Writing Tips

Steps to having more happiness, exuding more charisma, and producing better content

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Boost VSL conversion 83%; 3 steps to happiness

By Bob Bly

?Bob Bly?s Direct Response Letter:
Resources, ideas, and tips for improving response to
business-to-business, high-tech, Internet, and direct
marketing.

December 4, 2017

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***Boosting VSL conversion rates***

On sales pages and VSLs, there should always be an order button
at the bottom of the page. But to improve VSL response,
split-test also having your ?Add to Cart? button appear higher up
on the screen as the video progresses. Jeff Johnson says this one
tweak alone has increased his VSL conversion rates by as much as
83%.

Source: Jeff Johnson email, 9/21/17.

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***3 steps to greater happiness and joy***

1?Appreciate the ?little things? such as friendships, pets, and
nature.

2?Use your strengths (e.g., creativity, curiosity, kindness) to
redefine work and relationships.

3?Use your unique assets (e.g., strengths, resources) for a
purpose beyond your individual means.

Source: Plain Talk newsletter, 9/17.

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***A common-sense but often-neglected secret of freelance writing
success***

Freelancers who don?t continue their education will become
shallow, ineffective, and very poor communicators.

You need to be curious. You need a zest for life. You need to
wonder why something is the way it is. If you?re going to be a
life-long freelancer, you must become a life-long learner.

Source: Beth Ann Erickson, Writing Etc., 9/20/17.

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***4 ways to produce content better and faster***

Top marketer MaryEllen Tribby says there are 4 ways she uses the
concept of ?recycling? content in her own business, described by
the acronym F.A.S.T.:

?F ? FIND appropriate excerpts.
?A ? ADD to free materials.
?S ? SWIPE other people?s content.
?T ? TRANSCRIBE your rants.

Disclaimer: You must take pains to avoid copyright violations
when using F.A.S.T. or otherwise recycling or repurposing content
that you do not own the right to.

Source: MaryEllen Tribby, For Working Moms Only, 10/9/17.

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***PowerPoint presentation tip: the rule of 5+5***

The 5-and-5 rule says that a PowerPoint slide should have no more
than 5 bullet points with no more than 5 words per point on
average. Explains presentations expert Joel Schwartzberg: ?Not
only will bullets keep your conveyances succinct, but they?ll
also ensure your audience spends more time looking at you and
less time reading your slides.?

Source: ?Get to the Point? (Berrett-Koehler, 2017, p. 85).

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***5 ways you can exude greater charisma***

#1?Show other people you are genuinely glad to meet them.

#2?Show a little vulnerability ? admit a minor weakness or small
failure.

#3?Search for agreement in discussion rather than contradiction.

#4?Ask others questions; listen to the answers.

#5?Remember names and other details about the people you meet.

Source: Tuff Talk newsletter, October 2017, p. 2.

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***Before you bash other people?s marketing, read this***

Before you criticize other people?s work or abilities, remember
that you don?t know the full story. Their website might not be
?good? because they?ve been burning the midnight oil to keep a
struggling business afloat. Their latest project might not
impress because it was eviscerated in the review process.

Freelancer Kathy Cowan says: ?May I instead suggest the real
reason behind your critical thinking? You?re insecure. You?re
threatened by others. Or worse, you?re so over-confident that you
actually think you?re better than everyone else.?

Her advice? Have an honest word with your ego. And consider
whether your criticism is justified or pointlessly negative.

Source: ASJA Weekly, 10/17/17.

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***Have an attitude of gratitude***

Take a moment to let someone know that you appreciate them? a
spouse, family member, co-worker, or friend. Call them, write a
letter, send them a text, or whatever to let them know how much
they matter. Sometimes they need to hear this more than you know.
The benefits to expressing your thanks and gratitude will be
significant, both for them and for you.

Source: Jon Gordon?s Weekly Newsletter, 11/20/17.

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***Yet another reason to read more***

Read before bed, advises Al Sears, MD. Reason: According to Dr.
Sears, many people think it?s only your body that needs sleep.
But your brain does, too.

