Have you ever felt like a fraud? If you are new to blogging or writing you may be experiencing what I like to call Fraud Factor.
I experienced my first case of Fraud Factor when I started my personal coaching business in 2001. In 2001 blogs were a mere sparkle in your eye. E-zines or E-newsletters were all the rage for marketing your coaching business or just about any business for that matter.
I started by giving my E-zine a title “What’s Up With That!?” it later morphed in to “What’s the Big Idea?” and that is about where the fun ended.
I figured it would be an easy venture but as I sat down to write my first article I started to experience this weird feeling that I was a fraud. There was no reason for me to feel this way. I was not trying to mislead or rip off anybody but inside I felt like I was misleading or better yet, maybe I was not up to the task. Maybe I really did not know what I was writing about.
How could that be true? I was merely sharing my idea or opinion. How could I be a fraud? It was my opinion or idea…right?
You might be experiencing something similar. In many writing books they call it the inner or self critic. Whatever you call it, it can be a crippling experience. Sometimes when I feel this critic creep up in my mind, I can’t even write a draft. I start and stop, rethink and judge my work. Over the years I have created some strategies to overcome the critic or Fraud Factor.
Here are 5 Strategies to Overcome the Fraud Factor:
1. Write frequently and request feedback from friends and family.
2. Set a time limit for writing an article or post make no edits until after the time limit has elapsed.
3. Write about what you know like the back of your hand, put away being clever write about the obvious.
4. Forgive yourself for being less than perfect. You will probably never feel 100% confident about all that you write.
5. Take a class, a seminar or read a book; continued education is the key to becoming an expert. The more you know the greater your confidence.
As you grow the Fraud Factor will creep up from time to time. It can mean one of two things. You are trying to share what you don’t really know or you are actually growing and claiming new territory.
So the next time you feel like a fraud it might actually be a good thing.
