A friend of mine is an amazingly talented artist, mostly self-taught. She can work in any medium (paint, clay, fabric, yarn) and create something beautiful. In fact, she decided to paint a jungle mural for her son's room and the outcome was jaw-dropping. Then she was inspired to paint a mural of a scene from Peter Pan in the hallway leading to her children's room. It resulted in another jaw-dropping creation. We chatted about it one night, trying to figure out how she could get paid for doing what she loves. What I learned from the conversation was she had a low level of confidence in her artistic skills because it came so easily to her, and she assumed most anyone could do what she does. This was a profound concept for me because she appears to be very a self-confident person.

This revelation about talent and skill can easily be applied to how you can market yourself and your business. For example, say you own a painting company and have a client that has watched one too many episodes of Trading Spaces on TLC. They may think they know what it takes to paint a red dining room but they don't understand that you shouldn't use a neutral base paint if you don't want to apply seven coats of it, even with a coat of red primer applied to it. This is an expensive and time-consuming lesson to learn that you, the expert, could have told them. People will pay for your expertise because it will save them time and money. (In this example, I am unashamed to admit that I was the person applying seven coats of paint.)

This is a simple example, but think about it in the context of your own business. You can market your expertise by sharing tidbits of your valuable knowledge either by doing speaking engagements or writing an article, column, newsletter, e-alert, etc. By demonstrating your knowledge and giving some away for free, you increase your value and your credibility. Knowing your target market and the associations they are involved with allows you to focus your marketing energy on those people who will then begin to perceive you as the expert. The end result? More business for you.

This is an easy way to market yourself. My friend took her mural painting skills to the schools and was PAID to add fun to the halls. She also now owns and runs a highly successful craft store. Don't underestimate or undervalue your knowledge base - what comes easily to you may be your best client's Achilles' heel.