Jesse, Author at Copybot

How to Create an Editorial Calendar for Your Business

July 22, 2020 by Jesse Leave a Comment

Creating an editorial calendar doesn’t have to be complicated.

Sure, for magazines, news organizations, or multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns, there’s a lot of moving parts. But for individuals, small businesses, and startups, editorial calendars can be simple and straightforward.

Before moving on, there are a few housekeeping items I want to run by you.

First, it’s essential to figure out how much time you can realistically commit to creating content. Your experience, skills, and life circumstances (family, employment, etc.) will influence how much you can create.

If you’re just getting started, I suggest starting slow.

Get a feel for how quickly you can create content. Adjust your schedule to make room. Discover how your day-to-day life responds.

But don’t let this discourage you from creating content. The most important thing you can do is to get started.

Take a step.

Schedule time.

Write a post.

Record a podcast.

Film a video.

The little steps you take today will lead to an avalanche of momentum tomorrow.

In the meantime, here’s the nitty-gritty to creating your own editorial calendar. Use this checklist to help you map out blog posts, podcasts, emails, and more.

[Read more…]

9 Reasons Why You Must Create an Editorial Calendar

July 16, 2020 by Jesse 1 Comment

There’s one common challenge every business faces:

Creating consistent content.

From the demands of writing blog posts, updating church media, exploring new opportunities, and more, every content team will face the challenge of consistently creating content.

This is especially true with marketing media companies.

There may be those moments of inspiration—where you or your team conjure up a flurry of ideas. Knock out a few quick ideas. And then … nothing.

Your well runs dry.

The ideas begin to cease.

And the demands of your day- to-day business provide you with little to no time to do anything about it.

It doesn’t matter if you’re creating one piece of content per day, week, or month. Every content creator at some point in time will wrestle through difficult seasons of creating content.

As a marketing director for a B2B SaaS company, I know this feeling all too well.

But there’s one thing that can help you, me, and our teams sustain the work we are inspired to create. And that’s creating an editorial calendar.

I know this doesn’t sound inspiring and even lacks glamour, but believe me; there are multiple benefits. Here are nine reasons why all businesses must create an editorial calendar.

1. Increased creativity

Creating an editorial calendar will help turn your life and business into a source of content inspiration.

Being aware of what you’re going to create will encourage you to view your life and business as a source of ideas, illustrations, and clarity. I personally noticed this change when I first served professionally as a copywriter and content manager. For months I struggled with developing compelling headlines, attention grabbing first sentences, and well-structured material. When I began to schedule my work further in advance, I noticed that this provided me with ample opportunity to research, think about what to say, and allow my ideas to incubate. It’s amazing the level of creativity you can encourage within yourself by simply allowing yourself some time to think.

2. Increased quality

There’s no shortcut to creating killer content.

It takes time.

And in some cases a lot of it.

An editorial calendar will provide you or your team with the additional time needed to research, write, edit your content, and design whatever you need, which will ultimately increase its quality.

Also, creating an editorial calendar will foster a production state of mind. In the words of Jonathan Thomas:

“You’ll create a production state of mind, meaning that you’ll get in the habit of writing a post a day, or even writing them all in one day and scheduling them to post. This will make the creation process much easier to begin and end.”

The act of creating content on a regular basis will help you and/or your team become better writers, video producers, speakers, and so on overtime.

3. Increased consistency

Many blogs and websites project the sound of crickets because their content is not up-to-date. An editorial calendar will help you fight away these dreaded crickets by positioning you to create regular content for your business.

The thing to remember about having up-to-date content is not up-to-date content. It’s about providing a consistent stream of helpful content for your audience they can drink from. This doesn’t mean you have to publish something daily. All I’m saying is that providing consistent content, whether it is once per week, twice per week, or once per month, will train your readers, viewers, or listeners on when to expect to hear something from your business.

Increased consistency will also trigger anticipation within your readers. They will make more of an effort to connect with you and your content when they know what to expect. This leads to the next benefit.

