When I first sat down to write this post, the title was “Create at least one GREAT piece of content a week.” But as I thought more about it, I realized that A) “Great” is too subjective and B) Original, authentic content marketing is inherently “great”.

A recurring theme in my commentary and posts is my frustration with the amount of noise online. The enormous number of so-called experts writing about things that they’ve never actually done (successfully) – but rather, have only written about the various topics extensively. And as much as I want everyone to write more, merely writing eloquently about a given topic does not make one an expert on that topic.

So why does this matter?

Why do I keep whining about all of these “thought leaders”?

Social Media is a breeding ground for millions of people with little or no real expertise, but with a desire to build their personal brands, build enormous follower bases, etc. And forgive me for disparaging these folks, but the harm that’s being done is detrimental to many, many business people.

Suppose you’re researching a topic that you’re very intrigued about…

…something that you view as a critical void in your business. You search on Google or Twitter and happen to only click on 2-3 articles that 1) Appeared prominently in search results 2) Came wrapped with a beautiful graphic and headline and 3) Seemed to be written articulately. You’re likely to give a lot of credence to those articles without taking very much time to verify the credentials of the source.

Now, imagine yourself taking those posts very literally and actually formulating your plan around them.

But wait, what if the authors have never earned a dollar in revenue having implemented their own advice? Or worse, imagine that they’ve literally never even tried any of the things they wrote about and they are merely people who write about things.

Well, the Web is full of these folks. And that’s why we need you.

We need to hear your real experiences. We need to hear your practical advice on issues you’ve personally dealt with. We need to know what has worked for you and what has not. As long as it’s real and original, it doesn’t need to win a Pulitzer Prize. Give context. In your content, let the reader know why you’re a credible source on the topic. Make your content real by admitting your failures and shortcomings, and not just writing inspirationally.

Bottom line

You might not always think your successes and failures in business are all that exciting or educational – but somewhere out there is dying to learn from them.