If you want to get better at writing your own content, how do you do it better?
I can tell you, in just one sentence: a good writer, writes.
So if you want to get better at writing content that engages with people and converts them into subscribers, followers and paying customers- you need to write often. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re writing crap- because like most things, practise makes perfect. (But then again, I’m yet to meet anybody who thinks their writing is perfect!)
So how do you constantly improve your writing skills? Try these out:
#1. Journal
I’ve been keeping a journal for 7 years now. Seriously, I was leafing through a mates’ copy of ‘The Heroin Diaries‘ by Nicky Sixx and thought to myself “You know what- I should start keeping a record of what goes on in my daily life- the good, the bad and the ugly”. So I bought a black hardcover diary from the newsagent, and the first couple of hours into the New Year, having come back from a party, I began jotting down my thoughts and my feelings about stuff. I soon realised the space limitations of paper, so the following year I upgraded to an electronic journal, via Microsoft Word- and here I am to this day.
I don’t write every day, I’ll admit. Sometimes I’ll go more than a week without updating it with a new entry. But the words, pages and months ad up. By the end of the year, I’ll have 30,000+ words that provide an ongoing commentary of what’s been happening in life. Obviously this is handy to go back and read years later- stuff crops up that you’d forgotten, or you had memories you couldn’t quite place and then you go “Ah- so THAT’S when that happened”. But on top of that, what I’ve noticed is that over time, my ability to accurately express how I feel and why that is- it’s improved notably. This translates into my writing as well. The simple act of writing, even those entries that are fairly mundane or lacking in clarity- they’ve all helped over the years to get me to where I am now.
So start keeping a journal, dare to be candid- and read some of your older entries back. See where it takes you from there…
#2. Online Discussion Boards/ Forums
Be careful with this one- as it can become a time-suck! Online discussion boards and forums are like YouTube- if you don’t keep careful account of how much time you spend, you can get sucked down the rabbit hole and waste hours of your time on pointless arguments or going way too in-depth on stuff that doesn’t matter in the bigger scheme of things. But provided you regulate the amount of time you spend, this is an opportunity to get better at making arguments and explaining the why behind what you think. Look for discussion boards or forums that relate to particular hobbies or interests of yours- I almost guarantee there’s one out there that fits your interests. Be it sports, art, film, exercise, diet, politics etc- there’s a place for you. The better you get at explaining why you hold a particular view, the better you get at selling your argument while writing engaging copy. As a result, it translates in your ability to write great content that sells your ideas to readers- and sells to customers as well!
#3. Blogging
Just like this, in fact. If you’re not already keeping a regular blog, you need to start doing it (as I’ve outlined here: Some Real Numbers To Make You Re-Think Blogging). Again, the more articles you write, the better you become at writing engaging copy and selling people on your way of thinking and getting your point across. The great thing about blogging is that, like keeping a journal, it gets you into the habit of writing regularly. Yet also (like posting on databases or forum threads) it makes you consider your audience more- what needs to be explained clearly, what’s relevant, what can you leave out- and you become a better writer as a result.
Conclusion: A good writer, writes
So if you’re keen on writing more compelling copy and becoming an expert at writing words that sell, then venture into the outlets listed above. This is how you sharpen your writing ability. Don’t be afraid to write dud entries along the way, because you’ll see results in terms of the feedback you get to your writing ability as time goes on.
