Write Better Checklist.

Write better. Think Better. Everything Better.

Most people write when they are tired, which means they write when they are the least inspired. And, then they wonder why they never get the results they want.

Most people don’t know how they want their readers to feel. And yet clarity will improve their results.

Most people have not learnt how to write effectively. They spend all day writing for a living and yet have spent no time learning how to do it well.

?Therefore, they don’t make much of a living from it.

?That is a hard life. Don’t do that.

?The purpose of this WRITE BETTER CHECKLIST is to make sure that you are not MOST PEOPLE.

You do that by understanding when you should write, for whom, and what outcome they want.

In essence, what is the transformation they seek?

Plus, you will learn the framework of how to write better. Hook. Story. Close. No longer will you get average results because you will write with ENERGY, FOCUS and PURPOSE.

If you follow this routine of writing, you will see some very different results in 3-6 months.

?You will create a new discipline of writing when you have the most energy, you will sit down and know exactly, and I mean exactly, the person whom you’re writing to. You will know the emotion you are going to make them feel. Most people have no clue. And, with this new daily discipline, you will write more effectively and soon begin to see the results you always wanted but never achieved.

?Not overnight, but over time.

?Checklist Ingredients.

?(Pick what works for you, ignore what doesn’t. Simple.)

?Now, there's a classic rule of photography called the rule of thirds. I have taken that rule and applied it to writing.

?Each one is as important as the other.

?1. You.

2. Your reader.

3. Your capabilities.

IT BEGINS HERE.        

?

The Checklist.

?1.??You.

?

Most people when they're writing, leave it to the last minute. They leave it to when they're most tired. They leave it to when they have the shortest deadline and hope that creativity will strike.

Now, that is one way to do it, but it's not the best way to do it. The best way to write is to work out when you have the most energy.

?So, the first question is, are you a morning person? An afternoon person? Or an evening person? Whatever the answer is, make sure you create a habit of writing at that time of day.

?Also, as importantly, when thinking about your energy, you need to create a priming routine that ensures you arrive at peak energy each time you sit down to write.

?The question is, how do we do that?

?Prime You.

?The purpose of a priming routine is to get you into the best state you possibly can be to write the best you can.

?The best way to do that is a routine. A morning routine. That will consist of multiple ways to wake you up, get you ready, get you primed. That can be a form of exercise, meditation, breathing. And a combination of lots of things.

?It really depends on what works for you.

?But don’t pick easy. Easy won’t help you get primed.

?Morning Regime.

Let me run through the morning regime that gets me primed to do the best words that I possibly can.

?So firstly, the alarm will go off at 6:40 am, and I will go down to my shed, my writing shed, and I will do the following:

?Power Hour.

?1.???????Meditate - 10 minutes.

2.???????Prime the imagination technique -10 minutes

3.???????Breathing technique -20 minutes.

4.???????HIIT workout – 7 mins

5.???????Walk dogs - 7 mins.

6.???????Cold shower. 3 mins.

7.???????Black coffee. 3 mins. (Can be Bulletproof, too)

?Notes on the above.

?1.???????Meditation.

?I mediate with a simple Ohm chant. I have been doing this for years. I always wondered why I felt better afterwards. Then I did some research.

?It turns out that the vibration from the chanting stimulates the Vagus nerve. The vague nerve is one of the longest nerves in the body. It has a branch that connects to the ear which may possibly be activated by sound. Stimulating the nerve encourages the brain to reorganize any damage.

2.???????Prime Imagination Technique.

?I use the power of my imagination. I sit and literally imagine how I would feel if I achieved what I wanted. For example, if I launched a new product that day, I imagine how I would feel if it was completely sold out in minutes. What emotion I would be feeling?

I take 10 minutes to ensure my vision of the future is much more exciting than my past. I use the power of emotion to imagine that things I want have already happened. To feel the emotions of a future reality. I watched an interview with Dr. Joe Dispenza, and that day I began to work on myself. It’s not for everybody. But it is for every mind.

More info: Dr Joe Dispenza. You are the creator of your world.

?3.???????20 Minute Breathing from my belly.

?This will wake you up. It will clear your head. It is powerful. It’s best to do it lying down.

