your knowledge
An expert is also a creator and a writer. In the knowledge economy, the business of capitalizing on knowledge, whether it be esoteric or common, gives you the opportunity to monetize education, and there’s a lot of wealth to spread around if you know how to go about it.
As an expert, research and write books, articles, blog posts, or host podcasts, seminars, conferences, and events. Whole businesses are built upon knowledge sharing. Build up your knowledge. If you want to market yourself as an expert and don’t have any experience, create a portfolio of work that you can show your audience. It takes some effort and persistence. Get out there and practice your craft. Give a webinar or start a blog.
How to deal with imposter syndrome
You might think that there are a lot of frauds calling themselves experts. You might even feel like you have imposter syndrome. But take heart. The public is shrewd enough to be able to discern what is real and what is fake. They can immediately spot a fraud from a mile away. If you are authentic, and don’t pretend to know more than you actually do, your audience will know this and appreciate it.
In summary, to do is to know. So, act on your knowledge. Go out and gather a community of learners, and teach them what you know. Only then will you be an expert.
Further reading
Burchard, Brendon. Millionaire Messenger. (2011)