Survive or Thrive? A Tale of Mixed Advice for Entrepreneurs and Writers

Be careful of putting yourself out there as an expert if you aren’t

Disclaimer: This topic does not address my fellow Illumination writers’ thoughts, ideas, opinions, poetry or the great beauty of how you share your inner world. This only addresses when we consider how to make money online, in particular how that touches our fellow writers, some of whom right now are in real financial trouble, as some of us may be. Please keep that in mind.

For a good long time, I’ve read articles on Medium about how to be successful. Some of them contained advice that was genuinely smart, as now, from writers like August Birch, whose material I like to link and share among my other communities, including outside Medium. These are examples of why I like his stuff:

Others have been regularly and roundly criticized for bragging about their ten grand a month income, and proffering sometimes unfortunate advice. One particularly repugnant item advised us to not bother to read other Medium writers but to concentrate solely on our own work.

As our collective experience on Illumination has proven, that’s rather poor advice. In fact, when that got published…..

…that ripe piece of horse pucky drew howls of derision from those of us who are indeed professionals at this craft, and from many others who are well on their way. Kindly, not good advice.

A number of those making considerable income have done so by expanding their income streams in multiple ways through online courses, podcasts and the like. These are smart, time-tested ways to ensure that if you put all your eggs in one basket, you don’t get in serious trouble. That’s underscored by my buddy Gillian Sisley’s recent comment about how one client was 75% of her business. When that went south, so did she, for now, but she’s coming back. Kindly, that is by no means a criticism. I’ve done it myself, it’s easy to do, especially just getting started. That one anchor client can feel very safe. Until it isn’t.

Gillian is in the marketing space. All respect to her for nailing that client. Her experience absolutely proves the important point that all of us, writers or marketers or carpet salespeople, would be wise to ensure that our portfolio includes a considerable variety, especially early on. I’ve watched far too many small businesses fail for lack of diversity in their income streams and client bases. But that’s another article.

But what about now, when so many of us -including this writer- have seen our stats plummet? For people for whom Medium is a lot more than a chat room, but it can be the difference in making the rent? That may mean we are at times tempted to reach into areas that perhaps aren’t such a good idea, if we don’t have the required expertise.

Birch explores a critical concept about expertise:

• I’m not looking for a plumber who also writes crime novels and dabbles with accounting on the weekends.
• I’m not looking for relationship advice from a zookeeper, or exercise tips from a chef.
• I’m not buying courses from people who create courses in a dozen different areas.

Let’s define what an expert is:

a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.

Two words here make all the difference: COMPREHENSIVE AND AUTHORITATIVE.

In contrast, I saw this piece of advice from a widely-followed Medium writer:

The good news is that you don’t have to be an expert to teach something. You only need to be a few steps ahead of someone else.

This last took my breath away. In my world, this is what’s called fraud.

Perhaps the most widely-known example of this very thing that famed con artist Frank Abagnale (Catch Me if You Can) used to pose as a Brigham Young Professor of Sociology. He said all he had to do was read one chapter ahead of the students.

If you do it, when you are found out to be defrauding people, good luck working again. It’s not just morally wrong, it’s wrong in every single way possible.

Look. I understand desperation. But if you do not possess, and I repeat for emphasis, Comprehensive and Authoritative knowledge on a topic, you are by definition not an expert.

Period. Full stop.

Let’s explore:

Comprehensive: complete; including all or nearly all elements or aspects of something.

Authoritative: able to be trusted as being accurate or true; reliable

What’s an authority?

• the confidence resulting from personal expertise.
• a person with extensive or specialized knowledge about a subject; an expert.

We may feel like authorities in our minds, but that can wither in the light of a single effective challenge from a client with a real problem that we can’t solve because we are effectively clueless.

I have done that before. It feels utterly awful, embarrassing beyond belief. I learned my lesson years ago.

I know a kid who had recently graduated from the Colorado School of Mines who presented himself as an expert online. He stole generously from his college texts, claimed the material as his own, which is not only fraud, but it’s also plagiarism. He got caught. (no, that wasn’t me)

Now he’s having trouble getting hired.

