Why I Ignore The Experts

Welcome back to Viral Examples.

Today (in 2 mins or less) we're diving into why the fastest way to earn trust might be calling out the advice everyone else is repeating.

Anti-Guru Positioning: How Disagreeing with Experts Builds Credibility

You see a post from a respected expert. Thousands of likes. Everyone nodding along in the comments.

And you think they're wrong.

Most people stay quiet. You should speak up.

Here's why challenging popular advice might be the smartest move you can make.

Your audience already has doubts

Every piece of conventional wisdom has skeptics. Maybe 20% of people who see that viral post from the big-name expert think "this feels off" but assume they're alone.

They're waiting for someone to voice what they're already thinking.

When you publicly disagree with respected advice, you're sending a signal. You care more about being right than being liked. That builds trust faster than agreeing with everyone.

How to pick your battles

Start with advice you've personally tested and found lacking. The disagreement has to come from experience, never from contrarianism for its own sake.

Look for limitations in popular frameworks. The advice works in some contexts but fails in others. That nuance is your opening.

Here's the structure that works:

Find the respected advice everyone shares. "Expert X says always do Y."

Explain the limitation based on your experience. "This breaks down when Z happens. I've seen it fail in these specific situations."

Offer your alternative. "Here's what works better in those cases."

The key is staying substantive. Never attack the person. Always engage with the idea.

What you gain vs what you risk

You lose the people who treat that expert's word as gospel. You were never going to win them anyway.

You gain the 20% who already had doubts. They become your most engaged followers because you validated their skepticism.

You also gain respect from people who value independent thinking. Even those who disagree with you will remember you took a stance.

The biggest mistake people make

They think they need consensus to build an audience. Wrong.

Consensus is boring. Consensus makes you blend in with everyone else saying the same thing.

Your audience wants to know what you believe is wrong. They're tired of seeing the same advice repeated. They want someone willing to challenge it.

That person should be you.

Pick the expert advice that frustrates you most. The framework everyone swears by but you've seen fail. Write the post explaining why.

The people who needed to hear it will find you.

Time to Grow

There’s two parts to getting results from posting content:

1. High quality content

2. Relevant distribution

Megaphone, the team behind Viral Examples, helps with both.

1. Our writing team works learns your voice and delivers weekly batches of content for you to post.

2. Our creator network helps get your posts in front of the right audience.

Grab time here or just reply to this email to learn more.