Drama. Structure. Next Step. Introduction and other fun stuff(© 2007 by Sean D'Souza. Al sights reserve. Published by Psychotatics Led, No par ofthis publication may be ‘produced or distribute in any form or by any means or sored in ad database a erieval em without the poe writen permission of Paychotactis Lid The Author and publisher have used cei best efforts in preparing this book and the document contained hes, However the author and publisher make no wartatis af any kind, expresso implied, wit ead to the informational «content, documentaron, or ies contained in this book or in any accompanying mda files such as CDs ot DVD. and specifically disclaim, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability and fines for a pateula purpose, with respect ro program listings in the book, the techniques described in the book, andlor the use of les. In no evene shall the author or publisher be responsible or lable fr lss of prot, or any commercial damages including, but not Timiced to special incidental, consequent, o ay other damages in connection with o arising ow of furnishing, performance o use ofthis book, program files. instrction. audio or video connected with this information Further, che autor andl publisher have used heir bet efforts to proof and confirm the content ofthe les bu you shoul proof and confirm information such a dates, measurements, and any other content for youtsel. The author and publisher make no wareanties of any kind, express ot implied, with regard ro that conten o ks acracy The Bran Audit Kit is available ar special quantity discounts to use a premiums an sales promotions, o for wse in ‘omporae training programs. This is part ofthe entee Brain Audit stes which includes aul programs, on-line taining, For more information, please writer PaycheiTatics Led, PO Box 36461 Northcote, Auckland, New Zealand Phone: 64 9449 0009 Email seanaepsychoractcs.com PsychoTacti comGetting rid of a curse “There are two ways to get a message across You can bore someone to death. Or you can entertain them. ‘And the funny thing is, chat an expert can do both. We've all satin seminars, workshops, and speeches that are extremely full of facts and figures. And extremely ‘good for insomnia, Whar’ interesting, is thac the expert who's giving you those facts and figures, is still an expert. Ie’ juse that you'd rather work wich someone who, um, entertained you while getting a message across. And the most coveted speakers, writers, presenters aren't always the super-duper experts. Bur they're the best communicators. Words by themselves are just content. And yes, we love content. But hey, its the packaging that jumps the queue. And packaging goes fist. ‘Which of course means that if you package your thoughts well, your content will be well received. And if your content is even slightly coherent, your audience will clamour for more content. And the cycle of attraction, conversion and consumption is set into motion ‘This course is meant to get rid of a curse “The curse of creativity. “The stupid notion that some of us were born to write. And some of us weren't. Yeah, whatever. There are good writers and there are not-so-good writers. There's no ‘born writer.” If there were, every child would pop out of the womb with a Parker pen (or a laptop, as the case may be). We learn writing. And some of us process the ideas, and the methodology better than others. ‘The route to ‘good writing’is simple 1) You must want to write, 2) You must get a ‘clean and simple’ method to write quickly and effectively. 3) You must write. And write often. (This ain't a magic trick, y'know). You can be the world’s foremost expert in a topic. And extremely effective at coming up with ideas. Bur youll struggle if you can't get those ideas across in an engaging manner. What's really cool though, is that you can become the foremost expert, simply by writing better. That you'll have people flocking to hear what you have to say, simply because you communicate better. This gives us all hope. But hope is nota strategy ‘Welcome to the Article Writing Course. Where you're going to learn about drama, and structure, and the next step. And learn to write faster, more effectively and be 1 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing Coursefar more entertaining than ever before. But before we go down this path, we need to doa little housekeeping. Pay close attention to what follows in the next few pages, because the mote you follow explicit instructions, the more you'll benefit from this course. So without further ado, ler’ find out what's in store for us, shall we? ‘Ahem...curn the page 2 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseThe Overview of the Course So what's in store for ‘We're going to cover three core aspects. 1) Structure 2) Drama Article Weting ‘Overview Sip Sirs Dane 3) Next Step And if you look at the overview diagram above, you'll notice a fourth element too. I's what I call ‘bridges, because they help create a vital connection. In this course, we'll be focusing on these three core aspects and the bridges will help us connect the dots, as it were. So yeah, now you know what to expect, bur before we go ahead, there are three specific steps you'll have to take. Follow the steps you're about to get. And follow them in sequence, so that you don't miss anything, Step I: This course uses mind maps (the diagram you see above is a mind map). You may already own a mind map software, but for the purposes of this course, we'll be using Mindjet. To be able to sce the mind maps fand believe me, you'll need to sce them), you'll need the FREE Mindjet Mindmap Reader. You can get this FREE reader at: heep:!www.mindjet.com/us/download/viewer,php (You can click on this link and you'll be taken to the site, or else you can copy and paste this link into your web browser, to be taken to the site). re doing a live version of this course, you'll find that you get maximum value by participating in the forum. Now you may have never used a forum before, or may bbe unfamiliar with this particular forum. And yes, there's a way around that problem. To help you familiarise yourself with the forum, you'll get a small PDP, that shows you how to use the most important functions. Of course, if you're stuck for any reason, you can always email me at scan@psychotactics.com (I usually respond in less than 24 hours, so if you don't get an answer back, then make sure you email me at sean@5000bc.com) “The forum is not a nice-to-have. Ie’ critical to your success. I's on the forum that you'll post yout articles-in-progress, and your assignments. This will enable me (and 3 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing Courseyour fellow-participants) to point our the glitches, and help you move quickly to ‘writing more effectively. Just remember that the forum is a safe place. For one, its completely safe from prying eyes. Only the people who I've given permission (0, will be able ro see the forum. So you don’t have the fear of having the forum material being picked up by search engines. ‘And this is because there are two layers of protection. You need a password to ger into the forum. And chen you need special permissions to see the material in the forum. If this is sounding too geeky to you, don't let it worry you “The underlining factor is thac the forum is your safe-zone. ies better to make iistakes within this safe-zone than to make those very same mistakes in the harsh world out So yes, I'm stressing the need to be on the forum. But here's what you should know. When you get to the forum, you'll ind the logo of the Protege Program at the top. And this may confuse you for a second. Is this a specific course? Why have the Protege logo? ‘This is because this specific course is part of the Protege Program (where we have courses in copywriting, website strategy, article writing, info-product creation, public relations and marketing strategy). ‘The reason why you're in this Protege forum, is because it enables me to monitor all the courses within a single forum, and not have to scamper between many forums. So now you know. 2+ Chek on tie button ad when youre akan tothe next page fi inline detais Cae ence andy Loatn Foret yeu pew) fe wsemames ——Passwo Always stay leased; a =e 22 Se] So yeah, how do you access the forum? And how do you get instructions that will make it easy to use the forum? Go to: heep:/iprorege.5000be.com/forum When you've registered, the system will send me an email informing me of your registration. I will then manually set the permission, so you can enter and see the 4 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing Courseforum that will help you navigate the forum, Once you've registered, you can then go to Step 3 t0 make sure you can navigate the forum, (Note: If you've participated in one of our courses, your name may already be in the system. Login and use the password thar you chose, and then let me know when you'te in, and I will give you permission to see the current course forum as well) Step 3 Once you've registered on the forum, you may find that i’s quite easy ro navigate through the forum. But this forum allows you to do lots of nifty things, like upload graphics, photos etc. You don't want to be left behind (or have to fiddle around to find out how ro make things work), so I've created a little ‘non-boring’ step-by-step PDF that you can follow. Spend just 5-10 minutes reading that PDF and trying out the various functions in the forum. This will get you familiar with how the forum works. And don't worry if you do something um, wrong. There's nothing that cantt be fixed. There's no need to panic. As administrator, I can fix anything on the forum, so feel free ro play around without any fear. To get your PDF click on the link below: ‘The PDF is about 5 minutes of light reading. And it’s an easy do-it-yourself guide. Donk get confused if the graphics refer to the "Cave’ (The Cave is the forum at 5000bc.com-the membership site of Psychoractics. ‘The concepts in the PDF are the similar to this forum. To get your PDF go to: hctp://wvww.5000be.com/pdfimemberspdficave.pdf (Right click and ‘Save As’ to download the PDF to your desktop) ‘That's it. “Three easy steps, and we're ready t0 go. Look in your in-box for more details about how to download the audio files, notes and other goodies for this article writing course (you should ger all the information at least 10 days before the course begins). If you don’t get this informacion, please email me at seangepsychotactics.com (Again, expect a response back from me within 24 hours-unless it’s the weekend). Ok, you'e all se) So look for that email and for more instructions. That’ it for now, Warm regards, SD © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseDrama. Structure. Next Step. Outlining ~ Personality ~ One ThoughtContents The Fst of Expstanions The On Fuster Mor Paw Thon Dat How To Conde Yor Arie HOW TO WRITE ARTICLES BASED ON YOUR PERSONALITY ‘THe ‘ONE THOUGHT’ FACTOR Why Sone Aric Ave ater Dan Ors EXAMPLES OF THE ‘ONE THOUGHT’ FACTOR Hay is In The Nowpe! YOUR ACTION PLAN/ASSIGNMENT 19 23 29 3Before we start this course... “There's something you should know before we start this course. ‘There's a factor called ‘expectations’ ‘And this factor of expectations, is the most abstract concept ever. You can't see it, you can’t touch it, but it sure Fels like a 500-pound gorilla So what am I talking about? T'm talking about me not delivering on your expectations. You see, I set certain expectations when I say or do something. And I'm not always sure how you read what 1 say. You may, for instance, need something, but may be hesitant to say it, because you perceive me ro be busy. Am I busy? Yes, Lam, but then so is everyone else. Do I miss the point? Yes, I most certainly do, and this why i's important to give me feedback as the problem occurs, instead of ‘months later. But hey, thas easier to say than do. Because for one, feedback is hard to give. I's easier © hope that che boat will right itself. But usually it doesn’t, because Tm sitting on one end of the boat, and can't imagine what's happening at your end (and this is all despite it being.a very small boat) . ‘And everyone is reluctant to give feedback. Because it appears as a complaint. We keep thinking that the problem will go away. And the problem could be a tiny thing, ‘or something that bugs the hell out of us. And our natural response is ‘things will get better.’ Buc they don't-and it's not because I don't want it to get better. Ie’ just that I don't understand the importance of your needs. And which need is important right now, and which one isnot. Run inevitable that the host may feel they're doing all chey can, but somehow your need may be different/or I may have made a comment that I forgot. 1g 4 course is like having many guests in the same house. And it’s almost ‘And you feel neglected. And it bugs you. And ir shouldn't, because there is a way out. So please do this for me: 1) Ive already set up a ‘Remind Sean’ List. (If you'te on the live course, you'll find it ‘on the forum. If you not, please send me an email instead)! I know I'm not totally up to speed on fixing all the issues instantly, bur use that post to remind me. 2) Ifyou feel uncomfortable with any issuefor any promise remains unresolved, then please underline it for me, by sending me an email directly to scan@5000bc.com, And. please don't give up till | fix the problem. 1 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseYour progress and happiness is critical to my well-being and happiness. If for any reason you feel unhappy or left out, I feel exactly the same-if not worse, And that’s bec se I s0 want to be the good host. 1 so want you to move ahead, that it breaks my heart (and messes up my mind) find out later, that there’s something that I could have done to help you, and didn‘. So yes, please use the systems above. Or feel fice to call me. Or send me a box of chocolate :P. Or a bunch of Elmos. Whatever it cakes. Because the last thing I want to do is ignore you. And in the course of a course I bug you, I want to apologise. But more importantly I want to help you. So help me to help you. And on that interesting note, ler’s get this course started. :) D> 2 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseHow to avoid the ‘delete button ‘There’ only one force that’s more powerful than the ‘delete’ button. And no matter how busy your customers are, that force will yank them away from the gravity of deadlines, and put the customers firmly in your gravitational zone. So what's this supernatural force that outperforms the ‘delete’ button every single time? How is it possible that even in a busy, busy day, there's something that will slow ‘What could this ‘magic potion’ be? your customer down, and get them to rea It’s called ‘curiosity.’ You could be walking down the street in a hurry to get to an appointment, and everyone’ looking up at the building, And you slow down, just enough to pay attention. Your day could be filled with work up to your ears, but one little link to YouTube and you'e off like a shot. This is the power of curiosity. Once you get a customer into your gravitational zone, you can quite quickly get them o slip-slide. And before they know it, they're literally at the next step, doing the very thing you want them to do, And irs all because of something you've written. Writing is a matter of science. High-speed science Just like you learned to walk and talk. Just like you learned complex social skills. Just as you learned how to drive a car while eating a banana, you can learn to write ‘And write well. Which is pretty important, when your customer has her finger permanently on the delete button. Your customer's delete button isn’t restricted to your keyboard. Customers hit delere all the time, when you're making a presentation, or pitching an idea, in direct mail, and yes in their in-box. Which is why we must learn to communicate more effectively than ever before. Welcome to the Article Writing Course As we head down the route of structure, drama and the next-step, we'll come closer to creating curiosity. And then getting the customer to read literally every word you've written. More importantly, that customer then takes the next-step. ‘This course will arm you with systems that will enable you to write faster, and more efficiently than ever before. Ie will get rid of that irritating “Writer's Block’ for good. Bur best of al, it will create a customer who has a keyboard just for you. Akeyboard without the delete button! 