Why it is important to keep your knowledge up to date
There is one sure-fire way to lose credibility with prospects and clients and that is when you fail to keep your knowledge up to date with industry trends and give outdated advice. And if you are posting outdated advice on social media, there is the knock-on effect of so many others seeing what we have written and their loss of interest in listening to anything we have to say in the future.
If you are an employee you need to keep your knowledge up to date along with relevant skills and will be regularly assessed (or at least should be) by your employer. Training is provided when any gaps in knowledge are identified and it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure you continually keep learning and improve your knowledge.
But as a self-employed business person, it is up to you to ensure you keep your knowledge up to date on a continual basis. You need to put a plan in place for your own continuous professional development (CPD) and be aware of the ever-changing industry trends that are bound to happen.
‘Experts’ who give outdated advice
Just recently I have seen a few occasions where ‘experts’ in their field have given outdated advice which has instantly affected their credibility in my opinion, and undoubtedly by others who spotted their mistakes.
The first case was someone who was advising another on a social media forum to use Blab as part of their marketing campaign. What this expert had failed to realise was that Blab no longer exists. This would have caused frustration for the person being advised whilst searching for something no longer available and then a complete lack of trust and respect in the advisor.
Secondly, I saw someone ask an expert for their advice on the use of Snapchat for business. The expert responded that Snapchat was purely for social use but something similar may come to the market for businesses in the future. What the expert failed to realise was that Snapchat is growing daily for business use and their knowledge is very much out of date. Again, a loss of credibility and respect with the person asking the question and anyone else who saw the post and knew the information given was wrong.
Finally, I saw someone advise another to create a number of web pages all with the same content. This is in direct contradiction to Google’s best practice which penalises sites with duplicate content.
Invest the time to keep up to date with industry trends
The most successful business people are those who invest the time to keep up to date with industry trends. Ways to keep your knowledge up to date include:
- Networking with others in your industry
- Reading current books and articles
- Subscribing to online forums and being proactive in asking questions
- Investing in relevant training or signing up for a new course
- Following experts in your field on social media
Try and get creative and think of new ways to keep your knowledge up to date and continue to build credibility with your prospects and clients. If you have any creative ways of keeping your knowledge updated, share them in the comments below.
