I'm an expert at not being an expert
Posted 1st August 2010 at 10:10 PM by DaveHughes
Think about that subject line for a second. If you feel that you're not an expert at anything, you could be an expert at not being one.
Yes, I know...funny wordplay, Dave. Ha. ha. But there's a point here.
Instead of spending a ton of time trying to figure out what you're an expert at...spend that time finding out if someone, anyone, would be willing to pay you to do the things you are good at. In my life, I've been paid to do the following:
"Expert" is a relative term; to be an expert, you don't have to know everything about a subject...you just have to know more than the person you're dealing with.
If you do, and that person thinks that subject has value to them...guess what? You can sell that skill.
My wife (12 years and counting) and I have a running joke that stemmed from something she said barely into our first year of marriage.
Checking the mail one day, she found three checks from various "odd jobs" I had done, totaling around $100. She brought them to me and asked what they were for, and I told her.
Her totally honest response was "You can get paid for that? I didn't even know that was a job!"
I replied "It wasn't until I made it one."
Don't wait to find someone offering a way to make money based on what you can do...make an opportunity to make money based on what you can do.
Yes, I know...funny wordplay, Dave. Ha. ha. But there's a point here.
Instead of spending a ton of time trying to figure out what you're an expert at...spend that time finding out if someone, anyone, would be willing to pay you to do the things you are good at. In my life, I've been paid to do the following:
- Search for information on Google (you'd be amazed how many people don't know how to properly search for things)
- Write newspaper ads
- Do cartoons (that started as a doodle habit)
- Sell newspaper subscriptions as a telemarketer
- Proofread research papers
- Emcee beauty pagents
- Covering high school football games for a local paper
- Installing phones and intercoms on oil rigs
- Write for blogs
- Play MMORPGs and broadcast (web-only) about them
"Expert" is a relative term; to be an expert, you don't have to know everything about a subject...you just have to know more than the person you're dealing with.
If you do, and that person thinks that subject has value to them...guess what? You can sell that skill.
My wife (12 years and counting) and I have a running joke that stemmed from something she said barely into our first year of marriage.
Checking the mail one day, she found three checks from various "odd jobs" I had done, totaling around $100. She brought them to me and asked what they were for, and I told her.
Her totally honest response was "You can get paid for that? I didn't even know that was a job!"
I replied "It wasn't until I made it one."
Don't wait to find someone offering a way to make money based on what you can do...make an opportunity to make money based on what you can do.
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