3 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseThe route to structure Structure. It’s what really helps build a business. But hey, it helps build an article just as well. And in this lesson, we're going to take a close look at three parts of the overall structural model of article writing, We'll look at: 1) Core outlining of an article 2) How to write based on your personality 3) The ‘single thought’ concept. Let's start at the top. Let’ look at the core outline of an article. (Note: Ifyou'se just reading these notes and not listening to the audio, you're missing out on a whole dimension of learning. Use both media to get maximum out of this course). Ifyou look at this simple Headline) cutine wo the lf ofthis text, Drama you'll find that you can take just about any topic, and puiWords: create a reasonably powerful What message with very litle effort. subheads en ‘And while the headline, and — = How the drama requires a litle bie | When of work, the other parts of this | simple outline can be tackled Objections pretty quickly, even by a Case Studies/Examples novice writer. . Can be in points _ And therein lies the problem, Summaries - : . ={ Can be in paragraphs | Most writers believe this = ‘outline is so basic, that they Sales ignore the core curiosity factors of human bein, Subscribe “ Ee Next Step . “Tell A Do something nd ‘And what you'll find in most well-written pieces (and this includes a book), is the abundance of this outlining, ‘Asa concept is brought up, the drama is created, and shortly after, the ‘what, why, how, when’ of the topic is covered. A good writer will then anticipate the opposition / objection to the topic, and methodically remove the obejection. Eventually, the piece will be summarised (and there are many methods of summary) and then the writer will lead you to the next step. This simple outline allows you to create an article on just about any topic. And with 4 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing Coursethis simple outline in place, pick on a topic that you want to write about. Don’t get to0 fussy abour how basic the article looks. Just concentrate on the fact that you're answering the questions. And you'll find that in a very short time, youll have covered ‘most of the questions that an article requires you to cover. China Sets New Rules for Toothpaste (GENIN) China iestepsing wy contain esta cre products, tte ts epee Wedbesdaadntratonlalaraote Chinese toothpaste producers se of potential toss chemi found i sates, Coutisin North and South Amica, ar wl eA bave recent bled ports of Chinese made oorpaste det ‘as comet ofdetleneplscl low-cost and socetines deadly stator veerin, However, these base beng rposat hess problems stemming fromthe rode, Chinas 0 iin basing the chonieanoothpare, snd he gveraiat arias in small nouns The Eetaetpcins, tous sores cf epee wel ne estan, that hare spred eh an coat cree SiMabecdeiapre —— donestprodct fey problems are trie tal sourz. Os Todas Chis food safety wate pe mee ‘on probleme with eal fh f ruts made for Proto. China's Peters somesteconsumpion inthe fsthalfofthis vx. eae Avo i renton nd eranton ocd Seoweetras dr fora car proc Ch Heath SEES owe snap Cereeton nd acres even wom Sere ‘diiron, he China News Servic i og ua Manca woe sssouncement ade daring national saps The a cecaton aniston’ Web aid th new rls Debits old "inprovethe gut ety andhgine ofl ath rataconcon ‘are product.” Itwas enclear how the rules would treat mrenenee ethylene dea Aspslancoms forth sdniniratin which overesthe cerifistion of Chineeeprotnts] “owed? ‘confime the repli wee ing dar up ad id the administration bad ahd or pa opinions last yar- Like many Chere bureucrats se decined to give ber ame so Vedssdy, China's ini of Health nounced recall oftwo brands of apes opt checks fond tocossinescesive nga. Author de stay Use diaper, made isthe nother: td ianbanestaon, been exported orth had enaeed probleme for ane chiro, Worse overheat of hinge sports bara cara thi yes, ihes he dst of donsand cats inNorth mts wer linked to pet food sontanng Cisse whet tas tated ih he hemi melamine, ior ten, US atborerhare alm basowdorteredanay lng 3 (hines produ, asad tose fish ue omaning unsafe color aves and popular or tendered when paint. ‘Cinee autor te played down or ignored istration concerns and have weacted an become wm, sbortartclr? Oreven ‘blog posts. Or short chapersn book (es there have Been aks with amis of ong tan there chaptrs-ome chapters were just one line long\Aqain, here you see no croscover or ‘mix in the type of articles. The top article is exclusively reportage. And the bottom one is exclusively a story “article. So yeah, it ean be done. ) OBESITY TAKES ATOLL ON THE ROAD Cs rans pext time you're idling in the ddwve-theu ine: Carson US, toads must burn nearly one bilkon addtional yallons ‘of gas a year because of overweight drivers and passengers Thar was the conelusion of University ‘fines computer science professor Sheklon Jacobson, who, with colleague Laura MeL, ‘used a matheratieal model to combine federal data on gas consumption and weight gain from 1960 wo 2002. ‘They found that the average American's weight amped by more than 24 pounds over the period "Shar asa gecup, we now pump atleast 238 ec gallons a year Uaan Wwe did in 1960. drop inthe yas bucket (about three passenger car consumption), Oscar winner for her next big role: being a mom8 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseThe one thought concept So there's Sting, the rock star, ex-member of “The Police’. And he's sitting down to write lyrics to a song, What’ he going to write? What message does he want to give you? Let's see shall we? “All Four Seasons”-Sting ‘With her smile as sweer as a warm wind in summer She's gor me flying like a bird in a bright June sky ‘And then just when she thinks that I've got her number Brings me down to the ground with her wintry eye ‘Thar’s my baby She can be all four seasons in one day ‘And when the night time comes with no interference ‘To our warm summer love with all its charms Bur like a thoroughbred horse she can turn on a sixpence And I find that I'm back in Mistress Winter's arms ‘That's my baby She can be all four seasons in one day How will I know? How can I tell? Which side of the bed she takes when the day begins She can be kind She She's got me guessing like a game show fool an be cruel She can change her mind like she changes her sweaters From one minute to the next it's hard to tell She blows hor and cold just like stormy weather She's my gift from the Lord or a fiend from hell ‘That's my baby She can be all four seasons in one day Watching the weatherman’s been no good at all ‘Winter, spring, summer, I'm bound for a fall There are no long cerm predictions for my baby She can be all four seasons in one day Can you boil all of those lyrics down to one thought or one word? Sure you can! The word is ‘unpredictable’ From that one word, that one thought, Sting has built up an entire song. What makes the song extremely effective is the single thought; that single angle. Only a dope writes ten different angles in an article. The more you write like a dope, the less you become an expert. And it’s not just articles that require this intense ‘one-word focus. This chapter is only about the ‘one word or one angle’. The previous chapter was about ‘personality-based articles. And we started the first chapter with the concept of “outlining” You don’t need one hundred angles to an article. One angle makes you an expert, because one angle makes you dig deep, and give a depth like 9 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing Coursethe reader has never experienced before. Bur even experienced article writers can go ‘overboard. They'll tend to cover five different things in an article. So if for instance, | were to write an article on website navigation, I could write about: 1) Mystery meat navigation 2) Text vs. Image Navigation 3) When You Avoid Navigation 4) Top Menu Navigation vs. Bottom Menu Navigation 5) Drop Down Navigation: ‘The benefits and disadvantages. Now you'e smart enough to see that these are five whole article. In fact, each of these articles can spawn sub-articles of their own. Intellectually we understand all this stuff, but when we're faced with a deadline, we resort to stuffing articles. ‘We stuff them with loads of angles, and at the end here's whac happens. You feel like you've just been to a buffet. You've had loads to eat, but you feel sick. Your reader doesn’t feel sick; but she sure as hell doesn't rake away a single thought. Now there’s a good reason for keeping articles down to a single thought 1) You don’s run out of topics in a hurry. 