Becoming known as an authority in your industry makes it easier for you to network. But, how do you establish credibility for what you know? It’s actually not as difficult as you would think. Today we’re going to look at identifying what it is that you can be an expert at and a few ways to position yourself as an expert for the purpose of networking. What are you great at? I’m going to assume (and I do trust that I’m right about this), that you are an expert in something. And, by expert I mean that there is something that you know more about that a lot of people, a subject in which you have a good knowledge base. You probably started your business/career because of a passion or skill that you have that you felt you could capitalise on. Being an expert at something does not have to mean that you are an award-winner or that you are the best in the world at something. It means that you know more about something than a lot of others and that the sharing of your expertise can benefit others. e.g. I am not the best networker in the world (not by a long-shot) but I know enough about networking (and how to do it effectively) that I can share my expertise with you in this 30 Days of Networking program.
Two ways to identify what you can be an expert at Option 1: Your business is closely linked to your expertise For some of us the area of expertise IS the same as the business we do. For example, it could be that you have an image consultancy and that your area of expertise is in exactly that – making people look terrific by helping them with their image. If this is you then start to position yourself as an expert in this area. Option 2: Your expertise is your hidden asset It could be that you are a florist but your skill is not only in terrific floral arrangements, but you have an accounting system that would be the envy of any small business. So, you could share your business skill with others and establish yourself as an expert in this area. (As a side-effect your business will be networked because you are behind the expertise.) Once you’ve identified which Option from the above you want to do today’s task with take a look at some of these options. In his book book “Little Black book of Connections” Jeffrey Gitomer names these ways of positioning yourself as part of a number of options in Chapter 5 of his book.
- Get in print
- Get published
- Speak in public
- Take an active role in an association
- Use the internet to communicate value
I’d like to focus on point 2 – GET PUBLISHED Two Ways to Publish your Expertise Today it’s extremely easy to publish your expertise. You no longer need to author a book and have a big publisher pick it up (the chances of this are slim to none for most people). Nor do you need to write thousands of words before you publish (which is great for those of us who hated writing assignments!) Today, social media and social networks make it easy-peasy to publish yourself. In fact, Twitter is one of the easiest ways to publish your expertise. So, this is where we’ll start today. A. Publish on Twitter Use Twitter to disseminate gems of wisdom. Those interested in your area of expertise will find and follow you. ABN member Kate Tribe from Tribe Research (@katetribe) often shares her market research expertise through her tweets, sharing tips and resources that position her as an expert in small business market research. (See example below.) B. Publish on the Web and in eNewsletters If you have a blog then,of course, you can publish your expertise at your leisure. You can also be published on the web by submitting articles to websites that focus on your subject area (and which are not owned by competitors). For example, members of the Australian Businesswomen’s network are encouraged to submit articles to our website and our newsletters to build their profile. Many members have done business with readers and grown their network as a result of being published. TODAY’s TASK Publish some of your expertise via your tweets. You may choose to use words to indicate that you’re offering information about a particular subject. e.g. Going back to the image consultant example above, you could tweet: Image Tip: [tip goes here as well as optional link to your site]. Here’s a real example that I retweeted.
RT @katetribe: #surveytip Check & remove questions that ask about 2 things at once. U won’t know if the answer is for 1 or an avrge of both.
Be sure to use tag #30DNet so that we can follow your tweets! And, if you’d like to submit and article for the Australian Businesswomen’s Network website or newsletters (and your expertise is in a business subject relevant to businesswomen) then email us for details on how to submit an article.