“You never know just what you’ve lost- until it’s yours and then its’ dust”– Paul Kelly, ‘Standing On The Street Of Early Sorrows’
I have a memory of being around 4 years old, sitting in the living room of my old place one morning and watching this ‘Thomas The Tank Engine’ video we had. It was the final episode on the video and as I watched, I got this sinking feeling…
Because I knew that after this episode finished (with The Fat Controller deliberating over whether to keep Donald and Douglas after they’d destroyed a spiteful break van), it was off to preschool for the day. I had friends there and I loved playtime- but I couldn’t stand having to come in for nap time in the middle of the day. I wanted to keep playing outside! No matter how many times my friend Garth and I ran and hid in the wooden pirate ship each day when we’d all get called inside, the teachers still always found us! So it was inside, to lie on one of the cots, bored out of my mind while they played some new-agey music to try and lull us to sleep. To this day, the smell of bed linen takes me back 30 years to those nap-times. I couldn’t wait to be grown-up, not have to go inside and lie down on a cot and do what the adults told me. I couldn’t wait to be able to drive a car, go to work as an engine driver every day instead of going to preschool, and get to choose what I ate for dinner. It felt like a lifetime away…
Skip forward 9 years- and I’m sitting in Year 7 maths class. Bored. Gazing out the window. For some reason, this Paul Kelly song comes into my mind:
It was from his album ‘So Much Water So Close To Home’ and Mum used to listen to it in the car back when I was in preschool. I thought about those days nearly a decade ago, when nobody expected anything of me. When I didn’t care what my peers thought of me or (more to the point) whether girls found me attractive or not? Starting high school had been an unexpected awakening because suddenly I’d become self-aware, full of doubts and insecurities I didn’t know I had. Continuing to gaze out the window, how I yearned to go back to more innocent days- when everything was so easy. I ached for it like a past lover I still carried a flame for…
Let’s go forward again now- I’m 30 years old. Out for a walk one Sunday afternoon- my one day off for the week. On my iPod, I’m listening to a playlist I’ve just created, that is (song for song) a copy of a mixtape I had back in Year 7. It brings these flashbacks to early adolescence…the new feelings I had, the fresh discoveries I was making, how hopeful and optimistic I was about my future…and as much as I enjoy my life in its’ current state- I want to go back, to feel things as I did back then. I want to go back to that time when so much of the world still felt new and fresh and exciting (and intimidating) in equal measure. In some ways, it seems cute when I remember some of the things that were such a big deal to me back then, that just didn’t matter in the bigger scheme of things. So I play the tunes, grab a beer on my walk, sink a cold one in the spring sunshine- and drift back…
You see what’s happening here?
I have an unusually sharp recollection for times that many people my age have forgotten by now. The benefit is that I remember enough not to fall into the trap of imagining “things were so much better then”. If I’m headed down the path of viewing the “good old days” through rose-tinted glasses, I then remember the not so great things-
I remember the frustration of being preschool age and having to go where the grown-ups told me to, eat what was put in front of me and do what I was told…
I remember the awkwardness and lack of self-belief that clipped my wings and (unfortunately) stopped me from enjoying my adolescence in the carefree manner I could have- and I can’t get those days back…
I remember even a few years ago, the things I still didn’t see clearly and the realisations I hadn’t discovered yet that would’ve given my life more substance…
I bet this all sounds familiar to you. You hear one song, catch a re-run of one show, smell just one scent, run into just one familiar face from your past- and remember a time that you just want to go back to:
No bills!
No jobs outside of house work and school work!
So many problems you didn’t have to deal with!
So many life problems you didn’t even know existed!
Can I get an amen?
In the moment, we take so many things for granted- and we don’t actually appreciate them until they’re gone. Dead. Lost. Left behind in a life we can’t return to. To quote Bill Bryson: You can’t go home a second time.
How did we not recognise these good times when we lived them? Well…
We were too busy.
We were too absorbed in chasing “the next big thing” that was meant to make us finally stop, relax and go “I’ve made it”. Or we were engrossed in nostalgia for other times past!
Contentment isn’t a destination we reach, like a town on a map. The plane doesn’t land into Gratitude International Terminal where even though the aircraft eases down out of the sky, our spirits soar to levels we’ve never felt before. The train doesn’t pull into Gratitude Central with a rainbow breaking out across the bright blue sky.
The journey is within. It’s a state of mind. It’s a conscious decision. I mean, in terms for the world’s population, the fact you’re reading this article right now via the internet from your phone, tablet, PC or laptop means you’re pretty fortunate as is.
But instead, I complain about people I don’t even know personally. Or you envy somebody who appears to have “more” than you. Or we find ourselves wistfully reflecting on a nicely edited version of “the good old days”.
I try not to take anything for granted. I don’t take today for granted. I don’t take tomorrow for granted. Without meaning to go down a morbid path, tragedy is often so because it strikes out of nowhere, without any time to prepare. Just driving on the wrong section of road at the wrong time, boarding the wrong flight, walking along the wrong pedestrian mall or even climbing aboard the wrong ride at a fun park at the wrong time can change the trajectory of our life and rob from us in a way we didn’t foresee.