2) You stop being um, lazy, and actually start doing research on a single point. 3) Your knowledge of issues grows exponentially. Not only do you come across as an expert ro clients and readers, but your own knowledge becomes phenomenal. ‘The newspapers do this single thought thingy really well Now notice that main story. Its about the America’s Cup. And notice that they're covering the win, But hey, newspapers would be really thin if they wrote just one article, and stuffed it like a Thanksgiving turkey. 32nd America’s Cup [Fetew: eee en nae Tm ee Team NZ win Race 3 in dramatic race Latest News IED Potce recover 50,000 In an extraordinary race, Emirates Team New Zealand recovered from a costly crew error this morning to win race three of the America’s Cup. Team New Zealand won this morning's race in Valencia by 25, seconds and now lead the best of nine series 2-1. But...ore 20 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseSo here’s what the newspaper does. ‘They explore the angles. All the angles possible. One topi 2) How the Swiss praised Alinghi (the defender) 3) Alinghi’s lack of sportsmanship 4) The Government's role for the next challenge 5) The challenge for the next cup 6) Mum and sis: How they feel about the winners ‘And you can read the rest of the angles yourself: But even a casual look at the angles, will tell you that there are many, many angles to one topic. And more importantly, all the angles can be boiled down to one phrase, or one thought. So when the writer sits down to do his article, he'd go nuts if he tried to tackle the America’s Cup. Instead he just says, “Let me talk about the fans. Or the coach. Or the government's oppositon. Or the farewell party. Each of these represent one thought, one angle, And that’s the way you need to attack any article. Find the one thing that you want to talk about, and then g0 for it. Do the research, if you need to, and put it together in an outline. And then sit back and watch your article gain strength and momentum. America's Cup Headlines > Yachting: Bectarelfe ream ives on with Cup defence * Yachtng: Swiss tall Anght after nal regatta + Yachting: Team KZ's exclusion eaves unpleasant taste > NZ pumps $10m nto new team “+ Paul Lewis: Valencia 2008 - bring & on! + Prous mum and slater wat for Buttervorth's cal * Yachting: Team NZ assert, wellbe back - ang beter + Yachting: Daton 7 3s good as they could + Peter Lester Lite needs to change for the Zealand gave ext chatenge| + Certoom: Backto realty + Eaitoreh Team NZ deserve eur auppert + Yachting: Bras ‘best saterin the work + Bertarli pesto stay with Valencia ' Datlon: ike having your heart dug cut by 3 sp0en Py «+ Btorwor ts a fayou wt Ag 3 Cevermnen pee Team NZS to cubrenen dakrre + Amoter's op aut + Bog Feewet tom > Daten went rer et tg + Kiwi fans recover to stand by her team GF we snover: tng one second + is Braa Buterworh ze best sportsperson? BB phots: Alnghi retain America's Cup + to guarantees tor Team RZ: Natiorat nthe Cup by Ofcourse all these angles aren't just floating around for you to pick them. You only get to the angles, when you sit down and write all the possible scenarios for one topic. And then clients ask you questions about the topic. And that adds to the list. You can go imo a forum, like in snps/ivww.5000bc.com and ask for angles on a topic, and you'll get angles. Or you can brainstorm with your mastermind. So if I were to pick a topic like ‘marketing, that would be way too broad. So I'd have to go more niche, like “headlines. And then work my way to different angles I could write about ‘headlines.’ Can you spot the angles in these articles? ~ Are Your Headlines Missing These Precise Psychological Triggers? - Why Headlines Need To Avoid the Shotgun Approach: Using Pet Peeves, ~The Forgotten Arc of Testimonial Headline ~The Vital Importance of Sub-Headlines In Copy ~ Do keywords in headlines lead to greater website traffic? - Do Long or Short Headlines Work Better? - How Headlines Can Kill Your Client's Ego a Psychotactics.com | Article Writing Course30) Are You Using This Emergency Email Tactic In Your Marketing? All you need is an understanding of this powerful facet of customer psychology, and youll be sucking in customers like a whirlpool in next to no time. This email tactic is specially important, if you're struggling to get customers through the door, but works well even in good times, What attracted you to these Psychotactics articles in the first place? Yes, it was the style. Yes it was the content. But the underlying power of the article is ‘one angle, ‘one thought’ or ‘one phrase’ Try deciphering whar the fone thought could be for all of these articles. It will make you ‘more aware of how to write more powerful articles for your own business. 31) Does your marketing strategy ever drive up to Echo Point? Most marketing strategies go phooey, not so much because they're not good, but because the strategists don't drive their marketing strateay to Echo Point. Not sure what that means in marketing terms? And how it can affect your marketing plans? Read the article to find out which solitary factor causes your ‘matketing plans to stumble and fall? 32) Why Are Customers So Indecisive? Do you know why your customer won't buy? You've given her the best price, possibly evan the best options. Yet she fidgets. Maybe, maybe not, she ponders. Leam a simple, fundamental psychological factor you've been missing in your marketing strategy, and how you can rectify it in a flash. 33) The Customer Stampede: How can you harness it? Does your marketing campaign tend to go suddenly quiet? The phone should be ringing off the hook, your web server should be crashing with the number of orders, yet all you hear is the sound of silence. One psychological factor could throw your entire marketing campaign out of whack. What is that factor? And how can it make your campaign come alive again? Read this article to solve the puzzle. 34) How We Confuse the Heck Out Of Our Customers What does the Ice Cream man know, that you possibly don't? ‘This article will reveal what most businesses tend to miss. ‘Which factors in your marketing strategy could be causing customer confusion 35) Can You Really Create Persuasive Sales Copy out of Thin Air? You struggle when you write. I know you do. It's way too hard. Youll find this tutorial to be of immense help. I'l quige you exactly through the process of creating sales copy that really rocks!One Thought: In Your Newspaper The newspaper that sits on your doorstep is almost like a blueprint for how to get the ‘one thought’ across. If you open the newspaper, you'll find a headline. And the subheadline. Now newspaper headlines are often bold type, and designed co scream out loud. And they use short, punchy headlines. These headlines are also replicated con magazine covers, and designed to get your attention very quickly. ‘TB vGB: The feud at Labour’ sheart Car Traq and the fina feeererce spectre of bakes | ‘The ‘executioner’ at the death of Cabinet careers Newspaper headlines tend not tobe suitable for you as an article writer. The headlines are short, punchy and telegraphic, And we'll learn more about headlines as we go along. So newspapers are bad examples for headline, for you as an article writer (unless you're starting a newspaper yourself. But ab, let's laok at the sub beadtines. So how do we use a newspaper effectively to learn more about the ‘one thought?” Look for the sub-headlines in most papers. And you'll find to your amazement, that they transmit just one thought. Logically, you could read just the sub-heads, and move on. And thar’ often just what you do. In a fraction of a second, the sub-head either leads you onwards into the article, or gets you to move on. ‘And as you turn the page, you'll quickly