Writing

5 Time-Warping Tips to Write Faster & Tune Up Your Actual Intelligence

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The biggest benefit I hear people talking about regarding artificial intelligence platforms like ChatGPT is speed.

You can get more done in your workday. Or you can just work less if you finish projects faster.

Pretty big benefit. But AI isn’t the only way to achieve it.

Today I want to share some thoughts on how to write faster using your built-in tech: your actual intelligence.

These tips can make a big difference in your life:

1) Shut off the filter.

Quick tangent. Generative AI tools work don’t really understand your topic. They’re highly trained at predicting what word you’re about to say next, based on all the sentences it’s seen before.

So if you’ve ever played that game where you make a post on social media using only autocomplete and suggestions… it’s basically an updated version of that.

Seriously. Same technology.

Here’s the key: it predicts words without judgement (or even knowledge)… without worrying if a reader will disagree or think it’s silly… none of the emotions that get in the way.

Which are some of the biggest obstacles to speed in our writing. It’s also what inbues our output with magical potential.

AI also doesn’t tend to use vocabulary flourishes like using “imbue” in a sentence. (It’s never the most-probable next word for the autocomplete.)

Anyway… when you turn down the volume on your emotional filter, you automatically write faster.

So that’s something you can work on. Criticize yourself less. Trust yourself to create something great. And don’t worry about getting it perfect in the first draft.

Pretend you’re a bot for 20 minutes. Let the words flow and see what happens.

2) Delete the Speed Limit.

One of the things that may be slowing you down is the belief that it’s going to take a long time, or the belief that you’re a slow writer.

If you believe that, you will experience that.

I’ve been saying “I’m not a fast writer” for YEARS. But when I stopped saying that about myself, I was shocked by how much more productive I became.

I have to give credit to Kevin Bullard for helping me get unstuck on this point.

(There’s a lot more to the advice Kevin gave me, but we won’t get into that here.)

3) Remember Law #4.

In Robert Greene’s classic book The 48 Laws of Power, the 4th axiom is 

“Always say less than necessary.“

Greene wasn’t talking to writers, but there’s a kernel of truth hidden in this law specifically for us writers.

Deciding what to exclude is one of the most important parts of a writer’s job.

The point I want to make here is this: decide in advance that you don’t have to cover every aspect of the topic you’re writing about.

(Make the decision in advance to avoid questioning yourself mid-writing.)

Depending on the project, you can often make a snap judgement: “There are probably 20 aspects to this topic, but I’m just going to highlight X of them in this piece.” X= the number of angles you instantly know you can cover with confidence.

You can always change the number as you write.

You come to a point where you know you want/need to add more details. Or you feel like you’re going down a meerkat hole that you can skip entirely.

You’re the creative. Make the choice that makes the most sense.

Speed isn’t everything (which is why human copywriters can’t be totally replaced by AI in most instances). But it’s definitely a bonus if you can get it.

4) Talk It Out

I usually give this advice to people who tell me they don’t like to write or don’t think they’re good writers. But it can work well for anyone.

It can be a good way to shut off the filter that automatically switches on when we sit down to write.

If you’ve ever known exactly what you wanted to say… then spent hours figuring out how to get the words onto your computer screen, you’ve felt the filter at work.

Do yourself a favor. Talk it out. Google Docs or Microsoft Word have built in voice typing functionality.

screenshot of Google Doc with Tool >> Voice Typing visible

Here’s a weird trick if you’re still stuck.

Call up a friend and explain your idea to him. That can trick your mind into thinking you’re having a regular ol’ conversation. The filter will relax.

Edit the text and you’re good to go.

5) Never Start from Scratch

Templates, writing prompts and swipe-worthy examples are speed-boosting tools just like AI.

Good ones can put rocket fuel in your tank.

Whether you’re just getting started as a copywriter or you’ve been cruising along for years — or if you’re an entrepreneur who wants to write better copy faster…

This could change everything for you.

You’ll write faster and more confidently… and more persuasively.

That means more money in your account in less time. And that’s the name of the game.

