Careers: Personal Branding Instant Expert
| posted by Wendy MarxLast week I wrote about how long it takes to become a true expert. Today, I want to look at the opposite side of the equation -- at how quickly it takes to become an instant expert. By instant expert, I mean someone who has a bit more experience than the next person and capitalizes on that. Think about all the bloggers you enjoy reading who were as well known as your Uncle Jim a few years ago and now are “must reads.”
As a fascinating article in the New York Times puts it:
“ A generation ago, you went to the doctor to find out about the pain in your knew; now you go to WebMD, diagnose it yourself and tell him what medicines you want. People used to trust stockbrokers and insurance agents; now they buy and sell at E*Trade and compare policies online. American voters who once looked to newspaper columnists for guidance on politics now blog their own idle punditry. Suddenly, experience is downright suspect.”
Calling it the “cult of the amateur,” the article reflects on the fact that inexperience has almost becoming a qualifier for a US presidential run.
Of course, the article is not advocating inexperience, which often masquerades as arrogance unshaped by judgment. But it is reflecting on the times – the fact that there is now unprecedented opportunity to brand yourself as an expert. Where else, for example, would a junior senator like Barack Obama with just a few years experience on the national scene be running for president? Where else can someone who was unknown last year suddenly become an expert in politics or marketing or podcasting?
Are you taking full advantage of this historic opportunity to brand yourself as an expert and expand your reach of influence? If you are doing just that, I’d love to hear your story.
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Recent Comments | 7 Total
July 17, 2007 at 2:55pm
Brad Holt, PMPTo answer you inquiry, I have made it a personal mission as a project manager to have several other instant expert qualities that I can use to impress and get more work done. Looking at the project management world, there is a tremendous amount of data that is generated, however, the usual project manager will suffer through spreadsheets and lists to get things competed. I learned about databases and normalization of data to quickly produce reports on the fly with a database or spreadsheets. Though in the beginning, this was impressive to a project manager that just uses the lists method. One person said that it looked like magic what I could do with the data. I have used this instant expert status to move to the next level of project management in my company.
July 18, 2007 at 12:40am
thomas mooreAn 'expert' in and of itself is contextual by nature, and fades as quickly as it appears. Take from someone invovled in a plethora of aspects of the tech biz for 25 years, anyone who can power on ANYTHING, is an instant expert by your definition.
July 18, 2007 at 9:44am
Scott CouchenourI'm sticking to one laser-focused area common among a particular segment of the population with whom I share a common bond. For me, it's life balance and self care for people who help people. I'm using the combination of (a) my personal experience working in the church staff setting and (b) my relentless research and study on all things balance and self care - to provide a level of expertise.
July 18, 2007 at 12:26pm
Rebecca ThormanI think it's great that everyone is becoming experts. Because while everyone can, not everyone does. That makes those of us who do take initiative to join the cult of the amateur all that more interesting; we have drive to become the expert and watching our journey is probably just as interesting as the info we disseminate.
In other words, anyone who has the balls to put themselves out there for the whole world to see is good in my book.
- Expert in Engaging Generation Y ;)
July 18, 2007 at 8:18pm
Jean-Paul PangalosHi Wendy,
Writing you from Spain, I can tell you I started giving real estate marketing advice in a blog I created just over three moths ago.
I am a former real estate agent and I am considering becoming a real estate marketing consultant.
There is a huge potential because the are no real estate consulting firms in Spain and I can easily be branded as the first real estate marketing consulting firm.
Hope to have feedback from you.
July 18, 2007 at 8:46pm
mister smithThis has ZERO to do with expertise and everything to do with visibility. Just because you are found in a google search does not convey expertise. People in the know, know who to know. If you are a typical 9 out of 10 outsiders searching in an expert area, go ahead and accept this faux fame. . . and cite google et al as your knowledge base.
September 12, 2007 at 12:48pm
Wendy MarxI appreciate everyone's thoughtful comments to my question of branding. Whether we like it or not I think expertise has become as much about perception as reality. I look forward to everyone continuing the dialogue.
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