Do you ever write articles on topics you're not much of an authority on?

Of course.

As long as you know where to find accurate information on what you're writing about, there's no reason you can't write a quality article on a subject you're unfamiliar with.

Still, you can write much faster if it's something you know.

I'd very rarely write about things I know little about. That just produces regurgitated articles with little originality to them.

I prefer writing about things I know well. When you think about it, you pick up a lot just in your day-to-day life, which can form the basis for articles.

Otherwise, I'll make an effort to learn about the topic, rather than just rewriting something. I'm the kind of person that feels you should always be learning something new, so that bit's easy.

If it's something I really can't stomach learning, then that's where outsourcing elements of writing comes in.

Thom

That's why "writing articles" can be really hard for a newbie. When the client wants 500 words on isotropic carbon, you actually have to take time to look it up so you don't give them a junk article. That cuts productivity, and you're looking at 40 minutes for $2.50 or some really low number.

I think it can be done, it just takes time. If you have the time, go for it. Plus you've learned something.

I've wondered this too...seems really disingenuous to recommend something you've never used, seen, or read yourself, doesn't it? I think that's kind of the "slimy" side of our business....

It is dangerous to do this, uleesgold, because one tiny mistake and you can lose 100% of the credibility and momentum you've built to that point.

For instance, if you didn't know anything about SEO and you wrote an article about it saying that backlinks don't count in Google's ranking algorithms, then nobody here would ever listen to anything you'd have to say again - much less buy anything from you.

It seems like a crazy example - but it happens all the time. It's easy to put blinders on when you're writing about something you're unfamiliar with!

Just be careful.

Like someone said above, it's so much easier to write about something you really know - and you can write passionately about it too!

Good luck!
Allen Graves

IMO and experience, it is okay to write on something you're not familar with IF you know what you're talking about.

If you are just talking "theory" then it is useless. But if you have experience, have seen someone with experience, or can find some stories with people experience, I think you can bring something to the table.

Just don't go preaching about Offline Business when you focus on Adsense.

It is absolutely fine to write like this.

These days, everyone reads something and realises that it is just someones opinion and more and more people are skeptical and opinionated about things they read online.

What you write doesn't necessarily need to be politically correct, but it does need to be correct to you. - If you feel people in wheelchairs should be able to speak eye to eye with non-handicapped people and definitely think this opinion should be expressed online, whether you are handicapped or not, it's a great argument.

As long as you don't BS for the purpose of content-filling you will be fine.

Cheers,
Dave

All the time. I actually very rarely write articles about topics I know. Just do some basic research and try to get your info from reputable sites.

Yes I have, and it took so long time before I finish it. Bu t now I just want to write on topics that I love and have a proper knowledgeabout it really well.

Yes. Many a times. Many of the people do it easily. It is not very difficult, if you have good grasp, ability and time to spare for research and properly arranging the material and putting it in your own words- that is required for it. It is not very difficult You can try it and rather find it enjoyable.

Kind of off topic... Uleesgold, seems like your trip to LA turned out to be pretty dull man. No nice hotels, no chillin' or mingling, no nada. Unless, of course, you left out the real details.

I'd be mad if that was my trip.

:::

what went wrong man?? :confused:

Sometimes I very want to attempt me not to attempt, but I am afraid the defeat

Blimey! It's obvious most of the article writers I use have no REAL knowledge of the subject matter. It's a real shame because real added value does actually work...but you do need to know what you are writing about...that's why it's often best to stay within a niche that you know... regards Allen

Yes, I have been writing on topics that I don't know of most of the time.

By the time I finish writing them, I get to know much more about them as I normally will research on the topics and find out what others say about them before re-writing in my own words and opinion.

As for affiliate products, I may not have used them or will ever but I also research to find out what others say before promoting them so at least they are of some good quality/standard.

I think once you have a good template to follow for your articles, 5 minutes of research on google and EZA i can write on anything!!
Articles is a numbers game and once you get good at writing articles on anything you can easily create product on anything.

Danny

I try to avoid doing so. I write my articles because I want them to be both useful to me (in regard to backlinks) and also informative for my readers. If you're writing on a topic about which you know little, your article will be of lower quality and less likely to provide new information.

While I don't agree with those that create articles about things they have no real experience on, I do encourage writing articles about personal experiences. Your L.A article was sound and you gave your insights based upon your actual experience which is key. People that read articles are usually if not always looking for the "inside" point of view, not a hyped up over view.

I do recommend that when you are writing an article that you share personal experience, opinion, or expertise on the topic. Providing an insiders look is a gold mine as any article marketer will tell you.

As for promoting products, services, etc that you have never used or have interest in I can not recommend. In my experiences the efforts of promoting such goods usually end up in lack luster effort and usually die off weeks later. However there are some that can successfully market in such a way but I have seen very few who can.

