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Don’t Tell Me I’m Wasting My Time

Authors: Margie Clayman Margie Clayman
Posted Under: Content Marketing
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Margie ClaymanGuest post by Marjorie Clayman, resident blogger at www.margieclayman.com. She works at Clayman Advertising, Inc., her family-owned full-service marketing firm.

I know that it is impossible to please everyone in any scenario, but most especially in the online world. Because of that, I most of the time let snide remarks roll off me like water off a duck’s back. However, there is one remark I’ve gotten a few times over the last few months that really frustrates me, not because I take it as a personal affront but rather because it shows a mark of selfishness that exists in the online world.

See, a lot of people have chided me for covering “the same ole stuff.” For covering the basics. For reviewing, again, some Twitter or blogging best practices. “We already know this!” they mutter. “You’re just creating an echo chamber of what has already been said,” others say.

With all due respect, these criticisms miss the mark entirely.

Not everyone is on your timetable

If you’ve been on Twitter since 2008, you are probably pretty proficient in the ups and downs of that world. If you’ve been blogging since 2007, you know how to do things like find your voice because you already have it. You’ve already been through that process.

However, not everyone is sharing your exact experience. Not everyone is on your timeline. I encounter people almost every day who are new to blogging, new to Facebook, new to Twitter, or new to the whole concept of social media in general. Do they not deserve the same kind of help you got when you were new? I think they deserve it more because there are so many obstacles in the way of their breaking through. Obstacles like people saying, “We don’t need this ‘how-to’ information anymore.”

You’re missing a chance to meet new people

I’m going to let you in on a little secret here. Something you may not have considered. If you write posts offering help in the online world, you are more likely to meet people who are brand new to the online space. It’s like reaching a hand out through the depths of the ocean to a person who is floating along.

Sure, you can keep writing about new and more complex things for your existing community, but how will that grow your community? If you approach content on occasion from the perspective of someone who is brand spanking new to this space, you will get to meet people and help people whom you may not have met in any other way.

What can be more valuable than that?

Not all of my posts will resonate with you

I appreciate all of the people who take the time to read my posts, but I certainly do not expect that every single one will resonate with every single person. Far from it. If you find the how-to information beneath you or boring, hey, don’t read it! But if you comment about how any idiot knows that stuff, or how I’m wasting my time writing up this information, you’re not really offending me. Instead, you’re blockading the people who may have wanted to ask questions but now feel dumb.

Also, this notion that blog visitors have “all read this stuff before” doesn’t hold mathematical water. Jay says that here on Convince & Convert, approximately 65% of the visitors fall into the “new” category per Google Analytics, and that’s after 500 blogs posts across more than 3 years.

Everybody is a teacher in social media. And everybody is a student. We were all brand-new once, so don’t make yourself an obstacle to those that are just starting to embrace it.

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