4. Increased engagement

Creating consistent content will not only let your readers know what to expect, it will encourage your readers to engage with your content.

This is similar to having a party. You’re inviting guests to your house and depending on the event, they expect to be engaged by you to some degree. Their anticipation of your content will lead your audience to return to consume, share, and engage with your content. And their engagement is a key factor in building and maintaining an engaged audience.

I know I’m stating the obvious, but it must be said: Respond to your audience.

Whether people are engaging on your blog, social media accounts, or business website, it’s important for you to interact with them. If you don’t, then it’s like not responding to someone when they say, “Hello.”

So don’t be rude. No one likes that.

5. Increased effectiveness

One of the great benefits of an editorial calendar is ensuring that you’re meeting your objectives while helping your audience.

Maybe I’m just speaking for myself, but it’s easy to get off track and share whatever your heart fancies. This is good for your personal journal. But sharing a smattering of random thoughts online is like throwing mud on the wall with the hope that something will stick.

An editorial calendar will help you plan, create, and deliver content to your audience.

6. Increased perseverance

Creating content is difficult business.

An editorial calendar will help you keep your eye on the big picture. When updating your content becomes challenging—and it will—an editorial calendar will encourage you to focus on what’s in front of you. It will shine a light on the next step you need to take in your online journey. Sometimes seeing the baby step in front of you is all you need to continue moving forward.

And this level of perseverance is what will separate you from the rest of the crowd.

7. Increased reach

Fishing teaches us a lot about creating content.

Before going fishing, it’s important to know what you’re fishing for. That way you can choose the best time of day, location, and bait to reach the fish you’re trying to catch.

An editorial calendar will serve you in a similar way. It will place you in a position to create content that will best reach your target audience.

Spend time identifying your target audience. Understand who they are, their needs, and wants. Then prepare to create content that will connect with them where they are—not where you want to be. This would be like fishing for a freshwater fish in a saltwater ocean. They’re not there.

8. Increased relevancy

Your content needs to be either timely or timeless.

Timeless content is also what people call evergreen or cornerstone content. It is content that has no shelf life. It will not expire. It is relevant today and tomorrow.

Now, there are two different types of timely content.

First, timely content is content that can have an expiration date. It is content that is connected to a specific event, such as promotional material for a new product, event, and more. Its relevance and usefulness will expire as soon as what it was connected to ends.

Second, timely content is content that is written in light of current events. It doesn’t necessarily have an expiration date. But it does have a specific time of helpfulness. For example, there are issues today that were not around one year ago and will not be relevant in another year. Writing content that is based upon your topic, connects with your audience, and intersects a contemporary event will help you better connect with your audience and increase engagement.

9. Increased focus

I currently have over 300 content ideas. Some of these are just headlines, others have notes, while others are a crappy first draft. But all of these half-completed ideas tempt me to complete them. Mapping out what I want to write in a calendar has helped me to refocus my efforts rather than chase the various ideas that come to mind.

An editorial calendar will help you focus your research, writing, editing, and rewriting. This will be beneficial when you feel like you’re facing some roadblocks. You will be encouraged to press through and finish the job.

Over to you

As you can see, if you take the time to create an editorial calendar for your business, you’ll reap the rewards, and any time spent making a plan will be well worth it.

Why You Must Build a Marketing Media Company: Here’s How

June 29, 2020 by Jesse Leave a Comment

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has crashed every marketing plan.

In the past several weeks, every business has been forced to adjust their plans, adapt their messaging, and prepare for a new future.

According to one survey by Hubspot, many business leaders are investing in or changing their approach to creating content altogether, which makes perfect sense.

From scrolling their social media feeds, reading articles, or streaming videos, according to one survey, the amount of content people consume has significantly increased.

To cut through the noise and connect with your customers, it’s time to double-down on your content creation. To do this, you have to embrace a media-first mindset and build a media company.

