How To Write So Others Want To Read
What skill can you keep practicing until you croak?
What if this is a skill that will always serve you?
What skill can you start off sucking at and get incrementally better over time without doing harm as you become more effective?
What skill, having attained “pretty good” status can make you money and influence people to take action in support of your mission (however big or small)?
What skill can you make so unique and personal that the AI ghosts can’t touch you?
Writing
I’v been slogging through the writing learning curve for 50 years. I love to write and the better I get, the more I enjoy it. The bolder I get, the more ideas become available to me
As my messaging has evolved (and hopefully improved:), I find myself trying to leverage 3 specific areas of what I believe are the ABC's of copywriting
Writing that moves people to a next step, starts them thinking differently or touches them emotionally in a deeply positive way is a skill worth investigating and refining for a lifetime
I become more convinced every time I publish any writing of any kind, you just have to stick to being
The availability and volume of messaging has grown so fast that you have to be personally unique just to get attention. Nevermind moving people to action
But what does personally unique mean?
—————————
When I started writing, like most of us, it was in school
I remember writing a paper on Falconry in 8th grade for Mrs Gordon. She was a favorite teacher of mine. She was tough, but you just knew she gave a shit. Not many did. She stood out for me
Looking back she was a significant influence on my enjoyment of writing. Thank you Mrs Gordon:)
I got an A and I loved the research. Falcons and falconers are cool. I didn’t get an A because I left readers wanting more Falcon
I got an A for good research, good structure and good grammar. I followed the rules.
This was my benchmark. Compelling and unique had no approved place in “writing” in academia in the 70’s and 80’s
Ad agencies had a monopoly on compelling and unique. Great ads made you buy stuff
I smoked Marlboro Reds and drank Coke for years (thank God it’s been many by now), so it clearly worked
Today everyone is an ad agency. If you can write well, you can be the person that writes people into action for money
The thing is, when I say “write people into action”. I don’t just mean ads or sales
Action could mean
? Turning the page
? Signing up for the next show
? Approving that big project
? Clicking a link
? Entering in your contact info
? Telling a friend
? Signing up for the early bird new release
? Or any conceivable behavior that moves someone closer to a decisive action (purchasing, signing a contract, etc…)
You need to attract attention, build trust and build likability in a matter of a few words
Whether you are a founder, a senior executive or a recent grad, getting better at this will make you money and create consistent opportunities to grow, learn, and serve other people
When I stay focused on these three components, I get better (I feel better), I attract more attention and the action I create builds more trust and credibility.
—————————
领英推荐
One of my favorite compliments as of late was from a prospect turned client
“I like the way you think”
Authentic
Bold
Contrarian
Let me contextualize these
Authentic - “Can you see the real me? Can ya?”
Who is the real you?
As I investigate this question on my own behalf, I scrape the surface as I get my mind going.
I’m a middle aged conservative, father. I’m Catholic, American and have worked for myself most of my life. I consider (or did consider:) myself an athlete. I think I’m funny, I try to be kind…
OK, I can work with this
But
Who am I when I close my eyes in the face of fear…and start to spin up my anxiety?
That joke is funny, but what if I went deeper and dropped some ‘truth bombs” and “f bombs” to make it more raw and offensive to half the crowd?
What if I shared intimate details of my mother’s suicide or a friend’s addiction to try and elicit genuine empathy from a reader?
Now we’re getting somewhere…
Bold - Take risks. Be willing to offend.
Be willing to alienate at least half of your potential audience. Use foul language (if you do in everyday life) and tell some people to fuck off. Make fun. Of yourself and others
Bold is risky and embarrassing…or it’s not bold
My biggest challenge with bold has been worrying about “losing” people
Ironically, who might you lose when you begin with no one anyway?
What’s happened for me is when I lose some people, those that remain become more supportive and loyal. Pissing some people off bonds you more deeply to those who don’t get pissed off
When I take conservative positions, I lose liberals
Guess what? Yup. I don’t give a fuck:)
Contrarian - Don’t float through life following the crowd. Question everything.
Find opposing positions that intrigue you and investigate them
The best example in my world is how people go about looking to improve themselves professionally
Most people assume their destiny is mapped out. They assume their path has been cleared. They think of sending resumes and speaking with HR. They are auto parts on an assembly line
What I write about is breaking all those rules. What if?
When you can help people look at things differently, you open up a world of possibilities
Different becomes wildly attractive and contagious
———————
If you think you can write…you can
If you want to talk more about this, reach out. It’s one of my favorite topics