sce what I mean, You'll see at least half a dozen ‘single thoughts’ from half a dozen articles. The writer wasn't a waffler. They had one thought in their brain, And they went down the ‘one thought’ path. You'll sec how each article is singularly focused; each article covers only one angle. To become an expert, you should have that single-minded focus for your articles too. So have a look at the sub-heads on the pages to follow. And then move on to your assingment for this course.it = ~— Rescue drama as deluge cuts off town Locals and tourists saved by inflatables and ex-Army truck in ravaged north See this sub-beadlines? It literally tells you the whole sary. You know the single thought dont you? Is hw the locals and tours gor out 4 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseADVANTAGE? In causing heart problems “only the fat around the abdomen f=") ‘seems to be dangerous”, says Dr Don Poldermans.. rune neutens Bs Fat people More Fat people more . . likely to survive likely to survive (yO eatuck a heart attack Scientists stumped by paradox — but warn that it's still safer to be normal weight ase Scientists stumped by paradox — but warn See that it’s still safer to be normal weight evens mee LONDON — While being fat sncreases Heart Institute and spokesman for the gq femalgemm pectin, Bibra in your changes of @ heart attack, some European Society of Cardiclogy Sectieiraitcanit ies ‘iain Se Studies sngnest a puzzling Newby calf al sa tert aac poo ac setet Stuomped scientists? Why? The story reveals all abous the paradox of ft. FAT V THIN 4.3pc rat 2B © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseSkinny whales point to perils of global warming “Kati ‘and ‘Twiggy’ are signs of a change in the Arctic environment ‘Sihen heylosefattheylose insulation and sartto fel odd and aventuay de? ner & ater Skinny whale = point to perils of global warming oss’ and Twiggy’ are signs of'a change in the Arctic environment also threatened by development plans. Leonard Doyle reports Kate whiel Does the word skinny come to mind? Ob yes it does. The headline and the sub-bead, and the article will be about skinny shinny, skinny. 26 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing Coursese INTERNATIONAL at erat Fat cat Slim didn’t get rich by giving it away [e's the worles wealthiest man bat Couple’s $7000 fight to fell their own tree Homeowners persuade h them to cut down prot Cam you guess what single shoughe are running rough these articles?Papa cyt) La France définit sa nouvelle politique @ immigration Histonien: la Capital yen parte del pais, Pao lanieve vez que la cludad vivié elfendmeno; para losSummary 1) Create an outline, It might seem very basic o simply cover the outline, but believe ime, it’s not, Every good article has this simple ourline working to get the point across. The biggest reason why articles are crappy, is because the authors dont follow the outline. 2) Your personality matters. Trying to write in a manner that's not you, makes you struggle too much. And really, why bother struggling? If you can tell stories well , then use the story-article as your method of writing, If you're much better with facts, figures and reporting, then write a report-based article. And of course, the how-to is the hor-favourite amongst so many writers, because it’s often easier to ‘write about chings in steps, because we think in steps. You can mix and match these three types of articles. And should, if you can. But you don’t have to. You can stick to the straight and narrow, if you like and write an article based only on story, or how-to, or facts. 3) he ‘one-thought’ is whar marks a great article from the average blah-dee-blab. ‘One thought enables a writer to focus on the depth of research, and put out a piece that knocks the socks off the reader. Getting together an article that's singularly focused, is probably one of the most powerful tools in your armoury. So ignore this, concept at your peril. ‘Also make note that every newspaper, across the world focuses on this method of ‘writing. A reporter would soon be on the dole, if they failed to write with single- minded purpose. Ah, with that, we move to your assignment. 29 © Paychotactics.com | Article Writing Course30 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseYour Action Plan Step 1: (Ora report? And once youe done, move to Step 2. those the type of article you're going to write. Is ita how-to? A story-type? Step 2: Choose a topic for your business. Exg. Ifyou are a graphic designer, you could choose a topic such as ‘colour’ Under ‘colour, you'd have at least ten or twenty angles you could write about. Step 3: You'll need to choose an angle, so What that you can have single-minded focus, For example: You could choose angles such as: Subheads —|—~ 1) How to cool a hor photo, a 2) How to create contrast with colour. 3) How to use a colour wheel effectively 4) How to effectively use colour on your site. 5) Colour Hierarchy (and why ic matters) So you've literally taken one topic, boiled it down to an even smaller topic such as ‘colour’, and then taken ten to twenty angles on colour.. Whatever angle you take, you'll chen have to flesh it out. To flesh it out, you'll need to cover these points. T'm not over-concemed with the headline, drama or first fifty words. Whae I want you to explain is the ‘how, why, what, when etc.’ So if you take on a topic such as ‘Colour Hierarchy’ for instance, then I want you to talk about: 1) What is colour hierarchy? 2) Whar creates a hierarchy? 3) Why is the hierarchy important? 4) When should a hierarchy be used? 5) When should it be ignored? 6) How do you use colour hierarchy to maximum effect? Ifyou're on the live course, post this in the forum that has been designated for you. You will have got these forum details in your email, when you signed up for the course. If you don't have the details, email me at sean@psychotacties.com ‘That's it. Make sure you do your assignment. And do it right away. The longer you wait, the harder it gets. Until next time, when we learn about blah-blah, sandwiching, connectors and dis-connectors. And how they pertain particularly to article writing structure. 31 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseDrama. Structure. Next Step. Sandwiching ~ Blah Blah ~ SummariesContents STEPPING THROUGH STRUCTURE Taine A Wale Toon ore Seracre SANDWICHING EXAMPLES Examples To Kop Yow Prom Bg Hung EVEN MORE EXAMPLES More Example Mee ‘THE IMPORTANCE OF SUMMARIES He Suomi npr Learning And ness Cla in SUMMARY YOUR ACTION PLAN/ASSIGNMENT. 19Stepping Through Structure Structure, Part Deux. We started with it, and now we'e stepping gingerly through it. I know you're kinda itching co learn and implement what you're learning, but remember that learning to write is like learning a new la before you go trundling off into the world of ‘speaking the language’ So as we go through this course, I'll make sure I give you explicic instructions. For your part, make sure you do the assignments, following the grid structure. (See assignments on the last page of your notes). yguage. First you must learn the structure (grammar), So in this second part, we'll look closely at: 1) Sandwiching 2) Blah-Blah 3) The Importance of Summaries Let's start out with sandwiching. I don't know if you've ever tried eating a one-slice sandwich. Yeah, one slice. Pur one slice down. Then pile the slice with chicken, mayonnaise, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce and sauces, Now eat the slice of bread, will ya? Ummm..J'd rather not, you say Because even a dumbo knows that a one-slice sandwich isa recipe for disaster. The chicken pieces will drop; mayonnaise will ooze; pickles will pop and your clothes will be a ea of green lettuce. Come to think of it, its kinda silly to have a one-sice sandwich Just as it’s silly to have a one-slice article... Your first fifty words of your article are the top slice. The last fifty words are your bottom slice. Ever noticed the difference between slices of bread? “There is no difference. They look che same. They're the same colour, the same tone. In any normal sandwich, two slices of bread are mistor images of each other. And the sandwiching effect is what keeps the stuffing together. Why on