
You may have come across the same issues as myself; everyone is an expert. Literally everyone. There are hundreds if not thousands of self proclaimed experts who can tell you how to win more business, how to set up a social media campaign or indeed groom your dog.
A huge amount of these so called ‘experts’ seem to be focusing on social media as it is the buzz word, however the explosion has happened across and in all industries. Now everyone is an expert, running seminars, webinars offering downloadable books on how to’s and not to’s, buy my DVD set, read my blog, follow me on twitter.
The world is FULL of experts. So how do you stand out above the noise? Equally how do you recognise an ‘expert’ from someone who really knows what they are talking about? And probably a good question is; why should you listen to me? How do you stand out from all the other experts?
Good content is key. If you write good stuff then people will often pop back in to read what you have to say. However I’m sure that there are many people with lots to say who never get heard. So good content is only really applicable when you have an audience. Therefore you need to attract an audience in the first place before you can keep them.
Creating headlines that work and catch people’s attention, saying something that is confrontational, hit a nerve or resound with your target market therefore are key. For instance my headline could have read ‘how to become and spot an expert’, however how many people would read it? Would you? The moment I make it more confrontational people may read it. So stand up and be counted. Shout from the roof tops, be clever, funny, different but whatever you do don’t create a headline that just moulds into the already mounting pile of ‘stuff’ out there.
Interesting stat I heard the other day. There is more information created every two days than was created by man (and woman) up to and including 2003! Mad. So remember what you are writing takes time and effort the least you should do is make it attractive so people read it and most importantly, stand out. You’ll not please all of the people all of the time but then do you want to? If people disagree with what you have said so be it, at least they have read it!
Think about your target market what issues they have and what might appeal to them. Then create an article and a headline that will attract those people to read it. Simples.
How do you spot and expert from an ex pert? Linked in, testimonials, case studies, website. Have they done it before and how many times have they done it before? For instance I am constantly being told by senior executives that there are hundreds of social media gurus, who have never done a social media campaign and yet wish to tell my clients how to do one. Business colleagues tell me that when they look under the person or companies skin there is nothing there. So check them out.
Everyone can write information that you don’t know and can also copy and paste from other peoples documents. You’ll never know. If you did then you wouldn’t be reading the documents you’d be doing it for yourself and writing them! So check their references and speak to their clients both past and present. This way you’ll get a good idea if they are worth employing and if what they are saying has any credence. At least this way you have some sort of history to work from and will be taking less of a risk. So the million dollar question;
Why should you listen to me? No idea. Maybe it is my 26 years of working in the advertising and marketing world? Maybe it is because I have over 20% of my connections on linked in giving me a glowing reference. Maybe it is because I speak off the cuff, straight to the point and want to help? Whatever it is please feel free to comment, kick me, call me, test me, whatever you would like to do.
Am I an expert? Who knows. Maybe ask my clients.
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