One of the first things many new clients ask me is “have you written for my industry before?” I can often say yes, because I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some incredible businesses and entrepreneurs across many different sectors.
But I also think this is the wrong question. Let’s talk about why.
You Already Have a Subject-Matter Expert: You
As a business owner or entrepreneur, you know your stuff inside out and back to front. You’ve put in the hard work to learn skills, understand the wider context of your industry, come up with a unique offering, and get to know your target market.
You don’t need a subject-matter expert, because you are one.
You Need Help With How to Get Your Message Out
So if you already know everything you need to know about your industry, offer, and audience, what do you need a writer for? To help you craft your message, refine your voice, and tell your story in the best possible way.
Subject matter experts often don’t make the best writers. This is partly because their strengths and expertise are elsewhere, but also because they tend to be too close to the subject. Have you ever read something that was full of facts, figures, jargon, acronyms, and more… but totally lacking in soul, energy, and, well… flair? That’s what often happens when a subject matter expert who isn’t a writer tries to do their own content.
A writer provides a level of objectivity and a distance that can help you figure out what really matters and what doesn’t. A writer knows how to unearth the story from beneath the statistics and tell it in a way your audience will find utterly irresistible.
A Great Writer is Also a Great Researcher
Unless they have a super narrow beat, writers are unlikely to be subject matter experts in everything they write about. The good news is that we don’t need to be, because strong writers are also strong researchers.
Case in point: I’ve done a PhD. I’ve been a journalist. I know my way around research and I know how to ask the right questions to get to the heart of a subject. I’ve also spent hundreds of hours over the course of my career on calls and in meetings with clients, learning everything I need to know about all the various subject areas they’ve asked me to write about. I’ve even joked-not-joked that my superpower is writing awesome content about things I didn’t really understand two hours ago.
You don’t need someone who already knows our subject at the same level you do. You need someone who knows how to research, understand, and hit the most important talking points.
Writers Understand How to Get Into Your Ideal Reader’s Mind
Skilled writers naturally write for readers first.
One of the biggest mistakes business owners who are subject matter experts make when they try to write their own content is talking about themselves too much. This is understandable; you have an amazing idea, a life-changing product or service, and a tonne of knowledge you want to share.
It also completely fails to consider the reader’s experience.
Writers, though, can take all the incredible things you know and convey them in a way that resonates with your ideal audience’s experiences and needs.
Ready to Make Your Voice Sparkle?
Do you want to share your wealth of expertise in a way that your ideal customers will be genuinely excited to read? Do you want to transform your subject matter knowledge into content that gets you results?
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