?I use Wim Hoff's breathing method for 10 minutes to get my blood pumping. It is super simple. And very effective. This method can turn your blood alkaline. That’s a good thing. It reduces anxiety. Lowers your heartbeat. And, oh oy, makes you ready for the day.

?This is how it works.

?You have to inhale from your belly. Fully in. But not fully out. Repeat 30 times.

You may feel a little light-headed. Or even a little shaky. That is normal. Then after 30 times, you breathe out. And hold. You will find you can hold your breath for a minute or more. Then when you need to breathe, you inhale. And hold for 10-15 seconds.

Then repeat that another two times. After these three times, you are done. And, you will now feel very different to how you did at the beginning.

?4.???????Yoga.

?A while back, I found myself in India talking to this amazing businessman. We started talking about Yoga. I said I was just a beginner. He said he was too. I asked how long he had been doing it. ‘Every day for 27 years. Namaste, as they say.

?Yoga is important because it works on your body and your mind. I use an old CD that one of my daughters bought but never used. And I put it on the TV. Roll the mat out and begin - little and often.

'If you do yoga 3 times a week, you will change your body. If you do it every day, you will change your life.’

?Yoga clears your head in a way that nothing else does.

?It releases energy in our body, helps with clarity of thought and is a magical de-stressor.

?5.????????7-Minute HIIT Workout.

?I found this from the New York Times.

It’s good to get the blood pumping of a morning. The reason I love this is that it achieves a lot in a short period of time.

In short,?HIIT?stands for high-intensity interval?training, which involves a short?workout?and quick bursts of energy with quick resting periods. This burns serious energy, which helps you burn more fat and calories. It wakes you up.

I use an app called 7MWC. The "7 Minute Workout" is a research-backed workout program that has become an international hit!

Researchers have selected 12 exercises that are performed for 30 seconds with 10-second rest intervals. This high-intensity training with little rest results in higher daily metabolism and is the equivalent of working out for over an hour - for only slightly longer than 7 minutes.

The best part? The exercises are simple to perform, do not require any equipment, and therefore, can be done anywhere! NO MORE EXCUSES.

It’s things like star jumps, press-ups, wall sit etc. I have done it in hotel rooms just to keep my streak going.

?6.???????Walk the dogs.

?By the time I have done all this, the dogs want their turn for some exercise.

?So, I have two large fields, so I take a tennis ball, and they chase after it.

?It is important to get outdoors, even for a short while.

?Feel the breeze, get a little sunshine on your face, switch off. The dogs don’t care about your busy day, your urgent this or that. All they care about is you throwing that ball.

?They have focus. It’s a reminder for my day.

This must be done, come rain or shine. Also, a good reminder of the importance of discipline.

?7.???????Cold Shower. (Since writing this, I began sea swimming most days - more on that on another day.)

?If you are not fully awake by now, you soon will be.

?I have been following the Wim Hoff breathing technique to help me conquer cold showers. I am not good in the cold. But I am getting better. I now manage 40 seconds per shower.

?My shower is outside, so the water is plenty cold. So, what are the benefits? For me, I feel fully alive afterwards. And also, in my mind, I am training myself to do hard things.

?These are the benefits as listed on Wim’s Hoff’s site.

?'Reduced stress levels. Regularly taking cold showers imposes a small amount of stress on your body, which leads to a process called hardening. This means that your nervous system gradually gets used to handling moderate levels of stress. The hardening process helps you to?keep a cool head in stressful moments.

Higher level of alertness. Cold showers wake your body up, inducing?a higher state of alertness. The cold also stimulates you to take deeper breaths, decreasing the level of CO2 throughout the body, helping you concentrate. Cold showers thus keep you ready and focused throughout the day.

More robust immune response. Scientific studies have found that taking a cold shower increases the number of white blood cells in your body. These blood cells protect your body against diseases. Researchers believe that this process is related to an increased metabolic rate, which stimulates?the immune response.

?Increased willpower. It takes a strong mind to endure the cold for extended periods of time. By incorporating cold showers into your daily routine, you are?strengthening your willpower which benefits many aspects of (your) daily life.'

8.???????Then a coffee. Phew.

I take mine black because that is the best for Polyphenols that prime your Mitro Chrondria, which are energy cells of your body. ?Or, if I feel that I need an extra boost for a busy day, I will make a bulletproof coffee, and then I head for my writing shed.

