27 Feb Do You Have Street Cred?

I frequently attend seminars and continuing education sessions to stay current with marketing trends, new products/services, and to further my expertise in marketing.

I often come across incredible speakers who know their topic and have experience in the topic of discussion. They have street cred! They have been in the trenches. They have done the dirty work and built a great business. They have useful nuggets of information to share!

Other times, I hear speakers who are not so impressive. While to a newbie, they may seem to know their stuff, it is evident to a veteran that they don't grasp the topic when relating it to real-world application.

Regardless of your industry, if you attend a seminar, you expect that speaker to have the "right" credentials to be speaking to you. It is highly disappointing and a colossal waste of time for both the attendees and speaker if the speaker has not bee proven to be an expert in your field.

If you were to speak on a topic TODAY, what would be your topic? What area do you have street cred? What area do you know front to back and side to side? Hopefully, it will be area of business that you focus your company or your selling.

If you don't have the experience and knowledge, don't pretend that you do. Learn from experts around you. Do your research. Practice. Perfect it. And soon, you will become an expert, too!

Patrick Black has been in the promotional products industry since 1999. He is the CEO and President of Perfect Imprints, which serves clients nationwide in the field of creative marketing.