Have a productive day!

The 2nd Fastest Way to Make People Care

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My friend Golibe made a great video this week exploring the power of a compelling story.

He briefly highlighted a point I haven’t heard too many gurus talk about:

How “unfair injury” connects you to a story character.

Golibe’s video just touched on the concept briefly, and it inspired me to expand on the idea a little more.

Because it’s a subtle but hard-hitting persuasion tactic.

It’s a key reason we form emotional bonds with characters (even if we don’t realize it) in countless books, movies and even marketing material.

In The Story Solution, Eric Edson says:

“After courage, the second quickest way to bond an audience to your hero is to place that character in a situation where blatant injustice is inflicted upon her.”

This isn’t necessarily the same thing as the “rags to riches” story arc. There are levels to this.

Let me share an example.

I worked with a few years ago who was paralyzed from the waist down as a teenager.

We occasionally mentioned that fact in sales copy. It was the catalyst that drove him to learn the skill he turned into 3 multimillion-dollar business.

One day, the client had the idea to take the story to another level.

He talked about how a group of older teens beat him so badly that he’d never walk again. Then the medical bills crushed his family financially. And that series of events forced him to do something different…  

Fleshing out the unfair injury kept people glued to their screens and practically forced viewers to root for my client.

Sales on that webinar were off the charts. (I don’t remember the stats, but I get there were fewer returns, too.

You can use unfair injury to draw readers/viewers into your copy and keep them emotionally engaged.

Share painful stories — and especially of injustices — against your main character. The more vivid the better.

Maybe your boss gave the promotion you deserved to someone else. Better yet, she gave it to the new guy the one who always wears tight shirts — the guy YOU TRAINED.

There are a thousand variations.

As long as the story is believable, your reader/viewer’s heart will go out to your character, which advances the sale.

That’s your homework: Spend some time thinking about how you can use unfair injury in your own marketing.

It’s not the only trick you’ll use. But it’s a good one to have in your repertoire.

Have a productive day!

P.S. Presenting a perfect picture of yourself in your promotions is less persuasive than you probably think.

I know, it’s a little scary to tell your darker stories.

But it works. It can help you with sales now and retention/ascension over time.

Your ideal clients will feel even more connected to you. They’ll be even more excited to hear from you.

Isn’t that worth a little discomfort?

(Guess that’s up to you to decide.)

Will Apple’s iOS 15 Update Kill Email Marketing?

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When people say “email is dead” you can pretty much always ignore them.

They’re probably selling a new shiny object (or they’re just mad they haven’t figured it out).

Recently, you may have heard a bunch of conversations with a similar apocalyptic tone.

Many entrepreneurs and marketers are freaking out about how Apple’s coming iOS 15 update will affect your email marketing.

If you haven’t heard these conversations yet, you soon will. Because the impact will be big.

I recorded a video explaining what iOS 15 and Mail Privacy Protection are, along with insights and actionable tips to help you navigate the coming changes.

If email makes up any percentage of your revenue, you have to prepare NOW

Because soon, the split tests you’ve been doing won’t work.

Most of the segments you’re building for your email list will be scrambled.

Your re-engagement campaigns will be pointless.

The iOS 15 update will turn the email world upside down — and it looks like the changes could go live as early as mid-September.

I’m revealing 5 steps you need to take to protect your profits on Monday, September 6th.

If you’d like to join, get details and register here.

None of the email experts I’ve seen are talking about the most important adjustment you need to make. I’ll show you what it is AND how to do it on during this training.

I hope you can join!

Psychologically-Proven Ways to Get Anyone’s Attention

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get anyones attention creatively

I love this quote from Steuart Henderson Britt — “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else does.”

The same is true for writing valuable web copy. If you can’t seize the attention of the people you can help, you might as well be winking at them in the dark.

Unfortunately, attention is one of the scarcest commodities in the world today.

There are 3 things that are psychologically-proven to draw the attention. Well, really there are 4, but the fourth one kinda goes without saying

  • danger
  • entertainment
  • curiosity
  • surprise, which is sort of a combination of the other three.

