What is Expertise?

Before we discuss how expertise can help you in your business, it is helpful to know exactly what it means.

As with any word that we need a solid definition for, a quick Google brings up the following:

As a business owner, you are immediately an expert in your chosen field – whether that is as a builder, a marketer, or a hairdresser – and your expertise should be the reason that your customers choose you.

So, sharing that expertise, that specialised knowledge and experience, can demonstrate to your potential customers that you should be the go-to person in that industry.

How Can You Share it?

So how do you let your potential customers know that you are a ‘thought-leader’? I mean, it is a bit of a wanky term, but in all honesty it is correct – you are leading the pack in terms of knowledge and experience, in terms of expertise, so getting that information across is the next thing to think about.

I write blogs and articles. That is what I do, that is my industry. So, of course, in my (humble) opinion the best way to communicate to potential customers is through the written word.

Frequently Asked Questions

Look at your FAQ section. Is there something there that you could expand on, and give an expert answer? Perhaps your customers ask you about the difference between two products. Going into technical detail, and simplifying any industry-specific words and practices, can be an excellent way to make sure people not only understand, but that you can demonstrate your own understanding.

Case Study

Perhaps you could consider creating an incredibly detailed case study? Speak to a recent customer and make sure they are happy for you to share the details of their job first. This is an excellent way to not only describe a pain point that your potential customers might have and demonstrate your expertise in dealing with it. Step by step information about each part of the process, alongside pictures if necessary, will give a customer that is looking for information exactly what they need – and they can understand the process as well as the outcome. This is also a great way to show how you deal with any unexpected problems or issues.

How-To Guide

One of my favourite things to recommend to people is a ‘how-to’ guide. It might seem counterintuitive to give away the farm in this way but setting your customers up to be able to complete the work for themselves is a great way to demonstrate your expertise. A great example of this is from The Evergreen Agency – a local to me (and now national) marketing agency that I have mentioned a few times before.

The Evergreen Agency have grown exponentially through the last couple of years, and now boast a national roster of clients that use them for SEO, PR, PPC and other marketing strategies. When the agency began, Aaron put time and effort into creating a video series that businesses could use in order to improve their SEO – for free. Now, this was the agency’s bread and butter, it was the service they were providing to paying customers, so how and why did it work?

It made Aaron, and by extension his agency, an expert. People could see how they could simply improve SEO for their business, and therefore how much ‘extra’ value The Evergreen Agency could offer them if they paid for it. It also showed that although basic SEO is simple, it is also time consuming so not something that could be done in one go. By breaking down the sometimes complicated concepts, Aaron made it obvious that he knew what he was talking about, and quickly and easily positioned himself as the ‘thought-leader’ in the field.

If you want to find out more about the Evergreen SEO Academy, follow this link: https://theevergreenagency.co.uk/learn-seo/ . I highly recommend this to any small business that does not yet have the budget to work with an agency. Of course, for the best results you need to become a client, but you will see that for yourself once you check out their website.

Customer Reviews

The other way you can show expertise, without writing anything yourself, is to share reviews from customers. Don’t shy away from contacting previous customers and asking them for a review – if you have delighted them with the service and end result, they will be happy to write a recommendation. You can also use less positive reviews as a way to demonstrate expertise (and great customer service), by describing what went wrong and how it could be fixed.

Industry News

If there is a story in the media relating to your expertise, then sharing something about it on your website is a great way to not only stay relevant but also position yourself as an expert. If you can explain a scientific study, or comment on the piece in some way, you demonstrate your expertise while simultaneously helping your customers understand. Whether it is in an industry-specific publication or a national news story, utilising other sources to show your knowledge is a great way to add useful, interesting and educational content to your business.

Benefit of Sharing Your Expertise

Ok, so why bother? Well, let us take a little look at the reasons that sharing your expertise can make a difference to the number of customers you could gain. I live in a small town in leafy Oxfordshire called Bicester. Famous for the outlet shopping village (someone told me it was the second most popular destination for Eastern travellers after London), it is not a big place, but it is quite populous. It holds an enviable position approximately halfway between Birmingham and London, so it attracts commuters and city workers.

Bicester covers an area of 8.58 square kilometres. At the last census in 2001, it was recorded as having 28,672 residents, although that number will have grown exponentially thanks to a whole swathe of development that has taken place over the last couple of decades.

It is a running joke amongst Bicester folk that our high street is made up of estate agents, coffee shops and hairdressers/barbers. Typical of many small towns, the high street has suffered in recent times, with independent traders unable to compete with national supermarkets and online offerings as well as paying sky-high business rates on pretty small premises.

The reason I am using this as an example is that there are approximately 14 estate agents, 18 hairdressers and 10 barbers in our town. In a market that is saturated, how can you stand out?

The obvious (but incorrect) answer is to be the cheapest. This race to the bottom in terms of pricing damages not only your brand but also the profession as a whole – if you undercharge for your services you are not giving the service the value it deserves in the eyes of the consumer.

Of course, in every business, reputation is everything. Return customers can be the best source of income and referrals and giving your customers the best service (and getting them to shout about it) is what can make a difference. Sharing reviews and getting recommendations is something that every business needs to do in order to build a positive reputation – we all check the reviews before we buy anything, whether a service or a product.

On a larger scale, providing evidence of your expertise allows you to price yourself at the point that makes the most sense for your business. You can afford to hold your prices and avoid the race to the bottom if your expertise makes you stand out – people would prefer to pay more for a service or a product if they know it is the best. You can demonstrate that your offering is the best quite simply when you add value to the website experience through well-written, informative blogs and articles.

It Doesn’t Have to be Hard, Though

Of course, in an ideal world we would love to have time to write loads of informative blogs and articles for our website. This article is a great case in point – I haven’t had the time to write for my own site for almost two whole months because work and life got in the way. Summer holidays for the kids, returning clients after Lockdown, and even I could not find the time. Clients come first, obviously.

That is where I come in. Come on, you had to realise I would be adding this little postscript, didn’t you? I pride myself in my ability to learn all I can about a business, about an industry and about a product so that I can present information that is not only full of knowledge and expertise, but also entertaining. Your customers do not want to be bored to tears reading a dry report that is full of complicated technical terms and ideas. They want to be informed in a way that makes the most sense for them – and that is something that I specialise in. I have written for many audiences, in many countries, and I reckon I could make a real difference to the content on your website – hundreds of blogs, articles and product descriptions that have hit the mark for my agency and small business clients attest to that.

Contact me today if you think that I could help your business with engaging, interesting, authentic content that really demonstrates your expertise.