1: Gain experience
Even though IT experience isn’t enough to get you recognized as an expert in an industry that’s filled with experienced IT pros, it is the first prerequisite. No matter how brilliant you are, regardless of the fact that you were building your own circuit boards as a kid and made straight A’s in comp sci, real-world experience still counts. You probably won’t begin to be taken seriously until you’ve been working in the real world in some capacity for at least five years (10 is better).
2: Concentrate on a specialtyThe IT field has grown to the point where, as with the medical field, it’s impossible for one person to master all of it. If you try to be a jack of all trades, you’ll probably never become enough of an expert in anything to stand out from the crowd. Sure, it’s possible to be an IT generalist, but the quickest route to “fame” (and some measure of fortune) is to find yourself a niche.
3: Take ownership
Once you’ve decided on an area of expertise, your goal should be to take ownership of that particular product or topic area. You want to become the person whom everyone thinks of when they think about that topic. For example if you want to develop windows applications, you got to give in that etra bit of spice to your application to stand out from rest of the crowd.
4: Start small
No matter how ambitious your ultimate goal is, you’re more likely to attain it if you’re willing to start small and get there in increments. Begin by becoming well known and respected in one particular venue — such as on a particular Web forum or within a local IT user group. Hone your leadership skills and become a big fish in these small ponds, and that will lead to opportunities to swim in much bigger waters.
5: Take on writing assignments
Not everyone has the time, interest, and stamina to write a book. It’s a lot of hard work. Sometimes it pays off handsomely but other times the earnings, given the hours you put in, don’t even add up to minimum wage. An easier way to make money writing about IT is to produce 500- to 2,500-word articles for IT webzines. There are thousands of forums, blogs and online tech wrting sites you can register and master your skill.
6: Put your name on the Web
Even if you haven’t yet reached the point where people are willing to pay you to write about IT, you can get your name out there: Put it on the Web. Create an IT-oriented Web site with your name prominently featured. It can be a help forum, where you answer questions and solve IT problems. It can be a gathering place for other IT pros to post on a Web board and do much of the problem solving. It can be just an ad for your consulting business or a showplace for you to brag about your awards (if you do it in the right way). The important thing is to get your name “up in lights.”
7: Get social
Don’t get so busy building your business that you forget the importance of socializing. That includes both real-world and online social networking. Join LinkedIn and Facebook and set up a Twitter account, and use them to further your career ambitions. The beautiful thing about the Internet is that “nobody knows you’re a dog.” Looks, race, gender, disabilities, etc., don’t matter. It is entirely possible to build a strong reputation and make a good living doing everything online.
Seek out other IT pros as friends and followers and post with your business reputation in mind. Post tidbits of IT news, links to helpful IT articles, and of course, links to any of your articles, blog posts, etc. As with blogging, if you want to use social networking sites for more personal purposes, set up two separate accounts — one for business friends and one for personal friends.
9: Seek out other superstars
When you’re socializing, whether online or at real-world events, hang out with the other superstars if you can. I don’t mean you should push your way into the inner circle, but you shouldn’t be shy about approaching the IT gurus you admire and letting them know how they’ve inspired you. Especially as you begin to be known for your own expertise, most of them will be happy to be contacted by you.
10: Talk the talk
Writing will get you name recognition, but to get face recognition, you need to do more. Real-life meetings and conferences will do that, to a degree. But it you really want to be a superstar, you shouldn’t be just attending those conferences; you should be presenting at them. They say public speaking is the number one fear, even above death — but it’s a fear that anyone can get over with a lot of practice.
