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Transform Ho- Hum Writing to Content Worth Reading

Lesson 13 from: Double Your Followers with Creative Marketing

April Bowles-Olin

Transform Ho- Hum Writing to Content Worth Reading

Lesson 13 from: Double Your Followers with Creative Marketing

April Bowles-Olin

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Lesson Info

13. Transform Ho- Hum Writing to Content Worth Reading

Lessons

Class Trailer

Marketing that Doubles Your Customer Base in Two Months

1

One Introduction

00:56
2

Bootcamp Introduction

34:49
3

Why Your Business Success Depends on Marketing

53:36
4

Why Your Customers Should Choose You and Your Brand

50:29
5

Your Target Market and A Day as Your Ideal Customer

1:03:03
6

Make Marketing Fun so You Actually Do This Stuff

34:09

Build A Brand Your Customers Love

Lesson Info

Transform Ho- Hum Writing to Content Worth Reading

Thank you guys thank you so much and we're moving on to lesson eleven transform ho hum writing to content worth reading before we move on we're going to just go over what we covered in the last lesson which is less in ten write headlines that get your followers to click in share in that lesson we covered why headlines are so important to the success of your growth why you should never use your first headline idea are almost never and using headline starters to write captivating headlines every single time and then we provided some examples we had some really great hot seed so that lesson is really important and now we're moving on to like injecting personality and all of that kind of good stuff so the objective of this one is too right content that's filled with personality and connects with your target market to learn how to separate the logical and creative parts of writing to make the writing process even easier and chris is going to take care of that when we get to that part what y...

