‘How I’ Sells. ‘How To’ Repels

The challenge we face is that advice has never been more prominent. It’s time to drop ‘how to.’

We can shape quick fire posts from asking Ai to tell people what to do and we now view information as a commodity. 

The ease of sharing advice has led to a growing detachment from real experience. It’s easy to say, “Do this,” without having faced the challenge personally.

Without the struggle, mistakes, or uncertainty, advice can become a formulaic response, lacking the depth and authenticity that come from the experiences faced.

True credibility comes from recognising the struggles and having the confidence to say, ‘I figured it out this way.’ Often this means learning the hard way.

That’s what separates generic advice from something meaningful. When you’ve been through a situation, you can share what really happens, not just what should happen in theory.

Instead of an approach led by instructions, you share personal insights, experiences, and perspectives that make your content uniquely yours.

What you share reflects your thoughts and firsthand observations. While repeating what others say may attract attention, it won’t make you memorable.

Looking through the lens of ‘how I’ not ‘how to’ means you start to give a foundation to your work. For instance, there could be a fork in the road that you want to explore, a different way of thinking and you have an idea to approach from an alternative viewpoint. When people can make that association and recognise it tunes into their side, they are more likely to act.

What happens is your content becomes your way to explore and to continually refine your thinking. What begins as a niche can evolve into something that feels more like you. 

For years, I followed the trends in content marketing, which made me sound like everyone else. But when I started talking about how we can build audiences that become communities, and share this from my own perspective, that felt right. 

It means you don’t just hand out answers, you behave and share from a place of curiosity and showing your homework. This contrasts from wanting to be seen as the expert, it’s much more vulnerable. In doing so you’ll soon see the right people who want to come alongside you for the journey.

I worked on a project for a company that aimed to build a fact-only approach to their content. Their mindset was that the truth would stand on its own. However, facts rarely speak for themselves.

More information is in front of us than ever before, but it doesn’t mean more people are informed. If you want your content to build an audience around an idea and to make an impact, it needs more than just being accurate, it must hold meaning for someone else.  

Do you want people to care? If that isn’t important, publish the facts and hope they do the job. But if you want people to care, share why those facts matter to you. That’s the difference between information and perspective.

What you share isn’t just a means to attract attention, it’s a way to develop your own thinking. 

It’s a space to return, reflect and document what you are learning, in the moment. 

For me, every YATM initiative has been an experiment. I share what I learn along the way, I write to figure things out in plain sight of everyone.

Some of the biggest shifts in YATM started as simple questions and then I share how I figured things out:

When we launched YATM Online events in March 2020 when Covid started, I asked: Can we create productions, not just webinars? The answer changed everything.

When we started moving the needle YATM Lunch Club in 2023, I asked: How do you make people feel like part of an event, not just as attendees? How can you scale camaraderie?

When expanding Lunch Club to new locations, I asked: Can this model of a community coming together work elsewhere? Can it be lead by others?

When shaping Creator Day, I asked: Why should only speakers be the stars? Why not everyone?

When building YATM Club, I asked: How can we support each other when geography doesn’t matter? 

Every answer led to something real. Every ‘how I’ became a way to help others. When you share your experiences, not just your expertise, you make your journey part of someone else’s.

When you work feels personal, it connects on a whole new level.  It is all fuelled by your determination.

When people relate to your experiences, they don’t just consume your content, they see themselves in it.

Here are five ways to bring more ‘How I…’ into your work:

1) Discover How The Real You Sounds

It’s easy to copy what’s worked for others. However that was for them. Your voice is what sets you apart. Industry jargon or trying to look and sound clever, creates distance. The more you sound like yourself, the more approachable you become.

For me, YATM’s weekly newsletter isn’t just about updates, it’s where I sharpen my thoughts and express what I really think. It takes confidence to be open, to admit you don’t have all the answers. But that honesty makes your content stronger. 

Over time, it is the content that shapes who we are. It also means that your energy demands new ideas.

2) Define What You Champion

Clarity attracts. If people don’t understand what you stand for, they won’t connect with your message.

Before 2020, YATM’s focus was too broad—it was heavily tied to content marketing. Then it became too generic as the ‘marketing learning community.’ Today, it’s sharper. It’s about a space for people who feel bold enough to do things their way, not what an industry expects. We are now ‘the home for marketing misfits.’

Clarity makes it easier for people to decide if it’s for them and to engage.

3) Build Up Enough Evidence to Share With Your Own Stamp

Your experiences, whether it’s as a podcast guest, an event you went to, or a project you ran, shape your perspective. The more you explore, the more unique your insights become.

Take YATM Lunch Club. Over the past year, I’ve been figuring out how to bring people together in a way that balances work and camaraderie, within a format. Every experiment adds another layer to what I know, and to what I share.

4) Know What Doesn’t Fit

When you define your space, you also become clear on what isn’t yours. 

YATM is not here to teach people about SEO tactics or how to make Google Business Profiles. However, I can show you how to build an audience that wants to stay. 

Trimming the edges helps sharpen your core message.

5) It’s OK Not to Have All the Answers

When you create from a place of curiosity, not authority, you build trust. Much of what I document comes from personal experiments. I share what I tried, what worked, what didn’t, and what I’d do differently.

Think of your content as something you’re making for the you of 18 months ago. If you share the lessons you wish you had back then, chances are, someone else needs them now.

The shift from “How To” to “How I” isn’t just a minor change in how you share information; it alters how people connect with you. 

What stands out today is a perspective shaped by personal experience. 

By revealing your thought process, the challenges you’ve faced, and your breakthroughs, you invite others to engage with the journey rather than simply presenting them with the final outcome. 

People don’t just seek answers, they want to witness what’s possible.

When you share using “How I,” you’re not merely informing, you’re showing what you went through. That’s what makes your work truly matter.