On Expertise

Everyone is an expert of something. The key is figuring out what your expertise are and leveraging them when it's relevant.

I'm an expert in lots of things. Most of my expertise won't help much in the grand scheme of things, but you never know. Here's my partial list:

Expert in procrastination.
Expert in getting things done at the last possible minute.
Expert in navigating to new and unknown locations.
Expert in quoting Ace Ventura When Nature Calls.
Expert in passing cars in high traffic.
Expert in using a George Foreman grill.
Expert in spending money at Target.
Expert in stumbling upon interesting stuff on the Internet.
Expert in driving a manual.
Expert in HGTV programming.
Expert in coffee consumption.
Expert in the stretch of I-35 from Kansas City to Fort Worth.
Expert in efficiently getting through airport security.
Expert in sleeping in on Saturdays.
Expert in Photo Hunt.
Expert in looking at things from different perspectives.
Expert in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
Expert in getting places on time.

And that's just for me, a person. Imagine how many expertise a brand could find, claim and leverage. But when you claim expertise for yourself or a brand you need to make sure they are relevant and true. And then back it up with all you have.