When you’re trying to position yourself as an expert in the niche, you need to be showing that you have great knowledge of that niche. But, do all supposed Internet experts really have that expertise?
I’m going to let you into a secret. Many of these so-called experts fake this.
In this blog post, I want to look at how, if you feel so inclined, you can do the same.
Being seen as an expert on the internet is far easier than being seen as an expert in the wider world. The internet is an immediate globe of reach. Generally you need to make yourself known on the internet and it’s very easy to do that by using profile marketing and posting in places that are appropriate for an expert of your standing. What I believe is more important is that you need to make sure the information that you provide has such a degree of quality that people have no doubt then to accept you as an immediate expert in that niche.
One strategy I like to use is a Questions based strategy. That’s where you look on forums or other sites to find out what questions people have and then you provide an answer for them. This tells people that you’re an expert, you are important and you are somebody they should know about in this particular niche or field. By doing that, you’ll start to show your name as an expert in important internet locations.
There’s one more important thing that you must do. And to be quite honest this is vitally important. You need to be providing information with quality. There’s no point in just going out there and giving a superficial answer to a question. People will see through it. In any particular forum you go to there will be experts on there already. They might not know how to push their expertise, and they may not even be interested in pushing their expertise. That gives you an advantage.
Here’s the real secret I mentioned to positioning yourself as an expert when you reply to questions.
You can look up the answers!
If you don’t know the answer to something, then that’s absolutely no problem. You have all the time in world on the Internet and in forums to find out and share something definitive.
You can even use offline sources. Take the extra step that many other people won’t bother to do.
Look up the answer in a textbook if it’s an academic subject. Look up the answer in a magazine or newspaper archive if its popular culture. You can go a library and hunt through books. The sources are there, whatever these most appropriate sources may be. Go ahead, find that answer and then put this on the forum or in the Q and A side.
That’s how you fake expertise, but still provide value.
You’re going to be giving the best information so people have no doubt you are the expert. And you’ll be learning more and getting better at your niche in the process.