A friend who knows I’m a blogger recently asked me for my blog address so she could take a look. We were chatting with instant messaging, so I sent her the link. A few minutes later, she asked me how long I’d been blogging, whether I enjoyed it, and how much I earned. I responded with the details and then asked her the obvious question: “are you considering starting a blog?”. “I want to” she replied, “but I’m not an expert on anything. I don’t know what I would blog about”.
There’s no shortage of great advice on choosing a blog topic. Among all that advice about finding a topic with sufficient audience, income opportunities, a growing market, not too much competition and enough to write about, it never says that you need to be an expert on your chosen topic. And you don’t. At least not when you start. The most important ingredient is passion. You can learn enough about your topic to become an expert, but you can’t learn passion. And without passion, you won’t be able to sustain motivation for blogging over a long period.
Sharing what you learn
I started my first blog on Microstock photography – an open market where anyone can sell photos online. I knew I wasn’t an expert, but I was already researching all the techniques, styles, agencies and superstars of the topic. I figured I might as well start sharing what I was learning anyway. With the helps of blogs like ProBlogger, the ‘learning to blog’ part was easy.
I carefully crafted my About Me page as my first line of defense. I wrote in detail about my ‘beginner’ status and that my background was in another industry. I wanted people to know that I wasn’t an expert so they didn’t think I was pretending to be one. My first few posts were about the very basics of microstock. They were my lessons as I was learning them, shared for anyone who started later than I did.
Being there for opportunities to find you
After I’d been blogging for just six months I got very lucky. I received a message via my blog’s contact page from Photo District News (PDN) asking me to call them to discuss “an opportunity”. Doing my best to sound cool and collected, I phoned immediately. They were planning a session about microstock for their annual PhotoPlus Expo, the largest photography conference & expo in the world. And they wanted me to speak!
Didn’t they realize I wasn’t an expert?? My About page was super-clear, and my blog posts were still mostly about very basic topics. But as they pointed out, nobody else was blogging specifically about microstock at the time. Even just six months of sharing what I’d learned and comparing the agencies put my level of knowledge ahead of a lot of people in the industry.
Learn from the experts and leaders in your topic
Speaking at that conference did a lot more for me than just boost my ego and give me something to boast about. It was where I met the leaders of the microstock and broader stock photo industry. I suppressed my desire to request autographs and did my best to make as many contacts as I could. I asked lots of questions and listened carefully to the answers. I knew what these people could do for my knowledge and my blogging.
Over the following year these industry leaders helped me with my education through countless emails, online chats and comments correcting my blog posts. They introduced me to other people with specialist knowledge and sent me lots of industry news. Each time I learned something new or got news, I blogged about it. I didn’t always understand what they were teaching me or recognize the company names in the news, so I had to research. The need to understand my topic in order to blog about it was forwarding my education. I was blogging to learn.
Never stop learning
It’s now two years since that conference. I still don’t refer to myself as a topic expert, but my about page no longer uses the word “beginner”. I’ve continued to blog my lessons as bigger and better opportunities keep flowing into my inbox. My network is also thriving, providing me with a broader education and access to amazing resources.
Sharing this experience with my friend completely opened up the range of topics she is considering for her blog. She is now looking at her interests rather than her expertise. She knows she doesn’t have to be an expert. At least not at the beginning.
Lee Torrens is a true fan of the blogging model and its strength as a platform for attracting and launching all sorts of entrepreneurial projects. He shares his experiences selling photos online with microstock at his blog, Microstock Diaries. He’s been blogging to learn since early 2007 and is still passionate about his topic.
A lot of people who start bloggers aren’t experts but ya passion is what you need. Everybody has to start somewhere and im sure most of the leaders in the blogosphere didn’t start off being experts.
That’s a great example that we don’t need to have everything figured out, just have determination and passion and getting into a market early helps as well ;-)
Really cool post, this article is also good:
==> http://bit.ly/mfwl8
That’s me exactly. I blog to learn, about people, about blogging, and about writing.
I found my blog to be a great tool to motivate me to self educate.
Darren, this post is your greatest post (in my opinion). Not only is your writing highly developed, but you have answered some of my questions I never though would get answered. I recently created a new blog and I was worried about my lack of expertise. My worries have lessened, and now I can focus on becoming a better writer and a better expert about my passion.
Thank you :)
Learning is long life process .It never stop till death.
So blogging is like a life it teaches us many things to improve.
I don’t forget some definitions of psychology which I learnt in my training time of Physical trainer.
The baby can’t realizes about fire or hot until he touches the flame.
The same learning process is blogging.Fell down and get up again and again…………..