Last year I fired a client in Indonesia who simply could not understand the difference among these three roles: writer, which is what I was for them, marketer and PR person. I was very clear that my role was solely as a journalist. I took some courses in PR in the 1970s. I have a few basic, pretty good ideas about marketing. I have expertise in neither. If you want absolute proof of how good I am at marketing, just see how well my books have done. They haven’t. I’m a good writer (the books won four different prizes) but I’m NOT a marketer and will tell you right up front. The client insisted that I perform duties for which I am neither trained, nor do I possess any real expertise to be able to deliver.

Ultimately for my own sanity I fired them, politely but firmly. I found out later they’d done the same to three other women writers prior to me with the same results. The other three made the mistake of trying to perform marketing duties for which they weren’t qualified. The poor results allowed that same client to fire them for non-performance.

If someone wants a marketer, I have a stable of referrals. That network, that web of contacts, is just as powerful on Medium as it is anywhere else. If you don’t know or can’t do the work, give it to someone who does. Not only does that secure your connection as a collaborator, you’re likely to get referrals in return. This is how we build a trusted community.

Here’s how a fake expert situation played out in real life just a week ago:

I was writing an article on DISC styles under stress, and wanted to partner with an expert. I have genuinely deep knowledge- decades’ worth- of this material but my books and notes are in storage. I’m not actively training this material right now. Rather than guess or try my best to get it right from memory, I asked a friend for a reference. He referred me to an “expert.” Self-proclaimed, I might add, on the DISC styles material.

When we spoke, I told him about the article and offered to link to his site in exchange for his input. He was happy to help, this expert.

Then I asked him my first question: how do you work with an Analytic type who is under deep stress, and is in avoidance behavior?

Long, long silence. Then, he gave me an answer that was not only patently wrong, but it would have severely exacerbated the situation.

When I presented the problem in another, simpler way, he backed away even more.

“I have no idea,” said the expert.

I gave him one more chance. Finally he admitted that I knew a lot more than he did.

Yet the material I was asking him for would have been in any expert’s tool box if they had authoritative and comprehensive knowledge of the topic.

Not only will I not use this man again, but if asked, I would steer people away. I found my expert, who made superb additions to my article. She improved, expanded upon and really added expert value to my copy. She is also centrally highlighted in that article.

There is a terrible cost to your integrity and mine if we write checks we can’t cash concerning our professional knowledge and competence.

As an experienced adventure traveler and a pretty good rider I find it fascinating- and consistently true- that those with the most experience riding horses will tell someone they aren’t that good. I heard an Olympic rider tell that to a guide. An Olympic competitor saying “I’m not an expert rider.”

I do the same thing for good reason. No matter how much I ride, when I am in a new country, new horses, new tack, I am effectively a rookie all over again. All I bring is my seat and good instincts. But I know nothing beyond that. I am no expert rider. A good one, but not an expert.

People who really are very good at what they do understand how little they really know. That’s part of what makes them experts. They are humbled by the vastness of knowledge and experience of which they know they only have a tiny piece. That respect for the greater Universal knowledge is what makes them good at what they do.

The other part, the part that underscores the authoritative and comprehensive piece, is that they have the practical application that it takes to solve problems. They have tried, failed, and experimented. They know how to measure progress and success.

To that I’m going to tag a piece by Dr Mehmet Yildiz this morning on the importance of metrics:

Real experts measure- themselves, their progress, their fallbacks and failures. I’m not very good at this in the numerical regard, which is why, when I need help, I find an expert.

For us as writers, this poses a real challenge and opportunity. I am as eager as the next person to learn from other writers, but I have become wary of claims of expertise. There are a great many very competent people on Medium, and I might add especially on Illumination. There are riches to be had here, and I think our community is unique as I continue to scan and sample what I see in other publications.

I want very much for us to set the example of writers who know how to be in our lane. I agree with Birch on this: if I want help learning to develop an email list I will go to August. If I need help learning metrics and measurement, I will go to Dr. Yildiz. If I want help on marketing I can turn to Paul Myers MBA. I can read the bios if I want to skill-shopping, as it were.

I would ask each of us to consider: what truly is the expertise I can offer this community? There is another side to this, that many of us possess expertise we don’t realize we have, but that’s a whole other topic.

For now my continued thanks to my fellow Illumination writers for great material.