earth would you bother with sandwiching? In one word: Closure. Every showbiz person cringes at the curse of a bad ending. They know fully well, that a great presentation would crumble like a week-old cookie, if the ending wasn't dramatic enough 1 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseYou don't have, or need, the whiz-bang of show-biz You don't need the 70 piece orchestra. You can create a great crescendo by simply sandwiching your article. Tah, dah... Live examples of sandwiching in action ‘The first example/article below starts with Sarah and her testimonial. It starts with the problem of Sarah not being around to give a live testimonial. The article ends with Sarah and her testimonial, The second article starts with the Olympics and deadlines. The article ends with Olympics and deadlines. And it gives you the solution, by recommending external deadlines. Read the articles below to see exactly how the opening and closing paragraphs are mirrors of each other. Example No.1: Opening paragraphs: You're at a live speaking event and you sure miss Sarah. You see at your last event Sarah stood up and told the audience how wonderful you were, She told the audience how reluctant she was before buying your consulting services, and investing in your product. Then Sarah revealed her trump card. As a result of working with you, she now earns over $50,000 more than she did last year. She told the audience how much more confidence she has. How clients are flocking to her like they've never done before. How she took her first vacation in years And darn, Sarah's not around at this event. And no one’s around to take Sarah's, place. Darn, darn, darn, Closing Paragraphs: ‘A writren testimonial doesn't allow for description of a customer. If you described a ‘customer, you could a best calk about their occupation/post and designation. You could have a photo. Any other description would seem like overkill. In a real life situation, you have no such restrictions. You can paint a powerful picture by simply describing the customer in great detail. And then i will seem like Sarah’s around ~ At every event! 2 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseExample No.2: Opening Paragraph: Ever seen an Olympics opening ceremony postponed because they needed to push the deadline just a litle further? Have you ever seen an Olympics abandoned because some one was ill or feeling lazy? So how come your tiny marketing project runs into sso much trouble, time after time? I call it the curse of internal marketing deadlines. Closing Paragraph: Get yourself a whole bunch of external deadlines “Take the client’s money in advance. Then see how your you-know-what will be on fire. Your Olympics will loom up and you'll have no choice but to deliver. Invernal deadlines are a curse. Go for external deadlines. They give you focus. ‘The Psychology Behind Sandwiching ‘The biggest reason your customer started reading the article, is because they snuggled up to your fist fifty words. When you use ‘sandwiching’ in your copywriting, you close with the same thought that attracted your customer in the first place. You didn't have to create a whole lot of whiz-bang to end on a crescendo. All you had to do was mirror your ending paragraphs with the opening paragraphs. And yipee- yahooey, you have a powerful closure. Ahem, remember one more thing You noticed that the articles started with a problem, and ended with a solution, didn't you? Starting with the problem gets your customer's attention, and closing with che solution, creates a parallel form of closure. In all your copy, look to create drama ‘when opening your copy and create closure when closing your copy. Don't let the draught in. The ending of your copy needs closure. Don't leave the door on your article open. Stop for a second, and look at the copy you're writing today. Do the opening and ending paragraphs nicely hold the contents of your article/copy together? Does your copy have a top and bottom slice? rare you still taking a gamble on a one-slice sandwich? 3 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseExamples of Sandwiching ‘The New Sealand Herald nzherald.co.nz ee Rugby League Snccer Netball Cricket Americas Cup Golf Tennis America’s Cup Story. vonssres» GD TOYOTA RS: 32nd America’s Cup ee ee ee cer etry He was a portly Spanish man. Small, balding but with a big fishing pole. He was hauling in the little fish that swim about the harbours of all ports. He cared nothing for the chaos about him. Honking hors, giant America’s Cup class yachts, champagne popping, fireworks, the winning of the 32nd America’s Cup by one second by Alinghi in one of the most exhilarating finishes ever seen in a cup match. He ignored it all ‘Thousands of people around the Foredeck Club cheered home their Alinghi heroes. Kiwis lined the America’s C canal as usual, going hoarse egging on Team New pa eriaae + Yoohing: Sertarens ania fam bes on th ‘The Spanish man didn’t look up. Bait the hook, veces otal Grop it in the water. Wait for the line to bob. Alagh afer exceptonat regatis Another fish. Always the fish. He didn’t even look up as the superyacht Triton ‘went past with its showy cargo including a helicopter, trail bikes and the obligatory tender. We couldn't bridge the language gap, so we don't know if he considered such displays of wealth meaningless irrelevances. But you have to say this for Ernesto Sertarelll's America’s Cup in Valencia: It worked and it interested more and more people the longer it went on. Notice how the article starts. It talks about a small, balding portly Spanish man. A man with a fishing pole. And let’s fast forward to she end of this article t0 see how Paul Lewis does the sandwiching! (See next page) Note: I've snipped the article to show you just the ‘opening and the ending. So don't be confused if the article doesn't seem to connect. 4 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing Course‘Team New Zealand also helped make this regatta what it was - class sporting event full of drama. They have also resumed a keen rivalry with Alinghi. There is a great deal of public respect between the two teams but there is less love for Alinghi's onshore administrators, America's Cup ‘Management (ACM), 100 per cent owned by Bertarelli. ‘Their often heavy-handed stewardship of the regatta and thelr attitude to Kiwis has resulted in some bad feeling. ‘This was seen with ACM's handling of the final day of racing and the cup presentation. Only the winner's boat could dock at the podium. The Kiwis were shuffled off somewhere else, anywhere else. They shook hands with the Alinghi team but mostly out of sight. ‘They chose to move slowly down the canal and salute the fans who have so heavily backed them. ‘After that, ACM organised a winner's press conference and a loser's press conference. We all thought this had been wiped in favour of a joint press conference - which is what it should be - but no. ‘Team New Zealand declined to attend. They felt this was a slight and that an ‘America’s Cup regatta should end in a way that has more to do with sportsmen and the way they salute each other after doing battle than a corporate positioning exercise. It is hard to disagree. All this will add spice to the next encounter. Bertarelli Is expected to announce Valencia 2009 as the next cup venue and date this week, It could be another beauty. We don't yet know if Butterworth will be there or if he will be with Alinghi. We don't know what Coutts will be doing. ‘But that bloke with the fishing pole will probably still be there. tore by Paul Lewis UBhprint this story Email this story Email Paul Lewis Hmmm...do we know that bloke with the fishing pole? See the last ine of this article above, and sce how nicely it sandwiches the article. See how sandwiching brings simple closure? 