Make Marketing Suck Less

Michelle Mazur [00:00:00]: I don't know if I'm expert enough. Oh, really? As soon as I hear this phrase, I always ask, “So tell me about your experience.” And then I am regaled by a list of certifications and education and experience on the job, transferable skills, developing their own frameworks and working with clients and getting results.

Yes, you're definitely expert enough, but I understand why people feel that way, why you doubt your expertise and think that you're not expert enough. And some people think they're not expert enough to even listen to this podcast. Well, it may be good old fashioned imposter complex getting in the way. It might also be that there's a fundamental misunderstanding about expertise.

So let's unpack that and talk about how to know if you're expert enough. And spoiler alert, if you're thinking that you're more than expert enough. So let's talk about why.

Michelle Mazur [00:01:06]: Welcome to Make Marketing Suck Less. The podcast that knows marketing is freaking hard, especially when you're a solo business owner trying to juggle it all. I'm your host, Dr. Michelle Mazur, author of the 3 Word Rebellion and founder of the Expert Up Club. Forget the latest marketing fads and tactics promising social media stardom. I'm here with research-backed strategies to help you clarify your message and get twice as effective with your marketing. And while I can't promise you'll ever love marketing, I'm here. to make you hate it a tiny bit less.

Michelle Mazur [00:01:55]: I'll never forget the day I graduated with my Ph.D. And let me tell you, a Ph,D is a socially acceptable trapping of expertise. Nothing screams you're an expert more than having a Ph.D. But as I walked across the stage in a black robe on a blistering hot Oklahoma day, the skies did not part, angels didn't sing nor did unicorns shower me with confetti. I still didn't feel like I was an expert because expertise isn't a destination. It's an ongoing journey. And experts are notoriously curious. They are hungry for more knowledge and believe that there is always something more to learn because there is. Experts realize that what they know is one tiny dot in the ocean of knowledge, and that ocean gets bigger every day. And that's the reason why we have a hard time owning our expertise because we're keenly aware of all of the things we don't know.

Michelle Mazur [00:03:13]: So the way that I see it, there are 3 distinct phases of the journey to become an expert, and those are the apprentice, the journeyman, and the expert enough. So let's talk about each stage and you'll be able to see where you are at. So the apprentice. An apprentice is actively learning a new skill or new trade. They tend to be brand new to their field, and they're just soaking up knowledge and trying and failing to apply that knowledge. They don't know what they don't know, but they are eager to find out. I always think back to the 10th grade when I had a nudge to master the art of public speaking. The only problem was I sucked at public speaking.

I was shy. I was awkward. I was smart, but I didn't want to use my voice. I didn't want people to see me. And in fact, in my first public speaking class, I got, like, the gentleman's “C.” But I had this feeling that I needed to master this skill. To get better at speaking, I knew I had to learn and do more speaking. And the best way to do and learn speaking in my warped masochistic mind was to do it competitively.

Michelle Mazur [00:04:44]: So I joined the speech and debate team, which seems to make no sense for a girl who is shy and does not want to speak up to be like, “Hey. I'm gonna get up every Saturday morning at 6 AM for the next 6 months and go and compete.” But the thing I found out is I loved it. I didn't love getting my ass handed to me every Saturday, but, boy, I learned a lot. This was my time in the woodshed, chipping away, learning, trying, getting feedback. And by the last tournament of the season, something clicked. I was on. I was nailing the competition.

Michelle Mazur [00:05:27]: I could feel that I had never performed better, that I was really getting it, and I could win the whole damn tournament. Except this is not a John Hughes movie, and there's no happy ending. I didn't win. I didn't even place. But as I headed back to the bus, my coach was smiling at me like an idiot and he said, “yYou did it. I'm so proud of you.” And he handed me an honorable mention ribbon and that was the best feeling I ever had and it also signaled to me that I was moving on from being an apprentice to being the in the next phase of expertise, the journeyman. But before we move on to the journeyman, I wanted to make a side note about online business.

Michelle Mazur [00:06:17]: There's a lot of apprentices out there who don't move on to become journeymen, and you will know them because the way they market themselves, it's all based on their experience. The message is, “I did it and so can you.” Like, I can teach you the exact steps that I use to build my business. So they use their formula or most likely the formula their mentor told them and sell themselves as an expert. But, really, they're an apprentice because they don't know how to apply that knowledge to different types of businesses. And you and I both know that business is not one size fits all. We all need a more tailored and custom solution. And this is why cookie cutter programs don't work, and this is why the people who are like, “I can do it and so can you?” can't really get results.