Whether you’re growing a startup, run a small business, or direct the marketing efforts for a publicly-traded company, you can build a media team that fits your needs—and budget.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, below are seven vital roles you’ll need to fill.

[Read more…]

The 6 Most Devastating Content Marketing Mistakes

April 20, 2020 by Jesse Leave a Comment

Making mistakes isn’t fun.

The 6 Most Devastating Content Marketing Mistakes

They can cause setbacks, result in financial loss, or cause bad blood with your team. Thankfully, you can learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others. Or, in this case, you can learn from my content marketing mistakes.

Over the past six years, I’ve had the opportunity to work for some fantastic companies and provide content marketing support for a variety of product launches, including:

Serving as the marketing director for a fast-growing SaaS company
Directing the content strategy for a popular faith-based organization (1.2 million pageviews per month)
Launching dozens of book marketing campaigns, including several New York Times best-sellers
Overseeing the content strategy for best-selling author Jeff Goins
Providing content marketing support for national events, online courses, and albums

After reflecting on my experience, I wrote this post to help you to avoid the big mistakes I made.

Don’t feel like you’re alone in your work.

You don’t have to figure everything out yourself.

Take a few moments to read this post, digest the short lessons, and make sure you’re not wasting your time or money.

1. You don’t have a plan

As a creator, you thrive on action.

You get an idea or you get struck with inspiration, and you get work.

Whether you’re a writer, graphic designer, or videographer, you infuse your artistic expertise with everything you create.

If your goal is only to create artistic work, then feel free to stop reading at the end of this sentence. But if you want to create content that supports your business objectives, then read on.

Here’s the deal:

There’s an art and science to content marketing.

The art of content marketing includes the words you write, the videos you shoot, and the images you create. The artistic side of your content may resonate with your audience, but if it doesn’t do much for your business, then it’s arguably not worth much. This is why you need to infuse your content with science to drive results for your business. Let me explain.

The science of content marketing revolves around creating awareness for your business, leading people to consider what you have to offer, and compelling them to do business with you. Creating this type of content takes more than a wish and a prayer and merely throwing something together like a modern artist splashing paint on a canvas.

Fight the temptation to create content until you have a solid content marketing strategy in place. Creating a plan will help you focus your efforts, create content that resonates with your target market, and make changes if you’re not reaching your goals.

2. You’re not effectively promoting your content

“If you build it, they will come.”

That was the message Kevin Costner’s character received in Field of Dreams, and it may make for an excellent motivational poster, but it’s terrible content marketing advice.

Unless you have an established platform or an extensive marketing budget you can tap to pay for traffic, you need to plan on spending a lot of time promoting your content. If not, then no one will read, watch, or listen to what you have to say.

What’s the bottom line?

Content without marketing is just content.

There’s a chance your content can go viral, and with a well thought out SEO plan it can take 3–6 months or longer to build an audience for your content.

If you’re not following a plan to promote your content, then slow down or stop your content creation to put one in place.

If after taking a look at your content creation, you don’t think you have enough time to promote your content well, then I suggest reducing how much content you’re creating or outsource your promotional efforts.

3. You’re not in it for the long haul

One of the biggest mistakes you can make with your content marketing strategy is to give up too soon. Many marketers, solopreneurs, and business owners get frustrated when their content doesn’t create near-instant results.

You can find many broken dreams in the abandoned blogs, unused social media accounts, and outdated content littering the Internet today. any of these accounts could have produced a solid return on investment if they were held on to just a bit longer.

But here’s the kicker:

Content marketing is more than a marketing tactic or a one-time campaign.

Content marketing is a long-term commitment.

Your content marketing efforts cannot be treated as an ad campaign. The strategy, tactics, and timelines of content marketing differ from other forms of advertising like social media ads or billboards.

With content marketing, your goal is to consistently engage your target market over a period of time. As your ideal customers or clients engage with the content you create, you will turn into a trusted source of information, which will eventually increase sales and decrease how much money you spend acquiring new leads.