5 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseBetwee A Plaything for People, Sand Dependent on Its Tiny Partic By Davin A. Faunenrnou Washington Post Staff Writer CAPE HENLOPEN, Del. ichelle Clark, 13, was lying on the beach — or, rather, im the beach, sin sigeling friends wiried her up to her belly — The article starts with the gigglifrle niente over with an unwelcome on the beach, Guess (yes, one gues) It’s not just tiny grains and salty water, he what the article ends with? told her Itsalive, ‘The damp pile covering her legs was teeming with microscopic creatures, from tiny plants to wiggling worms, said Hall, a University of Dela- ware staff member who teaches classes about the ocean. They're all denizens of a world where licking one’s dinner off a sand grain is common practice. “So I'm laying in them right now?” asked Mi- chelle, visiting this Atlantic Ocean beach with a Girl Scout troop from Mount Airy, Md. Hall said she was. “Awesome!” Michelle said, in a tone that in- dicated it was not. Ofall the strange worlds that summer brings us close to, few are as strange or as close as the one beneath the bikinied bottoms of beachgo- ers. There, between the grains, is a microscopicAnd Safety to Many oscopic B dey, eae at gn 0 cece ar pan tion or climate change. In other places: a a a remain Someone ba evict aac Sie ‘Even though they have just begun to map as toate tad baer are sure of one thing: We should be glad ier et irene te Bt Sas ata ane ae crew, eating the bacteria left behind by our Site “alti oem hr bum sc et oa af baby fish and small crabs and clams, which inn etac tinge trots Soertar tec ce life directly, such as the piping plover, a tenet “cpt tert sl ema Selden nr oboe Se ol wn te ‘bye dl our ri snare a Rg Ofte Cap Hee Mie co ta ea ea te Ate SL at el ‘ee ec he tic se Yup, you guessed right. It's shose giggling girls again! 7 Wall holds up a rock marked By several marine species, including cement-secreting ‘bes left by worms, algae and snail egos. on siting, and Michelle kept right on gig- aygunder her pile of sand. No fear factor? They're not going to eat us,” said Annie ‘Chamoun, 14, with al the stoicism of sum- © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseEven More Examples #{] How To Fight Customer Perceptions (And Win) By Sean D'Souza Are too! ‘Are not! {re too! Are not! Are too! You've played this game as a child. And no matter which side you were on, you simply stuck to your position, without budging an inch. The worst thing you can do is try to be who you aren't. Trying to be bigger, smarter, taller, faster, than you are only ends up with the age-old game. Are too! Are not! are tool Are not! Are too! It’s a game with no winners. #2 Why Discounting Sends Clients To Your Competition By Sean D'Souza. Seven fire trucks. Six hours of belching smoke. Scurrying firemen scurrying around, desperate to contain, and ‘eventually outfox the flames. And what happens right after your local mall has had a huge fire? Why a fire-sale, of course ‘On Sunday morning, in the middle of the year, it was like being in the midst of the run-up to Christmas. Cars jammed the parking lot. Scores of bargain-hunters descended on the stores. A fire-sale may be fine for a one-off But if you have a fire-sale on a constant basis, then seven fire trucks, with scurrying firemen won't be able to save your business. That rosy glow you see on the horizon-it's not a stunning sunset. It's just another idiotic ‘discount’ business going up in flames. 8 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseWhy A ‘Shiny Nose’ Alone Doesn't Create Uniqueness By Sean D'Souza You've heard that Rudolph the reindeer had a shiny nose. You've heard of Coke's secret formula. You've heard that a Volvo is a safe car. So which of the above statements are true? And which are false? and how can you tell? ip] You can't see him. Meet him. Touch him. Yet you believe in his shiny nose. It's not enough to have a shiny nose business. Your uniqueness lone is not enough. Once you've created a sense of uniqueness for your business, dont sit there and feel happy. Let the world know about what's unique about you. Again. And again. How To Make A 'One-Wav« Presentation By Sean D'Souza aE an a Wana ea #4 When the surfer sees a big wave coming, he rides that wave. And then he zigs and zags to keep his balance, as the wave rushes madly to shore. But right after the ‘surfer's wave' is another wave, And another. And dozens of others. But the surfer can only ride one wave, right? Right. And that’s why your presentation is so confusing. That's why you put your audience to sleep. That's why your ‘audience can’t sum up in one word or phrase what you just said. You're getting the audience to ride too many waves ‘This single wave presentation isn’t solely beneficial for the audience It's good for you as well. I you try to cram too much into a topic, youre often scattered; unfocused and frustrated. But when you've got to cover a natrow angle, you know exactly what to look for, and where to find it. You can go deep instead of wide. And thereby save yourself a lot of time, effort and hassle. 9 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseBlah Blah Arsegh! There’ Ora blank sereen. Ora blank mind, for chat matter. nothing quite as frustrating as a blank sheet of paper: ‘And as a writer, you've probably run into a lot of that blankness. And ‘what's worse is that there doesn't seem to be any cure for that blankness; absolutely no cure for Writer's Block. ‘What's even more frustrating is that many, if not most of us, can actually start an article. We can get to the first or second paragraph, and even deeper-and then we blank out. ‘And if you've been closely following the ‘Outlining? we did in the first lesson, most of that blankety-blank scuff will go away as we put in the “how, what, why, when, which’ into our articles Bur there’ still a point when we'll ran out of fats. There's still a point, when we'll slow down to a crawl. And this is the point where we have to call on the power of blah blah. What's blah, blah? Its simply a filler to keep the momentum going. As you write an article, it's so darned easy to get derailed, that you need something chat will indeed keep you truckin’ along. And the way to keep those wheels turning is to introduce the concept of blah, blah. Ifyou get stuck with your writing, stop writing. And start speaking, Speaking? Yes, start speaking. Pick up the phone and call a mastermind buddy. Calla colleague. Call a friend. And tell them what you're writing about. And ask them to ask you questions. Now they don't have a clue in the world about your specific expertise. So they'll as questions out of leftfield. And you may not have the precise facts and figures to fill in the blanks. You know what you're talking about, but the exact data isn’t around. This is your cue for blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah is extremely difficult to explain on paper. So it’s better to listen to audio instead. Click on this link: Juyp/iwww 5000hc.com/products! Jevritingea pets/blabblah.mp3 (or cut and paste ie into your browses) and youll see how you can use blah, blah in your articles. The audio is short, just three minutes, and it will show you how to use blah, blab. audio! Which of course takes us headlong into the ropic of Summaries :+) 10 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseSummaries Imagine going to a workshop. Youte sitting in that workshop. and slowly your eyes are starting to get really tired. Youte looking longingly towards that exit door. A hot coffee would be just right you think. And you shift in your seat, and doodle on your notepad. ‘This phenomenon doesn't occur because the speaker is boring. Or giving you useless information, Actually, quite the contrary. The more a speaker gives you really good information, the more tired your brain gets. “This is because your brain is desperately trying to throw nets around each new concept. The more nets it throws, the more tired the brain gets. And after a while it holds onto some concepts, and loses others. You don't want your customers to have these memory lapses when you're writing articles. So what you need to do, is simply create a summary. Now, because you've written your article with just one angle in mind, you've already made it much easier for the reader to concentrate on your message. The summary takes it one step further Ik creates a snapshot of what you've just written, And in doing so, burns it in the mind of the reader. Now this may not seem so very important to you at first glance. T mean, whats so darned cool about getting the customer to remember? Well, believe me its cool. You see, you'r not just