Is Your Expertise Stale or Up to Date?


In my dream universe, you go to one 15 minute Awesome Abs class (only 1, only once) and for the rest of your life you have fabulously fit abs.

In my dream universe, you clean your house once and you never have to take out the vacuum or the dust rag again. It stays clean.

Such is life in my dream universe, but here on planet Earth we need to be consistent and keep at things.

Your expertise is no different, even if you’ve achieved the status of Recognized Expert. If you don’t keep your expertise up to date and relevant, then you risk being looked at as passe or out of date.

I recently posed this question to my clients on a private Facebook group, and was impressed with their replies.

Here are a few highlights from their posts:

angelFrom Angel McClinton of Media Mojito:
I work in online media and have for almost ten years. I’ve gone from multimedia production, to interactive media production, to new media, to online video…There are always a slew o new tools to learn an more importantly new words to communicate.

You’ve helped me TREMENDOUSLY to identify the need of and communicate the service, to an audience that I would’ve probably never tapped into.

I teach people how to make and market with video. I went from a corporate environment to working with solopreneurs and I LOVE it!

From Homeopath Sam Adkins:

In  my field of homeopathy and natural health it’s important to stay on top of the current health worries such as the recent media hyped swine flu and make sure I have a stance on those to keep providing people out there with useful information.

I also give some breadth in other areas to my niche so recently I have written about raw juicing as you know as I get so many questions on it, and also abut exercising. My strategy here is to invite people who have a broader health outlook to come and follow me or enterinto the conversation and perhaps then also get interested in or exposed to what Homeopathy can do for them.

sherylbrownFrom counselor and coach Sheryl Brown:

One way I keep my expertise updated in my counseling practice is going to workshops and seminars. And in my coaching business, I’m getting certified in a  new program.

I like what you said, Sam, about staying on top of current health worries – what’s in the news – making sure you have a stance. I also like the concept you describe as giving some breadth in other related areas. That creates a nice balance of being wide enough and deep enough!

So now I toss the question out to my readers:
what are you doing to stay up to date and relevant as an expert?


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About Nancy Marmolejo

I'm a soul-driven strategist who teaches entrepreneurs how to turn followers into fans and fans into clients using social media and heart based marketing. My approach integrates proven strategies and intuitive hits so each client finds her special way to stand out and sizzle in the spotlight.

  • http://www.paralegalmentor.com Vicki Voisin

    While I attend many educational events to stay current in my area of expertise (the law and opportunities for paralegals) and retain my expert status, I feel that it is important for my business that I follow, listen to, and learn from experts such as you, Nancy, so that my online presence and how I offer my programs does not become stale.

  • http://blog.planitwithlisa.com Lisa Almeida

    I agree, the main ingredient to staying fresh is always be learning. There's a lot that I already know but there's never a lack of what I don't know :)

  • http://www.vivavisibilityblog.com Nancy Marmolejo

    Thanks Lisa and Vicki for your comments. It reminds me of what Stephen Covey calls "sharpening the saw" in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. We can never rest for too long on our laurels… no matter how hard earned.

  • http://VisionForSuccess.biz Ali

    I stay fresh and renewed, by always digging deeper for intellectual and spiritual broadening through the many tools available to me. After all, everything we do is, indeed, an inside job. As a seasoned business strategist and Passionista expert, I get juiced up at exploring the many passions that makes clients tick to constantly turn them into a profitable business, to add joy and expansion to the quality of lives.

    "Stay curious, excited and enthusiastic" and your muse will inspire creative change and new ideas!

    Ali Rodriguez

    <abbr>Alis last blog post..I Love the Month of May, don’t you?</abbr>

  • Claudine Motto

    I agree with this Nancy. And I really like what Sam said about having a stance – people don't always want just more information, they want to know what you think and how you see it. I think as solopreneurs we are naturally drawn to wanting to continue to learn – and I do believe we owe that to our clients.