ou'll learn what the friend test is and how to use it to get rid of robotic writing how to write with personality how details transform writing and chris win leigh's writing process that separates the logical from the creative your business is filled with writing blawg post social media updates, emails, web site copy product descriptions and more if you don't learned to write in a way that connects with your target market, you're going to feel frustrated when no one clicks reads shares, comments, especially comments, that's a big one for people when they're not getting any comments, they feel like they're doing something wrong. So if you're injecting your personality into your stuff, it's going to be more likely that people are going to comment on li wei to get better is to write more, you're not born knowing how to do this. None of us are good writers write great writers write more and I really believe that so the more practice you do, the better you're going to get at it. I want to share this quote with you guys, fill your ears with the music of good sentences and when you finally approach the page yourself, that music will carry you. This is from a book still writing by dani shapiro, and this book is, um, amazing. I love it so much I highly recommend it for anybody who is into books on writing it's a really, really good one, so read great writing, study it think about what it is that's so compelling when you read something and you're thinking, oh my gosh, this is so good. Break it down and say, why is this so good? Why do I love this so much? I do that all the time, and every time I do it, it makes my writing stronger, because then I can pull in, I'm not pulling him with that person, that person's personality, I'm pulling in the techniques that they're using, and that makes my writing better always start by asking yourself, what do I want my readers to feel every time you're going to write something, and when you add it, make sure each paragraph is helping you to create that feeling? Read the paragraph and say, is this helping me get closer to that feeling? If I'm trying to inspire, is it inspiring? If I'm trying to motivate isn't motivating if I'm trying to persuade, is it persuasive? And this is my trick? This is my trick to make your writing feel like you it's giving it the friend test and that's when you read it out loud and you ask yourself what I say, it like this to a friend, because when we sit down to write sales copy, especially, we turn into this robotic person that has to talk about our business in this really weird way and that's not what you want to dio because that's not what's going to connect with your target market, your ideal customer so give it the friend test really say to yourself what I say it like this to a friend and if not how would I say it to a friend that's gonna help you come up with so many more ideas change the expected to the unexpected one of the best quickest ways to improve your writing is to do this zoom in and ask what does this really look like? We've already been doing this but I want you to get in so so close and look at it details are your very best friend so for instance if you are saying something like I'm putting on these you're writing a product description and you're saying you put on these earrings as you sweep your hair up and rush out the door trish had something like that in one of her product descriptions will can we zoom in even closer to see what that looks like? What is that hair style actually what is what what does that frame look like? What does that story look like? How can we zoom in and get even more detailed so that that sounds completely different than anything else out there and it's all about the details if she is grabbing her kate spade key chain that says something about the person who's buying that pair of earrings it also creates a more clear picture it's what makes your writing filled with personality and anybody can do that so every time you write something I want you to act like you're resuming and with your camera and you're looking at the details and what are those details? And even if you have to list out the details if you're looking at a paragraph in you're saying this is so boring I don't know what to do with this look at the paragraph and say what are the details? Zoom in real tight, list them out and then pick just a couple of them to include in whatever that is and it's going to stand out more than anything else details are your bed a friend and the problem is is that when readers think they know what's coming they start to scan, they start to gloss over things they don't pay close attention so you need to be using these details so that your exciting people every step of the way an example example of before have you ever yelled when you've read or heard someone giving bad business advice? Maybe you want to shake that person? This is what I started with with the beginning of a block post this is what it changed tio have you ever shrieked out loud when you've read or heard someone giving potentially business drawing device? Maybe you imagine kicking that person in the shin until they take it back no just me that week somebody up the first one is kind of like ok read this before seen this before the second one, where I'm kicking somebody in the shin repeatedly until they take it back that's going to get somebody to pay attention and somebody's got their gonna laugh there, they're going to say yes, I think that too, or they're going to think maybe it is just you, but it wakes them up. Another example of before the word marketing makes you nauseous example of after the word marketing induces your gag reflex it's different it's, more specific? It zoomed in example of before, when you look at your marketing to do list, you feel completely overwhelmed example of after when you glance at your marketing to do list of blogging, posting on instagram and facebook, emailing your list and updating your product photos you wonder if a shot of tequila ten a m is really such a terrible thing. This is unexamined of something that I have actually used all of these examples are really examples from my business I've started with that and I end with that and it's really I'm just zooming in and saying, what does this really look like? What does this really mean and that's how it changes from something that anybody else is saying to something that only I am saying because you all will come up with your own details and that's the important peace because we pull from our lives, we pull from the things that we experience, so that makes it different, not editing each sentence toe, add details and choose the right words is one of the big mistakes entrepreneurs make when writing it's. One of those big mistakes not going back through an editing because the first time when something comes out it's usually not quite right, not just the headline, but everything is usually not quite right. Every time you can get more specific, it will make your writing stronger. Paint a picture with your words. So here is an example. I drove away as fast as I could in my car with the radio on full blast versus I barreled out of the circular driveway and my tomato red vw beetle while blasting t swift's bad blood. It pains a picture for you. You can see the second one, the first one you can't really see the second when you can, you can imagine it's painting a picture for your reader that's. What you want to do is it really zoom in on those details you want to ask yourself? Does this paint the picture if not get more detailed now, here are a few more tips short often equals better and more powerful examples. Stop versus discontinue lust versus sensual ism hate versus resentment all of the shorter words are more powerful, so sometimes we pick did big words because we feel like we're supposed teo or we feel like we need to sound different, so we need to pick the bigger word, but that's actually not as powerful or more specific, so just think about that when you're choosing those words. Whenever you can replace multiple words with one word that's more specific and has more impact do it? Examples run fast versus sprint print is the better option lots of people vs crowd crowd is a better option choose active, not passive when possible I opened your email yesterday versus your e mail was opened yesterday choose the active voice when you can't sew all of these things pulled together are going to make your writing so much better and stronger and filled with personality without you feeling like how do I put more of me into my writing that's an issue that people talk to me about all the time they're like, I don't know how to put more of me and to my writing well, this is how you do it, you do it by getting really detailed and focusing in on those details because that is going to set it apart from anything else you guys have any questions about that? No, you think you could do it because I think you can do it it's about practicing over and over again because at the beginning it feels really hard feels really hard to look at a paragraph that's vague and try to make it more specific you have tio do it over and over and then it becomes like second nature and it doesn't come out we'll talk about in a minute but it doesn't come out the first time that you write if you sit down to write something and you want it to be the perfect end result immediately then you won't be able to get there so when she was showing the before and after recognized like april's a fantastic writer she's got a lot of experience and she has a before and after so yeah well too so you will go back and then take the thing that's already there and add this to it exactly