So there are just two options we have: we can live in a constant state of worry. Or, we can live in a state of gratitude…
I miss my 10 week Fight Like A Pro journey back in the winter and spring of 2016. Not just the fight night itself- but everything that led up to that moment. The sparring sessions at the gym, the 5:30am starts running laps at Currumbin Alley as the sun came up, the sessions on the beach afterwards, the guys I met- everything. BUT-
During the whole time, I made sure to appreciate the moment. I made every effort to be present, and take in everything as it happened. Because I knew that soon enough, it’d be over- so I made the conscious effort to enjoy it while it lasted. To be grateful for the whole experience. And whenever I reflect on those 3 months now, while I miss them?
I’m grateful that I was grateful.
Just recently, I made a new playlist- ‘2010- 2019’. It’s all the tunes I’ve liked from this decade nearly over. Listening to it brought back a lot of great memories- vivid flashbacks to going out on the town in my mid 20’s; fond memories of the Uber days on the Gold Coast when I lived there- and that night I saw ‘The Bennies’ for free at The Shark Bar with the people I picked up; that winter when an old flatmate and I would stay up late, clocking ‘Lego Pirates Of The Caribbean’. All good times, most of which won’t come back. But that’s ok. Because I’m grateful for the journey, and I know that if I’ve still got some time in front of me (Lord willing), then there’s plenty of other memories yet to be made that I’ll recall just as fondly.
But in the meantime?
We might as well be grateful for what’s here and now. I can think of plenty of things, and I’m sure you can, too:
Who are the people we have in our lives that we appreciate?
If you’ve turned your small business into a larger company- aren’t you grateful for what you’ve managed to build so far?
Big family or small family, young or old, single or taken, start-up or established business owner- you can definitely take some time out to go “I am grateful for…”
What does your life situation look like and what are the good things about it?
Your feeling of well-being, frame of mind and appreciation for the small things you might have otherwise missed- they all change noticeably the moment you begin regularly exercising this attitude of gratitude. And when these “good old days” have passed, at least when you look back you’ll know you enjoyed the ride while it lasted.
No doubt you’ve heard this saying a number of times over the years. Does this mean that in order to finish first, first we must be nasty? No!
It’s not saying that being agreeable means you’re destined to be a loser in life. To understand what it really means, think of that “nice guy” who’s “just friends” with the girls he’s interested in…
Sure, he’s happy to listen to their problems, offer his advice, hang out with them at the drop of a hat and be as understanding as he can. And in the meantime, he keeps hoping one day soon she’ll realise that if she gets next to him, she won’t get her heart broken like with all those arseholes she dates who treat her badly or aren’t afraid to tell her she’s wrong about stuff.
…Yet that day never comes. He’s known her for months- years maybe- yet she goes out one weekend, meets some new guy and suddenly he’s enjoying the kind of relationship wih her that this “nice guy” has only dreamt of.
“Why is life so unfair?” he wonders…
On the surface level, it does seem unfair. And it’s been the subject of countless movies, books, long conversations between friends late into the night- or maybe you’re familiar with this scenario because it’s happened to you?
When it comes to romance, so many of its’ principles match the principles of selling. So today, we’re going to look at why this “nice guy” never gets past the platonic friendzone- why instead it’s the arrogant jerk who gets the girl- and how understanding this principle helps us become better at selling. Best of all? You can replicate this without needing to be pushy, rude, compromisng your values or throwing out your integrity.
Let’s suppose that you have great blog article ideas all listed down, you’ve done your research and you know what topics are gold to your leads. You’ve got it all worked out. You have your sizzling solutions to answer their most common questions or their biggest problems- maybe you’ve got the drafts written and edited and you’re ready to post them?
Hold on just one moment-
The difference between being just an option to your leads or being the necessity- and getting the sale- comes down to one small thing. You leave this until the end of your post, when you’ve already wowed them with your expertise and blown them away with your brilliance…
To seal the deal, you make them an offer they can’t refuse!
You see, it’s one thing to share information with them, provide the solution to their problems and highlight what you can do. But this is what that “nice guy” does- he’s been doing it to that girl all this time, and still no luck.
To get the enquiry, get the sale- ask what your special offer is? How can you be of service to them? What’s going to get them contacting you straight away, eager to buy what it is you’ve got to sell?
You put this right at the end of your post: A ‘How can I be of service?’ An alluring offer they can’t resist. Instead of wasting all this time creating content that they read and then discard- you write content that gets results.
Now, if you’d love a professional to analyse your copy, give you expert feedback and show you what’s working for you vs what you’re missing- this is your opportunity- no asterisk, no hidden catch.
With an offer like this- why would you wait?
All it takes is one click below and we’ll get started:
Notes From The Scribe 