Why Most Bloggers Are Stuck – Reporters vs Experts

There are basically two types of bloggers in the world – reporters and experts – and some people perform both roles (usually the experts, it’s hard for reporters to become experts, but it’s easy for experts to report).
If you have ever taken an Internet marketing course or attended a seminar specifically for beginners, you have probably heard about the two different methodologies. Whenever the business model is based on content, and if you blog for money then the model is based on content, people are taught to either start as reporters, or if possible step up as experts.
I’ll be frank – you want to be the expert.
Reporters leverage the content of the experts and in most cases people start off as reporters because they haven’t established expertise. Experts enjoy the perks of preeminence, higher conversion rates because of perceived value, it’s easier to get publicity, people are more likely to seek you out rather than you having to seek others out, joint ventures come easier, etc… experts in most cases simply make more money and attract more attention.
Most Bloggers Are Reporters
The thing with expertise is that it requires something – experience. No person becomes an expert without doing things and learning. Bloggers usually start out without expertise and as a result begin their blogging journey by talking about everything going on in their niche (reporting) and by interviewing and talking about other experts (reporting again).
There’s nothing wrong with reporting of course and for many people it’s a necessity at first until you build up some expertise. Unfortunately the ratios are pretty skewed when it comes to reporters and experts – there are a lot more reporters than there are experts, hence reporters tend to struggle to gain attention and when they do, they often just enhance the reputation of the expert they are reporting on.
Don’t Replicate Your Teacher
If you have ever spent some time browsing products in the learn Internet marketing niche you will notice a pattern. Many people first study Internet marketing from a “guru” (for lack of a better term). The guru teaches how he or she is able to make money online, and very often the view that the student gleams is that in order to make money online you have to teach others how to make money online.
The end result of this process is a huge army of amateurs attempting to replicate what their teacher does in the same industry – the Internet marketing industry – not realizing that without expert status based on a proven record and all the perks that come with it, it’s next to impossible to succeed.
Even people, who enjoy marginal success, say for example growing an email list of 1,000 people, then go out and launch a product about how to grow an email list of 1,000 people. Now I have no problems with that, I think it’s fine to teach beginners and leverage whatever achievements you have, the problem is that people gravitate to the same niche – Internet marketing – and rarely have any key points of differentiation.
How many products out there do you know of that all claim to teach the same things – email marketing, SEO, pay per click, affiliate marketing, and all the sub-niches that fall under the category of Internet marketing. It’s a saturated market, yet when you see your teachers and other gurus making money teaching others how to make money (and let’s face it – making money as a subject is one of the most compelling) – your natural inclination is to follow in their footsteps.
If the key is to become an expert and you haven’t spent the last 5-10 years making money online, I suggest you look for another niche to establish expertise in.
Report on Your Process, Not Others
The secret to progress from reporter to expert is not to focus on other experts and instead report on your own journey. When you are learning how to do something and implementing things day by day, or studying other people’s work, you need to take your process and what you do as a result of what you learn, and use it as content for your blog.
It’s okay to talk about experts when you learn something from them, but always relate it to what you are doing. If you learn a technique from an expert it’s fine to state you learned it from them (and affiliate link to their product too!) but you should then take that technique, apply it to what you are doing and then report back YOUR results, not there’s. Frame things using your opinion – your stories – and don’t regurgitate what the expert said. The key is differentiation and personality, not replication.
Expertise comes from doing things most people don’t do and then talking about it. If you do this often enough you wake up one day as an expert, possibly without even realizing how it happened, simply because you were so good at reporting what you did.
You Are Already An Expert
Most people fail to become experts (or perceived as experts) because they don’t leverage what they already know. Every person who lives a life learns things as they go, takes action every day and knows something about something. The reason why they never become an expert is because they choose not to (which is fine for some, not everyone wants to be an expert), but if your goal is to blog your way to expertise and leave the world of reporting behind you have to start teaching and doing so by leveraging real experience.
Experience can come from what you do today and what you have done previously; you just need to take enough steps to demonstrate what you already know and what you are presently learning along your journey. I know so many people in my life, who are experts simply by virtue of the life they have lived, yet they are so insecure about what they know, they never commit their knowledge to words for fear of…well fear.
Blogs and the Web in general, are amazing resources when you leverage them as a communication tool to spread your expertise because of the sheer scope of people they can reach. If all you ever do is talk to people in person and share your experience using limited communication mediums, you haven’t much hope of becoming an expert. Take what you know and show other people through blogging, and you might be surprised how people change their perception of you in time.
Reporting Is A Stepping Stone
If your previous experience and expertise is from an area you want to leave behind or you are starting from “scratch”, then reporting is the path you must walk, at least for the short term.
Reporting is a lot of fun. Interviewing experts, talking about what other people are doing and just being part of a community is not a bad way to blog. In many cases people make a career of reporting (journalism is about just that), but if you truly want success and exponential results, at some point you will have to stand up and proclaim yourself as someone unusually good at something and then proceed to demonstrate it over and over again.
Have patience and focus on what you do to learn and then translate that experience into lessons for others, and remember, it’s okay to be a big fish in a small pond, that’s all most experts really are.
This article was written by Yaro Starak, a professional blogger and my blog mentor. He is the leader of the Blog Mastermind mentoring program designed to teach bloggers how to earn a full time income blogging part time.

How To Make An Ad Believable?

