Search for “content marketing expert” on Google and you’ll see 614 million results. Who knew an expert in cuddling was even a thing? Caroline Nuttall of Advantage Media|ForbesBooks and ForbesSpeakers covered expert overpopulation in her Content Marketing World presentation, Stop Generating Leads, Start Driving Demand for Anything You’ll Ever Sell. As content marketers, we think we know our audience. “He would use this time to test the little joke, see what’s working, what’s not working. Amplify what works Larry Smith was once a big-thinking publisher with big ideas. Never Worn.” Larry asked readers to submit their story in six words to the magazine’s website and on Twitter. He partnered with schools and nonprofits, and launched Six Words Live, where people got on stage to share the stories behind their six-word memoirs. To recap, the journey to the Land of Visionary encompasses these three things: Be an authentic investigator. Caroline shared the stories of Derek, Josh, and Larry.
Search for “content marketing expert” on Google and you’ll see 614 million results. A search on “content marketing expert blog” returns 177 million. Even a search on “cuddling expert” returns 5.23 million results.
Who knew an expert in cuddling was even a thing? Well, it is.
What’s the problem with being an expert? There are too many.
Caroline Nuttall of Advantage Media|ForbesBooks and ForbesSpeakers covered expert overpopulation in her Content Marketing World presentation, Stop Generating Leads, Start Driving Demand for Anything You’ll Ever Sell.
“We are building expertise in a world overpopulated by experts,” Caroline says.
Visual representation of expert overpopulation
Caroline created the Amplify Matrix. The x-axis goes from “accepted” – things generally recognized or believed – to “challenged” – things questioning conventional wisdom.
On the y-axis, how-to advice is on the bottom and how to think or things that actively form a new approach is on top.
Caroline plotted some sessions from Content Marketing World into the matrix:
Notice that most sessions fall in the quadrant labeled “Expertville.”
“I’m not knocking this content,” Caroline says. “This is good, useful, valuable content and these people are great speakers, but there’s two massive problems with Expertville. One is, it’s crowded, and because of the overcrowding, your content becomes a commodity.”
The second problem is that if you explain the how-to’s well enough, your audience no longer needs you. They’ll say, “Hey, thanks for the tips and tricks. I can do this.”
Now, look at the upper right, “Land of the Visionary.” Only two sessions are there. “It is far less crowded. By default, you are unique because nobody has the exact same vision as you,” Caroline says.
Visionaries get their audience to say, “Hey, you’ve got me rethinking my strategy, my approach. Maybe my entire business model. I need to learn what you’re talking about. Tell me more.”
While her demonstration illustrated event-related content, the Amplify Matrix applies to any type of content.
How can you get your content into the Land of Visionary? Caroline recommends three things:
- Be an authentic investigator.
- Aerate your findings.
- Amplify what works.
Let’s cover each one in detail.
Be an authentic investigator
Caroline shared the story of Derek Snook. When Derek entered the workforce, his mission was to help people. A conventional route to fulfill that mission would be to join a nonprofit. But Derek first asked, “Can we ever really solve people’s problems from a distance?”
To answer that question, he moved into a homeless shelter where he met hard-working day laborers. He then asked, “How in the world is a hard-working day laborer homeless?”
To find out, Derek became a day laborer. When he quit the thankless, back-breaking work, he discovered an issue: The staffing agency took a 50% cut. If the contractor paid $15 an hour per person, the agency kept $7.50 and paid $7.40 the day laborer for each hour worked.
“Derek saw an opportunity to give the day laborer more of an opportunity to get ahead,” Caroline explains. “So he launched a day labor staffing company called IES (In Every Story) and overnight he increased wages by 30%.”
Derek went on to give an inspiring TEDx talk and publish a book, The Definition…
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