247: How to Create a Blog on a Topic You’re Not an Expert In

ProBlogger Podcast: Blog Tips to Help You Make Money Blogging

Starting a Blog on a Topic Where You're Not an Expert Can you start a new blog when you're not an expert on the topic you'll be writing about? Of course you can. You can blog about any topic you like. But should you blog about a topic you don’t have any expertise in? I think it’s okay to start a blog on a topic you don’t know a lot about. I certainly wasn't an expert when I started my blogs. I had some experience, but I was far from being an expert. I'm not sure I even consider myself an expert now. Part of the success I’ve had with my blogs is due to the factI wasn’t an expert. Experts are great, but they sometimes come across as inaccessible or unrelatable. And not being an expert gave my blogs a sense of momentum and excitement. I was actively learning, growing, improving, and sharing with my readers. Here are a few tips to help you get started with your new blog and topic: Be ethical and transparent. Be upfront about who you are, how much experience you have, and why you’re blogging. Be careful about the content you post. Avoid teaching or giving advice beyond what you know. Actively pursue learning. You may not be an expert yet, but your growth helps people connect with you and your blog. What kind of content should you create if you're not an expert? What interests you about the topic? What grabs your attention about it? Here are some content sources: Personal stories Case studies Interviews Guest content News items Curated content Research results Answers to discussion questions Links and Resources for How to Create a Blog on a Topic You’re Not an Expert In: Rob Bell Further Listening How to Build a Blogging Business Through Interviewing Others with Mike Stelzner How to Create a Link Post [Challenge] How to Use Quotes in Your Blog Content Legally and Ethically How to Use Embedded Content on Your Blog [Challenge] Courses Starting a Blog ProBlogger Pro – 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Join our Facebook group Full Transcript Expand to view full transcript Compress to smaller transcript view Hey there, welcome to episode 247 of the ProBlogger podcast. My name's Darren Rowse and I'm the blogger behind problogger.com, a blog, podcast, event, job board, series of ebooks, and courses all designed to help you to grow an amazing blog that changes the world in some way, but also hopefully, is profitable for you. You can learn more about what we do at ProBlogger over at problogger.com. Now, in today's episode, I want to talk about something that I get asked quite often about from people thinking about starting a new blog, but also from some who have already started who have doubts and insecurities around this kind of topic. It's something that I know there's probably a variety of opinions on, but which I have a fairly strong one on as well. The question that I get asked is, "Should you start a blog on a topic that you don't have expertise in?" I want to say right up front, I think you could or even should. I think there's definitely a case for it, and in this episode, I want to tell you why, but I also want to, more importantly, give you some tips on how to do that, because this is something I know a lot of people do struggle with. "I've got this blog on a topic, I'm not really sure, I feel secure enough in this topic," you have these doubts that nag at you. I want to give you some ideas of the type of content that you can create if you don't yet feel like you're enough of an expert in that topic. You can find today's show notes with a full transcription of today's show at problogger.com/podcast/247. Before I get into today's show, I just want to say thank you because I have received some wonderful emails over the last few days from readers, some lovely messages on Twitter particularly. I've been trying a few new things on Twitter rec...