Getting known for your niche

Getting known for your niche

The other day we were walking along a trail around Beenyup Wetlands in Woodvale, north of Perth. It was a beautiful sunny winters day with lots of water, paperbark trees, birds and fresh air. We love exploring new places on foot and Beenyup Wetlands was a new one for us.

Within minutes of completing our walk, Jane got a phone call from ABC 720 radio to do an interview with Gillian O’Shaughnessy about walking trails in Perth.

The radio station phone call came about because Jane and myself are perceived as trails experts. How that came about is a journey that was years in the making.

We are passionate travellers and wherever we are we seek out hiking trails. Our passion for hiking pays for our travel lifestyle. We have done that by mapping trails, written nonfiction books, travel guides, and numerous magazine articles. We have also run photography courses and developed a travel fit nutritional system.

So here’s the question…
How do you become known as an expert in your field?
One way is to:
1. Figure out what you love doing
2. Do it and
3. Share your passion and knowledge with others.

Finishing the Bibbulmun Track

As an example…
1. We love walking.
2. We decided to do the Bibbulmun Track in 2007.
3. We wanted to share our journey in book form so we pitched the idea to the Bibbulmun Foundation. They didn’t have the budget but they did need trail assessors for the Trails WA project and we had the unique set of skills needed.

And maybe then, a radio station will ring you to tap into your knowledge.

Although this quote is associated with a musical performance, it illustrates the key point I’m making.

“The most important thing you can do in performance is to show the audience how much you love what you are doing.”
Galen Rowell

By the way, the interview went well with plenty of listeners ringing in with their favourite trails. For the recording go to our previous blog.

Walking Trails in Perth