yeah the before isn't that great it's not terrible but it isn't that great it doesn't stand out it's nothing that's gonna make you sit up in your seat and pay attention and that's what we want people to dio sit up in their seats and pay attention and it takes like looking at the paragraph and processing it and asking yourself those questions over and over again so that you get zoomed in and you're using those details now we're in for a treat you guys we're gonna have chris come up here and talk about the writing process and I think she deserves a big round of applause for coming out here okay, here is your clicker thank you all right and you just go for it take us away thank you so much. I'm so excited this is fantastic um I don't want to talk about myself too much because this is not about me this is about you guys it's about everybody at home it's about you finding your voice and finding a way to right that's comfortable for you and it's really effective as well but you have no a little bit about me to know why this matters so much to me first of all I started off I was one of those kids with the notebook in hand all the time I loved writing but I believe that creative jobs weren't riel they weren't for real people there for fictional characters and so I decided to do the other thing that I loved and that's to teach it's something that I joked that it's a genetic disorder being a teacher because my family's all full of teachers and I love it so much so I decided to do that and I was a teacher in high school for a number of years an english teacher and then I taught at a school for students of all ages with learning disabilities and I taught them to write and I loved it but I worked too much I was there all day every day and maybe I loved it too much, and maybe I poured a bit too much of myself into it because I ended up having some pretty big health problems, and I had to stop, and it was devastating. I was so upset to lose this connection that I had to the things both of the things that I loved and then watching creative live. Actually, I realized that copy writing, writing with something that was really necessary and that there were all of these people out there in the world, all of you who needed to be ableto learn how to do these things in order to achieve your creative dreams. And it was like all of the light bulbs went off at once, and I was really excited, and I found out that I could be a copywriter and a teacher. I could do all of the things, and I could do with other people who understand that idea of having a creative life and how exciting it is to be able to make your dream. So when april at ask me to do this course, she sent me the e mail, and I completely freaked out. The first thing I did was run around my house like a lunatic, and then I told my kids, and then all of us ran around the house like a bunch of lunatics it was so much fun, and then I sat down and went into teacher mode and decided I need to pick the right thing to teach, and I could teach you lots of stuff. I mean, I I talk about blogging and copy writing all that stuff, but I realized that the biggest issue is that there are specific blocks or boundaries that we all need to get through in order to do that stuff. So it would be great for me to tell you this is how you build a fantastic block post. But if you have that feeling in your gut, like I can't do it, you're not going tio and there's two reasons that you have that feeling. There's. Two things that stop you from going from this is a great idea to write about to having written about it. And the first thing is that you need to trust your voice. And the second thing is that you need to have a process. You need to know what to do and then what to do next and the next and the next so that you can actually get that idea out into the world. So this segment is going to help you little bitch kitten and she's a little nervous about talking but this is going to help you if you're like this if you ever go into a room or you decide to write something you have a story to share and the first thing you do is look around to see if anybody else could maybe say it first because you don't feel like you should be the one to do it your eyes are not in your head uh or if you feel like you're a little bit too afraid to sound like an imposter if you've ever said to yourself or even allowed who am I to say anything don't do that anymore but this segment's going to help you to stop doing that it's also for you if you sit down to write something and you have an amazing idea when you're in the shower that's one of my ideas always come to me in the shower washing my hair out like this fantastic idea and then if you sit down to write it and as soon as you do, you've got this voice telling you well, that won't work because of this that won't work because of that and your ideas just flee, they disappear, so when we're finished you're going to be able to recognize the benefits of writing we already know a lot of them but more importantly, why you avoid it? We're going to also identify sometimes in your life when you can exercise and discover your own voice and develop it continually over the next month and beyond we're also going to recognize your creative side your analytical side and how you can use them both in the right way to really effectively and comfortably get your ideas out into the world where they belong where we want them to be and we're going to actually run through the writing the whole writing process together in rapid fire really time I'm pretty excited about that too, so make sure that you have your workbook it's a little bonus work look, everybody here has one and this is free with r r s v p as well get that out and get it ready because we're gonna whip through that as well. So first of all we know that writing is hard and I want all of you to understand that it's hard for everyone it's hard for me it's hard for april it's hard for stephen king it's hard for every single person and I'm not saying that to make you feel overwhelmed or scared I'm saying that because there's some freedom and understanding that is not you there's nothing broken in you it's a difficult thing to dio but you can take steps to make it less difficult so there's freedom in that as well and the first thing that I want you to do is recognize that there are benefits there are real reasons for it not just all of the things that we know for your business but also for yourself as a person it feels really good to be able to communicate well it feels really good to be able to order and understand your thoughts even if it's just in a journal for yourself but you also have to recognize why you don't do this because we know it's a good thing like nobody says that writing is a bad thing to dio right it's we know that it's something that's good but there's reasons that we don't do it so I want you to probably a little bit more in your own time but you're gonna have to think about this a little bit and even I analyzed the experience that you have when you're writing what are those bad feelings that crop up one of the voices like angie's professor that pop up into your mind and tell you maybe you shouldn't be doing this bring those monsters out from under the bed and look at them sometimes it's a monster and you have to deal with it and figure out how to cope but usually like a pile of dirty laundry you know it's not an actual monster and if you pull it out into the light then you can recognise that and move on and this is um uh I have it up here is an expert diana morrissey is not a writing expert she's a chris windley expert she's one of my very dearest friends and she said to me because I have a hard time letting myself be vulnerable teo I have this idea that perfection is necessary and a lot of us have that idea that when we especially when we're writing it needs to be perfect and I'm scared to show people my soft underbelly I'm sure just scared to show you my real human side and my imperfections and she said to me one night we were having a conversation about relationships and stuff you said, listen, you're really, really intelligent I love that I think that it's fantastic you're so smart and you're really really strong and resilient you've gotten through difficult things and that's really great I admire that too, but I want you to think about a moment that you've really felt that physical, visceral feeling of love for another person where it's hit you like right in the belly and you just are shocked you know your breath has taken away by how much love you feel and so I did I thought about it and I had a couple really clear moments in my mind and she said, what were they doing in that moment? Were they being really smart and I thought of like holding my newborn maybe they weren't like giving me physics lessons or anything you know that wasn't what it was were they being really strong and resilient in that moment or were they being vulnerable because here's the thing she said I really admire your intelligence I really respect your strength but what I love about you always shows up when you're being vulnerable entrusting me with it so get comfortable with being in perfect get comfortable with being a beginner because it's actually really freeing it's really exciting to be a beginner you can learn all of the new things you have the freedom to make mistakes and here's the cool thing when you make the mistakes were we are reminded that you're a human being so we love you for it it's not there's nobody out there saying oh man, that comma does not belong there I will no longer read your vlog that's not even me and I'm about commas you know I don't it's not something