Starting an online business is easy depending from which corner you look at it. But take out the word of your business to the mass is harder than most people tell you. When you hear the lies which what they offer you their products or services on the net your ‘hair stands up straight’. Some people might think that’s advertising. But let me ask you a question, “Would you buy a second time from an advertiser telling lies”? Frankly spoken, I wouldn’t.

What is the purpose of advertising?

The advertiser’s task is not always an easy one. You can have the best product but without a good advertising campaign nobody will buy your product or won’t come to your business.

On the other hand you can have a bad product but a good advertising campaign and you’ll sell your product like “hot bread”. But…you will sell only one time to a customer and he never will come back to your business again. And the worst…he will tell all of her friends that they should not buy from you. So, what is your result…you will have a front end sale but you never will have a backend sale. The most cash comes in with your backend sale.

The purpose of advertising is to get trusted. It doesn’t matter how clever your advertisement is, it has to attract the customer and he has to get trust in your advertisement to buy your product. You must get attention; explain your product and being persuasive. You must overcome the readers distrust and most important to get her to believe you.

Besides the techniques of building credibility through testimonials and research tests…the key to being believed is to tell the truth. To tell the truth about a product, you have to believe in the product you offer and you have to know it.

The reader of your advertisement has to feel your passion and enthusiasm you have about your product. This passion has to jump over to your reader or prospect. Only this way you will win a future customer to your business and his trust.

When writing ads you should always be telling the truth. Be ethical and professional, this way you will have your customer for a lifetime and not only for one sale.

You have to believe that the product you advertise will do a lot of good to your reader. If you are sincere with your ad-writing, it comes across to your readers and they believe what you’ve written.

Don’t burn yourself with unethical behavior. Never do to your customer what you wouldn’t like they do to you.

General Math tips

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Read carefully over the assigned sections and look carefully at the sample problems. Decide if you benefit more by reading before or after the instructor covers the material. More information about reading math texts will soon be provided in a separate section of this page.

Develop a sound math foundation

Because most math courses are cumulative, in other words new concepts are added to and build upon previous concepts, it is very important that the early material be mastered thoroughly. Similarly, mastery of material from previous courses makes success in later courses more likely, so continually review and practice concepts from prior math classes.

Time management

Complete all readings and especially homework assignments as soon after they are announced as possible. And definitely complete all assignments before new material is covered since math is cumulative. This insures that the inforamtion is fresh in one’s mind and linked to prior, more fundamental information. Do your assignments early enough that you can get help with the things you do not understand.

Calculator

Learn how to use your calculator effectively and efficiently, especially if exams are timed and you have trouble completing tests in the allotted time. Check with the instructor about suggestions for the appropriate calculator to purchase for a class. Be sure the machine comes with an instruction manual and read the manual. Learn how to use important function keys. Get in the habit of carrying the calculator with you. It is better in the long run to become proficient with your own calculator rather than borrowing other people’s calculators.

Show your work

Avoid the temptation to skip steps when solving a problem unless you are quite clear about how to proceed. This is a good habit to get into with your math homework. And definitely don’t skip steps on an exam no matter how well you know the material. Why take chances (unless you’re running out of time)? Showing your work allows you to locate logical or calculation mistakes more easily, and sometimes partial credit is given for the correct portions of an answer.

Organize your work and write legibly

Write all numbers and variables clearly so they may be easily distinguished. Pay particular attention to 4 and 9, 1 and 7, x and y.

Spaces are as important in math equations as are the numbers and variables themselves. Allow enough space between different terms in an equation so it is easy to distinguish them.

Be sure to line up terms in each step of the solution, and write steps one below the other rather than to the right or left. Use lined paper or graph paper to help organize the problems on your page. Don’t scrunch! Use plenty of paper to work each problem. Recycle the paper at the end of the term if you are concerned about wasting paper.

Support services and materials

Find out about the support services and materials available to you. Support services include workbooks, study groups, self-help videos and cassettes, peer tutors, professional tutors, and instructors’ office hours. Using the resources from the start of the course may help your confidence and get you off on the right foot. Minimally, make use of these resources as soon as you feel uncomfortable with the material – do not wait until it is too late!

Preparation and supplies

Being prepared for each course involves several important factors:

• complete any previously assigned homeworks
• compile a list of questions about the previous assignments to ask the instructor
• preview the material to be covered that day
• take your textbook and/or workbook to class
• carry the proper supplies to each class – calculator, pencils, erasers, lined or graph paper, etc.

Information organization

Math information – including definitions, symbols, equations, and steps for solving problems – may be organized using flash cards, running concept lists, flow charts, and matrices (D. Applegate, CAL).

Flash cards

Flash cards are useful for organizing all forms of math information. Two examples are given below.

Running concept lists

Running concept lists organize all forms of math information.

Flow charts

Flow charts are useful for organizing sequential information such as the steps for solving a problem.

Matrices

Matrices may be used to organize math symbols, equations, and definitions.

TERM	DEFINITION	EXAMPLE
numerator	top number in a fraction	the 1 in 1 5
denominator	bottom number in a fraction	the 5 in 1 5
reciprocal	the inverse of a fraction (flip it)	2 3 the reciprocal is 3 2
integer	any member of the set of positive numbers, negative numbers, and zero	1, 2, 3, -1, -2, -3, 0

PROBLEM	EQUATION
perimeter of rectangle	P = 2L + 2W
area of rectangle	A = L * W
volume of a rectangle	V = L * W * H
perimeter of square	P = 4s
area of square	A = s * s