?Reading is relaxing for your body, but requires a fair amount of
thought,? says Dr. Sears. ?Because you?re working your brain,
you?re more likely to grow tired enough to sleep soundly through
the night.?

Source: Doctor?s House Call, 10/24/17.

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***Quotation of the month***

?The painful part of life ? of hard work ? is the part that most
often lets us know we?re alive. Sybarites face empty lives simply
because the nerve ending of pleasure dull so quickly.?
?John Jerome, ?On Turning Sixty-Five,? Random House.

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***Our 60-second commercial***

Bob Bly is available on a limited basis for copywriting of
landing pages, direct mail packages, video sales letters,
brochures, white papers, ads, email marketing campaigns, PR
materials, and webpages. We recommend you call for a FREE copy
of our updated Copywriting Information Kit. Just let us know
your industry and the type of copy you?re interested in seeing
(ads, landing pages, etc.) and if Bob is available to take on
your assignment, we?ll tailor a package of recent samples to fit
your requirements. Call Bob Bly at 973-263-0562 or e-mail
rwbly@bly.com.

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This article appears courtesy of Bob Bly?s Direct Response Letter.
Visit http://www.bly.com/reports to learn more.

Revision Woes? How a Bird?s Eye View Helps You Regain Control of Your Story??????

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Does ?revising? your story consist of making tiny line edits only you will notice?

With some of my short stories, I did this for years. I knew they weren?t quite where I wanted them to be but thought maybe if I kept tinkering around with the sentences, changing a few words here and there, my stories would magically transform before my eyes.

Of course, I partially did this to delay putting my work out into the world and potentially getting rejected. But it was also because, let?s face it, making deep structural changes to your story is hard work.

When writing my novel, these difficulties grew tenfold. I didn?t know where to begin. With six points-of-view, my story felt like a maze. And I wrote the thing! Imagine how my readers would feel.

Luckily, I discovered mind mapping, which helped me get a bird?s eye view of the story. This made the revision process infinitely easier and more enjoyable. I use XMind, but there are many mind map and concept mapping apps out there.

Feel like your story is slipping out of your control? Here?s how seeing the big picture can help you rein it in:

  1. Construct a coherent timeline

Stepping back from your story by mapping out all the plot points, settings, and characters on a single screen can help you see it instantly and clearly. It?s easy to repeat information or leave major plot holes without realizing it.

I listed each character?s POV in a horizontal line. Underneath them, I then wrote a brief summary of every chapter pertaining to that character. Seeing the scenes displayed in chronological order allowed me to hone in on inconsistencies.?

  1. Make connections between key plot points

Viewing all the major scenes in your story displayed in one place allows you to link together otherwise unconnected moments. For instance, you may find that a character?s dream on pg. 2 is connected to his epiphany on pg. 122. Then you can rework the scenes in a way that shows the connection between these two events. That way, every scene is driving the story forward in a purposeful way.

  1. Sort out loose threads

?Without a broader perspective, your story can turn into a jumble of unrelated scenes and characters. Sure, some of those scenes may need to go, but mind mapping can help you consolidate.

?For instance, one of my characters didn?t have a name. I kept referring to her by her physical description, which quickly got annoying. Plus, did readers really need another character to keep track of? Looking at my mind map, I realized the lady and the character Mrs. Tompkins could be the same person. Problem solved.

  1. Batch scene revisions

?Editing each scene one at a time can lead to fatigue after a few hours. Even if you?re in the zone, you might overlook flaws you would have caught with fresh eyes.

?Mind mapping makes the process much more efficient. Using the “notes” feature, simply click on a scene and describe any changes you?d like to make. This way you can address every scene you need to change all at once and then gradually implement the changes.

?Time to tackle those rewrites you?ve been putting off?

?Now, with any productivity tool, there?s always that slippery slope where it turns into a distraction, defeating the purpose. Recently XMind hosted a contest to create the most beautiful mind map. There?s nothing wrong with this per say, but you must approach the app with a clear purpose?to improve your writing. Otherwise you?ll get derailed.