4. Your content isn’t useful

The content you publish online is not like writing in your journal or recording home videos. You’re producing content for your target market—not yourself.

Whether you’re writing a blog post, shooting a video, or creating a lead magnet, you need to focus the content you create on your target market. In other words, you need to answer their questions, meet their needs, and help them solve their problems.

Sure, there will be times when you need to provide an update on your business. And there should be room in your editorial calendar to share something lighthearted on occasion. But, overall, the content you create needs to connect with your target audience and lead them one step closer to doing business with you.

How do you create useful content?

You have to know your target market inside and out.

You need to know who you want to influence, the questions and problems they have, and answer their questions or solve their problems with the content you create.

5. You don’t publish a variety of content

Every piece of content you create shouldn’t have the same goal.

You’ll hear experts shouting from the rooftop that your content needs to be evergreen, viral, or whatever’s trending. But whether it’s long-form blog posts, videos, or infographics, you don’t want to focus on creating just one type of content. You need to plan on creating different kinds of content to accomplish different goals.

Let me explain.

There are three steps every buyer takes—including yourself—when it comes to purchasing a product or service. It’s often called the buyer’s journey. These steps are:

Awareness
Consideration
Decision

In your content marketing strategy, you need to publish content to capture the attention of your target market (awareness), prove yourself as the best solution to their problem (consideration), and compel them to do business with you (decision).

6. You don’t use (or have) strong calls to action

After you get your target market’s attention, what’s the next step you want them to take?

The answer to this question is what’s referred to as a call to action (CTA). Calls to action are essential to leading someone to do business with you. However, most small businesses (70 percent) don’t provide one, and they’re really easy to mess up if you do.

Every piece of content you create doesn’t have to close a deal or go viral. But the content you create does need to help someone take another step toward doing business with you.

So, for your business, the next step someone takes may be signing up for your email newsletter, requesting a free consultation, or viewing a product demo.

To help you think about the call to action you should make, you need to answer this question for your target market: “I want to _____.”

For example, the answer to this question can be something like:

Get My Free Consultation
Start My Free Trial
Download My White Paper

The goal of your call to action is to provide additional value.

That means calls to action like “learn more” or “start today” don’t really make the cut. You want to entice people by whetting their appetite to pick up what you’re putting down.

The good thing about making mistakes

Here’s the truth about making mistakes:

You can only stumble if you’re walking.

In other words, you can only make a mistake if you’re moving forward.

Making mistakes is inevitable.

This isn’t what you want to hear, and I know it won’t make it as a quote on a coffee mug, but embracing the inevitably of mistakes will release you from the paralyzing grip of perfectionism. With this freedom, you can create, analyze, and adapt your content marketing efforts to meet your business objectives.

Did you discover a mistake you’re making?

Great!

Acknowledge it.

Learn from it.

Change your plans.

And move on.

It’s better to keep moving forward with your content marketing strategy than to fall down and never get up again.

How to Write a Nonfiction Book: 4 Steps and 24 Writing Tips

October 30, 2019 by Jesse Leave a Comment

“I have a book in me.”

This is what 81 percent of people in America feel. Like you, many people long to write a non-fiction book, share an idea, or capture a moment in history. Every year, many of these people express their desire by writing a book. In 2013 alone, more than 1.5 million books were published.

That sounds like a lot of books—and it is. But if you do the math, the number of books published every year is only a fraction of the people who’ve expressed an interest in writing a book—which makes perfect sense.

Writing a book isn’t for the faint of heart.

It requires more than a good idea.

Inspiration will only carry you so far.

And endlessly banging away on your keyboard may lead you nowhere fast.

Depending upon your schedule, experience, and abilities, it can take several months or more to write a non-fiction book. Not only is the work demanding. But if you’ve never written a book before, then you’re probably struggling with self-doubt.

