The recognized expert

Anyone can claim to be in expert in their field, but what separates the fly-by night professionals from the ones that have really mastered their field? Most would say experience.

Longevity is a badge of honor. That’s why you see the yellow page ads that read, “We’ve been in business for 25 years.” This works great if you’ve got that much time in, but what if you don’t have the experience?

Change perception

I think you have to change perception. Let me give you an example from another industry.

Ben Argov is the publisher of Wine Storage Blog. He writes about good wine storage practice; something most wine enthusiasts would find very interesting. Not so coincidentally, his company, Le Cache Premium Wine Cabinets, sells high quality wine cabinets.

Do you think his site builds credibility? Of course it does! While other cabinet makers are advertising their years in business, this small business owner is doing something different; he’s branding himself as the go-to authority on wine storage. People will pay a premium for experts.

How do you leverage this into selling a service like car detailing? You’ve really got to spend time branding yourself as the go-to expert in professional car detailing. With the current state of the economy, it becomes that much more important to do this.

People will continue to cut back on discretionary spending. In order to survive, you’ve got to separate yourself from the pack of competitors.

Think about ways to provide excellent information.

• Offer to provide car owners with tips for getting the most re-sale value out of the vehicle.
• Start a simple free Wordpress blog and feature video tips each week.
• Contact a small local talk radio show in town. These small radio shows are always looking for guests to fill up the show with content. Tell them what you do. Let them know you would like to come on the air and share tips with the listeners on car care and getting the most money out of their vehicle when it’s time to sell. Then provide them with information to your website or blog.

Perception is what determines expertise in the minds of many people today. They’re no longer impressed with your “years in business” as much as they are your knowledge base. If you’ve leveraged that knowledge base in the form of a regular blog site that gives useful information then you are a recognized expert -- even if you’ve only been in business for five years.

Jonathan Taylor is the owner of Strategic Marketing Solutions. You can reach Taylor at www.JonathanTaylorBlog.com.