Feb
19

Why You Don’t NEED to Be an “Expert” to Make a Living

These days, everyone is desperate to be recognized as an expert.  But you don’t actually need to be an expert to get paid, and paid well.

You just need to be “above average.”

Keep It Simple, (for the) Stupid

In order to make a living, you only need one thing: the ability to solve someone else’s problem.

People are always willing to pay for what they don’t know how to (or can’t, or aren’t willing to) do for themselves.  Where we, the solution providers, often miscalculate is in figuring out how much other people actually do know.

Here’s a hint: it’s (almost) always less than you think.

At the annual PodCamp Pittsburgh “un-conference,” we offer hourlong workshops on all aspects of social media.  Without fail, the sessions we list as “Advanced” inevitably attract audiences who only have a passing familiarity with the topic, while the “Basic” sessions are full of people who’ve barely turned on a computer.

This is because all of us — instructors and pupils — overestimate the public’s actual level of capability.

The Ever-Dwindling Audience for Expertise

Who needs help in life?  Everyone.

Who has problems that “experts” in that field would classify as “entry-level” problems?  Everyone.

Who has problems that “experts” would be hard-pressed to find answers to?  Very few.

Think of the audience for your expertise as a pyramid:

  • The base is comprised of people who know absolutely nothing about the topic at hand, except that they have a problem which needs to be solved (by someone else).
  • At the peak are the experts who possess answers to most of the known problems.
  • You’re somewhere in the middle.  But don’t worry; so is (almost) everyone else.

Thus, in order to get paid, you never need to be at the peak.  You just need to be one step above the base.  Even someone at the next-to-entry-level of topical knowledge can make a living providing solutions to the entry-level audience immediately below her.

So why does everyone so desperately claw at imaginary titles like “expert” and “guru” when all they need to be is “above average”?

Because we’re all too conceited to admit how little we actually know.

Paying God Makes Me an Angel, Doesn’t It?

There’s a bit of dialogue in the underrated film Max, in which a doctor asks his ill friend’s wife why he hasn’t come in for a diagnosis.  The wife replies, “You don’t charge enough.”

No one wants to pay for solutions from someone who’s “above average” when they could pay more for solutions from an expert.  Never mind that the solutions would be identical; being advised by an expert allows you to believe your problems are worthy of “expert attention.”

Experts are never just selling answers; they’re convincing other people that their problems are special.

But What If You Actually ARE an Expert?

There’s a difference between knowing enough about a topic to be instructive to those who don’t know much, and knowing so much about a topic that you become valuable to nearly everyone in that particular field.

If that’s you, congratulations: you can now charge like you mean it.  But you also need to be able to back up your fees with proof of relevance, or your expertise will be exposed as an illusion by the people who hold you to elevated standards.  (No wonder there’s such a premium on actual expertise, and so much perpetuated misinformation about what results should constitute “success.”)

Not sure if you’re an expert, or honest enough to admit that you’re “just” above average?  Never fear: there are always going to be more entry-level problems in the world than expert-level problems, because there will always be more entry-level people creating problems in the first place.  As an above-average solution provider, you’ll never have a shortage of work.  And by declaring yourself as such, you can avoid being saddled with the incredible responsibilities allocated to real experts.

After all, if you’re too lazy to develop actual expertise but you’d still like to charge for it, god forbid someone take you seriously enough to give you the keys to their important machinery.

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Posted by Justin Armchair Sociology, Freelance Tips, My Social Media POV Subscribe to RSS feed
  • http://www.jacksonwightman.com Jackson Wightman

    Hey Justin,

    Lots of interesting points here.

    However I am not entirely in agreement with all of your causal logic.

    You say:

    “Thus, in order to get paid, you never need to be at the peak. You just need to be one step above the base. Even someone at the next-to-entry-level of topical knowledge can make a living providing solutions to the entry-level audience immediately below her.So why does everyone so desperately claw at imaginary titles like “expert” and “guru” when all they need to be is “above average”? Because we’re all too conceited to admit how little we actually know.”

    I think you’ve left out insecurity as a driver for why folks claw at “expert” as a badge of honour. People without real expertise – those who you might peg as “next to entry level” wrongfully assume that someone with an “entry level” problem will seek out a real “expert” and bypass engaging their services/brain or whatever. This fear is misplaced.

    Though entry level folks may call world leading experts for their Mickey Mouse problems most real experts don’t want to deal with these types of problems unless the payday is super human. Nor do they have time. This too is why there is space in the market for lesser mortals who are willing to take on the mundane problems.

  • http://albamaria30.wordpress.com red pen mama

    You are writing very timely posts for me as of late. And when I get around to starting that professional blog in the next 40 days or so, I’m linking to you like mad. Thanks!

