Sharing your expertise will never replace working with you

One of the objections I hear from business owners pretty regularly about content is the idea that when they share too much, it makes their services unnecessary. I get the concern. So much content these days is geared toward sharing how to do specific individual tasks.

If you teach people how to do everything you do, how can you compel them to pay for your services?

Educational content is one way to demonstrate expertise

I can write 100 marketing strategy posts and it will still make hiring me more valuable for my clients than reading all 100 of those posts 10 times each.

I can write out the process to design messaging or create a content plan step by step and that will benefit businesses whose budget only allow for free services. However, they won’t benefit from the years of experience I have working with clients and in corporations.

I have systems in place, processes I’ve developed and perfected over years of doing the work. I’ve done this work before with other clients and I know many of the pitfalls to avoid. I can share ideas that come to me, and help refine and expand the ideas my clients have.

Hiring an expert is about more than doing the work

Working with someone like me is often about an outside perspective as much as it is about the expertise they bring to the table. But even more valuable than having that expertise and perspective, is the time savings when you don’t have to figure out what to do, how to do it, create and drive the process, and deliver the final work.

Professionals I'll always prefer to hire rather than going the DIY route:

• hair stylist/colourist

• lawyer

• doctor (especially surgeons)

• bookkeeper/accountant

• photographer (except for selfies)

The businesses I work with all know their business far better than I ever could, but I know marketing and that’s the value for them. Being able to depend on someone else to fill a need is the value of hiring an expert.

Reading expert content is like picking your brain

Creating a library of content that your audience can access gives you a fabulous reason to turn down "pick your brain" coffee date requests—if you’re so inclined. You've already picked your own brain and shared it with the world for them to take in.

It’s been a while since I was overwhelmed by such requests, but maybe you’re busier and getting more than you’re comfortable with. In certain situations, it’s not the least bit rude to point people to your blog and let them know your hourly rate. When you’re already busy, it’s hard to give up precious time to conversations that aren’t going to lead to business.

Your expertise is valuable marketing

There will be many people who read your content who never hire you—competitors, followers who aren’t your ideal client, and more. Some of the people who aren’t your ideal client may become clients because your content resonates with them. But don’t worry about the people who read and never hire you.

When you’re bringing in clients you want and meeting your revenue goals because your clients see and understand the proof of your expertise, the rest of those people simply become potential clients for future business. You never know who’s watching, listening, and waiting for the right time.

How to successfully blog your expertise

I’ve been blogging for over 10 years and I’ve written thousands of blog posts across multiple sites, not all of them under my byline. I’ve spoken with dozens of clients and even colleagues about blogging and I get the same questions and concerns over and over again, which means lots of people have similar things that hold them back.

Blogging about your expertise can be intimidating and it can also feel like you’re giving away what you do for free. Will you give away a lot of your expertise? Absolutely. Will it impact the business you get? Highly unlikely.

1. The person who will only ever read your blog and book a free consult with you without signing a contract isn’t in your target market. There are ways to filter this person out.

2. You can blog everything you know about what you do and it will never equate to you providing the experience that backs up your expertise for that person/business.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to share some of my blogging expertise with you that I’ve gained over the last 10 years in a couple of posts that I hope will help you gain more comfort and confidence in the process. Today, I want you to write down a single topic you can write about and I’ll break down a process you can use to craft a blog post on the topic you’ve chosen.

1) Write down 3-5 key points you want to make in your post

This doesn’t have to be a well-crafted outline. By writing out the points you want to make before you start filling in your post, you’ll stay focused on the most important things you want to say and you’ll be able to decide how you want to organize the content.

One option is to have a free-flowing narrative (I don’t recommend this for readability reasons). Or you might lay it out with headers breaking up the different points you’re making. Another option is to make an orderly numbered list (or “listicle” = list + article). This post is a step-by-step how-to, which is another option.

2) Draft your first paragraph to hook the reader in

This paragraph is critical. It needs to have enough information help the reader determine whether to keep reading. Not everyone will and that’s okay. But you don’t want people to stop because the first paragraph is rambly or vague.

Give them a clue about what value you’re going to provide in the rest of the post that makes it worth their time. There are too many things competing for our attention in the world right now to waste time on a blog (or any other content) you don’t need to read.

3) Fill out the rest of your post with more detail

Take those 3-5 points you wrote down and expand on them:

• Why are they important?

• How will they help your reader?

• What practical action can they take with them?

When you’re fleshing out your content, the 5 Ws+H (who, what, when, where, why, and how) can be a useful way for you to get into the mind of your reader to help them.

4) Make your post easy to scan

I mentioned readability up above because it’s one more way you can help your readers digest your content quickly in today’s fast-paced world. And it’s easy to do:

• Add headings to break up longer blocks of text.

• Use bullets or numbered lists to further break up your copy.

• Keep paragraphs short - 2-3 sentences max.

• Avoid using all caps. (IT’S TOO SCREAMY!)

The headings and bullet lists are also good for search engine bots that scan your website. They’ll index your post to include in search results and good headings that include the right keywords and rich media (see #5) give you a boost and put your post in the right context for search engines.

5) Add pictures, videos, and links that support your content

Pictures add visual interest and illustrations can can help you explain more complex concepts. They also help make the post more scannable for the reader. (You should also learn how to add images and videos using accessible methods, but that’s a post for another day.)

Videos and links to content that support your points are valuable validation, even if it comes from another source. I just wouldn’t advise using your competitors as a source. External sources do add credibility to your thoughts and ideas by showing you stay up-to-date with what’s going on and you know what you’re talking about.

6) Reiterate the most important points in your conclusion

I avoid using “conclusion” as a heading and I don’t open the concluding paragraph with “in conclusion.” These are both fairly formal practices that don’t fit as well in the blogging world. However, you don’t have to reiterate all of your points. You can stick to a key takeaway based on applying the whole of your post.

7) Indicate the next step for your audience

Figure out what you want your reader to do next and ask them to do it. Every post should have a call to action (CTA), whether it’s directing them to a resource, offering up your time for a call, or asking a question for them to respond to in the comments.

Just avoid salesy CTAs and your audience will be more likely to take action.

8) Finalize your headline

You can write your headline anytime in this process. If you know what you want it to be before you start writing your post, that’s fine.

No matter when you decide the headline, always revisit it after reading through the entire post again. That gives you the chance to ensure it’s still relevant and fitting to the content of your post.

9) Read it one more time

I’m writing this post roughly three weeks before it’s going to be published. I’ll mark it “needs review” and come back to it for another read-through in a day or two. This gives me some time and space between writing and reading so I’m able to catch errors and refine anything I think is unclear.

No one expects absolute perfection in grammar, sentence structure, and spelling. But the more errors you can eliminate (if you don’t have an editor at your disposal), the better for your readers.

Your blogging challenge for this week

I challenge you to try it out. You don’t have to publish it. Just go through the nine steps in a document. You can even send it to me; I’d love to read it!

And next week, I’ll show you how to use a content map to keep a steady stream of content. That way, you can do this over and over as you grow your blog!