I LOVE to learn! I just told my husband this morning I want to save up to go to a women’s writing conference next year. I could spend all day studying :) There’s just so much out there. I was very resistant, though, to learning the technical side of blogging, but here I am now learning basic HTML and it’s not as hard as I thought! You just never know…
I don’t think anyone should ever feel as if “they’ve arrived.” I was pretty surprised to learn recently that some of my 50 year old plus friends from Bible study were still learning how to be godly women.
I had a lightbulb moment…I am never going to be done! I will always have to work on learning and growing, whether in life, blogging, or whatever. Kinda depressing at first, but encouraging to know that i’m not alone!
It’s amazing what happens to people when they put themselves out there, and try to put value back into this world.
It makes me think if the quote “If you help enough people get what they want, you’ll get what you want.”
There are countless stories of people who started out with nothing (no knowledge, or no money, etc.) and become huge successes.
I think that basics of that success if persistence and giving back. Provide enough value to enough people and you will get that value provided back to you.
Thanks for the Post!
I seem to learn something new about Internet Marketing, writing, and administrating websites every week. I slowing add to the sites that I own and they get better slowly over time.
I told a friend recently that I’m better at helping others succeed than I am at succeeding myself. I’m taking this as a clue!
Great post! I find it a very true statement that blogging can be a huge way to learn new things in a way that you wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.
Sorry for being slightly off topic – Several bloggers and I were talking about the idea of starting a small, active group where each blogger would contribute to everyone else, thus allowing the whole group to benefit. If you’re interested, please drop a comment at the blog I made, and make sure to leave a link to your blog!
http://www.blogalliance.wordpress.com
I learn every day from my blog, and the things associated with it. Problogger is where I come to learn and think outside the box. With Derren being such a big success assures me that he knows what he’s talking about.
This is such a great point, Darren. I believe that you ‘become’ the expert as you pick a niche and devote yourself to learning more and more about it. That’s what I have done in my private counseling practice. You cannot become an expert without once having been a novice who decided to become an expert.
I also use blogging as a learning tool; when I decide on a topic to learn about I blog my progress and note important things I’ve learned and . . . I write it in my own words.
Once Again thank you so much for sharing. That is so true I have been blogging for 9 months and I will tell you I have become an expert and now people are asking me questions all the time.
It is so shocking to be looked at that way.
Great post, Lee. Bloggers with passion are truly the ones that stand out for me. If they aren’t excited about what they’re writing, why should I — or any other reader — follow them.
well, blogging is learning and learning is sharing
Nice post Lee. Fun to hear your blogging story.
It makes me eager to start yet another blogging adventure. If only i could get past the first 5 posts.
Great post!
That is my whole purpose for creating my blog, DIYCycling. By blogging about the things I discover and learn, I have the opportunity to re-iterate what I’ve learned, further drilling it into my head. I also have the opportunity to share what I’m learning, and get in touch with other people with similar interests. Blogging has perhaps been my most powerful learning and connecting tool since I finished school
That’s what I actually love about blogging. You begin a somewhat expert (in some cases) and you perfect your expertise over time as you put more time into pursuing your knowledge of your chosen topic. And since you begin with a passion, it’s gets all the more interesting to learn more about your topic and evolve into a bigger expert.
Thanks for sharing important info here.
I’m just just set up my blog as you mention I’m intrested in internet marketing and gain so much info about it but not successful yet.
So that’s the truth that I’m not making money yet in “about me”
This is so true.
I know I started out with a passion and no knowledge. Im not quite the expert yet…but I’m getting there. It takes time, committment, and patience.
Thanks for sharing:)
I use my blog to learn. Not only do I share experiences that I’ve learned from, but I’m forced to go out and read other blogs and articles for ideas of what to write about, things to checkout/review. From that I end up learning a ton and be exposed to many new and different ideas.
And posts like this is what makes your blog one of the greatest on the net. I learned of a new resource today and I very much thank you for it. The microstock blog site is something that I will have to really dig into because I’ve been thinking about doing something like this for some time and the very first post I read on their site showed me a way to save myself a ton of time while doing it.
Dude your great!
http://www.surveyseeker.net/2009/09/19/blizzard-ignores-mass-tos-violations/
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ElvenRuneLord
Augmented Living Blog
Improving Your Life One Article At a Time
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I have actually decided that I learn and consider things more deeply because I want to blog about them. I posted this morning about the importance of communication in the learning process http://www.digmo.co.uk/edu/ict-creativity-and-communication/ great video on there too on creativity in education / communication.
Great story. My blog is certainly a platform for learning. Every time I prepare and write a post it forces me to polish my own thoughts.
I like this idea of blogging to learn, will be starting Uni next week and I hope to start a blog to help me along my studies.
