Are you an expert?

Says who?

There are ways to take something simple you already know how to do and turn it into expertise that applies to your business.

But many of you are already experts. You have a niche in your field. You know a lot about an area of study. You’ve done your research and built experience.

But who is calling you an “expert”? You can be an expert because you say you are (and have the knowledge to back it), but until someone else says you are an expert, it doesn’t really count.

You need the third party validation. If you have a lot of knowledge in an area and people have suggested you might be an expert, then I recommend taking extra steps to solidify your expert status. It’s time to codify your expertise in your network and community.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Write

Writing is important and valuable. Yes, it’s an age-old practice — but it’s still a viable and effective way to build your reputation.

I developed my expert status by writing for magazines in print many years ago. These days, we have different ways to produce content — we can write blog posts, create podcasts, develop webinars, and collaborate with other experts. The key is producing high-quality content.

Produce content that talks about your expertise, explores ideas, and challenges assumptions. Writing is a solid start to building your reputation as an expert.

2. Teach

As you write and product content, you’ll naturally start teaching your audience through those mediums. But don’t stop there. Look for ways to teach at trade shows.

Yes, there’s a trade show for your expertise. You are not the only expert in this field, and there’s a place that experts like you go.

Go there.

Get the lay of the land… and teach. Anytime you teach, give a seminar, conduct a workshop, or appear on a panel, you elevate your expert status.

I particularly love the Q&A format. The more questions you get, the more qualified an expert you prove to be. It gives you the opportunity to exercise what you know — which causes your knowledge to grow and blossom.

Teaching is an important part of building and maintaining your expert status.

3. Speak

Find a way to speak to your community about your area of expertise.

Some people may be able to go down to the local Lions Club and give a lecture. Others may have difficulty finding an audience for what they know. If finding an audience if difficult, shoot a video and post it on YouTube. YouTube is full of experts, some of whom have become extremely famous by posting videos online talking about their expertise.

It doesn’t matter what your expertise is, there’s a place for you to exercise that expertise. Then, by virtue of writing, teaching, and speaking, you actually become more of an expert.

You have knowledge worth sharing, so think of what you can do to reinforce it and add to it.

Writing, teaching, and speaking are the three key components that have helped me build my expertise — and there’s no reason they won’t work for you too.