I used to dread making deep structural revisions, but now I love it!

Btw, I know this sounds like a sales pitch. But no, XMind is not offering me a free subscription ?in exchange for my honest opinion? (I wish haha). I just really like this tool.

?What?s been your experience with mind mapping? What are your favorite apps?

Adopting a Writing Discipline With Minimal Pain and Maximal?Pleasure

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?Do your writing first thing in the morning.? How many times have you heard this advice?

I first heard it in my MFA program from a guest lecturer, who encouraged us to always work on our writing before checking our email, Facebook, etc. As he explained, once you expose yourself to other voices, it?s much harder to find your inner voice amidst the noise.

At the time, it made sense. But that doesn?t mean I followed his advice. Should be and want to are two entirely different things, as anyone starting a new diet will tell you.

The thing is, I?m not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination. So one motivation for dragging myself out of bed is the lure of unopened emails waiting in my inbox.

But after a series of unproductive mornings, I decided to compromise???I?d read my email for the 20 minutes it took to drink my coffee and protein shake and then begin my writing. Well, you can guess how that went.

?Just one more email?? An hour and a half would pass, often with me hitting the ?refresh? button multiple times! Before I knew it, it was time to get ready for work.

Last week, I finally decided to end this cycle. For over a year I?d had an app to block Internet distractions, but I decided to take it up a notch. Instead of turning it on when I felt like it (which had mixed results), I would schedule my sessions the night before so that as soon as I sat at my computer, my coveted email access would be shut off.

After a week of this experiment, I?ve discovered that not only is giving up my morning email routine a painless sacrifice, but it actually makes the writing experience???and my morning as a whole???so much more pleasurable. Here?s what I?ve learned:

1) Instead of my mornings being plagued by a nagging sense of guilt (?okay, I finished my coffee 45 minutes ago, I really should be writing?), I address my obligations right away and give myself something to look forward to. Often by the time I?m finished, the desire for my ?email fix? has vanished!

2) While before I viewed writing as a chore awaiting me after the ?fun stuff,? I now associate it with pleasure since it?s accompanied by my beloved coffee and protein shake.

3) Even 30 minutes makes a difference in your energy level and willpower depletion. By tackling my writing immediately, I am at my peak performance and have so much more stamina, focus, and creative flow.

4) We all know things seldom go as planned. Even when I was on my best behavior, sometimes an ?urgent? email from work would divert my attention and before I knew it, the morning was gone. Throughout the day, the frequency of distractions grows, decreasing the probability you?ll write anything at all.

5) Like my favorite sugary snacks, email provides a temporary jolt of pleasure but no lasting sustenance. As most of us have experienced with social media, we have a compulsive urge to check it, yet the time spent rarely leads to life-changing epiphanies. Writing, by contrast, lacks that dopamine rush. It can be grueling and frustrating. However, it delivers long-lasting satisfaction, knowing you?re carrying out your higher purpose and not merely consuming things.

Make no mistake: deadlines plus money=motivation. But for long-term goals, the finish line is hazier, forcing me to become a tougher taskmaster for myself.

This experiment has taught me that by developing daily disciplines, conjuring up motivation grows easier and easier until the act (like my former habit of morning email checking) becomes second nature.

What disciplines have you adopted to make your writing a top priority? How did you overcome initial resistance?

Learning from Kelly Link: The elements of intrigue

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Kelly Link excels at injecting relatable characters and scenarios into surreal landscapes, and ?The Summer People? from her short story collection Get in Trouble is no exception. She?s also an expert wordsmith, building evocative worlds out of concise, carefully crafted sentences. In my deconstruction of this story, I will focus on description and character development, starting with the opening lines.

Fran?s daddy woke her up wielding a mister. ?Fran,? he said, spritzing her like a wilted houseplant. ?Fran, honey. Wakey wakey.?