that people are waiting to try and catch you making mistake when they see you being a human being they recognized that you have this in common we're all vulnerable inside and we're all scared to show it and when somebody else does show it it feels like real human connection because then when you get to learn that way you get to explore and you get to have fun with it because you don't find your voice at the end of a treasure map you find it every day when you explore a bit by bit so I want you to enjoy that adventure I want you to be like a little kid who's wandering in the woods and picking up rocks and keeping them for a while or pine cones or leaves or whatever and your voice is those rocks and pine cones and leaves it's the little bits and pieces that you pick up a sze yu go it can be difficult I'm not pretending that suddenly now because I'm telling you it's an adventure it's going to be super easy you have to climb hills like we're in san francisco I climbed some hills yesterday but it was an adventure my calves are feeling it but it was an adventure right? And I learned some things partly about footwear and maybe being more careful about what you're wearing on your feet when you're climbing hills but you learn things along the way and every time you face that difficulty thing you learn the thing and you feel better because you did something difficult. So this is one of the best ways in my opinion for you to do this with your voice it's called free writing I didn't invent it it has only two rules and this is something that I want all of you to deal for the next thirty days at least take a notebook that you love grab a pen or a pencil that you enjoy using and fill three pages with anything at all which seems very simple but it's actually very hard and I want you to not judge yourself that's the biggest, most important part this is an exercise in letting yourself explore and letting yourself be in perfect and letting yourself like maybe write about your grocery list if that's all you can think about and it's okay, okay. And that's the hard part right? These guys have all had a chance to do some free writing. The hard part is when you're writing something and it's not like music hall and beautiful immediately and letting that be okay like it's not going in the times today you know what I mean? This is not going to show up on newsstands everywhere. This is your notebook you can let it be what it wants to be but it can still be really hard to do on your own and you need some guidance you need somebody maybe like me who can tell you it's okay, try this here's some different ways you can make it more fun here's some ways that you can lean into that resistance and deal with it and so I created with the help of the ladies here because we've been working on this and amanda creek in particular she was my victim uh, for this and we went through and looked at some things because writing was really scary fee, right? Yeah, people reading my right more than anything. So we talked about different things that you would physically feel because it's, a physical thing it's like fight or flight happened, but you're writing, so we talked about some of those physical things, and I've been doing this for years I've been teaching and the kids that I taught and adults that I talk to the private school I was that they have specific learning disabilities that's like, targeted toward making, writing nearly impossible and free writing work for them, so no excuses, guys, it works for everybody but it's, not always easy, so we've found different prompts in different ways that we can make it easier over the next thirty days and it's called thirty days with a k, and you can go right now and sign up it's freeze for you everyday will get an email and it's going to help you to fill the pages, face and embrace your resistance. Create some luxury and pleasure some like happy stuff when you're doing writing, practice and eliminate those judgmental thoughts so that you can find your voice bit by bit. So now that you've got that down, the first thing trusting your voice is if it's that easy, the next thing that we need to do is start talking about the writing process because you can't just sit down and let it all fall out. You need to have a process, and this quote is a really great quote, neil gaiman's, a fabulous writer, but I'm gonna argue with him just to be antagonistic, I guess or maybe not, but he's aries got this really nailed. This is exactly how it feels to do one piece of the writing process, he says. This is how you do it. You sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it's done it's that easy and that hard, which is a really great way to describe it. But the problem is that this describes only one small piece of the whole process, and if you're on ly trying to do this immediately, you've gotten yourself into trouble because it doesn't work. You can't just sit down and put one word down after another and expected to end up being the end result you want and that's, the problem that we have is that we all think that that's what this is that this is what writing looks like, and then I should be able to write like neil gaiman by doing this and that's not gonna happen now, he's, a great writer granted. So, like, I'm not gonna write, kim doesn't really, but I want to write like the best version of me, and I'm not going to do that unless I first figure out how to make the process work and first up in making that process work first step making that fraud says work is to get your kid to take pictures of you when you're being silly, no, stop the cage match, and the reason that I say this is that I have this imaginary kind of vision of what it looks like in my head, and I have there's this thing that we talked about, you know, having right right brain people left brain people or you think some people are really creative and other people are really analytical, and a lot of us here are very creative, right? Creative, live that's a good name for a reason, but we're also analytical, and if you were one hundred percent creative and none of the rational stuff happened, you wouldn't have been able to get here today like we need to have both sides. So that idea that there's only one of the other is a total myth, you have both sides, the problem is they don't always work well together. I don't know if any of you guys remember when you were in school I know trish is a teacher I remember this from when I was a teacher and I'm you know getting involved in this with my kids too when you're working in a group with other kids and nobody really under stands there roll it can turn into a real mess it can be a bit of a cage match and that's going on inside of your head when you sit down to write if you're trying to do it all at once because you need to use analytical side and creative side at the appropriate times otherwise forget it you know that's what writer's block is that's the shocking truth the writer's block is that it's not a block it's just those little parts of your head fighting with each other you got your creative self coming up with great ideas and she's like what about this and what about that and they're crazy and amazing ideas because that's what she does she's creative and then your rational self is sitting there going that's nuts that won't work because of this that won't work because of that and you're creative self looks at her and says find them I'm not playing anymore I'm leaving and then your rational self is just sitting there going well I can't come up with anything I don't know what to say and that's what writers block writer's block is so you need to know your mind you need to be able to recognize the analytical sides and the creative side and it happens at different points in your day this hand out I want you to do this at home over the course of a whole day or maybe a couple of days look at your morning look at the things that you d'oh different things that you do in your routine are going to spark different parts of your mind you're gonna have creative things that you do you're gonna have analytical things thatyou dio when I sit down to make my list in my bullet journal which I'm obsessed with that's really analytical I'm looking at how long will this take what's the best order to do things in what's high priority but when I'm going for a walk and listening to a podcast and come back in and have a great idea for a block post that I need to write down immediately that's creative so I know going outside going for walks sparks that creative me sitting down with my journal in my pen that that makes me feel more analytical and now that you know your two sides you got to give them jobs that capitalize on their strengths and that's where the writing process comes into play so now I want you to make sure that you have this page out because we talked earlier about how you can fill in the banks is a way to make sure that people are paying attention this is teacher ninja move teaching him to move one so I'm going to talk a little bit about the writing process I'm going to go through it really quickly because I want to run through it with one of the students here I do a whole course on this and they'll be more information available about that in the next little while on the website if you want if you want to do a whole course on it, you go right ahead and sign up for my newsletter and I'll tell you all about it but I want to give you enough that you can actually change the way that you write today so I'm gonna give you the whole process. The first step is pre writing it's when you go to the drawing board it's really all about making decisions now with your analytical line