The REAL secret of fast, easy writing

--> for emails or articles

Back when I first started writing for marketing purposes (or “blogging” as we used to call it ;) ) it took me an age to write every article.

And it wasn’t just slow. It was p a i n f u l.

But reading the very first chapter in Ford Harding’s book “Rainmaking” changed all that.

I’d always thought that writing was a “start from scratch every time” kind of thing. Because using any kind of formula or structure would surely lead to very dull and robotic articles wouldn’t it?

But Ford’s guidance showed me that I was very much mistaken. That formulae and templates didn’t automatically lead to boring writing.

In fact, he highlighted that hugely successful and well-loved authors like Agatha Christie, Arthun Conan Doyle and John Mortimer all followed their own basic formulae time and time again.

And since then I’ve used that same principle in my own writing. It’s allowed me to write emails in less than half the time it used to take and without the usual blood, sweat and tears.

Yet each email is very different.

The “real secrets” formula I’m using for this email is one I’ve used 8 times before in the last year alone. But if you read each email one after another you certainly wouldn’t consider them samey or boring.

So how do you follow a formula and yet not end up with emails or articles that all seem alike?

The secret is that your formula needs to focus on the theme and structure of each piece of writing - not the detailed content.

In the case of a “real secrets” email, the theme is an insight which runs against accepted wisdom in your field, or which you were initially mistaken about (as per this one).

To use a theme like this you just think “what ideas or insights do I have where I disagree with accepted wisdom?” or “what ideas or insights do I have that are very different to what I initially thought?”

That gives you the topic for your email.

Then in terms of writing it, a “real secrets” email has a hook (initial few sentences) that either show why the common opinion on the topic is wrong, or talks about how your initial ideas were wrong and what changed things for you.

That should raise the curiosity of your audience to keep reading to find out more.

Then you typically transition into the main content of your email with a “So, how do you get it right?” type sentence.

Next, you reveal the insight that’s different to accepted wisdom or how you used to think. In this case, you don’t need to give tons of “how to” details - your goal is primarily to trigger a “lightbulb moment” where your readers realise that what you‘re suggesting is indeed a better way than they’ve heard from others.

Finally, you close with a call to action.

That could either be to implement the new idea you’ve shared, or to buy a product or service from you that helps with that implementation.

In this case, if you’re now thinking “you know what, having a ready supply of simple templates for emails I can quickly adapt to my own business sounds like it would be very helpful” - the obvious next step would be to take a look at my email template packs.

Each month I send out 5 templates with detailed descriptions of how to write that type of email along with an example to learn from.

Even just using one of the templates a month could save you hours of work. Or mean that you’re able to get your newsletter published quickly rather than getting stuck staring at a blank screen.

And the price is embarrassingly low. Click here for details.

- Ian