I tell my direct marketing clients to create Expert Proof Materials (usually books, but sometimes DVDs or CDs) and have them on hand to use as business cards. Didn’t follow my own advice today. Met a young lady today in a coffee shop to talk about teaching her clients – other entrepreneurs. Took a book – all cool, right? Nope. Turns out the coffee shop owner was one of her clients, and also wanted a book. I blew over an hour getting a book ready to ship, finding an open post office, and spending at least $5 on postage and gas. Keep a stack of EPM in your car, kids!
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Trappings
RecEx Principle #5: Trappings.
Graphic – Cultivation
Cultivate the habit of seeking other peoples’ opinions and recommendations.
Circle of Three P’s: Self Promotion & Digital Media
In the course of working with many of my clients, I help them produce Expert Proof Materials – EPM for short. These could be books, DVDs, online instructional courses, or almost anything else. Regardless of the end product, there’s a system to producing them. Well, a cycle actually.
The Expertise Tree
Very much like the tree falling in the forest, if you have expertise and no one knows it, are you an expert?
Proofing And Editing
Once again, we're calling on freelancer Valerie K Clark to edit a manuscript for one of our clients. If you need someone to proof or edit copy, long or short, I recommend Valerie with no reservations.
Put Together Your Expert Proof Product
Every Recognized Expert should have an Expert Proof Product (EPP), or better yet – several that make up their Expert Proof Materials (EPM). An EPP could be a book, or a DVD or an audio CD, almost anything that demonstrates that the person is an expert in a particular subject, has definite ideas and opinions, and can reasonably be considered an expert on their subject.
In creating a non-fiction book (a novel could be considered EPP if the person is establishing their credibility as a fiction writer, or perhaps as a creative writing teacher), you don’t have to start from scratch. Putting together a series of articles or blog posts into a narrative that explains or explores the Expert’s niche is perfectly acceptable. Adding in some charts, perhaps even a transcript of an interview or two is also a possibility.