    I picked up a freelance proofreading gig the other day. My 5yo daughter asked me what I was doing with the manuscript and a red pen (trying to work while the kids are awake is challenging, but I was crunching on deadline). I told her that I was getting paid to read these pages and make sure they are all right. “Someone pays you for that?” she asked. “Why?”

    And my response was: “Because I’m an expert.” And that’s true in a way; due to the years of experience I have as a writer, copy writer, editor, and proofreader, and due to my diligence in learning about all of the above, I know more than the average bear when it comes to the English language and grammar. I get paid to read stuff sometimes! Go figure.

    Now, if I can just figure out how to help people with social media, I’m golden.

  • http://reallybigpeach.com Katrina Miller

    When I started my career in design, I grappled with this. As a student, just out of school, there was NO way I could position my self as an “expert”.

    Not only that, I was competing with a lot of other “non-experts” so I chose to focus on what set me apart. Sure, you could go to an expert, but most experts don’t really respond well to requests for solutions to entry level problems. I focused on the fact that I was easy to work with, and my lack of ego. People appreciated having their problems solved easily, and cheaply. If not by an “expert”.

    I’ve held onto that, even though with 13 years of experience, I’m beyond “entry level problem solver” and focus more on HOW I do what I do.

    I think that is another reason you don’t need to be an “Expert”. In a way, even if you ARE an expert, you can focus more on the HOW rather than the WHAT. It’s that that will REALLY set you apart anyway. Since you should be an expert at being you.

    (wow, that sounded so hippy-drippy but you get what I mean.)

  • http://www.justinkownacki.com Justin

    Jackson: It’s insecurity all around. Neither the askers nor the answerers are comfortable admitting what they don’t know. But if I *say* I’m an expert, and you ask me a question, we both feel more validated when I sell you the answer. It’s sick but profitable.

    RPM: Thank god you’ve found a client who’s concerned about grammar and such. Lord knows clarity is low on most people’s recession-era budget items.

    Katrina: The HOW and WHY are always the important parts of the answers people seek out. I find that actual experts often have trouble speaking at an entry level, because they spend the bulk of their time in the topical stratosphere. It’s like giving someone directions to your house; you’ve been doing it for so long, you’ve forgotten the basics. That’s what all the solution providers between the base and the peak are for.

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  • http://www.jamiebeckland.com Jamie Beckland

    Justin,
    This is a great post, and really important for most people to realize. The experts that they hire are likely not experts at all.

    Here's the dilemma I have with your framework, though:

    How do you keep clients?

    If you are just one step ahead of your clients, then you had best continue building your expertise. Because once you solve their initial problem, they will be just as knowledgeable as you. If you can't stay ahead of them, they will quickly discover that you never were an expert, but just knew enough to help them with their entry-level problem.

    I recently talked about becoming an expert here:
    http://jamiebeckland.com/2010/.....me-…

    This isn't a perfect solution either, but it does acknowledge that expertise is a continual process, requiring ongoing engagement. If you're lazy, you can't even maintain 'better than average' as the tide continues to rise.

  • http://justinkownacki.blogspot.com Justin Kownacki

    Jamie: All true. By all means, keep learning. Staying ahead of the curve obviously requires work on anyone's part.

    But as long as an industry is growing, there's never a shortage of incoming newbies who need education. So, by default, even if ALL you ever knew was enough to teach the barest of basics, there would always be someone who didn't know what you knew and would be willing to pay in order to learn.

  • http://www.jamiebeckland.com/ Jamie Beckland

    Justin,nThis is a great post, and really important for most people to realize. The experts that they hire are likely not experts at all.nnHere’s the dilemma I have with your framework, though:nnHow do you keep clients?nnIf you are just one step ahead of your clients, then you had best continue building your expertise. Because once you solve their initial problem, they will be just as knowledgeable as you. If you can’t stay ahead of them, they will quickly discover that you never were an expert, but just knew enough to help them with their entry-level problem.nnI recently talked about becoming an expert here:nhttp://jamiebeckland.com/2010/02/how-to-become-an-expert-at-anything/nnThis isn’t a perfect solution either, but it does acknowledge that expertise is a continual process, requiring ongoing engagement. If you’re lazy, you can’t even maintain ‘better than average’ as the tide continues to rise.

  • http://justinkownacki.blogspot.com Justin Kownacki

    Jamie: All true. By all means, keep learning. Staying ahead of the curve obviously requires work on anyone’s part.nnBut as long as an industry is growing, there’s never a shortage of incoming newbies who need education. So, by default, even if ALL you ever knew was enough to teach the barest of basics, there would always be someone who didn’t know what you knew and would be willing to pay in order to learn.