People Not Buying Your Knowledge? Check The Expertise Level You’re On...

Knowledge and information. It’s everywhere these days. Anyone can create it. We all consume it. 

Which means, you need to be more discerning than ever when it comes to assessing the quality of your information — both what you take in, and, if you’re in the game, what you put out there. 

It’s LEVELS to this shit. Here they are. 

Level 0: Doing Nothing 

This is the basic level of nothingness that you can’t possibly be a part of — because you’re reading this right now. Lest move on. 

Level 1: You Consume Information 

Reading a book, watching videos, taking courses and any other form of knowledge consumption is a good habit. 

It’s infinitely better than doing nothing, and it at least gives you a baseline to work from. 

BUT… consuming information does NOT mean that you actually know that information. It only means that you took it in. 

In my schooling, I took classes in Calculus, Chemistry, World History, Economics,

Trigonometry, Spanish (3 years!), Physics, Business Law, Walking (a 1-credit course in college) and many others. 

I passed ALL of these classes. I even have a fancy piece of paper, framed in my parent’s living room in Philadelphia, that PROVES that I consumed and regurgitated all the pertinent information from these classes over 16 years. 

Yet, taking those classes alone, still leaves me unqualified to teach ANY of these. 

To actually KNOW something, you must ascend to Level 2...

Level 2: You've Done / Are Doing It 

This is where you can think about claiming expertise on a subject: when you have real-life experience in it. 

You don’t know something until you, yourself, have done it. 

Not studied it. 

Not watched it. 

Not hung out with people who are great at it. 

Not when your mom and dad did it. 

YOU did it. 

That’s when you know it. 

Yes — you can learn a lot by watching other people do stuff. Humans are wired to learn from observation. But getting out there and doing it yourself is a whole other ballgame. 

There was this scene on Louis CK’s show that still cracks me up to this day. 

Louis, in his super-boring life, goes out to a club on a Friday night and spots two of his fellow comics. These two guys are a generation younger than CK, and they’re Black guys. 

The two younger Black comics make light fun of CK for wanting to hang with them (“oh, so you wanna hang with the Brothers so you can get some pussy, huh? Hahahha!!!”), but they insist that they’ll help him meet some girls. 

They go to a nightclub that has really loud music playing. One of the Black guy comics gestures to Louis to watch what he’s about to do to meet chicks. 

The Black comic calmly walks over to a couple of dancing White girls, casually grabs one from behind by the shoulders, and starts dancing with them. The girls happily welcome his intrusion. 

The Black comic looks at Louis with a look that says, “see how easy this is?” 

Louis rolls his eyes. He knows it wouldn’t be that simple for him. 

But, Louis remembers how boring his own life is. And he knows how much he wants to, as his peers identified, get some pussy. 

So he decides to try it. 

Louis spots two other girls dancing together. He approaches from behind, readying his hands to grab one by the shoulders as his fellow comic had demonstrated. 

One of the girls turns around just in time to notice CK’s creepy approach. She yelps in terror. 

She and her friend proceed to slap-attack Louis CK away from them. Louis retreats, then shamefully exits the nightclub while the two Black comics, watching from across the club, laugh hysterically. 

Watching it ain’t the same as doing it. 

Level 3: You’re Teaching It (Successfully)

Not just teaching it — but teaching it and your subjects are getting results. 

Take Louis CK’s friends in the nightclub scene: They showed Louis what to do, but that shit didn’t work for anyone but them. 

They’re still at Level 2 — doing it. They’re not yet good teachers. 

Taking what you know and teaching it to others frees you to get your message / knowledge to multiple people at once. 

When you can systematize that process, by a skill known as codification, you have a great business opportunity. 

Here’s the question: who have you taught your knowledge to, and what results have those people produced? 

When you can answer that question with examples and success stories, you’re established at Level 3. 

But wait! There’s more. 

Level 4: You Can Charge For It

Here's where you become a “professional” by the standard definition of the word. You can earn money for what you know. 

People won’t pay for what you offer unless what you offer is producing results. 

Charge for your teaching and get results for people, and you can repeat the process over and over and over again. 

When you put a price tag on your knowledge and people gladly pay that price, you are a professional _______ (your line of work). 

Level 5 (Bonus): They Come To You, Asking To Pay For It

This is the extra-credit level: When you're getting more incoming calls — of people who know they’ll have to pay, and they want to — than you need to make outgoing calls. 

Often, these people calling are aware of the other (cheaper) options, and don’t want them. They only want YOU. 

This is the highest level of expertise. 

For the few who get here, it takes years of work, a high level of skill (most of the time), combined with some luck. Think TV show hosts, movie stars, bestselling authors, and otherwise famous people. 

You can make a well-above-your-needs living at Level 4. 

At Level 5, you have to turn (paying) people away: your opportunities are overflowing. 

***

Use these levels to assess both yourself and those to whom you listen. 

It used to be that not just anyone could get into the game. So just being in it was a status symbol. 

Today, and moving forward, anyone can get in the game. So we need new ways to measure value. 

Now, we have it. 

Where do you feel you are, career-wise, right now? What’s the next skill you need to take your next step forward? Reply and let me know — I read all responses. 

PS — check the following MasterClasses on teaching and expertise: 

#998: How To Establish & Spread Your Expertise

#556: Expertise: If You Can't Teach It, You Don't Know It

#1101: Codification Of Your Knowledge

#634: What School Doesn't Teach -- But You MUST Know

#1238: How To Become An Expert At Anything

#756: Interview: Becoming THE Expert In Your Space with Dawnna St. Louis

#590: If You Don't Learn From Your Experiences, You Wasted Your Time

#421: No Shortcuts For Experience: Get Your Hands Dirty

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