My sister is retiring from her corporate job this month and we’ve been having some discussions about what’s next for her. I’ve asked her to think about the areas that she’s really passionate about and could be considered an expert. The word expert can be intimidating. You might think that there are many other people who have more right to claim the title of expert than you.
I like to look at expertise on a scale of 1 to 10 where level one is a beginner, brand new to the subject and level 10 is an expert who has spent the 10,000 hours that Malcolm Gladwell says qualifies you as a master of a subject. Regardless of your topic of expertise, there are always beginners. You might be at a level 4 but there are many people who are at a level 1 or a level 3 who can benefit from your knowledge. As you gain in skill and experience you will be able to teach people at higher and higher levels until you reach an expert level of 10.
I was reminded of this in the past week. I participated in a blog challenge hosted by Darren Rowse of the Problogger website. For the challenge, we had to create a different type of blog post every day and put a link to it in the ProBlogger Facebook group. As I read the entries of many of the other participants I was in awe of the wide range of subjects and expertise they displayed.
In today’s post, I’m going to share links from some of the entries I found most interesting. I hope they’ll inspire you to think about your areas of expertise and how you could transform that knowledge into a part-time or full-time venture.
The first post is by Mina Joshi whose blog is called Give Me Some Spice. The post is How to cut and prepare a papaya. I love Mina’s blog for a few reasons. First of all the site is beautiful to look at with lots of colorful photos. It’s very well organized and easy to navigate.
When I read Mina’s About Me page, it’s very clear that she’s a level 10 expert in Indian Cooking, however, this particular post demonstrates what I said earlier about there being a continuum of expertise. I’m just the type of person that she references in the post who hasn’t tried a lot of the more exotic fruits. I’m a level 1 in that area and I learned a lot from the post.
The other thing I’m impressed by is how Mina has created a business around her expertise. She offers cooking lessons and has a Mina Recommends page for cooking utensils and other related cooking items. That page links to her Amazon store.
Next up is a fun and irreverent blog called Oh Mrs. Tucker! Read her about page to learn the origins of the name. The blog post is How To: Drop Cloth privacy curtains for your patio.
Oh Mrs. Tucker! is a lifestyle blog that covers recipes, do it yourself projects, and other topics. I especially love the What Grandma Drinks posts in the OMT Grown-ups category. This blog proves that you don’t have to pick an unusual topic to become an expert. Adding your personality will make it unique.
I was very impressed when I read Mike Ergo’s blog. He uses exercise, in particular, Triathlons to help himself and other veterans overcome the mental and emotional trauma of being deployed to war zones. His post is 3 Steps to your first triathlon. This blog is an example of someone who has taken a negative experience and turned it into a teaching vehicle.
For those who don’t follow this blog regularly, I’m including the post that I wrote for the challenge: How to write a compelling start for your non-fiction book. My blog is an example of turning what could have been a one-time project into an area of expertise for myself. Navigating the self-publishing maze was something I learned how to do in the process of writing a marketing book. I talked to many other would-be authors who were running into the same problems so I created this site to help them be successful.
Finally, I’d like to share the post from Monica Hank’s The Readathon blog. This is one I’m going to show to my sister who says she doesn’t have an expertise. Monica has taken her love for reading and turned it into a book review blog. Her post is Ways to make time for reading.
I attended a book bloggers conference earlier this year which ran simultaneously with the big book industry conference Book Expo America. As you know, getting book reviews is one of the most important things an author can do to increase their credibility and make more sales.
Hopefully, you now have a better appreciation for the unlimited opportunities to position yourself as an expert in your area of interest. One of the best ways to build credibility and establish yourself as an expert is to write a book. If you need help with that, get started with my Book Planning Guide.
3 replies to "Need advice? There’s an expert for that"
Linda, what a nice surprise to see this link! I loved reading your impression of my site. Thank you for the fun!
Linda – Thanks a lot for linking to my blog. My blog still needs a bit of revamping and comments like yours are going to motivate me to make my website even better.
You’re quite welcome Mina! I can’t wait to see how you take it to the next level.