?Ready to Write. Yay.

So, I am primed. My body is primed, my head is primed, and I'm there literally waiting in front of the keyboard with anticipation. I am super excited to be there. I'm super awake; I'm super energized. I really, absolutely want to write.

?My energy is all for the writing. It's not a chore, it's not a bore, and it's not something I have to do; it's something I want to do because I worked on me. I've got myself into the impact zone by getting myself into the state, the best state I possibly can be, in order to do the best writing I can.

When most people are writing, they almost do the opposite. Like I said at the beginning, they do it when they're most tired, where they got very little time to do a good job, and it becomes a chore.

You don't do the best work you've ever done by making something a chore. People can feel the energy that you write with; people can feel that you're alive, people can feel that you're ready to do the best work you've ever done.

So, that little routine in the morning, as much as they might sound really crazy, and I'm sure it does, is it's trying to, you are primed and ready to write. That is going to actually help you write better.

When you write better, by default, you sell better. So, that is the first rule of thirds of writing. You have to prime YOU in order to do your best work.

Obviously, you don’t have all the things I do but think of it as PICK and MIX.

Just do the things that place you in a state to do your best work.

?The Evening Routine.

?One of the key factors in you arriving ready to do your best work will be a good night’s sleep.

?Here are some tips.

?1.????????Brain Dump.

?Spend 5 minutes writing everything down that is on your mind. Things you haven’t done. Emails you haven’t replied to. Get those ‘open loops’ out of your busy mind and down on paper.

?2.???????Go to bed at your regular time.

?The body likes routines.

?3.???????Phone-curfew.

?Don’t look at your phone for two hours before bed. Blue light wakes you up. Make sure you go to bed tired, not wired.

?4.???????Write your ‘Three Aims.’

?Write the 3 things you are going to achieve tomorrow.

?5.???????What are you grateful for today?

?Who helped you today? What went well? What are you taking for granted that you need to say thank you for? Take a moment to say thank you.

?6.???????Prime your subconscious.

?Spend a few minutes before bed thinking about your Number 1 goal. Imagine as if you had already achieved it. And imagine how that makes you feel.

?Never go to sleep without a request to your?subconscious mind. Thomas Edison.

?7.???????Measure what matters.

?I recently bought an Oura sleep ring. It measures your sleep. The hours. The quality. Your readiness for the next day.

?One side effect is has made me even keener to get to bed on time as I don’t want a low score.

?Obviously, there is a lot here.

?Like I keep saying, pick what works for you. And leave the rest.

?2.??Your Reader.

?Clarity is your super-power.

?So, the second rule of ‘WRITE BETTER CHECKLIST’, is for you to be clear about your reader.

?And the important question to ask is what emotion do you want them to feel after reading your words? What is your desired outcome if you write it so incredibly well that you get what you want?

?For example:

?1. Inspired.

2. Motivated.

3. Smarter.

4. Joy

5. Surprise.

6. Trust.

7. Anticipation.

?There are many emotions; you will write better when you know exactly what you are trying to evoke. It makes sense, right?

Because if you are not clear on it, how can you possibly ever get the emotion that you most want if you can't articulate it in the first place?

Give this 5-minutes of thought before you pour hours into writing an article.

Most writers don’t give it a single second. Don’t be like most writers.

Do you want them to be motivated? Do you want them to be excited? Do you want them to feel super positive about their skillset?

?What is the outcome that you most want?

?When you can articulate that, then you can write with that intention in mind. That is clarity. And clarity is power.

So, I would use the power of your imagination to zone in on one of your customers. Give them a name. Know what they look like. What they wear. What their job is. What wakes them up is a sweat at night. That is clarity.

?When you take a photograph, and you tap the subject and then suddenly it comes into focus. Boom. This is the same technique I want you to apply to your reader.

?Steps to clarity.

?Don't be for everyone. Everyone is a lot of people.

?You need to narrow your focus. Only by a few billion.

Your strength will come from understanding your perfect customer. Zoom in on that one person. Who are they?

?What are they running towards?

?1. More Time?