In my guest post on the Orbit Media blog, I discuss specific ways web writers can leverage danger, entertainment and curiosity to surprise their audiences and grab their attention. The article also includes some of the best examples of other writers putting these psychological forces to work.

Here are a few that didn’t make the cut:

Danger

How about this example from my inbox today:

danger attention bill bonner

Doom and gloom is a powerful motivator, always has been. And with the recent craziness in the financial markets, “danger” headlines abound.

Your wallet (which you are quite fond of) is in trouble, and if you just read this email, you’ll be prepared to protect yourself.

For a certain audience, headlines like this are nearly impossible to ignore.

Entertainment

Your camera advertisements can talk about frames per second, lenses and apertures — or you can shoot a video like this:

Did you watch the entire 4 minute video? Exactly.

The title of the video is pretty attention-grabbing, too: Locked in a Vegas Hotel Room with a Phantom Flex. The active verb (locked), the intrigue of “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”… and for camera fiends, the prospect of playing with a $100K camera. All juicy details.

(Note: Don’t get me wrong; you do have to talk about the features of your product or service. But, more often than not, you should lead by demonstrating the benefits, the transformation that your product creates.)

Curiosity

Bill Jayme’s famous direct mail envelop for Psychology today is a classic study in curiosity. Questions are always a good way to engage people, and a question like “Do you close the bathroom door even when you’re the only one at home?” is a doozy. It does more than force your brain to come up with an answer; it makes you wonder, “why do I do that?” and “what does that mean about me and my personality.”

Bill Jayme Curiosity Attention

The teaser copy makes you want to find out more about the human mind — YOUR mind to be precise. And now that you’ve started thinking about it, your brain practically begs for more insight into the meaning of it all.

Masterful.

Read the full article, The Psychology of Attention: 10 Lessons for Web Writers from Deez Nuts  on the Orbit Media blog.

The most famous formula for selling, e.g. AIDA, starts with attention. Without attention, you don’t have a chance of selling, educating or effecting any kind of change for your readers. You are constantly competing for space and time in the mind of your competitors and every other distraction your should-be customers have to deal with.

This study on the psychology and application of attention will help give you an edge in this battle.

(You may also like to check out Attention-Jacking with Terry Crews)

Dissecting the Best Copy I’ve Seen All Year

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If you’ve been hanging out with me for a while, you may recall the story I told about the four-day power outage I endured during the summer. Four sweltering days with no power, no air conditioning or fans, no internet.

The more prepared people in town used generators to keep the electricity flowing. My father-in-law was able to reserve one before all the food in his refrigerator spoiled. He needed my help getting it to his house. While we tried to figure out how to make the thing work (which took much longer than it should have for people of our intellectual abilities), I couldn’t help but notice the Danger sticker:

Danger Copywriting

This is the sort of warning I usually ignore (I am a man, after all…), but I couldn’t dismiss this one so easily. The message was too strong.

“Using a generator indoors WILL KILL YOU IN MINUTES…”

Tell me those words don’t hit you right in the gut. I was shocked by their power — and inspired at the same time. The copywriter hired for this project was pretty darn good!

No Good Excuse for Wimpy Sales Messages

A danger sticker like this one covers a lot of ground, and it only takes two sentences. I see four big reasons why those twenty-one words make such a strong impact on the reader.

1) Unambiguous meaning. There is no question what’s being said. No alternative interpretations are possible. Clarity and specificity create vision. If you don’t heed the warning, you know exactly what’s going to happen.

Are your sales and marketing messages THIS clear? Do you address the problems your potential client is facing this plainly? Are the benefits of your product/service laid out this specifically? Are your calls-to-action simple to understand and easy to follow?

2) Tangible results. The label leaves no doubt about what will happen is you don’t pay attention to its warning. Anyone who reads it knows precisely what he’s dealing with.

When promoting your product, do you leave prospects wondering what’s in it for them? Do they have to put the pieces together themselves? Does your message talk about YOU or the buyer? Do you describe the physical components of your product or the specific ways it will change the customer’s life?

