Rough Draft

Indeed, it can. It can also make you a more visible writer. But that depends on how you go about it. On this episode of Rough Draft, I interview Jerod Morris and Jon Nastor. Jerod is one of the VPs of Rainmaker.FM, my co-host on The Lede, and a co-host on another Rainmaker.FM show called... Listen to episode

Like gravity pulls objects to the earth, the web pulls people across the landscape of connected information — whizzing by landmarks (content) at break-neck speed. Thus, when people arrive at your blog they should be able to size up your content in an instant. From the headline down the subheads to the call to action.... Listen to episode

Lots of people make careers out of controversy. But constant controversy can take a toll. You could get by with a lot of controversy in the early days of your blog or books in order to gain critical mass. But soon you’ll need to take your foot off that particular pedal. The goal (when it... Listen to episode

There are about 100 ways to become a better writer. For example, you could … Read 100 books. Listen to Ira Glass This American Life. Cultivate a sick sense of humor. Think like a psychologist. Rack up rejections. Write like mad. But did you know catching hell can help you sharpen your copy chops, too?... Listen to episode

Don t panic, but one of your kidneys has been harvested. That s the punch line for one of the most successful urban legends in the last fifteen years. What makes it so successful? It s hypnotic: understandable, memorable, and effective in changing thought and behavior. How do you create stories that are like that? Just follow these... Listen to episode

You can spot a mediocre writer from miles away … Flat verbs. Obtuse nouns. Lame metaphors. Absence of stories. I should know. I used to be one. In regards to the mediocre writers, it seems to me that they d want an edge. That they d kill to get their hands on words that crank out power... Listen to episode

Who would you prefer to write for you: somebody with a vanilla personality or someone with an awkward, funny edge to them? Someone who sees the unique and can find the angle that will differentiate you from the mob? I m going for the awkward edge because, when getting attention and visibility online is SO difficult... Listen to episode

That’s a lot of books out there. What’s the benefit of reading as many of them as you can lay your eyes on? One of the fastest tracks to mastering the art of compelling copy and seductive story-telling is to observe how others do it … both the masters and the flops. In fact, you... Listen to episode

There s an old-school trick to selling ideas to movie executives. It s called the high-concept pitch. A high-concept pitch lays out the entire story premise, promise, and execution in one simple sentence. Here are a few famous examples from Hollywood: – Backdraft: Top Gun in a Firehouse – Ghost: a man dies and becomes his wife s guardian angel... Listen to episode

Anybody out there know who Cyrus Trask is? Anyone? You won t find out who Cyrus Trask is if you eyeball a list of country singers. No. The only way you can find out who Cyrus Trask is is by reading John Steinbeck s novel East of Eden. John Steinbeck describes Cyrus Trask as the father of... Listen to episode

Let s admit it: in a world where blogs and blog posts proliferate, it s hard to be original. But it s not impossible … … as long as you’re willing to do a little work. So the question is, what can you as a web writer or blogger do to write a post that stands out? That s... Listen to episode

Web readers are people on a mission. Cramped for attention. Bent on skimming rather than diving deep. They don t go to the web to window shop. They go there to drive 60 miles per hour and look at billboards. That s the unbreakable rule of the web. So what can you do as a web writer to... Listen to episode

First things first: What is a landing page? Landing pages are those web pages that are specifically designed to perform one task … one task and one task only. One goal, one page. It could be to sell your product, encourage people to sign up for an email newsletter, or recommend an event. No matter... Listen to episode

It’s actually quite simple: there is really never a topic your audience takes for granted. See, the problem is that most of us overestimate the sophistication of our readers. That s not a condescending thing to say. Even in a saturated market like weight loss, most interested readers don t know the basics. And sometimes what we... Listen to episode

There really is no right or wrong way to create about page. The only question is this: is it interesting? Remember, people will read a lot if it is interesting. However, there are a few best practices you can follow. Let s look at those … In this 5-minute episode you’ll discover: The wrong way to... Listen to episode

A good email subject line will remind you what it s like to taste blood in your mouth. What it was like lying on your back, dizzy and nausea. Granted, it s a fleeting moment. Normal, healthy people s BS detectors kick in after 4 or 5 seconds. By that time, though, it s too late. They re hooked. They... Listen to episode

Great writers write to the emotions of your readers. And they focus on just four emotional appeals. The appeal is the reason you give the reader to read, subscribe, donate, share, or buy. And the appeal is almost always expressed in the headline. John Caples, in his book Tested Advertising Methods (a must-read for any... Listen to episode

During the past four months one of the things I ve been trying to experiment with is telling more stories. Historical stories, fake stories, personal stories. See, what I m trying to do is make the audio more visual. And I ve found that best way to do that is to share stories. Illustrations. Anecdotes. Et cetera. Audio... Listen to episode

These days, you want to write a headline that will blow up on the social web. A headline that will get people to pound the Share button … a headline to clog our Twitter feed with thousands of retweets. But there s a problem … We on the web can watch our website traffic rise like... Listen to episode

Albert Lasker. Mel Martin. Eugene Schwartz. Robert Collier. Victor Schwab. David Ogilvy. John Caples. Maxwell Sackheim. Bill Jayme. Copywriters who wrote beautiful copy. Ads that drove results. As David Ogilvy said, We sell or else. This is the point. Advertising comes in two flavors: artistic and mechanical. One obscures the message and is judged by... Listen to episode