Webster tells us that an expert is ?A person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field.?
So, does writing articles for an Ezine or for other publications qualify you as an expert?
That depends, doesn't it?
Most people, I suppose equate publications with knowing something. After all, why would someone bother to put pen to paper or paws to the keyboard if she didn't know a lot about what she was writing?
The short answer, of course, is to APPEAR to others as an expert! True experts write articles, but bozos and phonies do, too. So, how do we separate the genuine from the fakes?
Let's go back to Webster for a moment.
Again, an expert is a person who has SPECIAL skill or knowledge.
I can start my car by placing the key into the lock and twisting, but does this make me an expert at driving, at keys, locks, or automotive mechanics? Of course not, because ANYONE can do what I do with a key; it takes no SPECIALIZED knowledge or skill, whatsoever.
A locksmith is an expert, the real deal. Having seen, keyed, re-keyed, assembled and dissembled numerous locks, he knows a lot more about them than I do. He can fix a broken lock, and improve one that is barely functioning.
That smithy may have gone to school and have a certification or he may have apprenticed with a Master Locksmith over the course of time which are generally accepted indicia of expertise in his field.
You get the point. There are CRITERIA for determining expertise, so what criteria can we use to distinguish the expert writers from the amateurs?
(1) That locksmith we spoke of has to pass some sort of test to practice his craft. It could be a real world test, where someone calls on him to make a set of replacement keys or to re-key a lock. If he does it without a hitch, he's competent. A writer must be comprehensible to readers, make a point and support it, factually, if he's producing non-fiction. If he can't spell, or construct grammatical sentences, it's doubtful he's a writer.
(2) Real writers say something SPECIAL, that hasn't been said before, or they say what has been said, but they do it in a SPECIAL WAY, with a special style. If they're merely imitating or plagiarizing the work of others, they're certainly not experts, unless like painters and counterfeiters they are referred to as MASTER forgers, or MASTER counterfeiters. But then IMITATION itself, is elevated to an art form, and arguably, it deserves special recognition; ethics notwithstanding.
(3) Experts in nearly any walk of life are NOT SELF-APPOINTED. If you want to write a book and have a major publisher invest in it and issue it, you and your product will be screened, evaluated, filtered, and edited, generally by multiple people and committees that will have to agree on your competence and expertise. Expertise is always subject to verification, debate, and dispute.
(4) Experts are generally excellent in one field and possibly two, but they are not DaVinci, who was a brilliant painter and engineer and scientist, and more.
Are Ezine writers experts?
Undoubtedly, some are quite special. They say new things or say old things in new ways, and they're eminently comprehensible, and even enjoyable.
But there are others who are saying nothing new, nothing special, that are imitators, and are really trying to APPEAR to be experts.
They're the counterfeiters, but they're far from being MASTERS at it!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the best-selling author of 12 books, over 700 articles, and the creator of numerous audio and video training programs, including "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant-a favorite among salespeople and entrepreneurs. For information about booking Gary to speak at your next sales, customer service or management meeting, conference or convention, please address your inquiry to: [email protected]