It depends. I've written sales copy for unfamiliar markets and it's done very well. The thing is, you need to understand the customers first and the product second. A while back I wrote copy for a comprehensive video course on how to use a piece of database management software.

I didn't know squat about the software but asked the course creator about his market. Basicly he told me they were frustrated because the software is so hard to figure out and the technical manual that comes with the software was pretty much useless. I was immediately able to relate to his audience.

I spent a couple of hours reading about the features of both the software and the video course and wrote the letter easily. The guy was blown away with the results. At first he was reluctant to hire me because I had no tech. experience. I told him it wasn't necessary and proved it. With that said, there are plenty of assignments I wouldn't touch because the learning curve would be way too steep.

As Dirty Harry said all throuth Magnum Force, "A man's got to know his limitations."

For sure! It takes a lot of talent to take what others say and distill it into a great original article. These are the best kind! Take CS Lewis: His talent was in saying what others had already said but saying it simply and clearly.

I have wrote articles in the past, with no real prior knowledge. By the end of the articles, I certainly knew a good bit more, so it can be done with some good research.

It takes far longer to write this way though and my interest levels dropped very quickly. Don't think I will be doing it again any time soon.

How does anyone become knowledgeable on something they know nothing about?

By doing, using other people's findings, or researching it.

Doing could be sports, fat loss, or anything else physically involving. If that takes too long, get in-touch with either a trainer, or a success story. Those 2 can be found locally I'm sure, and if not you can find a good success story online.

When it comes to info products, growing tomatoes, learning spanish, acne and so forth... There are dozens of authority sites that explain how you can do each of those.

You just collect the who, what, why, where and how; then package it into a product so others can learn.

Just make sure to cross-reference everything you find out so that you aren't speaking garbage.

I'm pretty sure you can learn anything for free on the internet, but it either requires a lot of searching, either digging through forum posts, or the search engines.

People don't want to do that, so you position your product infront of those people and provide them the answer in one easy to digest ebook; several videos or audio, or any other format.

Why any writer or marketer would ever say that you shouldn't write about a topic you don't know about is beyond me. What do you think journalists do? Any journalist who's ever written or reported on anything probably didn't know much about the topic until they chased or were given the story. Of course, many journalists specialize in certain fields, but they got that specialized job by being able to write authoritatively about ANYTHING.

As others have said, it's all about research. And that means using more than just Google: there are lots of other sources of information out there that you can use to establish yourself as an expert in any field that you have the time, intellect and retention skills to research properly.

Therefore, if you're writing for anything less than $40 per hour, stick to what you know or be willing to sacrifice cost of productivity in favor of learning new subjects.

I can't write about anything I don't know anything about, or the words just will not come out right.
I don't think I could effectively sell any affiliate product I wouldn't use or was interested in, either, I don't think I could sound convincing enough

Being resourceful and honing that ability could truly be my most important asset when dealing with researching for articles or even troubleshooting a software bug. I might not know "everything", nor have expertise in all topics, but I surely can research and tap into unique and original sources for fresh perspectives and accurate solutions.

I worked as a software programmer for 14+ years at my last company, and probably my most important skill I could fall back on time and time again was my resourcefulness.

Cheers!
Karen

I always write on subjects I know nothing about. My clients hire me to write on their topics. I always refuse to write a review about something that I have not personally experienced but writing about lots of subjects is easy for me.

Bonnie

I do quite often.

...there is nothing that some researching cannot teach me.

I'm wondering now - how many niches do you people write for!!! Seems like you would have learned about them by now. Either you don't write many articles about your industry or you are just starting out????

Of course, this goes for those who are writing for their own websites.

Allen

If you know just 5% more info than the next person, then in their eyes, you are an authority. Of course, the more you know the better. But you don't have to be an expert to write articles.

Hell yes! My favorite method is to copy & paste a published article on the subject, and re-write it MUCH BETTER. Across the line, 90% of articles out there have horrible grammar, so all I do is find the articles on EZA and rewrite them using good english and way improved sales copy.

John Carlton touched on the subject of becoming an expert in "Kick Ass Copywriting Secrets of a Marketing Rebel".

His assertion was that if you took a day to scan through books on the topic you were researching and took notes while reading, you would know more than 99% of the rest of the world regarding that topic.

He backed up his point by using the example of Howard Cosell. Howard never played football in his life, but he became one of the most famous announcers of all time because he had a ton of knowledge about the game.

Google is great, but being able to sit down with an actual book is really helpful as well. I tend to trust a library book more than some random blog post I stumble across.

Yes, you can always research about it.

There are times when it is very necessary to be an "expert" of things you are not really an expert. anyway, with the help of good information from search engines, it is maybe just a matter of shifting the necessary bits of details and put an article together.

I do write articles about things I know nothing about. In most cases though, I end up writing them after wanting to learn more about the topic. It is a great learning experience for me.

Yes and everybody needs try to write articles on topics that have authority and unique.