The 3 Types Of Credibility To Scale Your Expertise Online

September 29, 2022

Good morning, this is the Not Boring Personal Branding. Your weekly tour guide for all things personal branding.

In Today’s edition:

The 3 Types Of Credibility To Scale Your Expertise Online

Most people think credibility means having some type of badge.

A New York Times Best selling author

Forbes 30 under 40 award

Harvard degree

You don't need either of these.

Every single person reading this is an expert at SOMETHING.

The key is to get specific.

And when you think you aren't being specific enough...

GET MORE SPECIFIC.

Level 1 Credibility: I’m the expert.

Example: "I am James Clear and creating systems is the best productivity hack."

But let's say you aren't James Clear (which you aren't... unless he found the newsletter!)

You can also use:

  • Awards you've won

  • Years of experience

  • Outcomes you’ve helped others achieve

Level 2 Credibility: I’m curating the experts.

Example: "According to James Clear and 13 other productivity experts, creating systems is the best productivity hack"

You went out and found all the experts that have the answers.

  • Authors

  • YouTubers

  • Professionals

  • Musicians

  • Leaders

If I were to start building a following online again I'd start with curation.

Study other smart people. Curate their thoughts. Write about them.

Eventually you'll even start to think like them ;)

Level 3 Credibility: Your Personal Experience

Example: "I'm no James Clear but I have read over 20 books on productivity, and I think _______"

Here are some personal experiences I've written about in the past:

  • I watched 1000 hours of YouTube on X, here’s what I think

  • I read 30 books on X topic, here’s what I think

  • I worked with 10 companies on X, here’s what you should know

And if you go through Brand30, you can even use that as credibility:

"Hey I wrote on LinkedIn every day for 30 days straights and here's what I learned..."