5 Steps to Monetize Your Expertise

While most of us are waiting for Corona to pack her things and go, many find themselves with a lot of free time they haven’t experienced before. All that extra time might mean a whole lot more Netflix to some, but to others it's trying to find new ways to increase our income. People are learning new languages, new instruments - all sorts of new skills. Regardless of how good we might be getting at something, many are left with one question; How can I monetize my expertise?

all gifs via Giphy

First of all, let's talk about what your actual expertise is. A lot of people are working in businesses that aren’t actually highlighting what they’re really meant to do. By my own definition (don’t crucify me), I consider your expertise to be something that comes naturally to you. Something that you can do without too much effort. Think of your expertise as something people come to you for specifically, maybe even pay you for your thoughts and answers. I know some of y’all might disagree, but hey, if you’re already making some coin off of your “thing,” baby THAT is your area of expertise! 

That being said, let’s get into it! Here are five steps to monetizing your expertise:

Step 1 - Become a Thought Leader

Most of us have probably heard this term at our place of work, read it in a book, or saw it in some article online, but what does it actually mean? Being a thought leader means being seen or known as an expert who is educated about a specific topic. The best way for you to become a thought leader is by simply being present and engaging in conversation. For instance, I have a client who is a DEI consultant. To become present, it’s important for her to post LinkedIn blogs, and interact with others who work in race relations, cultural competency, and diversity, equity and inclusion. The key to her success as a thought leader is engaging in as many conversations as she can happening around race. Again, the best way to become a thought leader is being present and engaging in the conversation!

Step 2 -  Work Collaboratively

This could literally be you and a few people getting together to share or exchange information, similarly to what I did with the Coin Contingency Plan. I worked collaboratively with five other women who work in business to create a free guide to teach any type of person to monetize their current business (If you haven’t already downloaded the Coin Contingency Plan feel free to get it here: https://www.kendrascalemybusiness.com/coins). Other ways to work collaboratively could be hosting a giveaway with another brand or doing a social media takeover with somebody within the same realm of influence you are in, or even the realm of influence you want to get into. Maybe you have a product that would be great for Father's Day. Reach out to bloggers and some different publications to find out how to get your product on their gift guide. We all know, that NOBODY knows what to buy their daddy (or Zaddy). Nobody. Google usually figures it out for me, and even then I'm sitting there for hours stuck contemplating.

My point is, people are looking for that information! So whether through giveaways, getting information to the groups of people in your sector, or getting your product on gift guides and product lists, working collaboratively can be one of the most important steps in monetizing your expertise.

Step 3 - Give Away Useful Information…FOR FREE

Yep! I said it! For free! I know you are sitting in front of that screen saying, “Girl, no. Not after all that time, that money, and those degrees!” But please, read on. 

Let’s take a second to remind ourselves of step one where I mentioned the importance of being present and engaging in conversations. People need to see you and the things you say as valuable. They want to see if you are professional and if you really know what you’re talking about. If you want people to invest in you, prove why they should! Giving information away for free is a sure-fire way to prove your value, and indirectly monetize your expertise.

Step 4 -  Increase and Enhance Your Online Presence

I’m going to talk about myself for a second. Believe me when I say I hate social media. It's the bane of my existence. I don't even know when I started hating social media so much really. It was probably around the time Instagram showed up. (Sorry Instagram. I love you now. God bless you!) But I still kind of hate social media.

I hate having to post so frequently. I hate having to show myself all of the time. I hate having to constantly be online. Regardless of my feelings about it, it's helping your girl, and it can help you too! You could be the greatest mastermind in the world, but it literally doesn’t matter if nobody knows who you are or what you know. So it's important that you are constantly increasing your online presence through social media, blogs, and videos. My best advice: Do what feels comfortable to you. Start with what’s comfortable and easy for you to do, then build from there.

Step 5 - Ask Your Audience What They Want

Whether it's on live streams, in comments, or Instagram Stories, etc., your audience will always tell you what they want. If you're ready to put out an e-book that you want somebody to pay for, poll them in your stories. If you want to start putting out more video content, ask them what they want to see. The more you lean on your audience and learn from that feedback, the more successful your content or products will be, simply because you know for a fact that it’s what the people really want. 

And that's it! Those are the five steps to monetizing your expertise. A couple of little bonus notes. First of all, once you start pricing things, make sure that you're charging what you're worth. Be confident in how to actually price your products and services. Second, be humble. Remember that you're never too much of an expert to learn more and gain more experience. 

Now go out there and make that money!