so that your create himself can just come later and be relaxed and just create and explore with all that without all the pressure of all those decisions you need to know your audience first who are you talking tio what does she want to talk about it? How does she talk about it and you need to be really clear on your purpose why are you writing this and what do you want her to think and feel and do with it and you need to have an outline, which I resisted, like if anybody at home is saying, I just don't write that way, I'm creative. I need to be able to do it differently. Oh, I know, because I was the same way and one of my professors forced to be forced me to do it, and I resisted like nobody's business and then is I finally did it. I couldn't believe the difference. So just trust me, man it's better it's just better this way. The next set. Once you have that map is to go and explore its but exploring your ideas in the order that you already mapped out. So you're rational self made these decisions for you you're safe. Go and explore. Have fun climb that mountain. Enjoy the process without judging yourself because it's not fun to judge yourself. It's not an adventure anymore. It is like a field trip in a lame one at that. So this is about exploring your ideas in the order you already mapped out. You have to take your map don't leave it at home because you made it for a reason. Explore without judging yourself. This is why we practice that in free writing and leave flags. And what I mean by that is that it's really hard to not judge yourself when you're putting it on the paper and you know something's not quite right circle it analytical self has a chance later on to come back and fix it she loves doing that so let her do it if you start trying to worry about word choice or spelling now creative self is leaving she doesn't want to play anymore then you can come in for revising this is about building and rebuilding take the big pieces and move them around you're gonna use your analytical mind here to build or rebuild anything that fell apart while you explored because exploration and adventures can be a bit messy sometimes which is awesome that's when the cool stuff comes out but sometimes you need to clean up a bit afterwards so you have a whole step for it which frees up your creative self a bit to feel like her adventure can be messy and then editing is about polishing your work to his shine it's about the little details now so you can go ahead and be really analytical you're gonna look at spelling you're going to look at grammar but without being really hard on yourself because it's a learning experience for everyone and that's one of the things that I love to do in editing is recognizing this is something that I could maybe learn more about I'm not really sure how to do the common thing, so I'll make note of that and learned that right now and not worry about all the other things right? Pick one thing and learn about it and then the final step publishing you get your name up in lights or on your blogged or in creative live or get a book deal whatever this is the step where your message gets to your audience however that happens it's the way that you publish your thing and the way that you do it's going to affect the way that the messages received tio so if you're doing a podcast it's going to be received differently from a from a blood post because people perceive things differently based on what platform it comes from me being here with you talking to you this way feels different the message gets to be a little bit different than if I were writing in a block post and I have I've written this stuff and block posts before but it's different when I can look you in the eye or when you can see the way that I feel about it so now we're going to run through the entire process really quickly michelle if you want to come up you've got a few uh you can bring it back up if you wanna bring your bring your beautiful necklaces yeah out of the way okay, fantastic. Yeah, hi hide, honey, have a seat. Thank you. So were going teo through the magic of television we're going to go through the whole process and I want you to see how we can do this whole process with different sized pieces of writing. So when you see how like it step by step by step, it seems really laborious, but once you get into it, you can do it really quickly. I could dio, you know, a tweet using this process and it could take me thirty seconds. You know, it doesn't have to be a huge long process, but it's the doing things in that order and allowing your mind to have the chance to do each of them. So we're going to do a little product description together. I don't know if you guys can see these, but they're beautiful necklaces and michelle is wearing an example of them here and it's a line that she does she's got immune. I don't know if you could tell a from a fan, but I love her stuff got video customer I am your and I love it. So this line in particular is one of my favorites because it's all different and of green gables no it's, not it's all different allison wonderland why did they save every tables I'm canadian? It just happened uh it's all different allison wonderland prince and it really goes with your brand for a bunch of reasons it's cool and you're cool uh but it's also something that your ideal customer is going to look at and feel that rush of memory, right? Yes, and that's, what a lot of your stuff has is a feeling that there's a there's a a memory that I'm holding that I'm wearing and I can wear who I am so I'll hold up these guys here so you can see them. They're so cool. Thank you. I love them, so we're going to do a little product description on one of them and the first step does anybody know what the first staff iss? This is a test pre writing the first half is free writing and we want to first we know your audience me write any of us your ideal customers we already know her we know your purpose because we're doing a product descriptions so that you can sell it, right? Yes. So the purposes that you want her to feel a cz though she needs to have it. Yes, yeah, this is what her feeling needs to be uh and we need to create a little bit of a map, but before we create the map, we're going to start trying to find stuff too put on the map the places I'm warning you we're going to go so let's think about I'm not going to go into the hole like how to make the best product description thing right now because that's a whole other thing but we've decided I think we'll do a little bit of story with this because story is really good for your stuff and it's a great way to connect with people so let's think about your ideal person your ideal client and what she's going to feel before she puts this on what's because we wanted to feel like she's got this right we want her to have this in her mind that I'm gonna put this on it's gonna feel this way so how does she feel first when is what is she feeling in the moment beforehand? Um well we she's probably getting ready to go to work okay and where does she work? She has just like a regular office job nothing like super sexy okay and she has to wear regular office clothes who boring yeah no fun. I'm sorry about my writing by the way my printing is not the best so she's got to put on a regular office close how does she feel about her job? Do you think she's probably fine with it but it doesn't allow her to express her yourself? Yeah, you kind of have to fit into that mold yeah so I think writing this really badly I think that this is a big piece right here, so I'm going for a little star next to it and this is what pre writing looks like like they're circles there's lines there's arrows their stars it's cool explore have fun find this is creative us right now, right? So she can't express herself at work she likes her job but there's something missing right a little bit of a little bit of wonderland yeah wonderland in your life uh senior wonderland I think that's and looking like this feels good because it connects to the idea of the actual memory too needs a little wonderland there's something about alison wonderland is something about that crazy world that she want she needs to feel ok cool so this is her before feeling she needs a little wonderland in her life she puts it on she feels what she feels that she is abel teo express herself but not outrageously but just enough give enough hint of excitement ok? And what if this is one of the things that happens? I think with your jewelry because this is what I feel like when I put it on that there are people who get it right? Yes, there are other cool cats there and they're going to see me wearing this and they're gonna be like, yeah, I know I understand so this is something that I think without sin wonderland to other people who get it who dig it would be like yeah, no wonder what so she's gonna have that to she's going to be able to show who she really is yeah show a little bit of who she is without you know crossing the dress go to work or whatever yeah it's like a safe little safety safety wonderland fantastic. I love this ok right about the club club thing like someone's going to see it and go I love alice and wonderland and she's gonna go and that's one of the things that happens all the time too with your stuff oh yeah is that people always it's the conversation started everywhere I go I have a ring and have worn it a few times here I have a ring of yours that I love and the time that I'm doing anything and I'm like my hands are out there somebody says something about wow that's so cool where did that come from? Conversation starter is a great when I need to put that in all my copy yeah says