Three Steps to Becoming a Recognized Expert

Can you claim the position of “expert” or “authority” in your work as a therapist?  If not, I’m not surprised.  Most of us don’t feel confident enough to call ourselves an “expert.” See if this quote from Robert Bly’s book Become a Recognized Authority surprises you:

“The world is filled with clinical researchers, family counselors, and psychotherapists, but ask people to name a sex expert, and 99 out of 100 will answer without hesitation, Dr. Ruth Westheimer.”

Would that be your answer?

Before I became a therapist, I would have been in there along with the herd naming Dr. Ruth.  Today, Dr. Ruth would not be my answer. She probably isn’t your answer either.  I’d be willing to bet that you and I respond differently than the general public because we’re in the mental health field and know of other professionals in the area of sex therapy whose work we respect.

This brings us to an important point: The opinion people hold regarding someone’s status as “guru,”"expert,” or “authority” varies greatly according to their familiarity with the subject matter.

Undoubtedly there are plenty of highly qualified sex therapists; Dr. Ruth is not the best.  The fact that Dr. Ruth is so well-known is a tribute to her tireless self-promotion, significant publicity, and learning through experience.  She jumped into the game with both feet.

You may not aspire to becoming a syndicated radio show host or a highly public figure, but how about a recognized expert in your community?  How about “go-to guy” or “go-to girl”?

Here are three steps you can take to ensure go-to person status:

	Choose Your Niche Well Choosing a niche is slicing off a segment of the field to specialize in and direct your marketing to.  You want this to be a segment that you can realistically hope to master and about which you are passionate. You’ll want to do market research and be sure that there is truly a market for your proposed service.  You’ll also want to make sure that you don’t choose a slice that is overrun with other experts who know how to market themselves. (Experts who don’t market well are not really a threat to you.)[although later you talk about referrals and certainly reputation can siphon clients to others]
	Learn How to Market Smart When you market “smart,” you make the most of your time and resources.  Smart marketing involves delivering a very targeted message to a very targeted audience (niche-ing is thus part of it). You’ll also want top-notch materials of course.  I offer my students proven formulas for writing their pieces, formulas which pique readers’ curiosity. Part of marketing a practice is building relationships with your potential clients. One way that this can be accomplished is by offering a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly newsletters (using some of the same proven formulas). In my work helping therapists to market their practices, we talk about the “secret of giving,” which involves providing valued information to potential clients. When potential clients experience you as helping them (just through articles for example), they’ll trust you and want more of your help.
	Continue to Gain Experience, Becoming More and More of an Expert At first your newly targeted clients will trickle in, and you may have to continue with the clients and issues that you’ve already been working with.  But if you do a good job with these new folks, you’ll gain great experience and you’ll become more of an expert. And with their referrals, you’ll keep growing.

But, could I really reach local expert status?  Even in my community there are people who know more than I do!

If you are really excited about your new niche, then that is great energy to ride.  Don’t be easily intimidated. Use your passion to study and learn everything you can.  No one knows everything at the get go.  We’re all learning.  If you can attract the right clients (through smart marketing), you are well on your way.

But, I don’t want to give up doing other work I love!

When I teach therapists about the importance of niche marketing, many are concerned that the niche work will be the only clients and problems they work with.  That will never be the case (even with the strongest niche marketing) because these clients will have other problems they need help with and will refer people to you who have other types of problems.

By marketing your niche, you are not limiting what you can do in your office. You can still do whatever other work you want—that is, until you become too busy to take on anything but your very top priority.

Summary

Remember, you can become the expert people come to for a particular type of problem or need if you can identify a good niche for yourself (that has potential) and draw in clients through smart marketing.  With every client, your experience and expertise grow, bringing confidence with it. You don’t have to be nationally known to be an expert; you can be an expert in your own community.