A few weeks ago, I received an interesting email.<\/p>\n
It was from someone who wanted to hire me to write an ad, and one of the things she said was I make writing seem “effortless.”<\/p>\n
Which I found kind of ironic.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
Because the reality is I don’t find writing effortless at all.<\/p>\n
I find it extremely hard<\/em>. <\/p>\n I actually HATE writing. <\/p>\n In fact, to quote the late, great copywriter Sir Gary of Halbert: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n But… since it pays the bills I do it anyway.<\/p>\n And thank God there ARE ways to make it easier (and even fun). <\/p>\n Below are just a few of these ways…<\/p>\n 1. Write every day<\/strong><\/p>\n Hey, it may sound corny, but it really is true the more<\/em> you do something, the easier<\/em> and more “routine” it gets.<\/p>\n 2. Write like you talk<\/strong><\/p>\n If you can talk, you can write.<\/p>\n I know of one person who writes entire BOOKS just by reading into a recorder while driving around and then transcribing it.<\/p>\n 3. Don’t try to impress anyone<\/strong><\/p>\n Forget pleasing other writers or copywriters or whatever. <\/p>\n Say what needs saying and let the chips fall wherever they may. Yes… some people WILL whine and complain. Might as well expect it. But most will love<\/em> you for it and even become your biggest fans.<\/p>\n 4. Be “real”<\/strong><\/p>\n Be YOU and not a warmed-over version of someone else. Frankly, it makes writing easier, faster and more persuasive<\/em>.<\/p>\n 5. Keep it pithy<\/strong><\/p>\n When in doubt… snip it out.<\/p>\n ’nuff said.<\/p>\n 6. Tell stories<\/strong><\/p>\n This is the EASIEST way to write.<\/p>\n It’s also the easiest way for people to remember<\/em> your message. <\/p>\n Even memory training experts teach putting everything in story format because it makes it easier for people’s brains to remember and “process” information. <\/p>\n 7. Respect peoples’ time<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a biggie.<\/p>\n One reason ads, emails, blogs, etc are ignored is because people are too busy to be bothered reading them. And if you simply respect your readers’ time (like for example, by being pithy), they’ll be FAR more likely to hear you out (and, yes, buy).<\/p>\n Anyway, just some ideas to consider.<\/p>\n For lots MORE writing tips (used by some of the world’s highest<\/em> paid copywriters and bloggers), check out:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n