Sarge is from BeginnerBlogger which is a resource for bloggers and beginner bloggers alike helping those achieve blogging success. A university graduate from Brisbane, Australia recently left the 9-5 corporate world as a web designer/developer to pursue an online venture to create an ideal lifestyle for himself through blogging, social media, web design, online marketing and more. Follow him on twitter or subscribe to his feed. Sarge over to you;

What The Heck Is An ‘Expert’?


Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of comments and discussion about people starting blogs ‘pretending’ to be an expert in their chosen niche when they’re not and that they’re not ‘qualified’ to write about it.
If you’re labelling yourself as an ‘expert’ then watch out for heavy criticism. Make sure you’re armed with plenty of qualifications and years of experience.
But what makes you qualified? Is there a degree in blogging out there? If I do a course that someone with no qualifications has put together does that make me an expert now I’ve done their course? Is there a certain number of years experience required before you’re an expert? Is there a certain amount of money I need to make per year before I can be an expert? Is it the amount of twitter followers you have?
Or is being an ‘expert’ simply being able to help someone out and solve a problem?
According to dictionary.com an Expert is:
a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field

So really the term ‘expert’ is really a term loosely defined by the individual claiming ‘expert’ status or the person giving it. Otherwise we’re all ‘experts’ right? Maybe the word expert isn’t so highly regarded as we first thought?

The ‘Real World’

Personally I would love to see a qualification, a test, a course, a genuine education for blogging. They’re highly regarded in the ‘real world’. Something that is approved by an education department for bloggers would be great to actually prove you know what it is you’re preaching. Perhaps there is something already out there?

Having worked in the ‘real world’ for a few years people really dig that you have a degree and experience. This seems to make people label you as an ‘expert’ in your field.
Why not use the ‘real world’ principles of how they determine income. If you’re a beginning blogger (in whatever niche you’re in) offering a product or service – charge a low ‘minimum-wage’ based price. The more experience you gain the more you can then raise the bar of your prices. Is this a good idea?

Do I consider myself an expert in blogging? Hardly. There are many many areas I need to work on and want to learn more about. But I do know I’ve been able to help other people out and as long as I’m helping others solve problems that’s all that matters to me. I’m using my knowledge I’ve learnt and the experience i’ve gained to help others.

Conclusion


I believe there are different scales of ‘experts’ and that you are an expert if you are able to help someone out in an area that they’re unsure of and solve their problems. It’s what other people perceive you as. As you can see from this post and I’m sure from the comments that will follow everyone has a differing opinion of an ‘expert’. What is your view?
I believe there are different scales of expertise. I could teach my parents how to sign up to a twitter account and post a ‘tweet’. To them that makes me an expert at twitter. Some may even pay me to help them set up a twitter account and get started in the twitterverse. But can I get them 20k followers in a month and start making a living from their twitter account? Probably not. I’ll leave that to the other ‘experts’.
Personally, I think we’re looking at the wrong word here. Bloggers should be out to help others SOLVE PROBLEMS. Don’t label yourself an expert, let others label you as an ‘expert’ for you.
What does everyone think?
Please Comment
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