Again, clarity and specificity create vision.

3) Forceful language. Some people may call this kind of language hype or sensationalism. But it’s not that at all, is it? It is a matter-of-fact statement of impending danger. The cost of disregarding the warning is high. Using strong language in this manner is the responsible thing to do.

All sales messages should contain a measure of warning. If you truly believe what you’re selling can help your customers, there’s a little bit of danger if they don’t take action. They’re going to miss out on something good…or experience something bad. You are duty-bound to help them see that.

If you solve a big problem, remind your listener/reader how serious the situation is. If it’s more serious than he knows, educate him.

On the other hand, if you have a bold promise that you can deliver on 100%, don’t water down the message. There’s no better way to get ignored and forgotten than to under-promise. (You will probably never get a chance to over-deliver.)

4) Appeal to existing desire and fear. In this case, the desire to stay alive and the fear of death. In the case of the generator, undetectable poison gas is a genuine concern. It is not fear-mongering to warn people of the risk.

What is it that your potential clients desire that you can help them get? What problems that they’re afraid of facing can you help them eliminate? Those should be major components of your message.

Did I Say Duty-Bound?

I said it and I meant it.

If you provide a product or service that improves people’s lives, and if you care about people, doesn’t it make sense to actively persuade them to purchase your product or service? Doesn’t it also make sense that you remove every possible barrier that may keep them from buying from you?

Selling makes sense.

As I said in a recent newsletter, “selling is not putting external pressure on people. It is creating circumstances where targeted prospects feel internal tension caused by the disparity between where they are currently and where they want to be. A strong sales message heightens that tension as the listener feels the desire to take you up on your offer.”

Selling isn’t something you do to people. It’s something you do with people.

You can tell I’m pretty fired up about this topic. I believe that a majority of business owners and service providers, especially those who primarily operate online, need to re-think the way they sell. I also believe that a smart approach to selling will revolutionize their businesses.

For that reason, I’m starting a training program in January to help entrepreneurs, marketers, and salespeople

  • discover why your should-be customers turn you down
  • overcome their natural resistance and
  • sell actively without being obnoxious.

I’ll share more details soon.

Enjoy the last moments of 2014!

Need Your Content to Sizzle and Sell? Here Are Some Tips

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Write Content that Sells

Just in case you missed it…

A couple weeks ago, Jeff Zelaya and I did a Google Hangout on Air to talk about “How to Write Content that Sizzles and Sells.” There’s a ton of mediocre content out there, both online and in print. We talked about getting ideas, honing your craft and writing stuff that doesn’t suck.

Because you’ll never bore anyone into buying, subscribing, or even reading your next paragraph.

Check out the replay:

Jeff also wrote a terrific recap of the Hangout at 13 Tips to Make Your Content Sizzle and Sell on Triblio’s blog, distilling the interview down into 13 actionable (and tweetable!) steps. Smart writing on his part, without a doubt.

How to Write Sizzling Content

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Sizzling Content and Copy

“If the woman howling from the backseat of Agent Carson’s black SUV weren’t already dead, I would’ve strangled her. Gladly.”

So begins Darynda Jones’ latest book. But the book is captivating even before the opening line. The title instantly sends your mind on a journey of curiosity.

Seventh Grave and No Body.

To be fair, I haven’t read anything other than the first page of the book. The book cover caught by attention yesterday at Barnes & Noble. My imagination isn’t ready to stop thinking about where the story might go.

That’s what sizzling content does. It grabs your attention and puts it in a headlock. It activates the movie screen in your brain and reaches down to pull on the ol’ heartstrings, at least a little bit.

This is not the kind of writing we were taught in school. The style we mastered between K and 12 is almost the polar opposite, when you think about it: matter-of-fact, even clinical in it’s lack of emotion. Without personality. Yet, a large percentage of business owners and marketers carry this dry, academic style over into their attempts at sales and marketing.

Then they wonder why no one opens their emails.

