How to successfully sell your expertise?

How to sell your expertise? We all reach a point in our careers where we start to question our experience or expertise. Maybe you’ve been asked if you could do someone a favor and “look at something.” Or maybe someone has even asked if they could pay you for a consulting session.

No matter what your expertise, chances are you’ve felt compelled at some point to offer consulting services. Selling your expertise is a process that begins with intention, the decision to focus on a specific niche or market by offering your talents, skills, and knowledge. It’s not just about picking a specific market and saying, “ I will be an expert on this ».

It’s really about finding your “why” – that axis between what you’re really good at and your passion. We’ve often heard people say, “I can only sell what I believe in.” So what do you believe in yourself?

Because the process of establishing yourself as an expert begins with believing that you are so good at something that others will want the expertise you have to improve themselves or their organization. Here are the steps to define, establish and sell your expertise

1. Identify your expertise, geographic market

If you went to school to study a specific field of interest like finance, then you might say that you are an expert in that field. You might also say that you are an expert if you have worked in a specific profession for a certain amount of time. However, in most professions, there are aspects that further define expertise. In the world finances, for example, you may be good at many things, but you might be exceptional at personal finance.

So start here:

• What are the three to five specialties of your profession in which you excel? Finance de Demain for example excels in Finance and E-business. And you ?
• Of these, do you know a specific area or practice better than your peers? This is about identifying a competitive and distinctive skill that you have and that your competitors do not.

After identifying your expertise, you need to identify your geographic market. Expertise can transcend geographic markets. For example, if you are a corporate financier who is an expert in online businesses, that is expertise that can be in demand just about anywhere in the world.

However, you can choose to be an expert serving a specific area. Furthermore, identify your experiential expertise. Not all skills are acquired by following the traditional scenario of going to college. Others, however, are acquired over time and through the nature of the problems you encounter in your career. So this is an asset for you.

2. Share your expertise first

Anyone who wants to sell their expertise must first share it. In fact, another aspect of being respected as an expert is your openness to sharing your knowledge and wisdom. There are many people we would consider experts who are not. Why? Quite simply because they hold back their knowledge and/or refuse to collaborate with others.

The whole point of seeking to position yourself as an expert is your desire to be a leader in your field. This means leading by bringing others together to continue to advance the pool of knowledge in the field. In other words, the experts give. They create value in their field of expertise by seeking out others (not just new clients) to share their wisdom and ideas. They think not just about today, but about the legacy they want to leave for the next generation.

Finance de Demain shares his experiences and knowledge, as you see from his blog posts. All this for free.

3. Build social credibility

The third thing to do if you want to sell your expertise is to build a good reputation. To be recognized as an expert, you need to have social credibility (or social proof). This credibility creates authority your personal brand which is recognized by your peers, customers and other influencers.

This can vary depending on your profession or area of ​​expertise. For a corporate lawyer, social credit might be earned by representing blue-chip clients or litigating a high-profile case. In other professions, it might mean earning an MBA or PhD. For advertising professionals, it might mean winning a major advertising award for an ad campaign. If you’re a political consultant, it often means working on a major political campaign.

With the same idea, Finance de Demain is a team of proven teachers and professionals. Take a close look at how other experts in your field have gained the credibility they need to speak as an authority figure.

4. Identify other experts in your field or market

On the expert spectrum are those who are well-known, those who are not. There are also many in-betweeners. So, identify where you stand among the existing experts and start cultivating relationships with them. While you may compete with some of these people for clients or thought leadership, the reality is that you and other experts in your field all have something in common.

It's about desire advance your profession or your industry. And that comes through collaboration, sharing information and setting new standards.

5. Build a trading platform

To better sell your expertise and stand out is a decisive turning point. With so many experts, you need to distinguish yourself from the pack. How? By developing a unique point of view, or a platform from which you express your expertise.

You can create a website for your business or have a well-referenced premises. The first option is the best because it opens you up to the whole world. You can also use social networks to build your business because these networks significantly improve the visibility of your business. Think about it.

You also need to take a close look at your industry or profession. To do this, you must provide answers to the following questions:

• What do you see that no one else sees?
• Do you notice patterns?
• What would you change if you had the power, influence and resources?
• Where is the danger lurking?
• Should the alarms be sounded?