there's really does yeah and it's a conversation starter if anybody other than me can read this it will be a miracle but you read it you can read it I read your writing before okay, so this is pre writing it's not pretty it doesn't have to be it's a mess but that's cool it's right like exploring is mats adventures are messy but now we're going to take this I'm probably knock things over a little bit that was actually very smooth put it here we'll just leave it really are okay, so now we need to make our map so that we can continue off and send our creative self on an adventure so our map needs to be fairly clear and this isn't a huge long thing this isn't like my master's thesis or anything where the outline was ten pages long this is something that we can keep I know it's crazy this is something that we can keep chill it's like as shortened map it's a bus map it's not you know yeah everest so we're going to start off with the before like, this is not brain surgery guys like we're you know it's not gonna be just don't be difficult. We're gonna talk about the before and some of the things that we talked about in the before were that she had to put on regular clothes she liked her job, but she felt like there was a piece of her missing any of those stand out to you that you really liked and you'd love to have in here about her personality missing from the her uniform's ok, so she starts off by going to work she's getting ready to us getting ready for work and she's dressing in her personality hilary uniform working no personality feels missing and she's getting dressed for work so I would remember april is talking about the details I would describe it a bit late yes heard again that she puts on you know she puts on her mouse acid yellow cardigan and she's got her white t shirt under it or her white peter pan collar and she looks in the mirror and something is missing I was gonna say she's flipping through her closet to decide which work and then tell me what she sees what she's flipping through because that's the difference between and this is where that something with white blouse am I gonna wear today flipping through the closet and I would get really really specific and we could do that in drafting you don't need to get really specific here because this is just a map this isn't the entire thing right this is just a saying okay first you should get ready for work she's flipping through the closet personalities missing when we're drafting then we can talk about like the sweater she's looking at or the whatever right so there she is her personality feels missing she needs a little wonderland you need a little of their land in her life so maybe we'll have a little a little wonderland here and this maybe like your click to tweet kind of a thing that we do when you're publishing this may be the thing that you bowled so that it stands out because it just feels really good so we'll put a little box around in the maps that we know it's important the next step so we're coming into the after this is her before before she puts on this transformative piece her after what does she feel like now that she's fastened it on and I think she should choose the cheshire cat one oh yes and it's the reason that she needs well I like cats you guys if anybody knows me a bit of a cat lady but I also dig the quote on it it's really small print so we may not be able to get it on camera but it says would you tell me please which way I ought to go from here? That depends a good deal on where you want to get teo yeah said the cat so which it feels really good it's kind of appropriate to this course, right? You have to make the decision of where you're going to forget we're going exactly so she puts on the necklace and what does she feel you think if you got her after here just a little bit more citing and well it's probably a childhood memory too because most people love alice in wonderland from being a kid yeah, so I would make sure that that the detail too and and we can do that and drafting think of a detail that really feels like a childhood memory and cool cause alice in wonderland in school a little bit like edgy you're edgy but not like over the top edgy like just still fit into your office job but just the right amount and I'm talking too fast I know that really happens just the right amount of cool yes, just just like just a touch of wonderland just that's all you need just a touch perfect and then you're gonna have a called action yes which is going to be very probably very clearly, you know, click here you know you can use cool words for it but you're gonna have a called action to get her to buy the thing. Yes, here I found that you've got to be fairly clear not try to be too cute see with the called action because it's isn't yeah that's absolutely fair. Yeah this isn't just a cute picture of a necklace for you to think about I would like you purchase it you need to see a reason for this because that's the purpose right and we get the purpose was always important okay way are whipping through this guys doing this quickly so now we're going to get a little creative I'm gonna pretend that we've gone for a walk outside or done something to make us feel little bit creative and we're gonna take our map which is kind of large and ungainly because it's on a piece of paper the first thing is that she's getting ready for work so let's test in say you you're doing this we're talking directly to your reader right yes so tell me you're getting ready for another day turn nine to five job you're flipping through your closet deciding which white blouse to where yeah I guess you don't not everybody wears a white blouse over doesn't that that's okay and do you know what I'm going to dio I'm gonna leave a little flag here okay and I like to put w c word choice that's just what editors dio you can put whatever you want you can put like a star you can put an hourglass it doesn't matter to me but I'm just dropping a little flag yes is what I mean my neck about tomorrow so you can come back later and go exactly what does that look like deciding which blouse to wear that w has a lot of okay well just triple a lot of use okay so you're siding which blouse to wear what's next on our map don't lose they'll get lost we already made the decisions here you you want a had a little bit of your personality okay too let's look at it as the thing missing right now so she's looking at herself in the mirror or something she's looking at the closet something's missing what's missing brother herself uh well like you said this is a first draft wait make it a little less depressing way tio yeah that's not the purpose we're not trying to get her to quit her job here we're joining in and buy necklaces something is missing yourself and then you can put your baby like a little bit of yourself a little bit of yourself you've got like most of it but there's a little tiny bit and so then you're going to put your wonderland here your wonderland now today a little you need a little bit of wonderland and this is something that we're gonna have folded now you reach into your jewelry box or you take it off his head on the wall what what what he's called what is this necklace called? Does it have a have a really boring name it's just a long nodded necklace so we'll work on that later. We will have more on that later you grab your something who put a little star next to that for revision self you grabbed your your cheshire cat nap? Yes put it on and feel your childhood memory is next right? And remember what what's something the wonder of it childhood, huh? Guys like the wordplay fantastic I don't know if I can put this over going it works if you feel the wonder of childhood the next thing on our map it's good to use the map it keeps us going. The next thing on the map is that you've got just the right amount of school, which was really well with the wonder of childhood it's got that kind of like edgy and sweetness think sides of it oh, I like it when it works that way with cool okay, so you got the little bit of childhood with just the right amount of cool? In fact, I want the necklace well, I saw them in my etsy shop so anyone's interested and through the magic of television we're going to do the revision stab mons drafting and everything like that and you'll be able to go and find the final product description afterthe mental published up too and then what you do from the harris entirely up to you, but you really should buy it wear it so is with just the right amount of cool. The next thing on our map is to add in a call to action, do you have a called action that you always use with your products that's sort of red skull rubio argue just say simply by now in my etsy shop I don't really have a called action, okay? I don't for the custom pieces I do but for the other stuff I really don't need to work on that okay? So that's something that we can work on a little bit too ok so then we'll put like we'll put it by now yeah right here because you could say like you know, get a little wonderland in your life but I don't think you see thing is fifty fifty you gotta get a little wonderland in your life you have that further up too so it's okay to have this really just were called action because it's about minus you want it to be simple yeah, I know you want it to be simple to ok cool so that's fantastic that's your first draft your first happened then what you're going to dio I haven't been clicking because I got so excited we did our first draft then we can go back in and move things around so you can look at it and say do you know what you need help go sure girls I got it so you can go back and say do you know what? Maybe