One day I will be a leading authority.
Every post I write about homebrewing helps me to learn about all the aspects of the hobby that I don’t know about. In addition to learning from the process of collecting and disseminating the information I am finding my own voice in a crowded blogging environment.
mark
http://www.backyardbrewer.blogspot.com
Blogging to learn has been one of the main reasons that I keep at it. As I keep learning about my interests (books, writing, music, biking, etc) I write about it.
In my opinion…worst case scenario…I learned something. Not bad at all.
Thanks for another great post.
One of the reasons why I started to blog was to learn. I really love to write and my grammar and writing are not the best but as time goes by I know I will get better. I want my readers to keep me in check as well. If they spot something that is wrong or can add something, I want them to tell me. Another great post Darren.
P.S. Welcome back!
Never stop learning, people are lazy so they always forget to keep studying.
blogging to practice too :-)
because experience is the best teacher
This article is so write. Some much of what I know I learned from others.
I think that it’s amazing how contacts over the internet can influence a range much larger in everyday life. Unfortunately for some, we can’t find or have the money to go to one of those conferences. Oh well, life goes on, right?
I guess we All Learned Something from this Post. But what I have Learned Most about Blogging in the Last few Months,Is that you can’t talk about me in your blog.I have Seen in the Poll how many loose their Passion for blogging quite Quickly. And By Reading the Comments here,I see that Many have not Learned,That you Don’t put you URL in the Comment Box as It’s Rude.
It’s true that everyone starts out as a beginner, regardless of the topic you choose. If you went in to it already knowing everything, there wouldn’t be much room for growth. That would make it pretty boring, since the journey of evolving is by far the best experience you can get from blogging.
Great post Darren
Awesome post I like reading it
There are surely times when you get stuck on what to write about. I always like to go to Digg and check out what’s going on.
That is the beautiful thing about blogging. I have to constantly organise and structure my thoughts. I also have to research and make sure I have it right.
Its a discipline I enjoy while learning and communicating with others
cheers
brigid
I started a blog because I got frustrated how difficult it was to find and contact contractors and have them qualified to rake leaves/be insured/clean gutters etc.
So I started this blog out of a sort of passion/pissed off energy. But I think I’ll do more.
When you start the journey, you never know where the road will lead or what trails you may blaze.
Joe
http:www.IndyLeafPickUP.com
Great blog post Darren… I have only started blogging in the last 6 months about my passion”Social Media” and I am not an expert but hey.. you know what I think I might be on my way to becoming one.. follow your heart … and go for it!!! Cheers from Jeff Bullas from jeffbullas.com
Yes, I do agree with that.
At the same time to record what I have learn and what I could do better to improve.
It is unbelieveable how much you can learn about a subject just by keeping simple blog about it.
since September, after a long holiday, i came back to my daily rss feeds and my small coding projects – and realised that i had realy missed this world
i been meaning to start blogging since, though the only thing that keeps me from not starting is this idea that i’m not an expert and why would people want to read what i beginner has to say,
however, similar to your article, i think that if i started blogging it would give me another reason for me to keep learning and therefore writing what i have learned
is a good job that passion is the key, as up to now, i do have the passion and motivation.
very good post – something that i really needed to hear
For me, blogging is also a process of learning. And yeah, I really agree that passion is a nice kickstart for everything that you wanna do.
great article Darren, thanks for the insite. Always keep learning, the day you stop is the day you either die or you become stagnant.
Darren,
Thank you for this article. I am in the process of starting my own blog/forum on negotiation and am anything but an expert.
I have found a need in this area, so decided that is where I should start, much like you found a need in the Microstock Photography Blogosphere.
Your experience an insight are in inspiration!
Lee,
An awesome story in 2 P’s: persistence and passion. My own blogging experience has taught me that one needs to have a passion for what they do. If you *really* want to learn more about the topic persistence will spring naturally out of this desire. The key is to keep at it. Keep learning, keep blogging, continue to improve. As you persist your ‘lucky’ break will come, just as yours did :)
RB
This is the best kind of post: a story. One you can sail through in no time – learning as you go. Would that all posts were this easy to read. Nice work! P. :)
Learn ’til dead.
Very interesting article and I know many people who blog but not one who started out an expert. Learning is a growing process and only achieved over time.
I love programming and web development/design, so eventually that’s what I want to blog about. I say to anyone wanting to blog, simply pick something of interest and subscribe to http://www.dailywritingtips.com/ (great blog on writing in itself).
If you like what you are learning and can put that value into articles for an audience to digest, many things can happen. People want to learn so give backs some value and teach. Being apart of a blog also means people will correct you and help you perfect your knowledge.