First, the story immediately hooks you. The comparison of Fran to a wilted houseplant is an unusual one, thus getting our attention, and the question arises: Why is her father spraying her with water to wake her up? The alliteration of the ?w? creates a pleasing cadence, forcing us to slow down and savor each word. Even the juxtaposition of ?wielding??a verb typically reserved for weapons?and the benign ?mister? is strange enough to compel us to continue reading, if only to satisfy our curiosity.

Fran had the flu, except it was more like the flu had Fran. In consequence of this, she?d laid out of school for three days in a row. The previous night, she taken four NyQuil caplets and gone to sleep on the couch while a man on the TV threw knives. Her head was stuffed with boiled wool and watered-down plant food. ?Hold up,? she croaked. ?I?m awake!? She began to cough, so hard she had to hold her sides.

Link takes a topic familiar to most readers?the flu?and throws us off balance with a reversal??it was more like the flu had Fran.? This is more than just clever wordplay; it also works on a logical level. After all, when you?re sick, it does feel as if the sickness has taken over your whole body. While ?boiled wool? is not the first image that comes to mind when you think of the flu (making it all the more arresting), it makes sense when you think about it.

This passage represents the power of Link?s writing on a larger scale?she takes a familiar topic and twists the dial regulating her narrative universe ever so slightly until you notice something is off but can?t quite place your finger on it. By the time her stories veer off into all-out weird territory, you?ve become so immersed in the characters that the progression feels natural.

The phrase ?gone to sleep on the couch while a man on the TV threw knives? creates a dynamic simultaneity by pairing two actions on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Her daddy was a dark shape in a room full of dark shapes. The bulk of him augured trouble.

Here the alliteration of the ?d? indicates a tonal shift. She also integrates a suspenseful element?why would the ?dark shape? of her father ?augur trouble??

As the story unfolds, we learn more about her father?he?s an alcoholic infamous for his bootleg liquor, the ?sweetest in town.? Occasionally the voice of God intervenes, compelling him to abruptly destroy all the liquor before delivering it to his clients?not surprisingly, this doesn?t make them too happy.

Whether it?s to escape the wrath of his clients or to repair his conscience, he often leaves town for religious conventions, which is where he?s headed now?never mind that his teenage daughter is sick with the flu. We learn all this in a few succinct sentences:

When he wasn?t getting right with God, Fran?s daddy got up to all kinds of trouble. Fran?s best guess was that, in this particular situation, he?d promised to supply something that God was not now going to let him deliver.

Rather than take us out of the narrative with a long backstory about her father?s troubled past, Link gets right to the point.

A master at character building, she uses a few carefully selected details to reveal relationships and motives.

We learn that Fran has a lifetime obligation to the mysterious (and needy) ?summer people.? Since their sole form of communication is through voices in her head, it?s hard for her to put off these obligations for long.

With her dad gone, she asks the rich, shy Ophelia to help her out by giving her a ride, knowing the eager-to-please Ophelia will say yes.

?somewhere between the school lockers and the Robertses? master bedroom, Ophelia seemed to have decided that the ice was broken. She talked about a TV show, about the party neither of them would go to on Saturday night. Fran began to suspect that Ophelia had had friends once, down in Lynchburg. She complained about calculus homework and talked about the sweater she was knitting.

One interesting thing about this passage is Link?s decision to reveal their conversation through paraphrase rather than direct quotes. It makes the exchange move quickly both on the page and in the story?s action. We learn that Ophelia and Fran are not super close, that neither of them are popular, and that Ophelia is so lonely that given the chance to converse with someone, the words pour out of her with the reckless fervor of a starving person at a buffet.

When Ophelia drives up to Fran?s house, Fran reveals her home?s backstory:

?It?s old,? Fran said. ?Needs a new roof. My great-granddaddy ordered it out of the Sears catalog. Men brought it up the side of the mountain in pieces, and all the Cherokee who hadn?t gone away yet came and watched.? She was amazed at herself: next thing she would be asking Ophelia to come for a sleepover.

