How to Showcase Your ExpertiseThrough Content Creation

Femgineer Forum#femgineerforum

. . .

Sponsored by: GumroadMarch 13, 2014

Poornima Vijayashankerpoornima@femgineer.com

@poornima

1

Format

• Brief talk on strategies to help you level-up• Breakout session to practice strategies• Presentations to get feedback

2

Agenda• Why is it important to showcase your expertise?• How do you find your area of expertise?• How do you build an audience?• How do you package it all up?• Breakout session

3

We’re not going to focus on:

How to get a publishing deal.

How to growth hack.

4

Femgineer.com (2007 - Present)

5

6

“I’m NOT an expert...”

7

Of course you’re NOT.

8

No one is an “expert”.

9

You don’t need to know everything.

10

Remember show & tell?

11

Connection.

12

People Who Want to Get to Know YOU

• Recruiters• Companies• Co-workers• Customers

13

People are more likely to reach out if they know who you are AND how

you think!

14

“I don’t know what I’m good at...”

15

Areas of Expertise

• You don’t need to have years of experience• You need to showcase what you do know & can

speak about confidently• It maybe what you are currently working on• It might even seem “obvious” to you• It might already be “done” but you maybe appealing to a new audience!

16

People are NOT omniscient!

17

Languages

Frameworks

Techniques

Experiences Processes

18

It does not have to be technical!

</>

19

“I can’t write...”

20

Turn conversations into content!

“...”

21

Here’s What People Want to Learn

• How to fast-track their learning• How to approach a complex topic, simply• How to make $• How to be :)

22

How much time is this going to take?!

23

This is NOT about investing tons of time.

24

Pick 1 thing to start with.

25

Break it down into a recipe that others can replicate.

26

Own up to the limitations.

27

Be clear about who this is and isn’t for.

28

Get some feedback from friends.

29

30

31

Reuse!

32

Don’t be Afraid to Reuse Content

• Blog post• Guide• Talk• Beginning of a book

33

“I don’t like self-promotion.”

34

So who is going to promote YOU?

35

Start with your network.

36

Build an audience from there.

37

It will not happen overnight!

38

You have to be clear & consistent.

39

But you can set the frequency!

40

So you wanna make $$$?

41

Start testing!

42

Experiment.

43

44

Case Study

• Took popular blog content• Wrote two chapters• Create an e-book using iBooks• Posted on Gumroad• Tweeted it out• Emailed it• Put it on my website

45

46

Supplemental Reading: Mastering Product Launches by Nathan Barry47

48

Find out where your audience hangs out.

49

Promote early and often!

50

Once you hit your number start writing!

51

Keep your audience informed.

52

Review• Why is it important to showcase your expertise?• How do you find your area of expertise?• How do you build an audience?• How do you go from package it all up?• Breakout session

53

Next Forum: Why You Should Consider Being an

Early Stage Startup EngineernousDECORApril 2, 2014

Visit meetup.com/femgineers

54

Want to host a forum at your company?

Contact: justin@femgineer.com

55

New Courses for Spring 2014!

Confident CommunicatorWeb Product DevelopmentLean Product Development

Visit femgineer.com/learn

MentoringVisit femgineer.com/mentoring

56

Get our book! How to Transform Your Ideas into

Software Productshttp://femgineer.com/transform-ideas

57

Q&A

58

Breakout Session!

59

KEY OBJECTIVE(S) AGENDA

DELIVERABLE

BREAK OUT SESSION

Get comfortable identifying your areas of expertise.

30 minutes Get into groups of ~5 people.1. Introduce yourself to the group.2. Talk about your skills, recent projects,

and a topic you’d like to share.3. Present & receive feedback

Short presentation

60