"Expert"

What makes an expert? Is it depth of subject knowledge? Is it the length of a career? Or is it that someone has told you that this person is an expert?

It's more of the last one than a lot of people would like to admit. Experts are experts because someone has told you that they are an expert; and it's usually people like me that do the telling.

Media Expert John Rockley is the one that told you that he's interviewed Gardening, Interior Design, Skin Care, Legal experts, all of them taking calls answering questions and doing the things that experts do. I have to admit that some of them were not experts. They were people who worked in their chosen fields...

That's it...

They had no special qualification to be called an 'expert' they just happened to be people that either I or the production team had spoken to at some point and thought "oh, they'd be good if we ever need a..."

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what makes an expert in the eyes of the media.

So, how do you go about making yourself into an expert? You may be a social media flitterer RT'ing things from other self proclaimed experts (or people who have a demonstrable knowledge of their subject) building a following on t'interweb and possibly even doing some things that have been on youtube. However, in the eyes of the average person you're no more of an expert than the other serried ranks of tweeters. The conventional media legitimises the claims of 'expert' once you've had the Aston (that name thing on the screen) that says "Social Media Expert" you're just someone who can do their job well.

You become an expert by engaging with the media and you do that by... well, there'd be no point me charging for my services if I gave it all away here... after all, I am an expert.