My goal in sharing this with you isn’t to dash your dreams against the rocks. Far from it. Instead, I desire to let you know what you’re getting into so that you can get ready to overcome the challenges you’ll face.

If you want to write a non-fiction book, then hear me loud and clear: You can.

Since you’re reading this post, there’s a good chance you’re thinking about writing a book or you’re looking for a few tips to help you cross the finish line.

In light of embarking on several book projects soon, I decided to review my notes, and share with you the process I use to turn an idea into a manuscript.

Below are the four steps you need to take to write a non-fiction book and 24 writing tips you can use to sharpen your craft.

Happy writing!

Step 1: Prepare to write

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”

I can’t recall where I first heard this pithy advice. But it has stuck with me over the years, and it bears a tremendous level of relevancy for writing.

Here’s why:

Preparing to write is like creating a blueprint for a new home. The time you invest in this step will clarify what you need to write. What points you need to make. What illustrations you need to share. And what change you desire your readers to experience.

By skipping this step or not taking it as seriously as you should, you run the risk of your manuscript running off track or completely derailing.

Do yourself a favor, take the time to review the tips below, and create a plan.

You can thank me later.

1. Choose one big idea

What’s the one big idea you want to write about? Make a conscious choice to thoroughly cover only one big idea. Deciding ahead of time what your book is about will help you focus your writing, fight the temptation of pursuing rabbit trails, and help you research your topic.

2. Test your topic

Test your book idea before writing your book. You can write blog posts, share ideas on social media, speak on your topic, record podcasts and videos, and survey your audience. These tactics will help you know how well your book idea resonates with people.

3. Identify your target audience

Who are you writing for? Knowing who your target audience is will help you answer their questions, focus your writing, and ensure your writing style best connects with your reader.

4. Create an outline

Organize your book by identifying the major topics you need to cover to make your point. Now, look at your topics and determine what you need to cover within each topic. Use this material to create an initial chapter outline of your book.

5. Prepare your writing place

Before you start writing, prepare the place you’re going to write your book. Identify a place not only practical but inspirational.

6. Create a backup system

Make preparations to regularly save your writing. There are a ton of options to choose from, but some of the most popular are Evernote, Dropbox, Google Docs, or an external hard drive.

7. Prepare your notes

Create a file system to help you collect ideas, notes, and research. You can use a Moleskin journal, Evernote, or your computer’s desktop. Regardless of what you choose, prepare a system that best works for your life’s rhythms.

Step 2: Research your topic

You want to share something new, original, or fresh, right?

Then don’t start writing too much—yet.

Before you dig into writing your non-fiction book, it’s best to take plenty of time to research. Reading broadly will make your opinions well-rounded, provide you with plenty of material, and place you on the path of adding new value through your words.

Know what else?

During this time, you’ll discover how you can best position your book in the marketplace, as well as fill any gaps you identified in similar book titles.

Follow these seven tips to uncover everything you need to write your book.

8. Read, read, and read

Before writing your book, it’s important to read, read, and read on your topic. In the words of New York Times bestselling author, Tim Keller, “You should read 20 or 30 good books on the subject carefully and skim another 20 or 30.” This depth of reading will help you best grasp your subject matter, add new insight, and avoid repeating what others have said.

9. Determine your research needs

Your book topic, outline, and initial reading will show you how much research you’ll need to conduct to complete your manuscript. Use the outline you previously created to identify specific areas you’ll need to research.

10. Create a research to-do list

Determine the articles, books, and illustrations to research. Identify the priorities based on what you need to know to complete your manuscript. One of the best places to identify research material is to check the resources authors in your field refer to.

11. Examine best sellers in your niche

Read the best sellers on your topic to see what it is about these books that resonate with readers. Is it the author’s writing style that connected with readers? Did the author shed new light on the topic? Was the story engaging? These questions and more will help you understand how to craft your book to best connect with your reader.