2. Starting something?

3. Moving out of the city?

4. Getting fitter.

5. Losing weight.

What gives them incredible energy? What are their realistic dreams? And unrealistic ones? When you begin to understand them, you will know what will connect with them. And what won’t?

WHERE ARE THEY RUNNING TOWARD?

1. Crappy job.

2. Toxic relationships.

3. Being unfit.

4. Bad habits.

5. Boredom.

What is troubling them the most? What wakes them up at 4:00 am? And why is your writing going to help them on this merry journey that they are on called life?

Remember, people are more motivated to move away from pain and towards pleasure, and if you truly want to help somebody, you’re going to need to point out to them, what it really costs them not to solve this problem now. Know how to help their struggle?

BE HUMAN.

Connections come from being human.

Everyone fears something.

Everyone wants a better life.

Everyone wants what they can’t have.

Everyone is insecure.

Everyone is lonely at times.

Everyone is a bit of fraud.

Everyone misses someone.

Everyone is lucky. And unlucky.

Everyone has lots going on in their life.

EMPATHY IS THE KEY to making connections.

There is no better way.

EMPATHY WILL UNLOCK THEM.

I want you to imagine talking to them after they’ve read your piece and they say to you, “I just read that piece. It was so incredibly helpful to me. I am no longer stuck. I feel so incredibly positive about everything because you helped me, and you almost understood my every thought; YOU UNDERSTOOD THE CONVERSATION THAT’S ALREADY GOING ON IN MY HEAD.”

And that’s because you ‘ZOOMED IN’ on one person and you could begin to understand them. And when you’re writing about their worries and their hopes, IT IS AS IF YOU KNOW THEM.

You can’t be for everybody when you’re writing, you must have one person in mind.

Clarity is to know them: warts and all.

Questions to gain clarity.

?What is your customer's worldview?

?1. What are they for?

2. What are they against?

3. What are their beliefs about the world?

4. What are their values?

5. Who doesn't share their opinion?

?

Take the time to answer these questions; each answer gives you a little more clarity.

?Clarity will give you a bigger future.

?

If you want to go even deeper: Another question to ask.

?1. Whom will you serve?

?A big part of not trying to be for everyone is to find your tribe. You are here to make a change happen. You are here to do work that matters. Your tribe will find you through your purpose.

They will find you because they will see that you are doing work that matters. They want to be part of the change you wish to make.?

?They will engage with you, buy your product or service, and they will tell their friends. Once you understand your tribe, you can seek to serve them, their dreams and hopes.

?'Who do you want to be a hero to?'

?My story.

Our jeans say 'Made in Wales' that is the change we are making. Our town is a maker town, and we are keeping it that way. We are hero to people who believe in quality over quantity, who believe in craft and skills.

Our promise of ‘Made in Wales’ is how we find our tribe. Who do you want to be a hero to?

One More Question.

?What change are you going to make?

?(And remember, you can't change everyone)

Are you going to make their life easier? Will you have less impact on the environment? Are you going to create a new, better way of doing something?

?What are you seeking to change?

?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

?This is another way to get to clarity.

How do they 'not' want to describe themselves?

?1.???????Lazy.

2.???????Untrustworthy.

3.???????Unreliable.

4.???????Dishonest.

5.???????Untalented.

?All these questions are designed to help you have clarity of what they are all about.

Remember, the greater the clarity, the easier it is to write to them.

?Identify their struggle.

When you can understand the conversation that is already going in their heads, then you will be able to create empathy and rapport.?

?Great writing creates a strong relationship with your reader. You are just using your words to create that connection.

?

You want to hear this:

?Are you reading my mind?

Are you spying on me?

How did you know that?

?

That is what I mean about ‘Interrupting the conversation already going on it in their head.’

I think about our customers a lot. You should, too. Like I said already, what are their dreams? What makes them wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat??

Are they happy? If not, what is taking the joy away?

What are they excited about? What is the thing they put off doing, but really want to??Get inside their head.

?If you take time to think about your reader, you will become more relevant, more inspiring, and more of service to them.

?Clarity will transform your writing.

?Just imagine their response to your writing when you nail it.

?It connects. It strikes a chord. It engages.

You really get to their inner thoughts, their inner worries and their hopes and dreams; at that point, things get pretty interesting.

