Many articles about creating helpful content mention the importance of showing first-hand experience.
The usual advice is:
- Add original photos
- Share your personal observations
- Explain what you learned
But what does that actually look like?
To demonstrate the idea, I documented something very simple: attempting to dig a small hole in my garden.
The task itself is not important. The process of documenting it is.
Start by showing where you began
Before doing anything, I took a photograph of the area I wanted to dig.
It was not a neat patch of soil. It contained weeds, old weed suppressant material and some grass growth.
This first image creates the starting point.
Without it, a final photograph of a hole gives no context. The reader cannot see what changed or what challenges existed.
Show the tools you used
Before starting, I photographed the small hand fork I planned to use.
This may seem like a minor detail, but it helps answer an important question:
How did you actually do this?
A generic article might say:
“Use the right tools for the job.”
A first-hand article can show:
“This was the tool I chose, and this is what happened when I used it.”
Document the process, not just the result
After clearing away the weeds and other material, I photographed the area again.
Now the soil was exposed and the next stage of the process was visible.
This creates a sequence:
Before → Preparation → Attempt → Result
That sequence is evidence.
Include what went wrong
The excavation itself did not go exactly as planned.
The weather had been extremely hot, and the ground was much harder than expected. The small hand fork was not really the right tool for breaking through the compacted soil.
The result was a much smaller hole than I originally intended.
But this is actually the most valuable part of the experience.
A perfect result only shows what happened.
A problem explains what someone else should consider before trying it themselves.
Show the outcome honestly
The final photograph shows the completed hole.
It is not impressive.
It is simply a very small hole in a garden.
But together, the photographs prove the process:
- This was the original area
- This was the tool used
- This was the preparation
- This was the challenge encountered
- This was the final result
The evidence tells the story.
First-hand experience is about more than saying “I tried it”
Anyone can write:
“I dug a hole and here is my advice.”
First-hand experience is stronger when you show:
- Where you started
- What you used
- What happened during the process
- What problems you encountered
- What you learned
The most useful experiences are often not perfect successes.
The mistakes, adjustments and unexpected problems are often the parts that help other people most.
You do not need an extraordinary adventure or an expensive experiment to create experience-based content.
Sometimes a small garden project is enough.
The important thing is to document what actually happened.