Everything is relative
"An expert is someone who, over many years, manages to remain confident enough to keep trying and humble enough to keep learning." - James Clear How many times have you thought about calling yourself an expert and then said to yourself, but I'm no expert? I've hemmed and hawed over the years when people refer to me as an expert copywriter or branding expert. After all, what makes someone an expert in anything? Ok, some people are experts because they have schooling or certification or hours and hours of apprenticeship or work under their belts. But what makes you any different? Don't you have hours and hours of work under your belt? Haven't you gone to school for something? Haven't you read hours and hours of material related to what you do? Watched, listened and absorbed. Haven't you gotten more comfortable and confident in what you do? Maybe even pushing the boundaries a bit here and there. Failing. Learning. Trying. Succeeding. Failing again. Rinse and repeat. At what point are you an expert?
You get to decide
Like so many things, expertise can be subjective. Plenty of people probably purport to be experts and aren't and plenty don't and are. Expertise is confidence. It's saying that you do something well and owning it. It doesn't need to be universally accepted (haters gonna hate) but it should be somewhat irrefutable to most. Because expertise is about helping people do something they can't. Read that again.
When people say I'm an expert copywriter, it's because they can't write like I do. To them, I can do something they aren't able to do.
Does this mean there aren't other expert writers out there? Of course not.
Does this mean I'm the best in the world? Behave.
But, it does mean, that to a certain segment of my audience, of people I serve, of people who need my help, I'm an expert. I do something well in their eyes and that makes me an expert.
It's a skillset
Expertise has become conflated with being the best, when it simply means you do something well, perhaps very well.
Better than others.
Better than most.
But not better than all.
So why aren't you calling yourself an expert?
It's baccccckkkkkkk!
It's been a minute since I ran this and well, you've asked, so I'm bringing it back. This is your last chance in 2022 to create a bio that sounds like you! Why does this matter? When your message sounds like you, you perform better, you have more confidence, you attract more of the right people and you understand what you're good at and how to advocate for yourself. This isn't magic, it's by design. So hop on that waiting list and be the first to know when doors open.
Does a 9.5 make me an expert?
Winning awards doesn't usually mean much for me. But when it means that an amazing nonprofit gets recognized, well, I'm all for it. I'm proud to announce that the website I wrote with design partner Great Believer and SEO partner Whole Whale for Spectrum360, just won Outstanding Website from the Web Marketing Association.
And if I can toot my own horn for a moment, the copywriting on the site received a score of 9.5! Considering that the industry average and the Web Award average is normally 7.9, I'm pretty chuffed. Please take a look at the site and this fantastic organization and support them in any way you can.
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