One of the blogs I'm actively writing is Best Beef Jerky, which contains reviews of beef jerky brands. Since I've been writing it, I've had the pleasure to meet with people behind certain brands.

This afternoon I met with another, a marketing guy for Pacific Gold, a brand owned by Oh Boy! Oberto. I met him in Temecula, at a Costco store, where Pacific Gold gets most of its sales. He talked with me about the history of the brand, what his job is, and gave me some insight on the marketing of the brand.

He in turn was intrigued with my beef jerky blog and asked me lots of questions. He probably had more questions for me than I of him. But still, I learned some things about the beef jerky industry.

My meeting with him won't help increase visitors to my blog, nor will it provide me any insight on SEO, or getting some lucrative advertising deals. But the knowledge I've gained will help me write more intelligent content.

But the most interesting thing I learned is perception.

His perception of me was as the world's preeminent expert on beef jerky. He said himself, that no one in the world has eaten as many brands and varieties of beef jerky as I have. And in thinking about it, I'd probably agree with that.

But I see myself as just an average joe who knows how to make a website. I don't really see myself as a beef jerky expert, I'm just someone who's eaten an awful lot of different brands, and can draw comparisons between one brand and another.

Part of his interest in talking to me is because his wife wants to build a website for her own personal business. He asked me for tips on building a site. But being that he's in the business of beef jerky, I'm sure he'd like to learn more about me, particularly since a Google search of his company's brand name results in my site ranking #2, right underneath his company's.

He was savvy enough to do some research on me before our meeting today. He got a better idea of who he was dealing with, just a guy working out of his house, but a guy who knew something about Internet marketing. Still, he considered me as the world's expert on beef jerky.

Considering no one else in the world has bothered to write about as much about beef jerky as I have, maybe I am. But, in reality, I know myself pretty well. And I'm really not a that much of an expert.

But then again, that's perception for you. And maybe that's all that really matters. I gained a contact within the Oberto empire, which I can use to help me write more informative content. Maybe he'll refer all of his Pacific Gold and Oberto co-workers to my site, and who knows what can happen from there.

Maybe his perception of me as the world's foremost authority on beef jerky will result in the higher-ups at Oberto to think of creative ways to utilize me.

Either way, it interesting how much respect an average joe like me can enjoy, just from building a website.  ✓