Posted on

This Is the Most Fun You’ll Ever Have ‘Explaining the Mechanism’

rd-credibility-trust

Here’s yet another way to build credibility and trust when it comes to making a bold claim … which is simply this: explain the mechanism behind your claim.

Let’s say you’re a fitness trainer who makes the claim that in just 14 minutes a day customers can add muscle to every inch of their bodies — including their calves.

But notice what is not suggested: that these will be particularly big muscles. The implication is, at the very least, customers can achieve a toned body.

That’s still a big claim, but the trainer can bring it into the realm of believability by explaining how this can happen.

In this 8-minute episode of Rough Draft with Demian Farnworth you’ll discover:

  • Demian’s strong feelings about a book called How Nobody Understands You
  • How you can learn what your fascination archetype is
  • Three examples of claims that are validated by explaining the mechanism
  • Demian’s obligatory embarrassing admission to increase his Warmth Quotient for this episode

Click Here to Listen to

Rough Draft on iTunes

Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM

About the author

Rainmaker.FM

Rainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.

The post This Is the Most Fun You’ll Ever Have ‘Explaining the Mechanism’ appeared first on Copyblogger.

Powered by WPeMatico

Posted on

Want Copy That Actually Works? Start with Mass Desire

rd-mass-desire

We all long for something. Love that will last. The ability to influence people. Scenic vacations. Financial independence. Less anxiety. Copywriters call these “mass desires.”

And copywriting that actually works connects your product to one of these mass desires.

When that is done — when you’ve convinced your prospects that you can satisfy their desires — then people will not only fall in love with and buy your products, they will become unstoppable evangelists as well.

But that all depends on whether or not you choose the strongest desire.

In this 10-minute episode of Rough Draft with Demian Farnworth, you’ll discover:

  • Why Demian would tap into the migraine sufferer’s desire for a cure before the hangover sufferer’s
  • A common pitfall copywriters fall into when it comes to desire
  • Why you want to avoid writing for products with low degrees of duration
  • Why you don’t need the general population to love your product (just this one particular group)
  • The “mass desire” problem with a product like the Segway PT
  • What mass desire Olive & Cocoa tapped into with their leather tire gauge (it’s not what you think)

Click Here to Listen to

Rough Draft on iTunes

Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM

About the author

Rainmaker.FM

Rainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.

The post Want Copy That Actually Works? Start with Mass Desire appeared first on Copyblogger.

Powered by WPeMatico

Posted on

Demian Farnworth’s Second Most Favorite Copywriting Formula in the World

rd-favorite-copywriting-formula-2

Do you want a simple, sticky formula that turns your listless copy into something that rivets attention, stokes desire, and gets action?

Rough Draft host Demian Farnworth mentioned it in yesterday’s episode. Demian called it the 4 P’s: Promise. Picture. Proof. Push.

In this episode, Demian works through a short example ad (about a pill that makes ugly men pretty) and breaks down each P. You’ll get to see this ad in action. And learn how to use it for yourself.

In this 8-minute episode of Rough Draft with Demian Farnworth, you’ll discover:

  • The trick to writing a good promise-heavy headline
  • How to paint a picture your prospect can relate to
  • How to prove you can deliver every promise you make
  • The best way to cripple your conversion rates
  • Why features don’t matter in an ad
  • How to make believable and bold claims

Click Here to Listen to

Rough Draft on iTunes

Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM

About the author

Rainmaker.FM

Rainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.

The post Demian Farnworth’s Second Most Favorite Copywriting Formula in the World appeared first on Copyblogger.

Powered by WPeMatico

Posted on

Demian Farnworth’s Favorite Copywriting Formula … Ever

rd-favorite-copywriting-formula

Rough Draft host Demian Farnworth has a nice little treat for you today. His go-to formula whether he’s writing an article, landing page, email, or a LinkedIn profile summary.

He has used it so much it has become second nature. And should become second nature for you, too. It will help speed things along and allow you to structure difficult concepts and copy in a persuasive format.

Keep in mind, this formula not only works for short-form copy, but long form as well. Most successful sales letters are structured this way.

In this 7-minute episode of Rough Draft with Demian Farnworth, discover:

  • How Demian found out about this formula (involves a television evangelist)
  • His strong feelings about why everyone should learn copywriting
  • How to make this formula second nature
  • How to add variety to this formula
  • A small challenge to you (involves this formula)

Click Here to Listen to

Rough Draft on iTunes

Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM

About the author

Rainmaker.FM

Rainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.

The post Demian Farnworth’s Favorite Copywriting Formula … Ever appeared first on Copyblogger.

Powered by WPeMatico

Posted on

How to (Rapidly) Build an Audience with Content Syndication

rd-content-syndication

Content syndication is sort of like guest posting on steroids. You get all the benefits of guest posting without the work because you use one article to show up on different websites.