Take the time to literally write down your views and compare them to what other experts say. If you need to, do your own research to validate your thinking and unique approach to your field.

6. Speak your mind

Being able to sell your expertise easily starts with being able to express your thoughts. After building a platform and defining your working method, express yourself. Use your platform to engage with your existing clients, prospects, and peers. One of the easiest places to start doing this is through LinkedIn, which allows users to publish articles via LinkedIn Pulse. Also consider publishing articles on your company blog, or on your social networks. For example, use the facebook shop to present and sell your products or services.

Please note: Don't confuse being recognized as an expert with the modern definition to be an influencer (someone with a large social media following). You can be a highly sought-after expert without a large social media following.

7. Write and publish a book or article: a very powerful way to sell your expertise

Many experts write and publish books to solidify their expertise while building their marketing platform. Being an author and having a book to your credit is still seen as a strong sign of social credibility.

A book allows you to showcase your expertise while creating a content base that can be expanded into other types of content (videos, articles, white papers), which can be used to attract new fans. In addition, a book offers the opportunity to generate editorial coverage, speaking engagements, and social media posts.

8. Build a community

As you become known, loved and trusted for your expertise, you will create your own community of followers, with whom you can communicate directly via “owned” media. To speed up this process, focus your efforts on building an email list of people who want to receive information and insights directly from you (as opposed to a third party).

Start by creating a short list of people you have business relationships with. Share articles or videos you created that you think can provide value to your prospects.

Eventually, this list can become an official email list that you can use for an email newsletter. Building a blog is also an effective way to keep in touch with your fans. Share with them free content on important issues and topics.

9. Develop Service Offerings and Payment Plan

Once you've built a community, craft service offerings that make sense. Set a reasonable price for your services based on what you intend to do. If you help businesses reach six figures in their first six months, it's reasonable to charge a higher price than if you're "just helping businesses quickly become profitable " Telling prospects the exact sales growth percentages helps them understand the full picture of their investment in you and what it will reward them for.

Next, determine whether you will offer advice on a Mandate or just on one-off sessions. Both serve different purposes. If you have a brand strategy for startups, maybe it will just be an immersive 2 hour meeting at a fixed price.

But, if you're helping with a longer-term strategy and going into the trenches with them, a warrant would be more appropriate. Consulting services are generally paid on retainer.

10. Create materials promoting your consulting business

To successfully sell your expertise, the focus should be on promotion. Create documents that clearly explain what you intend to do. In short, clearly present what your consulting mission consists of. This includes the hours spent in meetings, the materials included and what the potential client can expect to learn and obtain from you. The more specific you can be, the better. Make sure to write about their weaknesses and lean heavily on past experiences for credibility.

Then, Finance de Demain recommends marketing through a blog, newsletter and small website. Create more succinct versions of your sales script, like short paragraphs that can be used as a bio on blogs or in the section " about " of a newsletter. You can also place sales catalogs to promote your services.

11. Engage in content marketing.

The final step to selling your expertise is to engage in content marketing. The content of your posts should be associated with what you are viewing. This type of content is often referred to as “ premium content and give potential clients a taste of your style and ideas, building trust. They need to be able to see your obvious expertise in order to want to hire you. Ok, you understood correctly, publish only what you master.

Do you offer advice on social media? Post a few social media tips a week. Over time, this will start to align with your brand and engage your audience. If you feel like you're lacking content, Finance de Demain recommends asking your audience what they're struggling with. The more you can begin to solve their problems, the more they will see you as their leader or their " Saviour ".

Over time, as you continue to attract and help clients, you will have enough case studies and digital proof to grow your consulting business beyond a side hustle.

In summary…

Building your expertise is the first step in a long journey of building your personal brand. It is the very foundation of your personal brand. It is the building blocks, so to speak - that will help you attract and retain more and more people. Eventually, those people will trust you for your insight and wisdom. And they will be willing to share that insight with their network.

Do you have something to share and a way to help entrepreneurs or businesses? Get out there and show them! However, here is a training that allows you to have an explosive conversion rate on your online store. This is an affiliate link. Do you have a concern about this content? Leave us a comment and we will be happy to answer.