That is when your writing becomes powerful. You create a community. Make relationships. Give value.

?That type of writing is only possible when you have taken the time to understand them.

?Quick recap.

So the first rule was (1) working on you, but the second rule was (2) to understand them by having a clear picture of them. But also, knowing the outcome that you want, the energy that they want to have after reading your piece.

?That clarity is going to help you write more effectively and powerfully because the first rule is going to help get you into that impact zone where you are trying to do the best book you've ever done. So, it's going to give you the energy you want.

But the second rule is going to give you focus. You know who you're writing to. Exactly. You know what they most want after reading your article. The outcome. And at that point, you really have got two of the three rules of writing in style.

?That's why you're going to be able to write some of the best work you've ever done.

?Now, let’s have a look at improving your capabilities.

?3. YOUR SYSTEM.

Most writing courses only teach you capabilities. But when you combine good writing skills with the two rules above, it will take you to another level.

?

1.?????????DEEP WORK PRODUCES YOUR BEST WORK.

You must create an environment for you to do work without distraction. In short, switch the WIFI off.

Create a daily practice of writing for 2–3 hours per day without WIFI.

The smartphone is way too addictive for you to resist. No one can.

Our brains are hardwired to crave the next Dopamine hit. Notifications zap our concentration.

The only effective workaround is to create a culture where we put our phones aside for a set period.

Control the environment, or the smartphone will control you.

THIS DAILY PRACTICE will give you focus on doing your best work.

NOTE: Psychologist Hellmuth Margulis explains in her book ‘HOW MUSIC PLAYS THE MIND’ when you listen to a song on repeat, you tend to dissolve into the song, which blocks out mind wandering.

2.?????????ROLE MODEL THE BEST.

There is a train of thought that if you want to write great, then read great. A golden truth.

But if you want to accelerate this learning, do this.

Take a piece of writing that you have benchmarked as great writing and copy it out in your own handwriting. Do it once. Do it ten times. Do it one hundred times.

You will get to know it better than just reading it. It will go into your brain. Into your neurons. Into your muscle memory.

You will understand what makes them so good. You will rapidly learn to think like them. And write like them.

I am convinced that just about anybody can learn to write well. But I am not convinced that anybody will be willing to handwrite something 100 times to learn how to write well.

The key part here is deliberate practice. Learn from remarkable role models. And how the hunger to be the best is only given to the few.

This is hard work. It is repetitive. And it is something the best writers have done.

From Brian Kurz book.

Studies from around the world have found that handwriting (instead of typing) has a profound impact on our brains. It taps into what’s called visual motor memory, and it increases our ability to quickly recall information and execute commands and encourages higher-order, abstract thinking (the free-thinking of ideas).

3. RESEARCH SYSTEM.

Let me tell you a story about a company I set up after I had got kicked out of college. It was called SLAP and Dash. A painting company. The idea of the company was to pay my overdraft off and then stop the company. It did exactly that. Now, here’s the thing I learned about painting. It’s all in the prep. The better you prep, the easier it was to paint. The better the prep, the better the job.

It’s the same with writing. The better your research, the better your writing.

So, you need to develop a note-taking system. The secret for me is Evernote.

MY NOTE-TAKING SYSTEM.

For example, I save things.

1. Now research

2. Future research.

The 'Now research' is everything I am working on for a current project. For example, BUSY IS THE NEW LAZY. That is my central premise. So, whenever I find articles, graphs, podcasts, Twitter comments etc. that help write that article, then I save it.

The 'Future research' is for other ideas I have for articles to write. For example, ‘ONE MILLION TRUE FANS.’ An article about being a Liverpool fan, but never contributing towards the financial wellbeing of the club. I will save everything I can that helps build that argument. But will do that over time. I have others on the go too.

LINKING ALL THE IDEAS.

So, before I start writing, I look at all the notes. Then I look to see if there are any common links, or if they spark anything off. The links are where the magic happens. They spark things you didn’t think about at the beginning.

THEN I WRITE AN OUTLINE.

This is when I bring it all together into an outline. This is a series of sentences that are my key points.

They are the outline of my thinking, what my take on it is, then I work through it to see how it feels. I need to know what outcome I want them to take away.