But which websites you publish on matters. Which is why host Demian Farnworth asked Belle Beth Cooper to come on today’s special interview edition of Rough Draft.

Belle’s articles have been syndicated on Business Insider, Fast Company, and Lifehacker. On average, her articles were generating tens of thousands of views, several thousand social shares, and driving a ridiculous amount of traffic back to her website.

She’s Demian’s textbook example of someone who’s grown an audience through content syndication. So, naturally, she’s a great resource — full of tips, wisdom, and useful warnings about what not to do.

In this 20-minute episode of Rough Draft with Demian Farnworth and Belle Beth Cooper, you’ll discover:

  • One thing you must do when a big site re-publishes your article
  • The trick to driving traffic back to your site from syndicated content (your byline won’t do it)
  • Why content syndication won’t ruin your Google rankings
  • How to keep your syndication relationship alive with a big publisher
  • What never to do with syndicated content

Click Here to Listen to

Rough Draft on iTunes

Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM

About the author

Rainmaker.FM

Rainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.

The post How to (Rapidly) Build an Audience with Content Syndication appeared first on Copyblogger.

Powered by WPeMatico

Posted on

10 Odd Books That Will Improve Your Writing

rd-10-odd-writing-books

You don’t have to look far to find a list of the best books a writer should read. This is a benefit for new writers, no doubt.

Unfortunately, those of us who have been around for a number of years often own every book that tends to make these lists. And we read them. And re-read them.

Not only do we own them, we’ve absorbed them into our bloodstreams.

It wouldn’t be so bad if that list changed from year to year. But it doesn’t.

So while the usual best-books-writers-should-read lists are fine for the greenhorns in the field … what about the rest of us?

What about those who want to go from undergraduate to graduate work? Those who want to inject a tangible and seductive element in their writing that growls, “You better take notice of me!”

What are the best books they should read? And why?

As you might guess, Rough Draft host Demian Farnworth has an answer.

In this 9-minute episode of Rough Draft with Demian Farnworth, you’ll discover:

  • The authors of this 1604 Bible edition who made language their slave
  • An award-winning producer who delivers some of the best tips on how to inject emotion into any story
  • The book that offers some magnificent metaphors, if you read it
  • How to imitate the ebb and flow of people-centered tales in this book to make what you write memorable
  • The real reason Demian wants you to read these books

Click Here to Listen to

Rough Draft on iTunes

Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM

About the author

Rainmaker.FM

Rainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.

The post 10 Odd Books That Will Improve Your Writing appeared first on Copyblogger.

Powered by WPeMatico

Posted on

6 Simple Rules for Writing Effective Dialogue

writing-dialogue

Why talk about dialogue in a podcast about online writing? Dialogue builds tension and allows you to show instead of tell. And so much more.

People love to read dialogue.

We gravitate to the words on the page that are surrounded by quotation marks — the speech marks — because we know that two humans are going to interact … and we’re drawn to the drama.

As Alice said in Alice in Wonderland, “What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations?”

The same holds true for online copy. We want our pictures. We want our conversations.

In past episodes of Rough Draft, we’ve dealt with images — today we are going to cover the conversations.

In this 6-minute episode of Rough Draft with Demian Farnworth, you’ll discover:

  • Why people love dialogue (involves butter and the hood of a hot car)
  • The dialogue mistake everyone makes (because it’s so dang boring if you don’t)
  • An easy trick to control the speed of your dialogue
  • How to ruin dialogue with an information dump
  • The “start in the middle” dialogue trick that grabs people’s attention immediately
  • And so much more!

Click Here to Listen to

Rough Draft on iTunes

Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM

About the author

Rainmaker.FM

Rainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.

The post 6 Simple Rules for Writing Effective Dialogue appeared first on Copyblogger.

Powered by WPeMatico

Posted on

The Beginner’s Guide to Writing Bullet Points That Work

bullet-points

Why bullet points? Like it or not, they keep people reading your blog posts, pages, articles, and copy like nothing else …

In the online attention economy, studies show us that readers behave in very predictable ways.

They’ll read the headline, the first sentence, they’ll scan the page, particularly the left-hand side of the page, looking at the sub headlines and slowing down at the bullets.

But they’ll fly by those bullets if you fail to craft them in a certain way …

In this roughly 10-minute episode of Rough Draft with Demian Farnworth, you’ll discover:

  • The two-part essence of a great bullet point
  • The proper way to think about bullet points (this will keep you from wasting time)
  • The mistake amateur bullet writers make when it comes to teasing
  • If and when it’s okay to have a bullet longer than one sentence
  • A sublime example of bullet points that work

Click Here to Listen to

Rough Draft on iTunes

Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM

About the author

Rainmaker.FM

Rainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.

