What is a Niche Expert?


The best definition I have heard for an EXPERT is “one who knows more than most people about a topic.”

By this loose definition, most everyone is an expert in at least one area if not many.

Think about it. What things do you know more about than most people? You should be able to generate a list of about 5-10 topics immediately. Even if 2 or 3 of these topics are just interest areas for you, there’s still potential to become an expert through more reading and experience.

What truly separates the recognized expert from the rest of us is not related to knowledge at all. I learned this very quickly when I started teaching other people what I know.

Let me back up one step and offer my own definition for “niche expert”:

A niche expert is a trusted authority on a topic.

The key word here is “trusted.” Of course, part of earning an audience’s trust is demonstrating knowledge and experience. But that part is actually very small.

You might have all the knowledge and experience on Topic Z, but that’s not going to guarantee that your audience will *trust* your authority.

The students in my business & writing classes are not persuaded by my knowledge of copywriting, business communication concepts, and so on. I cannot show it to them and thereby guarantee that I am the expert – at least not until I have earned their trust.

Achieving niche expert status depends entirely upon your relationship to your audience. Let’s recall that definition:

A niche expert is a trusted authority on a topic.

Once you gain the trust of an audience, you become the expert. We’ll look at the process for successful niche expert positioning in another post.

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