Call yourself an expert?

I was speaking with a colleague about all the experience and knowledge she had gained in her field during several years of being in business.  Yet when I suggested she could capitalise on them by using the term 'expert' in her marketing materials, she quickly and firmly said 'Oh no, I couldn't do that - it wouldn't feel right."

It got me thinking about what an expert is and when exactly do you become one?  I mean, if you call yourself an expert, is that enough to make you one?  There certainly seem to be a lot of people in the social media field doing just that right now.  Or do you become an expert when other people give you the label?

Whenever the media want to add a bit of gravitas to an article or news item, they invariably wheel out an expert - in whatever field is appropriate. And because of their superior knowledge, we assume what they say is factual.  But why are they considered experts in the first place?  It's usually because they have spent many years studying the subject in question, and earned the right to the title of expert (10,000 hours being 'the magic number for true expertise', according to Malcolm Gladwell in his book 'Outliers').

Especially on the internet, the term is bandied about by so many people wanting you to believe they know more than the average bear - and of course expecting you to pay for whatever product or service they're offering, based on their hard won expertise.  Unfortunately, underneath the gloss of the shiny new website or squeeze page is .... nothing.  The most basic research reveals some of them are more likely to have spent around 10 hours studying their subject; a far cry from 10,000.

So who do we turn to when we want to learn about something new?  Of course we search out the experts .... but how do we know if they really are?

(In case you were wondering, my colleague preferred the term 'Specialist')