The Best Leaders are NOT Experts

Why the Best Leaders are NOT Experts

When it comes to being an entrepreneur, online marketer, or a public speaker, it’s a huge advantage if you are NOT a credentialed expert. It may sound counterintuitive, but it’s true. Here’s why the best leaders are not experts:

When you’re a regular person instead of a polished professional with a long list of fancy credentials you’re more relatable. People will be drawn to you because they won’t feel so intimidated. They’ll want to hear what you have to say because you are more like them. And they will be inspired to take action.

I believe this is why I was able to make a name for myself so quickly when I came online in 2006 as a new entrepreneur and online marketer. Others saw wisdom in my ideas and views about this new world I had thrust myself into and because I took action every day they were inspired to follow me to watch what I was doing. As I began to have some success they became fans…and then they became customers and clients. I replaced my previous income as a classroom teacher and real estate broker/residential appraiser and it continues to grow. Can you now see why the best leaders are not experts?

Think about it this way: Let’s say you have a busy work and family life and you’re struggling to lose forty pounds.

Would you prefer to get help from:

A. A Triathlon winner who trains ferociously 7 days a week and eats the perfect ratio of macros, OR…

B. Someone who has a similar work and family life and who has lost forty pounds, kept it off, and did it while maintaining a reasonable workout schedule and diet?

For most people, option B is much less intimidating and more in line with what they are looking for.

Option A, the athlete/macro guy, for most is overkill. Sure, he sounds great and he is very inspiring. But for people who just want to lose weight and not train for a Triathlon, he’s probably not the right choice for them.

So here’s what this means for you:

If you want to create a profitable product, online course, or training program for your business or profession, you just need to be where your target audience is and be a few steps ahead of them.

That’s it. There is no secret. I hope you are not disappointed that it isn’t more complicated.

Let’s see just how qualified you are already…

• What specific problems have you overcome, or helped someone else to overcome? In the case of my first eBook on real estate farming, I had figured out the most efficient way to connect with buyers and sellers and share my strategy with a neighbor. It worked for her as well.
• When she came to me and told me that my farming (the concept of choosing about two to three hundred homes in your community and marketing to them in person, through the mail, and online) strategies were paying off with new listings and home sales I knew this was something thousands of other real estate professionals would want to know about.
• I had no other credentials than a real estate license and some experience working in this field. If I had been someone who was highly skilled and had many credentials, degrees, or other professional status this woman would have more than likely not come to me for advice. She could relate to me because I was more like her in my life and work experience.

I went on to sell that eBook for the next several years at $47 each.

What do you know that you can teach to others through an online course, speaking virtually or in person, or through a book?

I’m author, publisher, and entrepreneur Connie Ragen Green and would love to connect further with you. If you are interested in writing an eBook to share your knowledge and experience with those who would most benefit from it I highly recommend Jim Edwards and his 7 Day eBook training.  Get started today and learn how to gain an unfair advantage when it comes to building a lucrative online business when you are not an expert.