How to Beat Imposter Syndrome as a Blogger or Freelance Writer

There’s a real problem in the blog world right now.

And it’s not what you think. It’s not about traffic, sales, or leads.

It’s about credibility.

With millions of blogs on the internet, people want to know that they’re reading the right people.

But don’t stress…

…Because you don’t need to be an absolute expert to run a blog that gets traffic and makes sales. You just need to know what you’re talking about.

Let me explain.

The Two Types of Experts

What do your local newscaster and your kid’s soccer coach have in common?

They’re both relative experts.

Generally speaking, there are two different types of experts:

1. Absolute Expert
2. Relative Expert

An absolute expert

This person has put in 10,000 hours of practice and knows their skill or topic inside and out. They can talk about their craft at a high level, and there are generally a few questions they don’t have a good answer for.

Jimi Hendrix was an expert at guitar, Picasso was an expert at painting, and Roger Federer was an expert at tennis. They each know more about their craft than 99.99% of the population.

A relative expert

This person has a perceived level of credibility because they know more about a subject than the person they’re talking to. The level and depth of the knowledge of a relative expert can vary greatly from person to person.

For instance, we often look at the nightly newscaster as an expert because they always appear to be knowledgeable in politics, business, or whatever else is going on in the world.

The reality is that the only thing they’re actually experts at is reading the teleprompter. Yet, because they generally know more than we do about world happenings, they appear to be experts to us.

Or what about that middle school soccer coach? The whole team looks at them as an expert because she is the one in charge and is teaching kids how to dribble, pass, and play as a team.

If they were absolute experts, they’d probably be coaching or playing at a college or professional level. But to the kid who is just starting to learn the game, they appear to be experts.

Look: You Don’t Need to Be An Absolute Expert

Every day, I see people who don’t pursue a business or skill because they aren’t “absolute experts.” Often, there’s a mindset that if you don’t know everything, you don’t know anything.

This leads to imposter syndrome and can paralyze you from doing anything. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

As long as you aren’t playing yourself off as someone who is an absolute expert, and you’re honest with yourself and others about your abilities, there’s a ton of opportunity for the relative expert in the world right now. It’s easier than ever to devote 30 to learning something and position yourself as a relative expert.

You could start learning a skill today and, within a couple of weeks, be able to help a lot of people with some of their basic problems. You just need to have the motivation to do it.

I quit my job and moved to Thailand to start a business.

I chose search engine optimization and, in a matter of weeks, was already making a significant impact for my first client. I learned the basics of SEO, and at the time, it only took about 8 weeks before we saw our first $5,000 sale.

Am I the world’s best at it? Hardly. Do I know enough to provide significant value for someone who knows nothing about website optimization? Absolutely.

And now, over the years, as I’ve used SEO to grow my various businesses, I’ve gotten even more skills just by doing. 

To become a relative expert at something, you just need to be willing to devote enough time to learning the essentials of the trade and then get hands-on with your own projects to put the knowledge into practice.

This can be said for just about any business that can be run from a computer, whether it be web design, development, copywriting, etc.

So, how do you use the idea of being a relative expert to boost your credibility?

The Three-Step Formula for Becoming a Relative Expert and Beating Imposter Syndrome

1. Prove that you actually know something.

This can be as simple as a blog post detailing tangible results, posting a YouTube video you edited yourself, boosting your social media presence on LinkedIn, or creating a once-a-week newsletter. Once it’s established that you know a little bit about a given topic, it isn’t hard to leap to relative expert status.

2. Offer Help.

Whatever area you specialize in, beginners always look for assistance. Try to find people who are a few steps behind you. Be willing to offer as much advice and help as possible while asking for nothing in return. If you do this well, you’re immediately a relative expert to your audience. Word of mouth is a powerful thing, so by helping a handful of people, it may not be long before your reputation grows.

3. Continue Building Your Skills.

Don’t trick yourself into believing you’re an expert because you know some basics. That isn’t good for you or anyone else. As you become recognized in your field, you need to challenge yourself to up your game and continue adding value. The only way to do that is to consistently learn and build your knowledge.

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome as a Freelance Writer

Maybe you’re not a blogger. Maybe you’re just starting out as a freelance writer and having trouble truly embracing the fact that you are a true, bonafide freelancer.

You’ve got imposter syndrome.

Don’t worry, it’s ok. You’re not the only one.

In fact, half a dozen Location Rebel members have emailed me this week alone to tell me they’re feeling this way.

The good news is that it’s pretty easy to overcome if you embrace your feelings and push through them.

This video tells you exactly what you need to do:

The Bottom Line

You don’t have to know everything to be useful; you just need to be confident in what you know.

That said, if you commit to gaining knowledge in a subject matter of your choice and stick with it, it may not be long before you’ve got the know-how and the reputation to build a sustainable business around it.

Want our free email course on building a lifestyle business? Check it out here.

Sean Ogle

Sean Ogle is the Founder of Location Rebel where he has spent the last 12+ years teaching people how to build online businesses that give them the freedom to do more of the things they like to do in life. When he's not in the coffee shops of Portland, or the beaches of Bali, he's probably sneaking into some other high-class establishment where he most certainly doesn't belong.

Keep Reading

Explore more →

Create Your Own College Education

Why spend thousands of dollars to get a traditional degree, when you can create your own college education for a fraction of the cost.

Would You Rather Have a Beer or a Business?

We all realize it logically: you have to spend money to make money. But that doesn't mean it's always easy. In this post you'll learn a few easy ways you can reframe your concerns and start investing in yourself and your business.

How to Fight Off the Glory Days

The concept of the "Glory Days" absolutely terrifies me. Why? Because I never want to feel like my life has peaked and that my best days are behind me. In this post we'll show you how to not settle and show you how to do interesting things in life on a regular basis.