I agree with you that in the future this might be a suitable way to build a rep, however currently, writing to a serious venture like Wikipedia might be useful in terms of reputation, if the opinion-makers of the company are tech-saavy.

Re your other responses:
2. You are right. If you don’t have good content don’t have a blog. But if you are expert, I recommend getting published by whatever means necessary (even if it is a lowly blog). How else are you going to get your word out? I guess you could write a book.

3. I stand by my belief that creativity counts. I should have said, however, that I assume all my candidates are above a certain baseline for raw intelligence. My point is simple: I don’t want robots on my team. I think we all agree that problem solving is important. This takes creativity.

4. Getting a diploma isn’t what it used to be. Your nostalgia for a bygone era (when diplomas meant something) is touching, but quite irrelevant. I know plenty of morons with four-year degrees. I know even more who have MBAs or graduate degrees - agreeing with Tad here. Some of the most prestigious degrees are not earned, but bought.

5. What if the market you are discussing is not a financial one? Not everyone sees the world through the lens investment returns.

Once you are an expert, the challenge is to get the word out. At that point, some of the above begins to make sense.

Be careful–a phony expert may fool some people, but you’ll ultimately be called out as just another charlatan.

I’ll remain consistent with Dan’s numbering:

2) Blogito ergo sum? Having an opinion and an internet connection doesn’t establish you as an expert. I’m not hating on blogs, but this point falls short. To establish yourself as an expert via a blog you need to have solid content and design a marketing plan that guarantees you reach a large audience. Without a sizable audience or at least an audience of noteworthy reputation, you’re just humming your note in the vast white noise concert that is the internet.

3) Being a creative thinker is the “most valuable professional asset that one can have”? Give me a break, this isn’t kindergarten. How about a rigorous thinker, someone trained in say classic rhetoric, who can methodically pick through a complex idea? How about another type of rigorous thinker, someone trained in the law, who has learned how to apply a very complex but linear sort of analysis to ideas? “Creative thinker” is a toss-away phrase, a cliché. You need to define your terms.

4) When I read the bold title here I was convinced you were about to refer to a diploma — establish yourself as an expert by being certified an expert not by the hive mind (internet) or by a bureaucrat/technocrat sitting in Alexandria, VA, but by another man who is already an expert, who may be able to trace his certification as an expert like a lineage back to a professor at a medieval university, men who have studied, produced original ideas, then defended those ideas publicly and satisfactorily, thus establishing themselves as experts. A man with a SQL poster on his wall has proved he is an expert at one thing: operating the office printer.

5) A five year old can have knowledgeable, well-informed, and impressive opinions about the economy, the stock market, or a given investment, if he speaks with confidence. The only difference between you and Rebecca Jarvis is that she’s damn good looking. Want to establish yourself as an expert? Show me annual returns on your market investment averaging 15% annually for a decade and you’ll convince me you’re an expert. Just speaking with confidence while sipping your gimlet only makes you an expert actor or an expert socializer.

Sorry this was negative (and long), but this post was strikingly far below the high standard for quality of content you guys have earned a reputation for.