~by Anita Ginsburg~
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Becoming an expert should be the target of every professional. You will be able to back up your findings and opinions with fact that can be used to drive advancement in any given field. When you’re recognized as an expert, you will boost product sales, become a familiar face with clients and customers, and be the person who everyone wants to contact when they want advice on something.
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Let’s take a look at some simple tips that will help you develop yourself into a major influence in your industry.
Set and Publish Your Goals
Leaders in any industry always try to set goals that become apparent to everyone. This helps to keep their efforts focused, and to impress an image upon others within an industry. When you decide on goals for yourself as an individual or as a figure in your field, announce them to yourself and everyone else. You may decide to use social media or your website to make these goals readily apparent.
Make Yourself Visible
Visibility comes in many forms. Each is often specific to the industry that you associate yourself with. Professionals such as business lawyers and accountants may choose to make themselves visible on professional social networks like LinkedIn. Customer-oriented business people should make themselves visible on their website, less formal social networks like Facebook, and physically at businesses. By making yourself visible, people can approach you with their questions. This allows you to demonstrate your public relation skills while receiving hints on new focuses for your industry.
Decorate Yourself with a Degree
As an expert in your field, your education will be called into question as a way of citing your reliability. The more education you have, the more likely people will be less focused on this verification and more focused on the information you present. One of the best moves you can make is to get a master’s degree in one or more fields related to your industry. For example, an MS in Civil Engineering can help you lead the way to building a greener future. Your influence will substantially increase as you earn more education, and the quality of your work will improve.
Look for Niche Groups
The prevalence of the Internet has made it significantly easier to find niche groups and smaller trade organizations dedicated to improving certain industries. By introducing yourself and working hand-in-hand with these groups, you will receive a measure of peer verification. This can be a major step to getting your foot in the door with particularly competitive fields.
Focus on Effectiveness and ROI
A strong business person will often be recognized as someone capable of proving their worth with actions rather than conjecture. By focusing on improving your business’s effectiveness and increasing the return on investment (ROI), you will receive verification within your industry. The one thing to keep in mind is that your ROI is not a measure of your business’s effectiveness. Refrain from making decisions that sacrifice your business’s quality for a higher ROI.
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Becoming a leader in any industry requires a significant amount of work. You must always strive to deliver the highest degree of quality in your services, products and findings while making yourself visible within your industry. The good news is that this hard work will reward you with the recognition you desire. It is just a matter of time and effort.
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Meet the Author: Anita Ginsburg
Anita is a freelance writer from Denver, CO and often writes about business, education, finance and family. A mother of two, she enjoys traveling with her family when she isn’t writing.
