5 Things REAL Experts Do That You Probably Don’t

 It's one thing to be an expert, which is very important, but being perceived as an expert is just as important.

 

So here are five things that real experts do that you probably don't.

 

#1: Get Over Imposter Syndrome

 

I totally get it, being an expert comes with a lot of imposter syndrome.

 

We have this responsibility and feeling that we need to know everything, and that we have to be the expert, which puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on ourselves as experts.

 

The reason that we feel imposter syndrome is because we put the spotlight on ourselves.

 

We feel that we need to have all of the answers and all of the information because people are relying on us.

 

And these things are true, but it's this unnecessary pressure and focus put on ourselves that is the issue.

 

What we should do is put the focus on our people and the mission that we're trying to serve.

 

Now, if you're really struggling with imposter syndrome, the first thing that I always do with myself (because I struggle with this in phases too) is just to acknowledge my accomplishments.

 

And the more accomplishments that you have throughout your career, whether it's client wins, accolades, work that you've put in or progress you've made for yourself - the more you can rely on those things to bring you back up and make you realize that you've done a lot of stuff that makes you totally credible as an expert.

 

Think about whatever it is that you're an expert in, what is your goal?

 

For me it's online business entrepreneurship and my goal is to build an online business where I can, yeah, make great money and have freedom to live the life that I want. That's the impact that I want to make.

 

All I can really do is think about how I can contribute to this overall mission instead of being so focused on being this perfect, "know it all expert", which is never the case

 

Because let's face it, I'm not the only person helping people get to that place.

 

Imagine you teach people about relationships - think about the experience of relationships. It is a forever problem that people will have; finding love, rekindling love, loving themselves.

 

Or people wanting to put money in their pocket or get into great shape - these problems are universal and they will never go away.

 

So all that we can do as experts is show up and do our part in helping people on that journey. But it's not like we are the only person where all of that falls onto.

 

But again, it goes back to, "Am I really good enough?" and "Do I really know what I'm talking about?"

 

 

If you're obsessed with the topic that you teach and you live, breathe, and believe in your topic - you are an expert. So it's just about you owning that and putting the focus on other people.

 

#2: Answer People's Questions

 

The second thing that real experts do is answer people's questions.

 

To be a really reputable expert, you have to focus on two things throughout your career, and that's reputation and results.

 

It's constantly about getting people the results that you can help them achieve. And in doing that, you're going to build up your reputation, how people perceive you.

 

When your name is spoken at an event, a conference, in an article, etc. It should be associated with good feelings and a good reputation.

 

The way you build that is by getting out there and helping people get results.

 

So join some online forums. It could be in LinkedIn, Discord, Facebook groups, Reddit, YouTube comments or blog comments - and just start helping people.

 

Now when you do this, it's not a place for you to be acting like you're the "know it all" and are so amazing with these insanely long responses. Keep it as short as possible, but long enough to help the person.

 

And it's also not a time for you to be promoting that you are an expert content creator or an expert in your field.

 

It's just you answering the person's question and saying, "Hope that helps." If it makes sense, you can always offer to help that person.

 

If they say, "Wow, you're really smart and really knowledgeable about this, can I ask you some more questions?" Then you can say, "Yeah, sure, we can sit down on a phone call or a Zoom call, and I'd be happy to help you out further."

 

Need Content Ideas?

 

And by far the best way that you can start being an even greater expert is by producing your own content regularly, every single week.

 

If you can focus on a really good in-depth blog post, YouTube video, or a podcast of some sort - people are going to start to follow you, start to listen to you and hear your thoughts and ideas.

 

If you don't know where to start with that, or maybe you're just kind of getting stuck on what you should talk about for your next post, I have a really helpful guide that I want to give to you. It's 50 catchy formulas titles that get clicks. 

 

If you just focus on one good blog post, podcast, or YouTube video every week, this guide will give you more than enough ideas to fill up at least a year's worth of content.

 

Pick up that free guide here: 50 Catchy Title Formulas That Get Clicks

 

#3: Focus On Being a Guest

 

The third thing that real experts do, that you may or may not be doing, is they focus on being a guest.

 

You can be a guest through blog articles, published media, podcast episodes, collaborating with other creators, going into different Facebook groups, etc. Anything like that where you are the star and people are asking you direct questions.

 

A really easy way to start getting booked as a guest on different podcasts is to go to Facebook. Go to groups and then type in "podcast guesting groups" or "podcast collaboration groups".

 

In here you can make posts and connect with a bunch of different podcasters, and you can request to either find a guest on your podcast, or to be a guest on other people's shows.