  • http://AliceTChan.com Alice T. Chan

    As a Professional Home Stager, I feel it's extremely important to understand Real Estate and keep abreast of what's happening in TODAYS's market. The real estate industry has seen significant changes in the last 2 years and things are constantly changing. Marketing messages and strategies that worked during a seller's market is no longer serving us. To stay current, I like to attend realtor association meetings which usually feature industry leaders to keep a pulse on what's happening in my market. I also enjoy hearing about markets nationally and since I coach Home Stagers all across the country, I get first hand information. I also do a lot of research, reading and listen to my peers. The best way to know what's happening is to get out in the field and see for yourself and talk to real estate professionals.

    <abbr>Alice T. Chans last blog post..Leveraging Social Media to Grow Your Home Staging Business</abbr>

  • http://www.amethystwyldfyre.wordpress.com Amethyst Wyldfyre

    I really resonated with all these responses – Sheryl's probably the most – being in a Spiritual business I have two sides to the coin that are calling to me – on the one side to be constantly tracking energetically where the shifts are in the larger Universal field and on the other side to be able to apply the insights immediately to provide service for my clients and assist them through my business to be more energetically aligned themselves – so my business must be robust and fluid enough to shift along with the flow of the energy.

    Making connections both live and virtually through both attending and giving classes, workshops, live events, masterminds etc. is one of the best ways to stay "current" with the CURRENT!

    I'm looking forward to being with Nancy and other Spiritually based business leaders coming up in a few weeks at the Spiritual Marketing Telesummit – another wonderful opportunity to share energy and be of service.

    <abbr>Amethyst Wyldfyres last blog post..Bringing Forth Balance – The Ayni Despacho Ceremony</abbr>

  • http://shama.tv Shama Hyder

    Nancy,

    You are the queen of addressing JUICY topics! : )

    Yes, it is so key to keep your visibility fresh. This is why maintaining what you do is key.

    Great post – and great examples!

    <abbr>Shama Hyders last blog post..Tres Generaciones Tequila- A Social Media Case Study</abbr>

  • http://www.vivavisibilityblog.com Nancy Marmolejo

    Shama:
    You're always one to stay on top of the trends! Look at how you've responded to the market in the past year with the launch of http://www.Shama.TV and http://www.ClicktoClient.com , amazing! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, always a pleasure to hear from you. :-)

  • http://www.vivavisibilityblog.com Nancy Marmolejo

    Amethyst:
    I love how you phrased that: stay "current" with the CURRENT! That's what it's all about.

  • http://melanie-writeon.blogspot.com Melanie Kissell

    To stay fresh and up-to-date, I like to search Technorati or AllTop for the top bloggers in my niche to see what they're talking about. Also, I have scheduled Google Alerts for professionals in my field to stay current on all the latest buzz.

    Some time ago, I decided on a select, handful of online experts to start observing in each of the following arenas: Social Media Marketing, Article Marketing, Blogging, Publicity, Public Speaking, Copywriting, and Consulting. These individuals are marketers that I admire and respect and consider to be true, top notch professionals.

    Vicki and Lisa are absolutely right … watch, listen and learn!

    <abbr>Melanie Kissells last blog post..Online Work: This Author Doesn't Make Ridiculous Claims About Working Online</abbr>

  • http://blog.achieve-momentum.com Joan Schramm

    I keep current by interacting with people online, reading, attending seminars and stretching myself to try things that are really new and different for me. As long as I'm learning, I'm growing and meeting new people to connect with in different ways. There will always be people who know more than I do about a subject, and people who know less; it's fun and exciting to keep a hand in both camps.

    <abbr>Joan Schramms last blog post..Winning the Networking Game</abbr>

  • http://www.vivavisibilityblog.com Nancy Marmolejo

    Thanks Joan and Melanie for chiming in!
    We never stop learning. As much as I admire tried and true wisdom the world is just moving too quickly to not stay informed. Melanie, your strategy of picking an expert in each field is a great way to save time and learn big. That is why I'm such an advocate for everyone to market from their expertise, it creates a loyal following.