Where Will You Discover Mastery

This is a rant. If you don’t like essay style blogs, then this one is not for you! But there is a lesson for you in here for your business too… so if you have a few extra minutes, read on!

I love reminding myself that the women entrepreneurs I enjoy helping the most as a marketer are those who I meet in my real life…. And by real life I mean face to face AND through actual conversation on the phone or online through social media channels.

And I’m so glad to know this because the random disconnected online world can get a business expert down! The competitive environment on Twitter, for example, is robust. For business building and professional development, this is amazing. SO much great insight from blog posts, tweets and free classes.

But this is also where as a business professional trying to truly help change women’s businesses with them, it is frustrating. For you see, the online world full of free classes, cheap courses, and self-titled expertise opportunities are creating a world where everyone considers themselves ‘masters’ with little investment or pre-qualification other than their experience.

Don’t get me wrong… there are definitely some amazing business, marketing and social media masters that I engage with online. They may be experiential learners or school-educated in their current profession. But they are not the ones offering random free classes. Their free classes will be strategic, and leading you to a pay-for class or product of quality. Their free class is a ‘loss leader’ for their business to try to engage you. And this is okay! I am learning to do this too. It’s part of good sales process… as long as you are always the recipient of great information.

But there are more so-called experts who talk a good talk… but are not masters in anything except self-promotion. Beware… for just because they have mastered self-promotion does not mean they can teach you how to do it for yourself!

Example: I was called a social media master recently. Let’s be clear… I am NOT. I am learning at a rapid pace and am using Twitter and Facebook daily for myself and my clients. This experience is making me a great advisor about social media. But not a master. Today, I am trying to learn about various technologies that are new to me: simple stuff related to video and audio that you probably already know. I am not a master in many technology areas. I’m just a fast learner.

My mastery is in establishing clear vision, goals, brand, target and then creating a big picture strategy that is realistic given the resources you have. I am a master in helping you make great decisions and setting realistic expectations given your resources. In a nutshell… I understand the limitations that prevent success and how to overcome them. Overcoming them could include starting at the beginning of your vision, goal setting, targeting, brand, messagin. Or it could be creating a strategic plan involving social media, advertising, public relations, multimedia products, events, promotions or ANYTHING that helps achieve results. I am a master in the big picture and know how to resource specialists when needed.>

This is a bit of a rant. And an opportunity to remind myself that (a) hey, I went to school for this! (b) I have 16 years behind me in experience (c) I LOVE helping women like you (and myself) succeed.

Look, it’s so easy to undervalue yourself and your time while at the same time consider overpaying for expertise. So please be conscientious consumers in the online world and ask yourself if you think you will get what you pay for. If it’s free, are you getting a lesser version of what you really need? Free is a cost, but your time isn’t free. Choose to spend your time wisely.

I love the online world. But “so-called” experts are interfering with my business of helping build your success! So be stealth about how to spend your time, about always proving your expertise to stand above the crowd! For this is where LONG-TERM success survives.