So be wary of the apprentice masquerading as the expert. Because while their marketing might be on point, their promises might be alluring, their ability to apply what they know to your unique situation is limited, and what they deliver is always going to be cookie cutter instead of customized to the client's unique situation.

Michelle Mazur [00:07:57]: Now with that said, let's go on to the journeyman phase. The journeyman is good at her craft, but she is not yet a Jedi. She is not yet a master. She is doing the work, getting results for clients, and maybe taking some additional certifications or educations. She's confident and reliable and definitely on her way to becoming an exceptional expert.

So what helped me get outstanding at speech and debate and communication in general was not just the academic learning, it was practicing and being coached by others. I started to excel in public speaking when I started coaching other people because it's that whole, “You can't read the label from inside the bottle.” I could see clearly what worked and what didn't for other people, and then I could start applying, what I knew to their speeches. And then when I went back to work on my speeches, I had a new perspective. Like, I had a new understanding of why I was getting the suggestions that I was getting because I was seeing some of the same things in other people. So at this stage, you're developing a new way of thinking because experts think differently and we can apply what we know to our client's unique situation. And this is a telltale sign that you're moving in to the expert enough stage because you're able to take what you know and apply it to different situations. I will say for business owners, this is also the time that you figure out that you've got a problem communicating your expertise to another human being so that they can see how they can benefit from your expertise.

Michelle Mazur [00:10:00]: So in this stage, journeymen should start figuring out their messaging if they want their marketing to be easier. In fact, I would say that's a huge part of transitioning from journeyman to expert is understanding how to communicate what you do in a way that is compelling and persuasive. So if you're thinking, “Well, yeah, I'm a journeyman or I'm an expert, and I really do need to figure out this messaging and marketing so more of the right people know my business exists and can hire me” then the Expert Up Club may be a great place for you. It is a curated community where experts become recognized and sought after leaders in their niche. This community is tailored to solo business owners who've been at it for some time. And on April 9th, we are having our live quarterly marketing retreat where we will get your marketing strategy sorted. And this isn't a cookie cutter marketing strategy. It is a marketing strategy based on your goals and your strengths.

Michelle Mazur [00:11:15]: And we'll also create your 90 day marketing plan that results in sales. So if you wanna join us, go book a private tour of the Expert Up Club so I can show you around. The link to book is in the show notes, so just open your podcast app and tap in there and you'll see it, or you can always go to Expert Up dot Club and book a tour. Now let's go back and talk about the expert or the expert enough phase.

Michelle Mazur [00:11:45]: An expert has authoritative knowledge in a specific area. You are seen as an authority in your topic. And, yes, while some experts have the socially acceptable trappings of expertise, like a Ph.D, a JD, MD, certifications, and other initials that no one other than you know what they mean. Others do not, and that's okay.

All experts have in common this insatiable curiosity, a love of learning, the flexibility in thinking, which is why we never feel like we're expert enough. We never arrive. So I bet some of you who are listening might feel like you're a journeyman when you're really an expert. So I want you to think about the years of experience in your craft, the years of experience in a field related to what you're doing, the certifications you have, the frameworks you've created, the body of work you created. And if you're going through these and reflecting about your experience and you're like, woah, wow, I've done more than I thought. Then, yeah, you're expert enough, but keep learning and stay curious. Remember, expertise is where we go from apprentice to journeyman to expert enough. And if you feel like you haven't arrived, don't worry because there's no destination.

Michelle Mazur [00:13:26]: If the Make Marketing Suck Less pod is making your marketing more effective so that your clients can find and hire you, please share the show with a friend. The easiest way to do that is through pod link. You can find the show at pod.link/rebel, and that page will allow anyone you share the show with to subscribe and start listening in their favorite podcast player.

That's pod.link/rebel.

The Make Marketing Suck Less podcast is a production of Communication Rebel. Our production coordinator is Jessica Gulley-Ward. The podcast is edited by Steven Mills, our executive producer is me, Dr. Michelle Mazur.

The make marketing suck less podcast is recorded on the unseated traditional lands of the coast salish peoples, specifically the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish people, original stewards of the land, past, and present.