Can We Write About Things Without a Practical Experience?
No, this is not about product reviews. That has already been done to death.
I have always wondered if you could make people read and like what you put out there if you’re going to say (or sound like saying), “Hey, I haven’t seen it myself but I think this is the way it works.”
One of the primary lessons in content marketing is to write what you already know and help people with what you write there. It could be an instruction, a strategy or an inspirational writing. It could be anything. But if you’re a beginner yourself, you are not going to be an expert on many things that you can say with absolute authority. The knowledge you’re having could be in bits and pieces, the source of which are mainly the many posts that are found on the Internet from other more experienced people.
Let’s suppose you are learning about email marketing. And from the resources found on the web and through some training posts or videos from a course you have enrolled yourself in, let’s say you have understood why people are investing so much of their energy on email marketing. You are now able to know how the whole thing works, why it is important to write good email copies, how to write those catchy copies, the comparative prices of the various Autoresponder subscriptions, how to set up campaigns, the works.
While you KNOW all these, let’s suppose, you’re yet to carry out a full-fledged email campaign to promote your blog. You haven’t even bought the services of an Autoresponder. Can you write a blog post on the possible benefits of email marketing with a disclosure that you cannot verify the reliability of the strategy simply because you haven’t experienced it yourself? What do you think the readers will feel if they realise that you’re not experienced in email marketing? Can the readers (who landed on your page because of your great content) be convinced of what you write and coaxed into taking up an action like clicking on that CTA of yours?
As beginners, we do a hell lot of research on many things. We are mostly learning about these things. And at least, THEORETICALLY, we know about the various strategies, about content creation and promotion. Can this theoretical knowledge be the basis for our content? What is the best way to provide value to the readers without having a practical experience?
I could have well posted this as a question to the WA community but I thought it would be better if I do a bit of an explaining about what I was trying to convey. I hope I made myself clear here. I do not know how many of you are going to respond but I would be grateful if you provide me some of your insights here. Happy Friday, friends!
Recent Comments
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Interesting question Sukumarth.
I think as beginners we need our passion to carry the weight of our writing as opposed to our knowledge. Even if we’re not experts our love of the subject will come through and that can be as attractive to a reader as knowledge.
KyleAnn
When we are writing about any subject even if we have no knowledge there is a wealth of knowledge out there that you can rewrite in your own style.
The more you research and write about something the more you are learning.
We are imparting knowledge to those who may not understand yet. Your way of putting things may attract people who have read but not fully understood when it has been written in a different way.
Derek
Thanks for the insights, Derek. It's about finding the angles, isn't that so? I feel that it's tricky to rewrite things that people have already written. Not because that's difficult but because it will not be easy to engage with the audience when they put queries on the topic you have written. So, we have to be careful about what we write and what can be expected from the audience when they have something to ask.
Hi Sukumar, digging deep my friend, when it comes to reviews there are two sides to the coin on one side we have physical reviews and on the flip side we have that mirid of products that loosely fit into the genre of MMO or information in general related to the MMO niche.
I think that we all need to become aware of what it is we are selling/Promoting, and most importantly who and to whom we are broadcasting to. if we don't know that, no contest, this goes across the board.
When we start out, we can create a knowledge base to leverage, if we write something then it is at a particular level and the folks that will be interested in these musings are folks that are searching for knowledge on that level if that makes sense.
So as beginners it is about sharing the experience at the level that we are at, as we progress that level just expands along with our experience.
Write a post today and then revisit it in 6 months time it is like visiting a distant relative, there is a disconnect, in most cases, we have advanced way beyond our starting point. We are talking, thinking, researching and writing at a different level.
Folks get hung up on experience and only writing when their understanding is at a certain level or they have results to back up what they are writing about.
Overrated and done to death as well.
If we use your example of an autoresponder, we are in the game and at some point, we will be looking for one, obviously, we will do due diligence as to the best investment, at that point we are creating experience that is well worth sharing, at that point in time there will be folks also searching, beginners, also looking and at times the language of the beginner is understood by another beginner. that is our entry point.
An expert rocks in and the dialogue goes straight over most folks heads, maybe.
Midway on the track, we may be more concerned with creating our own autoresponder independent of service providers everything moves on up with experience.
So in the beginning, we speak like beginners down the track plenty of time to speak the language of the expert.
As a beginner can we, create content and offer experiences, yes we can, will the big fish pay the slightest, attention.
No.
Will folks read your content.
Yes.
The folks that are in the same camp as you and if that content is created using the methodology taught here in WA, folks will turn up to your show.
Thank you so much for the detailed reply. I totally get it. You have managed to pack in a good deal of wisdom in your reply. Appreciate that. I think most beginners feel overwhelmed at the range of information available already and feel that everything that had to be said has already been said, and done to death. And when the knowledge base is shallow, finding those angles are never easy. But I like it when you say there'll always be an audience. Encouraging, it is. It looks like it's all about learning to communicate effectively when you do not have much experience in the niche. It feels nice to think that there're people who will read your content if you craft it intelligently and honestly. And if you know how to promote it well. Cheers!
I personally, will not recommend a product I have not used first. I even asked my husband to buy me a Dyson cordless vacuum, before I would consider placing it on my new site. I reason I go to this extreme is due to all the Hoover boards, affiliates posted on their website for last Christmas. Then a lot of them burst into flames, under kids feet. We had one child in our community severely hurt, and will never walk properly again. And lost his college scholarship, i am also practical and understand we may not be able to try everything, But in practice, I for myself work, to have first -hand experience, before I recommend a service or product. Kaju wrote an excellent blog on this very subject. Why don't you look it up?
Sandy
If you read the very sentence of this post, my question was not about product reviews. But thanks anyway for the effort to reply. Cheers!
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Rewriting things that others have already written is about finding your opinion of what was already said and then getting it down on paper. Your take on driving a compact car will not be the same as my take on it. There is always room for a well-written opinion about any subject.
Thanks for the input. There is indeed room for a well-written opinion on any damn subject. It's like music where you cannot say every combination of notes that had to be sung has already been sung and that there's no room for any new composition anymore. Sing it properly with passion, there will always be listeners. Ditto for new blog posts :)