12. Review similar titles for marketability

What books in circulation are similar to yours? Identifying what’s available will help you differentiate your book. You can also examine reviews of comparable books and look for questions left unanswered, topics not explored, or weak points. What’s more, examining comparable titles will also give you a good idea of what to expect in terms of sales. Observing the sales rank of comparable books is a good litmus test to see how well your book will or will not sell.

13. Interview experts

Interviewing experts on your subject matter is a great way to add primary research, additional examples, and credibility to your book. If conducting interviews is a tactic you want to employ, schedule these far in advance before the completion of your manuscript so that you avoid having to wait for a key interview just to finish your book.

14. Review your notes and outline

Your topic, outline, and individual subpoints may need to be adapted after your reading, research, and interviews. You may discover your one big idea is not supported by research, your outline needs to be rearranged, or you need to conduct additional research to fill in gaps.

Step 3: Write your book

Now it’s time to get to work.

After you review the tips below, there’s one essential point I want to highlight:

It takes a long time to write an average size non-fiction book. As I mentioned above, it can take several months or more to complete your manuscript.

During this step, take a realistic look at your schedule (e.g., work, family, friends, children, school) to make an accurate estimate of how many words you can realistically write.

15. Determine your due date

It’s been said before, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” The same holds true for writing a book. Determine ahead of time when you would like to complete your manuscript. This will help you make time in your schedule to write your book.

16. Set a writing schedule

First, estimate how many total words you need to write to explain your topic. Then, determine how many words you need to write every month, week, and day to finish your book manuscript and hit your due date.

17. Make time to implement your writing schedule

Create time in your weekly schedule to write. How much time you need to set aside to complete your book will depend on how quickly you want to complete your manuscript. It’s important to be realistic in what you can accomplish. Be creative. Identify activities in your life you can replace with writing—e.g., watching TV, playing video games, or extended lunch breaks. Also, consider staying up later or getting up earlier to squeeze in extra writing time.

18. Write—don’t edit

Your goal at first is to write, write, and write. Don’t worry about editing … at all. If you stop to edit, you’ll lose your train of thought and waste time. Pour yourself out. Don’t hold back. Your first draft is for you and you alone. You can worry about editing your writing later.

19. Crush writer’s block

Writer’s block is a common challenge faced by many—if not all—writers. But the primary way to overcome writer’s block is to write … anything.

You can also consider doing something physically active, spending time with family or friends, reading a book, listening to music, or watching an inspirational movie.

The idea here is to take a break, step away from your writing, and come back refreshed.

Step 4: Review your book

This step can be the most challenging for many writers.

This is when you or a professional edit your manuscript, which can be an uncomfortable experience.

Regardless of what you think about editing your manuscript or having someone else review your work, punch whatever fear you’re feeling in the face, take time to review your book, and highly-consider working with a professional editor.

For this final step, you may not have to wait until your manuscript is complete to have it edited. Depending upon the style of your non-fiction book, you may be able to submit one or more chapters at a time versus waiting until the end.

20. Read your book out loud

Reading your book out loud places you in the seat of your reader. It enables you to get a feel for how your book will be read by someone else. This is also a great way to improve your writing style, identify typos, and check the structure of your book.

21. Write another draft

Write a second, third, and even fourth draft of your book. The goal is not to rewrite your book, but to make your writing better. Review your outline. Make sure your chapters support one another. Look to see if your paragraphs are clearly connected. And take a look at your sentence structure, grammar, and style.

22. Solicit feedback

Get the feedback of family, friends, or an editor after you have written and rewritten your manuscript. Generally, avoid receiving feedback on your manuscript before it’s ready for the public, aside from having a quality editor or writing coach help you shape the content.

23. Two free tools to help you self-edit your book

There are two free tools you can use to help your writing: Grammarly and the Hemingway App. Grammarly will help you discover overlooked errors, enhance your writing, and make you feel like a world-class wordsmith. The Hemingway App will help your writing to be clear, crisp, and clean.