I want to start with you looking through the closet after you realize that something's missing so maybe she's totally dressed and she looks in the mirror and goes something's missing and then goes to her closet maybe that's a better order that's what revision is for doing those rebuilding things and it can be just as easy as going I'm going to do this obviously when you're on a computer it's a little easier you and cotton paste on a jazz I'm just gonna move these two pieces around because it feels like it works better that works really well that works really well for analytical and then once you've done that you read it aloud you feel like it's all in the right order and everything feels like it's great then you can look at spelling then you can look at grammar you could do all of the editing stuff and finally with publishing you can start looking at what your page is going to look like because this is going to be online and you can have okay what pictures am I going to have? What color is the headline going to be a mega nature it's branded is there a click to tweet and there's that other people can share it well I have other things in the line maybe to show is well that go with it that all happens in the publishing step all underlining and supporting the purpose right how do you feel about that? I feel fantastic about it I can't wait I can't wait to make the list of names making a hole that's fantastic I love it thank you thank you thank you take these down with you although I might just here, grab that cheshire cat one if you're not careful so april is going to come back out because we've got our homework stuff together homework I want to say first that you did an amazing job so good things it gave me I got goose bumps a bunch of times during that, especially when you were talking about holding your baby and I got a little like I had to stop talking about it cause that's like one of those moments I'm talking about that it's okay to be vulnerable and actually we really love that I don't know if it hit anybody else like it hit me, but I like seriously got goose bumps from that and then the other thing I wanted to point out is that when you guys were doing this and you got the blast part and rochelle, you said but not everybody where is the blouse? It doesn't matter that not everybody wears a blouse because you're just talking to your person, so keep that in mind so if your person wears a blouse that's fine if not, then go back in and edit that part of it. Yes, and actually I've been going over my listings again and using the the idea that you suggested to get more and more specific on the more times you go over it, the easier it gets like I can just change a few words and then do it again and to change a few words, and it just really hones your message it and it's great. And you could say, instead of saying, white blouse think well, what brand does she love? What does she see herself wearing? Even if he doesn't have it, she wants to have it. Then you're you're telling her again, this is you. You I'm talking to you every time that you use one of those details. Yeah. Yes, I think so. Do you guys have any questions? They can be questioned for. Chris questions for both of us. At what point do you bring it? From the paper to the computer. It's different for everybody. It's. Totally up to how you feel about it. People who are really can aesthetic people. So real movement people really in your body. People are more comfortable using pen and paper, and we'll do. And I do a lot of anything that's really complicated. I do a lot of my outlining on paper, but for block posts because it's something I do regularly, I do my outline in my wordpress page so I might even just have an outline. Could be a simple is me being like, okay, I'm gonna talk about this thing, that thing in this thing and leave it at that because I've been doing this for so many years, right? Like, you don't have to be really painstaking about it every time. If it's going to be a complicated thing for you to write, then you need to be really more clear on your outline. You could do it inside of the computer immediately. If you want. You can even do pre writing on the computer if you want. You can do these kinds of sunshine maps, there's programs and I don't know any off the top of my head, obviously, because that would be too convenient. But there's programs that you can go in and make mine maps and stuff that our three d mind maps and are super cool and crazy. But I like paper I that's just a personal preference so it's totally up to you, you're in charge, man it's your video needed to choose that. Yet I jot down a few notes, but then I get into the computer right away and that's just what works best for me. I think you've to figure out what works best for you. Yeah, and that's the whole thing with this process to I say, design your process because it's yours so as you use it, I liked these steps in these orders, and I like you being able to recognize analytical, creative stuff. But you get to decide as you use it. You know what? It would work really well for me to do revising this way. It would work really well for me to print it and then read it and then move it around it's yours, and it has to work for you. Hey, because it's not like school when the teacher is saying it. Doing it this way is the way you need to. Because it's, what you need to do it start here and then make it work. Yeah, absolutely. Anybody else? I was wondering if maybe the initial, um, brainstorming with the circles can also help. Um, pull out those kind of section headers and bold things. Sometimes I don't know what to put in those kind of short clips. Yeah. That's true. And I saw, uh, I think it was marie for leo, actually in one of her because she's got the copy cure that she's doing now and one of her emails about that. She talked about how the one of the great ways to do so to make it scannable that way is to look at the headlines and read just the headlines and see if it tells the story of what you're doing. So if you feel like if you re just the headlines and there's something missing, then you need to go into that piece and go ok, where is the six think to place that I can that I can pull out and make into one of those little headlines? Um and then maybe a question for april, um, because we're talking about the headlines before, so just if there is a good way to, like, do use the same technique in the actual at real headline versus the many ones um yeah, yeah, absolutely, I mean, it's the same type of thing where you are thinking of your idea, you are trying to come up with something, you're brainstorming ideas, then you're revising it and then you're editing it and then you're using it to publish. So, yeah, you absolutely do the same sort of thing to figure out the headline it just it looks pretty similar for. Like chris said, you can use this for tweet for facebook pose for a block post for anything that you write pretty much and it just makes it makes it feel like you don't have to get it all done right away think that that's the beauty of this yeah, it's, step by step it's that idea like simplify it and let it be like one bite at a time and you could take that by it's so great to because if you're like a planner person, you can check off more things you know it's not just us it's pre writing the block post and they get to check that off and then I do the draft and I get to check that out it feels good not to do it that way. Yeah, absolutely. So why don't you tell us the first couple of things that are homework, right? So the first thing I'd like you to do is take that workbook, the design, your process, trust your voice workbook that came free with the r s v p and fill it in because some of those things in that work book you have to really feel them and like, figure out what your what your resistance is and stuffs to do that on your own anything that you didn't get filled in already and then sign up for the thirty days with a k a challenge so that you can start to explore your voice now and over the next month and beyond because I know some of the folks here when we start it's difficult at first and I want you to keep doing it until it's no longer difficult and you want to do it anyways and there's certainly no angie said to you said you feel compelled now to do free writing and that's the way I love it, I love it when that happens, that's the way it feels. So I want you all to sign up for that. You'll start to get emails in your inbox every day, telling you things that will make it easier and get you to the place where you enjoy it more quickly and then the last piece is to write your next block post or email newsletter and while you're editing change the expected to the unexpected while adding more details in zooming in and just test it out and see what it does to your writing because it completely changes it, it makes it so much better and something that you're proud of. And so you can put these pieces together, the writing process and when you're in there and you're doing that revision that's when you come in and you change the expected to the unexpected and make it even better, so it all works together really nicely, and I'll add to that. I want you to go and check out red scorpios product description to see what the end result is because you didn't get to see the polish. And can you tell us what the link will be that that product description I'll be at, it will be it. The red. Scorpio. Dot com slash wonderland slash wonderland I love that, so go check that out. Hold her accountable because it needed to get out there. Yes, I can't wait to see it.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials

Glam Your Site Workbook
Balancing Blogging & Life Bonus Video MP4 (635 MB)
A5 Planner Pages
Double Your Followers Bonus Videos PDF

Bonus Materials

CreativeLive Spreecast QnA Calls
Double Your Followers Workbook
Your Dream Life & Business Workbook
Kris Windley - Trust Your Voice - Design Your Process Workbook
Double Your Followers Private Facebook Group

Ratings and Reviews

Ana CR
 

This Boot camp came on the best moment. this is the best way to introduce the arid topic of marketing to creative people that really dread to deal with this part of their business. I am in the middle of creating my web site, brand, everything, and all the ideas and tips given here are going to make a real difference in the way I approach my tasks for the next few weeks. I find it so amazing that you and CreativeLive offer this course! It is an amazing, outstanding qualtity and even though we are in Lesson 5 I learnt so much already. I don`t want miss a minute of what is said and offered here. My view of Marketing changed already and is moving forward. I love the easy to swallow way of presenting all the topics. I am very visual so I love your presentation style and the level of detail you go into to make the course come alive. All the pictures and the color palette you use really make me feel welcome and happy to be here. I really appreciate the effort April puts into making this a comprehensive and engaging course. April & CreativeLive have been above and beyond generous in what you have provided for free for the ones seeing it LIVE, I just feel that the price of the 5-week course is an incredible deal and I am sure I will hit the buy button before this is over just because I want to see what more is in the rest of the material. Thank you very much CL and April, keep up the good work!!!

Denise Chakinis
 

I haven't completely finished the course but I have been working through the wonderful workbook. My time to listen is very limited but the book alone is worth the cost. I love April's spirit and openness to share so much information. I also love many of the things that she loves such as Anthropology candles. A beautiful person with a lot of knowledge to give. Once again Creative Live thank you for bringing such inspiring people to our world.

Josh McLaglen
 

I have just found PinPinterestand it is so amazing .Pinterest has never been so easier before. I used to feel Pinterest is so time-taking and still not getting preferable results. I was kind of demotivated due to unsuccessful results after spending a lot of time on Pinterest. Then I started searching for a tool that can help me out from my busy schedule and I found PinPinterest being the easiest yet valuable asset to my successful Pinterest account now. Schedule as many pins as you want to and to as many boards you want to by pin scheduling feature. The main catch is that it’s free to use tool and with easy setup. In all, I just loved PinPinterest and I can’t think my Pinterest account this much successful without PinPinterest having my back.

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