The post The Beginner’s Guide to Writing Bullet Points That Work appeared first on Copyblogger.

Powered by WPeMatico

Posted on

4 Safe Ways to Find Your Writing Voice (and One Dangerous One)

find-your-voice

One of the hardest things for a writer to uncover is her voice, her style, her flair.

Writers start to peel away from the crowd when they find their voice. That strong, distinctive voice that people easily recognize.

But finding your writing voice is no easy task. Your voice is something that emerges over time … through trial and error. It takes deliberate focus to develop.

Unfortunately, too many writers get stuck in the stage before their voice becomes strong (which Rough Draft host Demian Farnworth will explain in today’s show) … and remain mediocre writers — writers who shuffle along with crowd where careers stall.

If you want to find your writing voice — and develop it into a strong one that demands attention and commands respect — then this episode is for you.

Here are four safe ways to help you find your writing voice — and one dangerous one.

In this 8-minute episode of Rough Draft with Demian Farnworth, you’ll discover:

  • The best cure for a lack of confidence
  • How to use compliments to identify your voice
  • Lessons on how to catch hell (from a petite woman behind dark sunglasses)
  • The distinct pattern you’ll see emerge when you study great writers and bloggers
  • How your love for conformity is ruining your growth as a great writer
  • The most volatile (but most fun) way to develop your writing voice

Click Here to Listen to

Rough Draft on iTunes

Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM

About the author

Rainmaker.FM

Rainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.

The post 4 Safe Ways to Find Your Writing Voice (and One Dangerous One) appeared first on Copyblogger.

Powered by WPeMatico

Posted on

David Sedaris’s Guide to Writing Brilliant First Sentences

opening-sentences

In previous episodes of Rough Draft, we’ve established that beyond headlines the first sentence dominates.

In fact, it’s responsible for hurling the reader into the story. The headline captures the reader’s attention. The first sentence keeps it.

Great writers like David Sedaris know this. Just study some of his first sentences and you’ll see he takes this seriously. Very seriously.

Which is what we will do in today’s show.

In this 10-minute episode about first sentences on Rough Draft with Demian Farnworth, you’ll discover:

  • How to create suspense in your first sentence
  • The trick to introducing an interesting character (miss this and people could care less about your character)
  • The very best first sentence David Sedaris ever wrote
  • When first sentences go horribly wrong

Click Here to Listen to

Rough Draft on iTunes

Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM

About the author

Rainmaker.FM

Rainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.

The post David Sedaris’s Guide to Writing Brilliant First Sentences appeared first on Copyblogger.

Powered by WPeMatico

Posted on

The 3 Pillars of Great Web Writing

great-web-writing

If you summarized every single book and article written on writing for the web, you’d get the three words I’m about to tell you.

Yet, no one — not even the experts, authors, or pundits — has, to my knowledge, ever consolidated all this knowledge into one simple, sticky process.

Write with these three words in mind, and anything you publish on the web will rivet attention, stoke desire, and get action.

In this 9-minute episode of Rough Draft with Demian Farnworth, you’ll discover:

  • A truly inspirational article by a pioneering punk legend
  • The danger of being clever or cute
  • The wonderful benefit you’ll enjoy while being a ruthless editor of your work
  • The very simple thing you must do once you uncover what makes your reader tick
  • An embarrassing message from Ginger (my robotic co-host)
  • How to write naturally dense keyword copy
  • And, of course, the three words behind great web copy

Click Here to Listen to

Rough Draft on iTunes

Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM

About the author

Rainmaker.FM

Rainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.

The post The 3 Pillars of Great Web Writing appeared first on Copyblogger.

Powered by WPeMatico

Posted on

An Idiot-Proof Guide to Writing Blog Posts That Google Loves

blog-posts-google-loves

If you’re a good web writer, then February 24, 2011 was your day. Bad web writer? Not so much.

February 24, 2011 marks the day Google took low-quality content sites out to the woodshed. It’s the day they rolled out their search algorithm update known as Panda.

And here’s how you can benefit from that development.

These 21 questions from a Google engineer will help you create original, high-quality content …

In this 9-minute episode of Rough Draft with Demian Farnworth, you’ll discover:

  • What sites were destroyed by the Panda update
  • Google’s definition of “low-quality content”
  • How Google engineers think about high-quality content
  • The wonderful thing that starts to happen when you create unique, useful content

Click Here to Listen to

Rough Draft on iTunes

Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM

About the author

Rainmaker.FM

Rainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.

The post An Idiot-Proof Guide to Writing Blog Posts That Google Loves appeared first on Copyblogger.

Powered by WPeMatico