I Know, I Know...

Why the Best Information is More Than Just Learned.

Hello again.

No, I'm not trying to be smug, but there I some things I've learned and there are some things I know. The same will be true for you, too.

The difference is this: the things we learn, are things we've learned to be true, with a pretty high degree of confidence, whereas the things we know are those things we've actually experienced in the real world.

Just as a man can never know how it feels to give birth, however much he reads about it and however empathetic and sensitive he is, so you and I can never really know the things we read about but don't experience for ourselves.

And when it comes to transmitting that knowledge to other people, the difference can be hard to hide. Somehow, real experience, whether we mention it explicitly or not, gives a real authority to a piece of information. Mere knowledge, while it may be equally comprehensive in detail and just as accurate, can often lack that authority.

So it is with information products. The feeling may be hard to pin down, but sometimes we know that a product lacks authority, even though it's superficially impressive (and accurate, valid and useful). We can't always put our finger on just why that is, but it's there nonetheless.

So, when you're creating an information product, it's not always enough to have devoured every bit of information you could get your hands on, if you haven't actually used that information in real life. That's why we can all write and speak with greater authority on subjects we've been involved in for years - it's real knowledge, not learning.

Can you turn some of your real, hard-won knowledge into a genuine, authoritative information product? Will that be more valuable, thanks to your authority, than an apparently more valuable piece of learned information?

It's worth thinking about. Knowledge is power, but real knowledge is power with real authority.

Roy Everitt, Writing for Results

PS. Some of the most successful information products are actually produced very quickly, by people with the wit and foresight to learn all about the latest software, for example, by testing and trying it out, then writing or speaking about it. Often, these users' guides and how-to's become an essential must-buy or bonus item for anyone buying the original product.

You can see these in book stores - the 'for Dummies' books are excellent examples, but they are still book shop books, with the inevitable publishing, printing and distribution delays. Online, the equivalent ebooks have been known to appear in days or even hours after the launch of a product.