Blogging Lesson: Learn From Your Mistakes

I recently was asked to be a regular contributor to the U.S. News & World Report My Money Blog. It was a nice honor and I graciously accepted. For my first article, my editor asked me to think about the possibility of an article related to taxes as we approach the dreaded tax season.

My first thought was “NO WAY”, I am not a tax expert, nor do I play one on TV. I should have followed my gut, but after some deliberation in my own head, I decided that I could write something about tax write-offs to consider if you’re self-employed. After all, I have been self-employed for the past 11 years I know a good amount about home office deductions and the like. Editor said “great” and so I was off to the races.

Bottom-line: I didn’t do enough research. I wrote the piece from my perspective only and didn’t consider that not everyone who is self-employed works 100% from home. The home office deduction gets really fuzzy if you don’t work exclusively from home and can be a red-flag to the IRS. The article got picked up by Yahoo! Finance, which my editor said was a really good thing, but the comments quickly corrected my advice as not completely accurate. As is the case with anonymous comments on the Internet some were completely rude, although I found this one funny:

My Mom is going to be sooo flattered, she was referred to on Yahoo!.

What I Learned From This Experience

I am always telling my kids that we all make mistakes but the most important thing is to learn from them and move on. Mistakes serve as amazing opportunities for real character growth for all of us, both personally and professionally.  It was time for me to take my own advice. I absolutely hate the fact that I published something that is not accurate and could possibly cause someone harm with the IRS. Initially, I thought some of the comments were unfair, but I realized a long time ago that you have to have thick skin when it comes to anonymous commenters. It is literally impossible to find a news story online that does not have at least 1 rude comment.

So after getting wind of my inaccuracies, I immediately emailed my editor so see what my options were. Could I update the post? If so, would the article on U.S. News & World Report and Yahoo! Finance be updated? I also considered leaving a comment apologizing and admitting that my advice was not complete.

In the end, I was able to update the article on U.S. News & World Report website with the correct information and am still waiting for the Yahoo! article to be updated as of today.

What a great lesson for me as I start to take this blogging thing more seriously. I have to either stick to topics that I know like the back of my hand, or do a TON of research before I put fingers to keys.

Have you had any experiences like mine where you may have bit off more than you could chew? If so, how did you handle the situation? I look forward to any comments.

13 Responses to “Blogging Lesson: Learn From Your Mistakes”

1. DC @ Young Adult Money on January 23rd, 2013 5:15 am

   I do try to cover a wide range of topics (since there are no other writers on my site it’s all up to me for now haha) and a few times I’ve had to apologize in the comments (I would not do this on a site other than my own) to regular readers who have corrected me. It happens, you can’t spend hours upon hours on a blog post…at some point you have to trust you’ve done enough research, and sometimes you will be wrong.

   Very cool that you are a contributor for US News!
   DC @ Young Adult Money recently posted…Why Twitter Follower Count is Pointless

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2. The Happy Homeowner on January 23rd, 2013 8:26 am

   First of all, congrats on the new position; that’s a very exciting opportunity!

   Second, I love how you’re using this as a learning moment for your future work. I think we’ve all stumbled at various times with what to blog about and have wondered about our research (or lack of it). Use this as a motivator for future posts and you’ll be just fine.

   Third, gotta love the Internet trolls, eh?
   The Happy Homeowner recently posted…Personal Finance and Lance Armstrong: What You Can Learn from Lance’s Fall from Grace

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3. Kyle on January 23rd, 2013 8:35 am

   @ DC – Good point. The cool things about readers is they add their own point of view which many times is different than our own and does nothing but add to the conversation. Yahoo clearly does not monitor comments and it appears their commenters do nothing but ruin the conversation.

   @ THH – Thanks for the words of encouragement, really appreciate it!

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4. John @ Frugal Rules on January 23rd, 2013 11:34 am

   Congrats Kyle! That is stinkin’ awesome!!

   I love how you’re using this as a learning opportunity and not choosing to get ticked off. Though, I am sure it would be easy to choose that route. We all make mistakes and just look at this as an opportunity to make you stronger. On a side note, you’ve got to love some of the comments people put up on Yahoo Finance.
   John @ Frugal Rules recently posted…Taking the Plunge: Budgeting and the Entrepreneur

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5. Michelle on January 23rd, 2013 2:36 pm

   That sounds like a sweet gig, Kyle! Sorry you got burned by some commenters. They always are much nicer on your own page unfortunately!
   Michelle recently posted…See Debt Run – 1 Year Birthday

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6. Kyle on January 23rd, 2013 3:07 pm

   Thanks John and Michelle, really appreciate the comments.

   The anonymity of the Internet can bring out the worst in people, no doubt about that!

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7. Brian @ Luke1428 on January 23rd, 2013 4:25 pm

   This is great advice you are giving out. We have to be able to learn from our mistakes to move forward in life. Most of the time, the mistake I make is taking on too much at one time. I then get overwhelmed and have to back out of something worthwhile. By doing this over and over I have learned to say “No” more often.

   Congrats on the new assignment. Good luck with it!
   Brian @ Luke1428 recently posted…Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That

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8. Kyle on January 23rd, 2013 4:35 pm

   @ Brian – That is some good wisdom right there. Sometimes the word “no” is SO hard to say but crucial to mental health.

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9. Kim@Eyesonthedollar on January 25th, 2013 9:20 am

   That’s really exciting that you got asked to write for a big site like that. I can see how it would be very hard to make sure your advice covers everyone. I’ve considered trying to apply for some writing positions, but it would take a ton of research and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. I think people who leave nasty comments are just jealous no one asked them to write.
   Kim@Eyesonthedollar recently posted…Girl Scout Cookies Cost How Much?

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10. Tackling Our Debt on January 25th, 2013 11:00 am

    Congrats on the new writing job! It does take a lot of work to write for a news site, lots of research. But I’m so glad you saw the bright side of this experience. It is hard to read crappy comments, but people feel they can do that when they are hiding behind a monitor. Smart people would have politely voiced their thoughts. It will get much easier as you go and think of all the publicity you will get.
    Tackling Our Debt recently posted…Developing Good Financial Habits in 5 Easy Steps

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11. Shannon @ The Heavy Purse on January 25th, 2013 11:05 am

    First, congrats on being asked to be a contributor. That’s huge!! And second, congrats on owning your mistakes. You’re human; we make them. You didn’t write or post with malice. Frankly, a lot of people would have buried their head in the sand and pretended the problem didn’t exist. Congrats again and good luck!
    Shannon @ The Heavy Purse recently posted…The Myth of No

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12. Pauline on January 26th, 2013 9:17 am

    I try to stay as vague as possible when I don’t know my topic well. Or put a disclaimer. Well done getting the gig!
    Pauline recently posted…Friday recap, the city life and a root canal

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13. Maddie Klingaman on March 13th, 2013 6:44 pm

    Well, you went one step more than I would have, which is you even attempted to write the article. I think I would have asked the editor for something easier, say a DIY craft party for tax season…lol.

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