Thank you Dave for entering your thoughts on this thread.

I followed the link you provided to Peter Carruthers hoping to read the article
where he talks about "establishing yourself as the expert by demonstrating a
clear understanding of the problems" (rather than the solutions), but
could not locate this article.

Could you please provide me with a direct link to this article? I would love to
find out why he puts emphasis on the problems ... not the solutions.

Meanwhile, a clear understanding of the problems of your target market is
no doubt important. People connect with problems before they connect with
solutions...

I don't know the context in which Peter Caruthers advocates "thrashing the problem
over and over"...

However, if you demonstrate your understanding of their problems but
don't go further to also demonstrate that you understand (and have)
solutions to their problems I doubt if you will have established your
expertise to them...

Your target market will be consuming your content - whether in the form of
text, audio or video - in the hope of finding answers to their questions or
solutions to their problems.

Further more, your product or service as a business owner is supposed to
solve the problems or heal the pain of your target market...

If a business owner is experiencing problems with sales - for example -
he will be more interested in listening to someone who can come up
with ways to increase his sales than listening to someone who reminds
him he does really have a sales problem but who doesn't (or CAN'T)
come up with ways to solve the problem.

And: if you can't answer his questions or solve his problems you can't
be the expert - right?

As for giving all answers up front, it wouldn't be advisable to do so. You
however do want to give them enough information to establish your
credibility and expertise.

While some people will find some answers in the free information you
provide, and other will use it to solve their problems, this should not be
a reason to hold back...

The percentage of people who don't buy your product or service will pale
in comparison to those who will buy because they've been influenced and
motivated to do so by your free, valuable information.

To higher response!

Albert Mpuru