The last sentence reveals crucial information about Fran?s character as well as a key shift in her relationship with Ophelia. Normally guarded and terse, with a disdain for Ophelia?s sugary sweetness, Fran feels herself opening up to Ophelia despite herself. This suggests a burgeoning of their friendship and also hints that Fran craves companionship just as much as Ophelia does.

Finally, after Ophelia undergoes a dangerous mission for Fran, braving the house of the summer people (who hold war re-enactments with real guns and cannons and have a mysterious room that, in the tradition of ?Bluebeard,? must never be entered) to retrieve flu medicine for Fran, their friendship is solidified:

?I think I?m going to be much better,? Fran said. ?Which is something you done for me. You were brave and a true friend, and I?ll have to think how I can pay you back.?

In just a few pages, then, we have a complete character arc and a classic hero?s journey. By deconstructing Link?s language, dialogue, and decisions on what information to reveal (and not to reveal), we can learn how to make our own writing more intriguing and captivate our readers.

 

 

Anatomy of an Ad: Using Eugene Schwartz Techniques to Compete in a Crowded Marketplace

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The good news: When it comes to building a home business, the barrier to entry is lower than ever.

The bad news: With a crowded marketplace, it’s hard to get your voice heard.

So how do you, the entrepreneur, break through the clutter and convince your prospects to:

1) listen to your message and
2) trust that your product/service is as life-altering as you claim it is?

You learn from the masters–for starters, Eugene Schwartz, author of?Breakthrough Advertising.

But aren’t their methods outdated? Too “sales-y” for today’s sophisticated audience?

Not in the least. From the masters you learn the foundations–creating intrigue, supporting your claims with facts, and holding your prospect captive with compelling copy.

Hand-copying ads is often touted as a technique for grasping the fundamentals of marketing.

Taking this one step farther, analyzing what?the author is doing and?why?it works will enable us to learn a?repeatable structure until the act of copywriting becomes second nature.

In this anatomy series, I’ll be breaking down what works in a promotion, starting with this one from Schwartz:

 

First, the headline works because it gives us precise instructions. ?It also presents us with a one-two punch, delivering the problem (wrinkles) and the solution all at once.

The word “stroke” is carefully chosen to indicate the solution’s simplicity and gentleness (notice he didn’t say “pull” or “yank”). Additionally, “stroke” is a sensual term and we all know sex sells.

The accompanying graphic gives further evidence of its ease.

Next, he immediately offers expert testimonials to win over the skeptics. With any sort of “natural remedy,” our first question is always, “Does it work?” The “noted physicians” assure us it does.

The “About Jessica Krane” insert further cements our trust, showing us why we should invest in this woman’s product and offering social proof of her authority (she appeared on the Johnny Carson Show).

Schwartz then?solidifies our trust with a brief “discovery narrative” for this wrinkle-removing method. It also piques our?curiosity, teasing us just enough?to buy the book so we can get the whole story.

The intimate, conversational tone gets inside the head of even the most?skeptical prospects, anticipating potential objections so shrewdly, it’s almost as if he’s reading their mind.

He instructs the prospect, “When the book arrives, turn immediately to page 123 and read two pages–nothing more. Here you will learn how a pair of wrinkled white leather gloves lead to one of the most amazing discoveries ever made about the skin of the human face.”

At this point, those on the fence will think, “Okay, I just have to read two pages to figure out if the book is worth keeping or I can get my money back.” This shows that he empathizes with the reader’s concerns–if the product doesn’t work, not only are they wasting their money, they’re also wasting their time.

Of course, he’s betting they’ll love the product so much (or are too lazy to go to the post office) that 99% of them will never return the book.

He guides us through experience of receiving the book step by step, first satiating our curiosity about this miracle wrinkle cure and then discovering additional benefits?as we “begin to explore the book more deeply.” This way, we form a vivid impression of the role the book will play in our lives.

The simplicity of his instructions assures us that this is a book we will actually benefit from and can put to practical use, that it won’t just gather dust on a shelf.

