“Writing is easy; all you do is sit staring at the blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead.”
~ Gene Fowler, journalist
===
It happened well over a decade ago…
I asked top email marketing expert, Ben Settle, a profound question. And I got a profound answer in return.
But:
As for the question I was asking him about…
It was when I was just getting serious, and thinking about whether I should really invest time into leveling up my writing chops… or not.
Because, as I asked him:
“Ben, there’s lots of stuff more important than writing. Like creating killer offers. And coming up with the Big Idea, which every copywriter says is the most important thing. Why do I have to get good at writing? And especially, at writing emails?”
His reply?
Which I’m just paraphrasing from memory:
“Everything you say is true. But there is great merit and lots of benefit in knowing how to write good.”
After which…
… I decided to take writing…
… just a bit more seriously.
Especially copywriting. Which is not entirely writing, of course, since a lot of ‘building’ and ‘psychology’ is involved as well. But which pairs together well with plain and simple ol’ writing.
Especially when it comes to getting subscribers.
And sales.
And profit.
But some other benefits I’ve found from getting good (really good) at writing:
* It automatically transfers over to speaking. Which means you can quickly and easily capture an audience’s attention when you’re speaking in front of a room.
Which, surprisingly happened to me once.
Several years ago.
And which I absolutely hated.
Which is why I’ve never done it again since.
(Else I’d probably be doing TED Talks, and getting $50,000 speaking gigs that pay for my 1st class flights and 5-star hotel accommodation, while using those talks to build my customer base.)
But:
Regardless, I had several people walking up to me after I came down from the stage. Lining up to talk to me. And telling me how good my talk was.
And…
… yes, that was on the back of getting good at writing.
Especially writing emails.
Which translates easily, and directly, over to actual live speaking.
What else?
Oh yeah, how about the fact that…
* Getting good at writing is one of the easiest ways to… instantly make you and your biz stand out!
But:
Now that I think ’bout it…
You don’t even have to get good at writing.
You just have to write.
Like you talk.
With all your acne and blisters and all.
Because…
There’s never been an easier time in history than right now to stand out by just writing. Why? B’cuz everyone and their momma is using AI. To write utterly robotic and forgettable text, and speech, and videos. But the problem isn’t really AI, so to speak… rather it’s that… everyone’s using it!
It wouldn’t be a problem at all if you were the only one in the world who had AI.
But:
It still ain’t a problem now, anyway.
Because, since everyone is using it, and most people can tell the difference between AI slop and human written prose and pop (unless they’re either a psychopath or caveman)….
… this means that not using AI just makes you stand out.
Regardless of what or how you write.
Fer real.
Alrighty, how about this:
* Getting good at writing makes you way better at…
… complaining!
And it reminds me of this story.
That Bond Halbert, the legendary copywriter Gary Halbert’s son, once told about his dad. And how he needed something fixed at a government office. But, just like how almost every government office in almost every country around the world is staffed by loafers, and you can’t squeeze a single thing done outta them…
Gary experienced the same thing.
All except for the fact that…
… he used some of his copywriting mojo right there…
… at the front desk of that government office…
… and got people running to the table and responding to his beck and call.
Because they didn’t wanna piss him off.
Can’t really send AI to the office to file your complaints, and get paid attention to now, can you?
* Same thing with sending complaints by email.
Which I actually did yesterday.
Sending out a lengthy, yet persuasive email, to this platform where I’m trading my collectible cards. Because the number of auto-bidding, auto-scalping bots on the platform is snowballing like an avalanche right now. And it just ain’t fun trading that way.
And looks like it’s already gotten me some attention.
And a free gift card as well, as thanks for highlighting the problem.
Which their higher ups are gonna look into.
But if you want more reasons to get good at writing:
* You can write memorable letters to your kids. And grand-kids. That they’ll remember forever. Like Halbert did for his kids, the letters of which went on to become the bestselling Boron Letters series that’s a must-read for every beginner trying to master the art of copy.
* You can write ideas into existence. Literally. Because the more you write, the more ideas you have to write about.
* It gets your brain going, and your memory-muscles building, like I talked about in a previous email, where greatest email marketer alive, Matt Furey, talked about how just writing with pen and paper brought new life to his previously rotting memory.
* You can write emails that people actually want to read.
* And by natural consequence, books that people actually wanna read too. Which is probably one of the highest leverage activities you can possibly do with your day. Because the leads and customers you get from books are probably the highest quality customers of all. Since people who read books tend to be more mentally mature than the average adult.
* It makes you a more impressive communicator. With family, friends, customers, and what not.
* Once you’ve done it for a while, you’ll be able to instantly tell the difference between good profit-pulling writing, and bad writing. Can’t really do it otherwise unless you got the experience. It’s tough.
But anyways:
As for the quickest and easiest way to get good at writing?
It’s… really… simple.
Just write more!
But to do that, probably you’d have to write faster too. Which, is one of the biggest reasons why I designed my new None To Done app. Because it takes away the biggest reason why people don’t write, struggle to write, and struggle to do it consistently.
Namely:
Perfectionism.
Which you can say goodbye to…
… and which I have too…
… once you start giving it a little whirl.
While literally getting it to ‘force’ you to write faster, better, bigger, and a lot more enjoyably too.
And yes, you can experience it all right here:
https://themysteriousmarketer.com/none-to-done/
Allen Walker
The Mysterious “I Hate Speaking” Marketer
Allen Walker, the Mysterious Marketer, is the marketing genius who’s deleted more 6 & 7 figure businesses than anyone else on the planet (*all because he gets bored). He’s also known as the world’s most genius renaissance marketer. Visit his blog to read thousands of his ‘secret’ copywriting tips for getting paid to grow your email list.
This post (https://themysteriousmarketer.com/email-copywriting-maestro-schools-me-good) was originally published by Allen Walker, The Mysterious Marketer. And yes, you can click that link to read his newest secrets for free…