Guident Newsletter – December 2017 – Issue 19

You are the “Subject Matter Expert” promote yourself!

One year, my wife and I were toying with selling our home, which we lived in for twenty years.  She is a farm girl with a horticulture degree.  Needless to say, our backyard looks awesome in the summertime, so I said if we do sell we would have to sell in the summer months because I could get an additional $10,000 for the house just because of the plantings.  I’m one that has learned to really appreciate the different colors and how the plantings add to our home’s ambiance but I in no way would have the vision to create it myself.  My wife is “The Subject Matter Expert” in our family when it comes to plants.      

Most business owners are “Subject Matter Experts” in their fields.  More often than not, I am working with business owners who have great technical ability but need help developing the management skills to achieve their goals in a fast-growing business.  I like to suggest that they volunteer on the radio or speak at Chamber events promoting themselves as “Subject Matter Experts” in their chosen fields.  Many of these types of organizations are looking for speakers and do not have a huge budget to pay the national or even regional speakers to come to speak at events.  From my experience, many of the local business experts I hear speak at events are more in tune with the culture of the area and the challenges faced by many in the audience.  

Volunteering to be on an expert panel can get you and your business free advertising and help your promotional budget get more bang for the buck.  If you think about it, wouldn’t your customers rather have work done by an organization that is owned by a “Subject Matter Expert”?  I come from a Midwest state and many of the business owners I work with find it hard to “self-promote”.  These professionals are often uncomfortable in front of crowds or in a crowded room.  This also affects their ability to network and “work a room” during professional events and conferences.  For many, networking is a “learned skill”.  This is why speaking about a subject that you know inside and out is the first step to better networking for your business.

Promote yourself as that “Subject Matter Expert” in your area or region; it has the potential to increase profits and open doors for you and your business that you might not even know exist.