Time spent researching is never a waste of time. Time spent researching always feels like a waste of time. That’s ok. Just know it will improve your writing. And do the work.

Once happy with the outline, which is no more than one or two pages, I move on.

FIRST DRAFT.

This is where I would take points from my outline and write them out as paragraph to see if it makes a good argument. I don’t judge them as I write. I will look back at the end and see what strikes a chord. At this point, I am not trying to see how they all work together. That can come later. Perfect can come later; for now, get it written down on the computer.

SECOND DRAFT.

This is where you have to try and organise it all, so it makes sense. So, to do this, you have to hold your central idea in your head at all times, and ask at each paragraph, ‘is this relevant?’ The second draft is the hardest. You have too many ideas. Too many words. Hardly any structure. And it can be overwhelming. Welcome, to the second difficult draft.

EDIT NOW.

It’s hard to self-edit. But, for now, that’s the deal. Lots of the things you spent days writing, days researching, won’t make it. Don’t think. About the time spent on it, think about not wasting your readers time with stuff you are not sure about. Be tough. Your reader will thank you with their attention.

FINAL DRAFT.

Nearly there. And it feels like this is making more sense now. There is structure. You’ve weeded out the un-interesting bits, and this draft feels a lot easier to get done. Because you prepped so well, the writing was easy.

CHECKLIST STUFF.

You know…

1.??Spellcheck

2. Grammar check

3. Ask a friend what was good, where did I lose them, how can I make it better?

Ok, now I am ready to share.

NOTE.

David Perell, who has a great writing course called ‘Write of Passage’, has a good system for colour coding highlighted sections which can save your time.

1. Blue — Double check facts.

2. Red — Add a source.

3. Green -Re-write sentence.

4. Orange - Talk more about this.

5. Purple - Add more research.

5. Light blue - Footnote.

6. Deep purple ?- Add more.

7. Offred - time for a quote.

?

4, SET BOUNDARIES.

The problem is when you write, it is very easy to work and work. The problem is you are running a marathon but acting like it is a sprint. That is why lots of writers have burnout.

Firstly, you are going to write for a long time.

Secondly, you are going to write for a long time.

Pace yourself. The worst thing you can do is to make writing a chore. Don’t do that.

?

LOOK AFTER YOU.

1. Set a time when you finish.

2. Set a time when you start.

3. Learn to switch off completely.

“Be all in at work. And all off at home.” Benjamin Hardy.

4. Have time away from technology.

5. Journal each day.

6. Eat early. Bed early.

7. Have some quiet time.

8. Learn to rest well. It will help you write well.

5. SET A DAILY TARGET.

Want to get better at running? Run more. Ditto for the writing.

Set yourself a number of words to write each day. Say 500-1,000 words per day, for example. Through quantity comes quality.

What can be measured can be improved. Keeping a score helps you stay disciplined. The hard thing isn’t writing when you are in the mood; the hard thing is when you aren’t. The Pro’s still turn up.

Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work. And the belief that things will grow out of the activity itself and that you will — through work — bump into other possibilities and kick open other doors that you would never have dreamt of if you were just sitting around looking for a great ‘art [idea].’ And the belief that process, in a sense, is liberating and that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every day. Today, you know what you’ll do, you could be doing what you were doing yesterday, and tomorrow you are gonna do what you [did] today, and at least for a certain period of time, you can just work. If you hang in there, you will get somewhere.

6. USE A FRAMEWORK.

The framework is your saviour. Yes, structure matters.

Now, there are lots to choose from, but find one that works for you. Let me walk you through one. It’s called: HOOK. STORY. CLOSE.

1.????????Hook.

The ‘Hook’ is another word for your headline.

This has to catch their attention, and the offer must appeal to them. The offer will tell them about the transformation that this will give them. You need to frame it in such a way that they want to read more. It must excite them, capture their imagination; it has to be unique.

The Hook is at least 40% of the reason you will be successful. Interestingly, people don’t spend 40% of their time on this. The learning is to spend more time here.

2.????????Story.

The story is unique to you. Here you can share your one belief about this offer. Tell your story of how you came to think this way. Your story gives evidence of why you. And why this transformation is only attainable from you. It tells people why this is different from everything else.

A story should entertain the writer, too — Stephen King.

3.????????Close.

