They were right again.
Remember that old rhyme, "School Days"?
"Reading and writing and arithmetic…"
New tools come out all the time. Yesterday's tools become obsolete.
The fundamentals stay the same. Reading, writing, arithmetic and, I would add, speaking, & confident with computers.
Today I'm going to focus on writing.
I took a short copy writing course called "Copy That".
Below is what I learned.
Why is writing important?
- Most knowledge work communication happens through writing.
- Writing scales. You can write something once and it can reach thousands of people. (writing is a form of leverage)
What's unique about this course?
The concept of "copy work". You learn by copying selected writings that Sam Parr picked, and reading his breakdown of each topic.
Sam sends you an email every day for 10 days with a new "copy" assignment and lesson.
My Top 3 Takeaways:
- Day 4 was my favorite lesson: Keep it simple. Simple writing is persuasive writing. That assignment includes writing from Stephen King and from the Dilbert Blog. Prune your sentences. Abolish adverbs. Pulverize the passive voice.
- Day 1 teaches sentence structure. The study is a sales page written by a comedian. It's funny. Punchy. And uses language we can all relate to. This keeps the reader engaged throughout.
- AIDA is a framework taught throughout (attention, interest, desire, action). Use stories to grab attention & interest. The call to action should be crystal clear.
Gentlemen's agreement 
:
Let's make a pact – a gentlemen's agreement if you will. If you've found something useful in this post, do me the kindness of sharing it with a friend who you think would appreciate these insights. While I'll never know if you actually do it or not, think of it as a token of gratitude for keeping this site ad-free and full of delightful wisdom. Deal?
Subscribe 
Drop your email in the box above to receive an update when I post my weekly blog. Follow on Twitter for other shenanigans.
No comments:
Post a Comment