I have been spending an growing amount of time lately consulting on blogging, WordPress and new media. I use the term consulting in the loosest sense since I am not getting paid for it. Maybe I should be.

I can’t remember where I first heard the following quote or even the exact wording. Nevertheless, it goes something along the lines of, “…if you know more about any topic than the person you are helping, then you are the expert.” Heavily paraphrased, of course.

If I follow along this line of thinking then some would classify me as an expert. However, I am not about to get up onto a soap box with a placard proclaiming myself an expert.

In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell claims that one becomes an expert after one has invested ten thousand hours into honing a skill. I have nowhere near ten thousand hours invested into honing this skill.

I do have about five-ish years under my belt. I first started experimenting with blogging tools around 2004. Most of that time has been spent in WordPress but I began with it’s predecessor, b2/cafelog.

If it takes ten thousand hours to become an expert then how does one rack up those hours? If I began offering my services as a WordPress consultant I would hardly be considered an expert. However, I would become incrementally closer to attaining those ten thousand hours. In the words of a popular shoe company, just do it. Right?

I know that I am more than qualified to – because I have – set up blogs for businesses and individuals. This includes setting up web hosts (I use Dreamhost ), Twitter accounts, Facebook fan pages, YouTube accounts, etc. These are all things that I usually do for free. If I can’t promote myself as an expert, then how should I promote myself?

Oh, and by the way. There is a snowball’s chance in hell that I would ever use the term “Social Media Guru”.

Image: cc licensed flickr photo shared by Brian Hillegas

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About the author

Matt
I'm Matt and I share how to build an internet presence through internet business, social marketing, lifestyle design and productivity tools. While here, read about me to learn my story or find out how you can hire me.

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