Schwartz offers more evidence of this product’s reliability by describing how its inventor?tested her techniques to great success on “hundreds of private students.” This further quiets the reader’s inner voice of skepticism while also lending an air of exclusivity to the product–readers will have access to secrets which were once only accessible to those who attended these private sessions.

It is only after evoking our curiosity that Schwartz makes a persuasive case for why we need this product–even if getting rid of wrinkles had never occurred to us. He writes, “Nothing makes a previously-beautiful face more ugly than the deep furrows that begin to engrave themselves between nose and mouth.”

This line alarms us while simultaneously?offering a token of hope. These wrinkles are obscuring our true beauty, but all we have to do is remove them to?recover our beauty!

Finally, the call-to-action expertly bypasses the reader’s objections. Instead of just a simple “yes” or “no,” he writes, “Is it worth a half hour of my time, and no risk, to try this new method on my face tomorrow?” Who could say no to that?

To summarize, these are the elements of Schwartz’s ad contributing to its success:

  1. Intrigue
  2. Expert proof
  3. Addressing the prospect’s potential objections
  4. Painting a clear picture of the product
  5. Making the reader an active participant in the ad
  6. Stimulating a need and offering the product as a solution
  7. Giving the skeptic an immediate chance to test out the product
  8. An offer you can’t say no to

Pick your favorite product–ideally something not super well-known–and try these methods today!

Duality in Chains

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I recently finished reading Laurie Halse Anderson?s Chains with my 7th graders, a book about a teenage slave girl fighting to gain her own freedom at the same time the country was embroiled in the American Revolution. Liked most books that are required reading, especially historical fiction, it feel far outside the norm of the fiction I typically seek out?experimental horror by writers such as Robert Coover and Brian Evenson. Yet it easily qualifies as one of my favorite books, which goes to show that we should never discount something?a book, a movie, a band?just because it doesn?t fall under the umbrella of our usual preferences. Any work of art has the potential to transform.

 

First of all, Anderson is a fantastic stylist who packs evocative sensory details into every single scene: ?Tongues of fog oozed across the water and curled around the bits of ice that floated past.? She weaves extended metaphors throughout the novel?bees, ashes, chains?which both act as a connective tissue binding us to the protagonist (Isabel) and also take on a slightly different nuance each time. The book is not without humor, either. At one point, Isabel?s master, a regular Cruella de Vil, pretends not to notice when her mouse hair eyebrow (supposedly a high fashion of the time) falls into her bread pudding.

 

What also resonated with me was the theme of moral duality. For instance, how do we explain why a nation fighting for its freedom can be indifferent to an individual?s freedom? How do we balance self-preservation (not necessarily life or death scenarios but financial, career, mental/physical health, etc.) with obligations to others? When should we put aside our own needs to help someone else, and when should we recognize that others are putting inappropriate or unrealistic demands on us and we should set boundaries so as to protect ourselves? These moral dilemmas?choosing between the ?right? thing to do and the thing we need to do in the moment?are grappled with in surprising and unexpected ways throughout the book. We learn that there?s not always one answer?we must trust our instincts and let our inner compass guide us to the correct decision.

Resisting closure in fiction

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As a writer, I’ve always admired Joyce Carol Oates for her prolificness and ability to seamlessly shift through different genres. Reading her short story collection Heat for the first time, I’m truly inspired by her taut, concise writing, by the way her stories start on a mundane note of domestic everyday realities–house hunting, a woman tidying up the home as her daughter plays upstairs, a dinner invitation–and slowly creep under your skin, reaching truly surreal and unexpected places. What I love most is her willingness to end her stories with ambiguity or a moment of suspense, giving them a lifelike quality because after all life is in a constant state of flux and is never truly finished until of course it’s over. Most writers (myself included) feel the urge to tidy up, to end on a note of closure, but Oates is brave enough to resist that urge. What makes it work is that the characters are so fully realized and relatable that by the end of the story we can’t help but project into the future, inventing our own storylines to push them forward past the confines of the story itself.