 

Now, I spent a lot of time in these groups for my own podcast, because I love to interview experts and collaborate with experts by having my own show.

 

What I have found is that when you make a post saying, "Hey, I really want to be a guest", you may get a couple of responses, but when you make a post saying, "Hey, I'm looking for guests", everybody wants to be a guest because they understand that experts guest on shows.

 

So you can use some reverse psychology here. If you have a podcast where you can invite people onto your show who have a similar audience as you, you can then build a relationship with these people because nine times out of ten, they also have a podcast.

 

After you've built a relationship by first leading with value and inviting them onto your show, they will probably want to have you on their show as the natural law of reciprocity goes.

 

So by inviting more people onto your podcast to be guests, you will be able to be a guest on more shows.

 

This is how I've been able to get in front of hundreds or thousands of people at a time, by going on other people's stages or their own podcasts. 

 

You just need to be strategic about who you're inviting onto the show and who you are building a relationship with on your podcast.

 

#4: Continuous Learning

 

The fourth thing that real experts do that you probably don't do enough of is continuous learning.

 

And I'm not talking just about reading books, or watching some YouTube videos or listening to a podcast.

 

All of that stuff is great and is continuous learning, but I'm talking about really investing in yourself, hiring a coach, joining a private mastermind.

 

When you invest in knowledge, it sticks way better with you. And that's the same as when people invest in you, your programs, your books, your coaching, etc.

 

When you put skin in the game, your brain just gets serious about the information that you're going to be learning because you put in your hard earned money.

 

And what's even more important than you investing in yourself, is sharing the stories from your experience in investing in yourself.

 

The thing about real experts is that experts speak from experience.

 

If you've ever noticed the greatest experts that you love to follow such as Tony Robbins, Alex Hormozi, Russell Brunson, Brendon Burchard, all these guys are huge experts in the personal development space, the marketing space, etc.

 

Something that they all have in common is that they share a ton of stories, and these are stories from their personal experience doing the things that they teach. 

 

If you're an expert in relationships and you're like, "How am I going to stand out from all the other people who teach relationships?" It's the stories of your experience with your topic of relationships that will make you unique.

 

And what real experts do is learn principles and strategies that they can apply to their life, and then they share that with the people behind them.

 

For me, for example, I'm constantly learning new things just to develop myself as an individual, but also in terms of my business.

 

I'm learning new strategies and when I learn them, I can send an email over to my audience or share it with a client: a story of me learning this thing, where I learned it, how I learned it.

 

Then I can transfer that knowledge to them and that's going to help them grow in this area that I'm teaching as well.

 

So just know that we're all on the same journey. Your job as the expert is just to be a little bit further than the people that you can help, and to learn from people who are further than you.

 

#5: Show Proof

 

And the fifth thing that real experts do that you probably don't do enough of is show proof.

 

It seems simple enough, but you'd be surprised at how many people don't do this. I didn't do it for years.

 

I didn't put an emphasis on collecting testimonials and proof of concept for so long, and that's what made making sales way harder.

 

So as you're helping your clients or your students get great results, what's going to help your reputation is getting praise from them.

 

As soon as they say, "Thank you so much. I couldn't have done this without you." That's when you can say, "Hey, would you mind shooting me a quick little video or writing me a little testimonial?"

 

As you get these testimonials, put them on your website, your YouTube channel, your blog, your LinkedIn profile, etc. Showcase how you're helping people in your given field of expertise.

 

And ideally, you want to make this as easy as possible for you, but also for the people that you're asking to leave you a testimonial.

 

One easy way to collect testimonials is to create a page for video testimonials, just walking people through what to say, where to send the video, telling them how to set up their phone, etc.

 

Another easy way to collect testimonials is by creating a jot form or a Google form that you can easily send over to people. Questions I like to ask in my forms:

 

• What are three things you loved about working with me?
• If there's one thing that you could change about your experience with me, what would that one thing be?
• What would you say to someone who's considering working with me?

 

When you send that over to someone, they're going to fill out the form and you're going to get notified when you get a response.

 

Another really easy and paid tool is testimonial.to which will create a little widget that points straight to your website. As soon as somebody records a video or types in a little bit of text, it'll automatically get published over to your site (I don't have an affiliation with testimonial.to. It's just a really helpful tool that I know about, and you may want to check it out).

 

Now that you're on your way to being a real expert, you may be thinking, "Well, okay, I get that I'm an expert. I have all this experience, but how do I really start an online business around that?"

 

Well, that's why you should check out this blog where I show you exactly what I would do if I were starting an online business in 2024 and beyond.

 

Take what you learned here. Get out there. Make something happen. I will see you in the next one.