24. Have your book edited and proofread

Every book is made better by a great editor. A professionally trained editor can ensure your book’s topic is focused, your structure is well-organized, and your writing style is clear, smooth, and engaging. To ensure your book is ready for publication, consider having your book content-edited, copy-edited, and proofread. These checks and balances will best prepare your book for publication

Over to you

Writing a book is difficult.

What I shared above are simple steps you can take and writing tips you can use to guide your writing.

In the end, you have to do the work, and I believe you can.

To write a non-fiction book, you’ll need to make it a priority.

You’ll need to …

make a plan
adjust your schedule
get up earlier
go to bed late
reduce your social media consumption
refuse to binge-watchT.V.
and write, write, and write

Writing a non-fiction book is challenging. But trust me, it’ll be rewarding in the end for you and your readers.

10 Storytelling Tips Every Copywriter Should Know

September 5, 2019 by Jesse 3 Comments

Stories are a powerful copywriting tactic.

You can use stories to …

connect;
teach;
inspire; and
persuade …

… your target market.

This isn’t some sort of pop-psychology hack, either.

10 Storytelling Tips Every Copywriter Should Know

The latent power of stories is not only proven in their ubiquitous existence in every culture throughout history. There are scientific benefits to storytelling and a truckload of anecdotal evidence. For example, Buffer increased their reader engagement 300% when they incorporated storytelling into their content.

When telling a story to promote your business, people don’t want to hear about your company. Instead, they want you to relate with them in their own words.

To connect with people in such a way, you must know their problems, understand their fears, and show them how your business can empower them to fulfill their aspirations.

There’s no perfect example you should emulate.

There are multiple ways you can use storytelling in your copywriting to connect with your prospects. Here are 10 angles or ideas you might take:

Conflict and resolution
Influence of a parent, friend, pastor, or mentor
A meaningful conversation
Life and ministry experience
Overcoming a challenge
Personal renewal (think of movies like It’s a Wonderful Life or Family Man)
A tragic event
An adventure in search of something
Something funny
A new project or venture

Regardless of the angle you take, good copywriting begins with a customer in conflict—not your business, product or service, or features.

As a copywriter, you must place yourself in the shoes of your target audience, identify with their problem, and amplify their internal conflict so that their life becomes unbearable without the resolution you have to offer (think “Problem-Agitate-Solve”).

If you want to connect with customers and grow your business, fight the temptation to tell them about yourself. Instead, swim within the current of their life by guiding them to the successful destination they have in mind. Show them how your product or service will help them reach their goals.

Problem-Agitate-Solve: The Best Formula for Writing Persuasive Copy

August 28, 2019 by Jesse

Writing persuasive copy is challenging.

Your time is limited.

You have multiple writing projects you need to complete.

You don’t have sufficient time to prepare.

You struggle with self-doubt.

I get it.

I’ve been there, done that, and on many occasions, I still do it today.

Thankfully, you—(and I)—don’t have to wallow in self-pity.

Problem-Agitate-Solve: The Best Formula for Writing Persuasive Copy

There’s a really practical way you can …

write faster;
feel confident about your work; and
get better results.

This isn’t a course, book, or Snake Oil I’m peddling either.

It’s a simple copywriting formula you can learn today, and it’s called “problem-agitate-solve” (PAS).

I’m telling you—this isn’t complicated.

Here’s how simple it is to understand:

Problem: Identify your reader’s pain point
Agitate: Stir it up so it hurts to the point of discomfort
Solve: Deliver a solution

There are many copywriting formulas you can use. But mastering this one technique will set you well on your way to writing clear, concise, and compelling copy.

In this post, I’m going to break down these individual points in detail. Afterward, I’ll share some examples and show you why this formula is so powerful.

Let’s get started!

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Write Like Your Readers Are The Laziest People on Earth

January 14, 2019 by Jesse 1 Comment

You can read this sentence.

