Wikipedia defines an expert as: someone widely recognized as a reliable source of technique or skill whose faculty for judging or deciding rightly, justly, or wisely is accorded authority and status by their peers or the public. An expert, more generally, is a person with extensive knowledge or ability in a particular area of study.

Experts are called in for advice on their respective subject, but they do not always agree on the particulars of a field of study. An expert can be, by virtue of training, education, profession, publication or experience, believed to have special knowledge of a subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially (and legally) rely upon the individual's opinion. Historically, an expert was referred to as a sage. The individual was usually a profound philosopher distinguished for wisdom and sound judgment.”

As the definition notes you don’t have to be a professional in the field or have an advanced degree but you do have to know your stuff. You have to live, dream and love it because people will always be there to challenge what you know. Which is not a bad thing – be open to it – but you have to be able to come back with a well crafted response.

So, how does one become an expert? I will attempt in breaking this down in a series so I can spend enough time on each particular topic. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts!

1. I would suggest you get a library card unless you have it like that, which if you do, I’m envious of you. Go to Amazon and see if there are any books on your topic, if there are, write down the titles to either loan out or buy. Highlight any pertinent material, sign up for mailing lists (if the author is someone you need to be kept abreast of). Always be reading something because even if the book is older, you still might be able to find pertinent information that someone has yet to talk about or bring an interesting old time idea into a new variation in your blog post.

Try to find publications that cater to your field. If its fashion, use Vogue, business use Enterprise, if it’s Science start reading Science Weekly get your mitts on whatever you can because there will always be at least ONE viable blog posting (more if you are creative) and it will also introduce to important issues and people in your niche that you NEED to be paying attention—if you aren’t already.

I know that most feel that you can just depend on the internet for material (I’m not saying skip that source because it is a huge component of your success) but don’t forget about the non-digital aspects as well. The more you know, the more likely that people will start to seek you out because – let’s face it – most information on the internet is circular, throw in a fact, anecdote or theory from some place that isn’t virtual will add a new credibility to your blog.