Do you desire to be recognised as an expert in your field? 15 Steps To Establish Authority in Your Field, with a bonus tip!

We all possess some level of expertise – we couldn’t do our jobs if we didn’t! But how many of us can say that we’re genuine experts in our area?
Maybe you do believe yourself an expert: you’ve spent years building your knowledge, you’re confident in your skills, and co-workers regularly seek your advice. Simply, despite your expertise, you may be a little-known outside of your close circle of colleagues, and this could limit your opportunities for progression.
Do you desire to be recognised as an expert in your field?
To be honoured by your peers for your professionalism, leadership and expert knowledge of your industry?

Establishing Authority in Your Field


Being recognised as an expert authority can bring many advantages, from the respect of your fellow workers, peers and clients, to attracting more business (consulting arrangements, speaking opportunities, book deals, etc.) for yourself or your organisation. What many don’t realise is it’s the rare soul who becomes instantly recognised as an expert. In other words, expertise is something that is cultivated and nurtured over time, between a somebody or organisation and an audience or fan base (including customers, employees and other stakeholders). The process starts with intention – the decision to focus on a specific niche or market by placing one’s talents, skills and insight into the service of that specific niche. What it’s actually about is noticing your “why” — that axis between what you’re really good at and your passion.

15 Steps To Establish Authority in Your Field

What is your expertises ?

  1. Identifying your professional expertise / speciality
    What are the 3 to 5 specialties within your profession at which you excel? Out off these, are you more knowledgeable about a specific area or practice than your peers?
  2. Identifying your industry expertise
    Is there a specific industry where you have a great deal of experience? Also, are you an expert in working with organisations of specific sizes (small businesses, mid-sized companies, Fortune 500 companies)? Well, I’ve worked with a number of clients representing at least a dozen different industries, however the majority have been focused in just a handful of industries. Some of my peers have worked almost their entire careers in just 1 industry, such as health care / financial services.
  3. Identifying your geographic market
    Expertise can transcend geographic markets. The key here is to place a potential base of customers that will allow you to make a living. Keep in mind, some professions have limitations, such as the requisite of  licenses to practice in a specific state.
  4. Identifying your experiential expertise
    Its not obvious to follow expertise by the traditional path of going to college and establishing a white-collar career. Many of the most successful people we know didn’t follow a traditional script to success. So, you may be a very good Public Accountant or a really great nurse, but maybe you should look beyond that to experiences such as flying drones, hiking up mountains topping 12,000 feet, or collecting a thousand comic books as an expertise that can be shared with others.
  5. Claim your expertise
    Here’s a thing about expertise that you should know – it’s not determined by how many years you’ve worked in a specific profession / an industry. Rather, it’s based on how far you’ve travelled and how many different routes you’ve taken on the journey. Bit by claiming your expertise is gaining the respect you deserve which comes when not just your followers adore you, but when your peers come to respect you as well. Oft times, that’s tested in public when giving a talk, sitting on a panel discussion, or during a live interview with a media outlet – it becomes clear whether you know what you’re talking about or not. 
  6. Sharing your expertise
    Another aspect of being an expert is your openness to sharing your knowledge and wisdom. The whole point of seeking to position yourself as an expert is your willingness to be a leader in your field, and that means leading by bringing others together to continue advancing the field’s pool of knowledge. In other words, experts give. They create value within their field of expertise by seeking others (not just new customers) to share their wisdom and insights. They think not just about today, but of the legacy they want to leave for the next generation.

Establish Your Expertise

  1. Building social credibility
    To be recognised as an expert, you need to have social proof those authoritative factors or elements linked to your personal brand that are recognised by your peers, customers and other influencers. This may vary based on your profession or field of expertise. 
  2. Identifying other experts in your field/market
    Identify where you stand among existing experts and start to cultivate relationships with them. While you may compete with some of these people for customers, or in marketplace acceptance of ideas and concepts, the reality is, other experts in your field all have something in common — the desire to lift your profession/industry up. And that comes through collaboration, the sharing of information, and the setting of new standards. 
  3. Understanding what’s next
    The top experts don’t just think of today, they’re thinking about tomorrow, or possibly, way into the future. They apply a futurist mindset to their knowledge. They search for patterns/trends that will have far-reaching impact on future developments in their area of expertise. They push the edges of curiosity, and they’re continuous learners.
  4. Building a platform
    By developing a unique point-of-view, from which to express your expertise will help you distinguish yourself from the pack.Take some time do your own research to validate your thinking and your unique approach to your field, literally write out your views and compare them to what other experts in your field are saying.
  5. Take on leadership roles
    Experts serve as advocates for their industry, their community or the causes they consider in. They dish up on the boards, they participate on committees, and they mentor. It’s in leading that they build personal relationships that permit them to share their expertise and collaborate with their peers.

Promote Your Expertise 

  1. Express your believes
    Develop your unique points of views (POV) with your existing customers, potential customers and your peeress through LinkedIn or posting shorter messages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
    Note: Don’t confuse being recognised as an expert with the modern day definition of being an influencer (someone with a large social media following). You can be a highly sought-after expert without a large social media following. 
  2. Write a book
    Many experts write and publish books to cement their expertise, their thinking/special point of view while building out their marketing platform. Being an author and having a book to your credit is still perceived as a solid sign of social credibility. A book allows you to claim your expertise while creating a foundation of content that can be turned into other types of content like videos, articles, white papers, which can be used to draw new fans. In addition, a book offers an opportunity to generate editorial coverage, speaking engagements, and social media posts. 
  3. Seeking 3rd-party editorial coverage
    If people don’t cognise about you and your expertise, then they’ll never come to like and trust you, and ultimately do business with you. That’s why experts need to put themselves out there and partake in their expertise. One of the most proven ways of executing this is making yourself available to media outlets, including bloggers, who is seeking expert sources for information, insights and informed opinion for the stories they share with their audiences. This stands for developing relationships with reporters, editors and bloggers and making yourself available for interviews or writing articles for a magazine or a blog. 
  4. Building a community
    As you become known, you will establish your own community of followers, with whom you can communicate directly through “owned” media. To accelerate this process, focus your efforts on establishing an opt-in email list of people who have an interest in receiving information and insights directly from you. If you’re not sure how to start, lead off by creating a short list of people with whom you have business relationships and start by sharing articles or videos created by yourself that you believe can add value to their lives. Building a blog also is an efficient way to stay in touch with your growing fan base by sharing free content about important matters and topics.

Bonus

  1. Your Expertise = Your Personal Brand
    Building your expertise is the initiatory step in a longer journey involving the building of your personal brand. It’s the foundation of your personal brand – the bricks, hence to speak – that will help you attract and retain a growing following of people who trust you for your thinking and wisdom, and who are open to sharing that thinking with their network. Subsequently all, you become known by the company you keep and the ideas you share.

Get building up on your personal brand, fill in the convenient contact form so we can discuss whether we might enjoy working together.