Now, I know YOU don’t have that problem. But there’s a good chance that you feel like your writing could be stronger. You’d like for your content to be more persuasive. You want your marketing to pack more punch in whatever media you’re using.

If so, I hope you’ll join Jeff Zelaya from Triblio and me for “How to Write Content that Sizzles and Sells,” a Google Hangout On Air tomorrow (Monday, November 17) at 1 Eastern. We will discuss turning your articles, blog posts, video scripts, etc., into “page-turners” your  potential clients will have a hard time ignoring.

You can even ask content marketing, writing or persuasion questions and we’ll try to answer them.

Hope to see you there!

***UPDATE: You can watch the full replay here.

P.S.  I want to quickly emphasize a takeaway we learn from the book I mentioned in the beginning of this post.

The title Seventh Grave and No Body, is pretty interesting all by itself. Even more than the words themselves, this title is engrossing because of the mental associations the reader carries while he reads. The title doesn’t mention anything about crime scenes, tricky murder investigations or elusive serial killers. You read that into the words on the page. The pictures created in your mind have more to do with your own personal experience than anything else.

The meaning of a word is greater than its definition.

Leveraging the power of mental associations is an advanced writing technique we’ll be covering during the Hangout. You’re not going to want to miss this.

Why I Only Teach One Kind of Telepathy

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Did you see the marketing prank Sony did to promote the movie ‘Carrie’ last fall? It’s very clever and quite amusing when you know what’s going on. If you’ve never seen it, you should watch it. The video is less than 2.5 minutes. Even if you have seen it, you’ll probably enjoy watching it again.

[ The prank is about telekinesis, not telepathy, but I’ll come back to that because I teach one form of that, too. ]

Telepathy is transmitting a message from your brain directly to another person’s brain. And far from being confined to the fantasy world of sci-fi and horror movies, it is real. It is the force that moves nations as well as individual citizens like you and me.

“It’s amusing when you stop to think about it – for years people have argued about whether or not such a thing exists…and all the time it’s been right there, lying out in the open… All the arts depend upon telepathy to some degree, but I believe that writing offers the purest distillation.” ~ Stephen King

Plato’s Republic. The Communist Manifesto. The Bible. The course of history has been shaped by the words written in these books.

Advertising words have also influenced culture, changed perceptions and built empires:

“This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” (Who can forget that one?)
“Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.”  (At the time of his death Forrest Mars and two of his sons were the 29th, 30th and 31st riches Americans)
“A diamond is forever.”  (In 1939 only 10% of engagement rings had diamonds. By 1990, 80% did, largely because of the marketing efforts of the De Beers diamond cartel)

You Are Telepathic, Too…

…but you have to be intentional about it. Rule number one of selling is that nothing sells itself, no matter how good it is.

The people who should be your customers

  • don’t know you exist
  • don’t know there’s a solution for their problems at all
  • are already buying from the competition or
  • aren’t ready to buy yet.

The survival and success of your business depends on you proactively fixing each of those issues.

You need to get your sales message your should-be customers’ minds. That’s telepathy.

Then, you need to get those people to take action based on the message you delivered. That’s telekinesis.

The telepathy part
Create an appealing message. Consider what will appeal to those should-be customers; that’s more important than what you think is cool about your product. The approach most likely to get the right kind of attention is to address, in an interesting way, a topic that has a big impact on them.

Very few things get our attention like problems we’re facing right now.

(Check out the P.S. below for a partial list of ways to deliver your messages)

In that first instant, you must identify who you’re talking to (your should-be customers) and why they should continue paying attention. You can plainly state what kind of benefit they’ll get or you can tease them along with mystery. Both work well in certain situations.

Keep them interested by continually letting the reader/viewer/listener what’s in it for him. In the case above, the reader will have a happier wife, more productive communication, less time sleeping on the couch, etc.

The telekinesis part:
Let should-be customer know how to take advantage of your offer. Make the decision as easy as possible for him; remove as many obstacles (real or imagined) as possible. Help him see what he’ll be missing if he doesn’t take action.

