You're Not The Expert and That's OKAY!
I've really enjoyed encouraging and challenging others since January 25th, when I joined here at WA. In my two previous posts, I wrote about my productivity within my first month here. I had written nearly 43,000 words in a little over 30 days. On top of that (what I had not mentioned) was I also created an email e-course in addition to these posts here. I also didn't mention my time obstacles which include homeschooling a 5th grader and being a stay home mom for a one year old. I have two kids and I do freelance digital marketing!
(Save me from myself...LOLOLOL)
I've been highly productive and it feels good. This isn't the beginning of being a prolific writer for me. I wrote and self published 15 books between 2014 and 2015. Each book was more than 17,000 words. I'm not trying to toot my horn but I want to tell you my key, and I want you to understand that I'm not making up my method from ignorance.
One common question I received is "How are you writing so much?" and I wanted to answer that here with the most common stagnating point for writers....thinking they need to be the expert.
There are several different "voices" or perspectives you can write in that are highly effective for establishing a readership, and "being the expert" is not the most catchy one. I typically don't write in the expert voice because it's so time-consuming to "become". Can you imagine how long it would take me to become the expert in entrepreneurship? I'd have to start, grow, and run billion dollar companies or something of that sort! I can't compete with Warren Buffet or those guys by writing in that voice?!!!! I don't even try!
YOU DON"T NEED TO BE THE EXPERT TO ATTRACT READERS!
In fact, most readers like to hear from someone relatable. Think about it...would you prefer to read from the writer who has the guiness book of world records for most words written or is it more interesting to challenge yourself against the newbie?
For me, most of the blogs I read are not by "experts". They are by people who are focusing their time and research on a topic and seeing increased results (babysteps at a time) because they are trying.
I typically try to write from the voice of...."Hey guys, I know we want to be successful, and this is what I'm trying".
I want you to release that critical, disgusting voice that says, "You're not educated enough to speak on this", "You're not smart enough to speak on this", or "You don't have enough experience to speak on this", write in the seat of the student challenging your readers in a certain area (for me it's entrepreneurship), and make your mantra "I don't have to be the expert". Let's implement rapidly rather than be our worse enemies!
Watch how much your productivity goes up when you just release your story (as naive as it may be) to do it's work to help others. I read my old writing and laugh, and that's okay because I was doing the best I could with what I had. Can you be okay with looking back and being imperfect? If not, fix that! You may be writing more than me in an instant!
To your success,
Tiffany
Recent Comments
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Im so glad Lauren Jean. Im planning to reach out to you when its not such a busy day for you.
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WOW. What an interesting post. You are right when you say to write in such a way as to be relate to your readers. That is how you get traffic, keep it and profit from it.
Jerry
It takes me weeks or months to do enough research to feel like an expert. In some niches (like mine--Entrepreneurship), I'd have to build multimillion dollar businesses before I'm the expert. I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! When I say, "Hey, guys this is what I'm trying and it's working, then I can get content pieces done so quickly. It's not that I'm saying lower the quality standard or not to do research, but remove that barrier of perfection or sophistication we think we need to wear. Thanks for stopping by Jerry! Glad you jived with what I'm saying!