The sentence is short, it uses simple words, and the subject is toward the beginning. These three components make any sentence extremely easy to read.

I know this is a simple example, and I don’t mean to insult your intelligence.

But here’s the deal:

Readability is essential to writing clear, concise, and compelling content.

Your content can wax poetic.

You can write complex, long sentences.

You can even write long-form pieces to tell a captivating story.

But if your content is confusing, complex, or long-winded, you’re missing the point.

Writing online is not like writing in your journal.

You’re writing for a public audience—not yourself.

As a copywriter, your goal isn’t to woo readers with your mastery of the English language.

Your goal is drive results with your words.

Said another way, your words must compel your target audience to take a specific action.

To capture the attention of your audience, you must write readable content. Content your target audience can easily understand.

What this means for you and your business can be completely different from someone else.

What readability means for the healthcare industry versus content marketing can vary widely because the target audiences are different.

For the sake of this post, let’s assume you’re writing for the average adult.

The average adult in the United States reads at the 9th-grade level. In this example, your writing must be readable by someone in the 9th-grade—not a graduate student.

To save your copy from the curse of knowledge, there are three practical ways you can make your content readable. Here are they are.

#1. Use simple words

Big words have two big problems:

Most people can’t read big words.
Most people don’t want to read big words.

If you’re writing for the general public, then your words shouldn’t exceed the 9th-grade level. If they do, then you run the risk of losing your readers attention.

Besides, most people don’t want to read what you write online.

People read online much like animals’ forage for food.

They’re hungry and in search for something to eat.

The key to satisfying your readers is to use simple words.

What makes a word “simple” depends upon the context.

But here are three guiding principles:

Use short words
Use familiar words
Use words with 1-2 syllables

By using simple words, your copy will be easy-to-understand.

#2. Begin sentences with subjects

Grab your readers attention with right-branching sentences.

These magical sentences are easy to read, minimize passivity, and they fuel your writing with action.

To write a right-branching sentence, you need to describe your main subject first and then modify it afterward with additional information.

Jordan Loftis, a ghostwriter and the former marketing automation lead at CoSchedule, suggests placing the subject and verb as close together as possible to create more movement in your writing.

To see what I’m talking about, here are several right-branching sentence examples from Roy Peter Clark’s Writing Tools:

“A writer composes a sentence with subject and verb at the beginning, followed by other subordinate elements, creating what scholars call a right-branching sentence.”

“Rebels seized control of Cap Haitien, Haiti’s second largest city, on Sunday, meeting little resistance as hundreds of residents cheered, burned the police station, plundered food from port warehouses and looted the airport, which was quickly closed” (Lydia Polgreen).

“He didn’t need a clock. He had been working in a tidal partner so long that he could fee a tide change in his sleep” (John Steinbeck).

#3. Write to be scanned

Focus on your readers by making your copy easy to scan.

People frequently read online in an F-shaped pattern. They scan the page horizontally from left-to-right, and then they scan the left side of the page in a downward vertical movement.

Here’s a visual illustration to show you what I mean:

9 Tips on Writing a Blog Post People Will Actually Read

Help your readers by accommodating to their reading habits. Here are some easy ways how:

Images
Sub-headings
Bulleted lists
Numbered lists
Block quotes
Pull quotes
Bold or italicize content

The key to writing scannable content is to use short sentences.

In this post, my average sentence length is 9.7 words.

Some people recommend 20-25 words per sentence. I don’t have a hard rule I follow. Honestly, I just eye the format to see if my sentences are short. If I see a long sentence, then I make it shorter.

As you write, be sure to format your content with your readers in mind.

Writing readable content

Readability is about focusing on your readers.

Your goal as a copywriter is to connect with your audience and move them to action. The best way you can accomplish both of these goals is to write readable content.

These tips will help you to get started.

Apply these lessons.

See what resonates with your readers.

Observe your results.

If you’re like me, you’ll need to continually revisit these lessons and improve upon.

Happy writing!