Of course, not everyone will receive the message you’re sending out, and not everyone will move the way you hope. That’s just how these things work. But you have to realize that people everyone has needs and desires, and there’s a segment of the population for whom your product or service is the perfect solution. You would do them (and yourself) a disservice by not trying to get your thoughts into their minds and help them make choices that are in their best interest.

I’ll be sharing the best insights I’ve got on this topic during tonight’s Irresistible Offers teleseminar. If you’d like to improve your telepathic and telekinetic abilities, head over to https://donnie-bryant.com/irresistible-offers/ to get registered. (I refuse to under-deliver, and my money-back guarantee confirms the fact).

P.S. Here’s a partial list of telekinesis delivery methods, in no particular order:

Writing blog posts or articles, on your site or other sites your target customers is likely to follow
Write for magazines, newsletters or trade journals
(Self) Publish and promote a book
Build and communciate with an email list. Or “borrow” someone else’s list
Real mail
Interview or be interviewed in traditional media (radio, TV, newspaper), Google Hangout, podcast, etc.
Youtube or Vimeo. Not (necessarily) being cool or funny, but educating, offering value and being helpful
Banner ads online
Space ads in newspapers or magazines
Pay-per click
Radio or TV commercials
Make phone calls
SMS mobile marketing
Social media

If you need help figuring out which of these channels will work for you, or if you’re not sure how to best use them to communicate your message, feel free to get in touch.

 

Bloggers Should Be Anarchists

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I’ve been an anarchist (to varying degrees) since my failed attempt to become student body president in 8th grade.

True story: after my nomination was rejected, a small group of my friends agreed to help me take over the school. Overthrow the faculty and everything. Maybe we’d watched too much professional wrestling, because the NWO “hostile takeover” of WCW was fresh in our minds, but for some crazy reason, we thought we could pull it off.

Our coup d’état was stopped by forces beyond our control. President Clinton declared the entire city a disaster area after downtown was flooded by the swollen Red River, just a matter of days before we enacted the plan.

I can neither confirm nor deny that I was placed on an FBI watch list for my activities in 1997.

In reality, I was more of a rebel than a true anarchist, in those days. Yes, there’s a difference. A rebel or revolutionary fights against the “powers that be” with hopes of replacing them with powers he likes better.

An anarchist wants to remove those powers and replace them with…freedom.

Embracing Anarchy as a Blogger

The word anarchy literally means “without ruler.” I like this definition of anarchy from Vernard Eller:

“’Anarchy’ … is simply the state of being unimpressed with, disinterested in, skeptical of, nonchalant toward, and uninfluenced by the highfalutin claims of any and all arkys (powers).”

For bloggers (or would-be bloggers), this should be a liberating concept.

There are no kings before whom you must bow in the blogosphere. Even if there were, you’re not obligated to bow in their presence or follow their rules.

That’s one of the things we love about the internet – blogging in particular: Freedom! 

But so often, we find ourselves tied up…restricted by some imaginary rule. Or squeezed into a mold that someone else designed.

The truth is, we’re doing it to ourselves. Knowing the truth shall make you free.

This call to anarchy is a call to freedom.

What does that mean for you, specifically?

Even though there are no kings here, the blogosphere is full of “arkys” (to use Eller’s word) trying to govern our thinking and shape our behavior.

If you did a search for “rules of blogging,” Google will give you over 55 million results. Bing gives twice as many. There have been tens of millions of attempts to tell you how you should blog.

How do we deal with that?

Well, as your brother in anarchy, I won’t try to tell you what to do. But if you don’t mind, I’ll share some observations with you and maybe that will shed some light on the situation.

In short, becoming an anarchist is a declaration of independence – even from the advice I’m about to offer.

De-throne every form of fear

Fear may be the Number One provider of blog abortions. And if it doesn’t stop blogs from being born, it often keeps bloggers from making them all that they could be. It smashes brilliant ideas before they ever hit the page.

Fear only has as much power over you as you give it. So refuse to give it any.

