Everyone is an expert.
"Position yourself as an expert in your niche."
I hear this advice in every how-to-blog or how-to-run-a-business book. And if you're not quite an expert, you're supposed to fake it 'til you make it.
We now compete on a global scale. You can't just be the village's only baker or cobbler. There is always going to be someone more educated and experienced in a skill or topic than you.
I think if we want to be recognized as someone knowledgeable in our niche, we need to pay our dues. Anyone can activate a blog template, google some stuff, toss some keywords in, and 'position themselves as an expert'. There's a big difference between being able to share our experience about something, and being an expert at it - and that is years and years of practical, hands-on experience.
I may have read mothering advice from parents of babies and toddlers when mine were also very little, but as you get older, you realize there is a depth to understanding parenting that only comes with experience. Now, if I want any homeschooling mom tips, I prefer go to the ones with some grey hair and adult children and/or grandchildren. The older I get, the less apt I am to even give advice, because everyone's personality and lives are so different.
Many bemoan the lack of "Titus 2" mentor moms in their lives, but our 'search engine generation' tends to have a know-it-all attitude anyway. Would we even be responsive to and appreciative of the gentle guidance of a wiser mom?
But putting this back into the context of business or blogging, I think a more humble term to position ourselves as would be a friend. A friend who may not always have the answers, but will go out of our way to help you find what you need.
I hear this advice in every how-to-blog or how-to-run-a-business book. And if you're not quite an expert, you're supposed to fake it 'til you make it.
We now compete on a global scale. You can't just be the village's only baker or cobbler. There is always going to be someone more educated and experienced in a skill or topic than you.
I think if we want to be recognized as someone knowledgeable in our niche, we need to pay our dues. Anyone can activate a blog template, google some stuff, toss some keywords in, and 'position themselves as an expert'. There's a big difference between being able to share our experience about something, and being an expert at it - and that is years and years of practical, hands-on experience.
I may have read mothering advice from parents of babies and toddlers when mine were also very little, but as you get older, you realize there is a depth to understanding parenting that only comes with experience. Now, if I want any homeschooling mom tips, I prefer go to the ones with some grey hair and adult children and/or grandchildren. The older I get, the less apt I am to even give advice, because everyone's personality and lives are so different.
Many bemoan the lack of "Titus 2" mentor moms in their lives, but our 'search engine generation' tends to have a know-it-all attitude anyway. Would we even be responsive to and appreciative of the gentle guidance of a wiser mom?
But putting this back into the context of business or blogging, I think a more humble term to position ourselves as would be a friend. A friend who may not always have the answers, but will go out of our way to help you find what you need.
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