The Close is where you have to convince them to buy.

Some of the questions you will want to answer: What’s in it for me? How do I know this for real? What’s been holding me back? Who is to blame for that? Why should I trust you? How does it work? How can I get started? And, importantly, why now? And lastly, what do I have to lose by not doing it?

The push/pull technique. This is where you push your customer away, make them feel they are in control. It’s their decision. They have options. Maybe this is not right for them. Then remind them of what they have to lose if they don’t act — this is where you give people three options without feeling too needy.

GOOD TO REMEMBER.

1. Short sentences.

2. Tell the truth.

3. Write as you talk.

4. Don’t use big words when you can use small ones.

5. Write every day.

6. End each paragraph with a hook.

The best writing comes from rewriting.

7. WORK OUT WHAT MATTERS MOST. THEN SPEND THE LEAST AMOUNT OF TIME ON IT.

That doesn’t make sense. I agree.

It is beyond dumb.

Yet.

Most writers know the headline, the Hook, the offer, whatever you want to call it, is one of the biggest reasons that someone is going to read your words.

Almost everyone has worked that out. But almost no one spends more time on the Hook than anything else.

It is given the least amount of time. Nuts.

You may have spent days researching it, days doing an outline, and then more days on the first draft and the second. And another. And another. And, only a few minutes on the Hook. Like I said, NUTS.

So this piece of advice will improve your results. SPEND MORE TIME ON CRAFTING THE HOOK. Spend hours writing it. Write it twenty times. Write it thirty times. Test them on Twitter. See which ones get traction. The Hook is one of the single biggest factors to your success.

I need to repeat this just one more time, in case you skipped to the end:

Spend more time on it. Simple.

Most people spend the least amount of time on the thing that has the biggest impact. In order for you to be more successful, you must spend more time on the thing that has more impact — the Hook.

8.?????????MAKE THEM FEEL SOMETHING.

“Speak the truth even if your voice shakes.”

“The longest journey you will ever take is the 18 inches from your head to your heart.”

Andrew Bennett BRITISH POLITICIAN

Emotions connect us to your story.

Emotions are a pathway for us to feel something for you and your story. But the emotion must be genuine. And it can’t be overused. Use it in short bursts only.

“Learning takes place when you kick them into a higher attention level. Touch their hearts; their minds will follow.” Lilly Walters

3, Each talk is a journey.

Your journey. Your struggle. Your worst moment. Your ‘aha’ moment. Make them walk each step with you. Don’t just tell your story; make them feel it.

“The content matters so much less than we think it matters; we think so much less than we think we think. We feel. We are feeling creatures. You have to make them feel something.” John Kearon

APPLE’S FIRST DAY.

There’s your work and your life’s work.

That kind of work has your fingerprints all over it. That kind of work you’d never compromise on. That you’d never compromise on. That you’d sacrifice a weekend for. You can do that kind of work at Apple. People don’t come here to play it safe. They come here to swim in the deep end.

They want their work to add up to something.

Something big. Something that couldn’t happen anywhere else.

Welcome to Apple.

9. CHECKLIST.

If you want consistency, this must be part of your system. Quality is about checking everything. Before you post, this must be ticked off.

1.?????????Spell checked.

2.?????????Grammar checked.

3.?????????Linked checked.

4.?????????Fact checked.

5.?????????Quote checked.

6.?????????Virtual team reads it and give thumbs up.

7.?????????Photo checked.

8.?????????Credits checked.

9.?????????One last read out loud. Just to be safe.

10.???Then, press publish. (Yay.)

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TOOLS FOR AN EASY LIFE.

1.?????????Microsoft word. Old school, but hey, I like it.

2.?????????Scrivener. Good for long pieces.

3.?????????Grammarly Pro. It will find one thing, every time.

4.?????????Evernote. Great note-taking system.

5.?????????Google Docs. New school. But good school.

6.?????????6. Headline analyser. https://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer

7.?????????Quote finder.

8.?????????Notion note taker.

9.?????????Workflowy – I use this to make notes on books etc.

10.???Clear phone app. I use this every day.

If you made it this far, something tells me you are serious about writing better, therefore it is just a matter of time before you fly.

#marketing

#entrepreneurship

#brandstrategy

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