That doesn’t mean that fear just goes away without a fight. Arkys never do. Your decision to ignore fear doesn’t mean it won’t scrape and claw to maintain its hold over you. Fear will strike. You’ll be nervous to express your ideas sometimes, if not every time. You’ll feel trepidation as you move the mouse to click Publish.

Blog anarchists recognize fear’s strength but refuse to allow it to paralyze them or determine their decisions.

Feel the fear and keep moving forward.

Although the battle is never truly over, freedom from fear enables you to…

Celebrate your creativity

“You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you.” – Arthur Polotnik

It’s important to know what you want to accomplish with your blog; what is your overarching theme? Who are you writing for? Will you position yourself as a friend, a teacher, a whistleblower?

The beauty of building your own blog is that you can say whatever you want, however you want (as long as you don’t break any laws outside the blogging universe):

Your subjects.

Your style.

Your format.

Don’t care for the rules of proper grammar? Throw ‘em out the window. (That usually makes you a better blogger/writer, anyway.)

Leaders, Not Rulers

Seth Godin writes on his blog every day.

Matt Loomis blogs somewhat randomly.

Lamar Tyler, for all intents and purposes, doesn’t blog at all.

Some of Ramit Sethi’s blog posts are over 3,000 words. The last Jeff Goins post I read was barely 300.

Who’s doing it right? Who has the right formula?

I don’t have to answer that for you.

They do what’s best for themselves and their audiences. They have the freedom to do that.

As outstanding as these writers are, they don’t define what good blogging is, no matter how many fanboys you come across proclaiming “Seth’s way is the best way.” (I haven’t heard any of these guys make that claim for themselves.)

You don’t have to fit into anybody’s box.

Great bloggers don’t impose authority on their readers; they inspire admiration. And, hopefully, action. Rather than push you into a specific way of doing things, they pull you forward into your own unique greatness.

Can I be honest about something? Sometimes the great ones are so good at what they do, lesser mortals like me can feel intimidated. Ever read a post that was so good that it made you want to quit?

Maybe that’s just me. I’ve felt as if I’d never reach the level of skill required to write that well and momentarily felt inadequate. It happens from time to time.

If you’re passionate about your craft and honest about your own skills, you may have similar experiences. Be encouraged; moments like these illustrate how much you care about growing and improving. Try to flip that intimidation back into inspiration and press on.

Throw Off the Chains

“Elephants can pull over 1,000 pounds with ease and yet a 10-pound chain will cripple them. Elephants have for centuries been contained by humans simply by placing a chain around their ankle… there is a conditioned response that if a chain is around their ankle, it cannot move…”  ~ Brett Faris

Did you know that you and I have this same conditioned response built into our brains?

Growing up, we’re taught to follow rules, no matter how arbitrary. To give the “right answers” instead of expressing ourselves.

It doesn’t end when we get out of school. Most of us carry this conditioning into every part of our lives.

(Funny thing: the great leaders we learn about in history class, the pioneers who fill the physics books, the geniuses who advanced math beyond counting fingers and toes – they were basically all rule-breakers. Paradigm-shatters.)

Bloggers need to throw off every chain the keeps us from being great. Or how will we make it into our children’s history books?

Today is the day. Declare your independence – from “rules”…from fear…from the need for external validation…from the need to emulate one of the big names in the blogging world.

Today and forevermore, let us live by our own rules. Let us be fully ourselves. Let us be anarchists.

P.S. What other blogging “rules” do we need to unchain ourselves from? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

[Post appeared originally on BuildYourOwnBlog.net)

Pride Goeth Before a Flop

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“I think that some of the direct mail I get is spoiled by the old-fashioned sin of pride…it’s all too easy for us to start to feel superior to the great multitude of readers out there. And sometimes, without really meaning to, we write down to them. I think that this shows through in the finished product and turns readers off. So when I’m working on my stuff, I try to keep in mind two things from the Good Book of Direct Response. One: Write unto others as you would have them write unto you. Two: Pride goeth before a flop.” – Martin Conroy