typing out words on paper. You're not just creating structure, but increasing consumption too! What's all this structure, and consumption all about? Let’ examine structure. You've talked about a topic, and gone into derail about the topic, by choosing one angle. When you create a summary, you are then training the customer to expect a round up; a snapshot of your article. This makes the ‘customer feel safer in their brain, as they go through the summary. The summary acts as a checklist and creates a sense of action. Action that leads fo consumption. If can't remember what your article was all about, or if Tm just alittle vague about the article, then I'm more than likely to do nothing; to take no action. But if the summary gives me a round up, and then causes me to take action, instancly my consumption of the article goes up. E.g. Clients who've read an article on “Headlines, have then gone on to purchase the Website Strategy Masterclass or joined the Protege Program. Why is this the case? Was the summary solely responsible for the action on the part of the client? No it wasn’t, but the summary sure plays its part in helping you remember things. As youtee going through this course, you'll notice that the information is summarised many times over. In the audio, you'll get a summary at the end of every section (and there are usually three sections in every audio). And then after we finish all che three sections, you'll get another summary. Often as you move on to the next audio, you'll get a summary of the previoius lesson. These notes take the summary even further. And you're probably wondering what the heck do notes and audio have u © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing Courseto do with article writing? Well, we're not really talking about article writing, are we? ‘We're actually talking about communication. And communication can’t be gulped down without systematic summaries. The summaries help the reader digest the information, before moving on to the next piece of information. Your brain doesn't remember everything it learns the first time around, so it's important to use summaries to jog the ‘memory of the brain. So yeah, we've gone to workshops, and audio, and notes, and now we're back to article writing. Do we need to summarise often? Or is one summary enough? One sure is enough. Make sure the summary is short, to the point, and gets the customer ro act on the advice in your article And here comes the best part Ifyou did your assignment on ‘outlining’ well, chen you've already weitten a summary of sorts. So ler’ look at an outline first, and see how we can turn ie into a summary. Courtesy: Dale Hansman: http://www languageline.com 1D) Type of article: How-To 2) Topic: How boomer couples discuss money without fighting? 3) Potential Angles * Together, create a “spending plan” rather than a “budget” * Focus on solving the problem instead of winning che argument * Listen to your partner with an open mind * Picking a “safe place” to discuss money * Respect each other’s opinion, even when you disagree * Your words may say one thing, your body language says something else Approach your finances as you would a business * Agreeing what you'll do if tempers rise * Selecting an objective third-party to guide you * When having money problems, how to avoid the “blame game” 4) Selected Angle: For baby boomer couples, how to pick a “safe place” to discuss finances? 5) What? When? Where? Why? How? * What makes a safe place “safe”? * Why is meeting in a safe place a * What are the three decisions you will make in selecting a safe place? * How picking a safe place takes the heat out of your communications? * What to do next now that you've had your meeting? /win for both parties? ©) First Fifty Words: ‘Money! It’s a touchy, seldom-discussed subject for couples of any age group. But, for those in their 50's and 60's who may not have planned for retirement as well as they'd wished, talking about finances can open up a whole set of emotions including anger, fear and blame. R © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseSo if we isolated just the ‘how, what, why, when etc, you'd get: * What makes a safe place “safe”? * Why is meeting in a safe place a win/win for both parties? * What are the three decisions you will make in selecting a safe place? * How picking a safe place takes the heat out of your communications? * What to do next now that you've had your meeting? And it would help you set up a summary of: * Pay attention to so that it makes the place safe for both parties * Mceting in a safe place is a win-win for both parties because. © Be aware Of snseunnny snes and _ when selecting a safe place * Take the anger and frustration out of the equation completely by.. * Make sure you take these steps: I.cueununuenne2). 3). Now not every summary looks exactly like the one above. Summaries come in all shapes and sizes, and you should be aware of that fact. Sometimes, the summary doesn't even look like a summary. A summary isn't always lined up like ducks in a row. Sometimes the summary can be in-built into the text. Sometimes it’s ‘duckie’ time, Sometimes, the summary is just a few key words. Don't restrict yourself to one kind of summary. Do what's good for the article at that point in time, Remember what you're trying to achieve. You're simply getting the customer to remember the information in the article, and getting the customer to take action. Well, how are you supposed to know what's enough? Lers just rake a look at whar’s around us. Look at your evening news tonight, and see how they summarise the news. Open your newspaper, and see how that article is summarised. Look at your magazines and see the summaries floating around. And yes, lets also look at other articles. And when we'e done, we'll have a pretty good idea about what a summary is all about, so we can go and write our own summary. Low prices hit sales growth at Woolies Venascongy aae oe Sonos Um, summaryTemping — the new lifestyle choice ‘The summary comes in before the case studies, so it's not quite at the end like ‘most summaries. HIGH STAKES 4 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing Course50 killed as troops attack compound PAKISTAN: Suicide bomb fears as women and child: THE STORMING OF THE RED MOSQUE» a9 A Hole in the Food Safety Net? exe Rule on Chin ao! Does dv More summaries. The more the merrier! 5 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseLook at colour all around you: What colour is a Porshce? What colour is McDonalds? What colour is Santa? What colour is Fedex? What colour is T-Mobile? What colour is the flag of your country? What colour is Harley Davidson? So what's the learning? A few important learnings here: 1) Don't get hung up on the overall brand colour: As you can see with Psychotactics, the main brand is a areenish-orange combination. Which is different, and um...memorable in 3 psycho sort of way. But hey, the sub-brands of Brain Audit (www.brainaudit.com), 5000bc (www.5000bc.com), Masterclass series (www.psychotactics.com/structure.htm) are all individual colours. This means your main brand and your sub-brands can be different in colour, provided they actually have different names. 2) Different names? Yes different names. Each of the products have a whole new identity. So the Brain Audit sounds (and is different from) 5000bc, which is different from the Masterclass series. If you're going to create sub-brands for different services and products, be sure to give them separate names http://www.psychotactics.com/arttwins.htm) 3) And just remember, there are no hard and fast rules. Purple is the colour of death in Brazil, but that doesn’t mean that you can't launch your product in purple, or that there are no products in purple in Brazil. That's a whole lot of nonsense. All you need to do is be vigilant of the connotations, and then decide if it works for your product/service or not. 4) Once you've chosen a colour, roll it out and keep it rolled ‘out. The more your customers see your colour (or combination of colours) the more likely they're going to remember you and your brand. You don't have to be a big player in the market. Even with a small budget, and a powerful colour strategy, you can stand out and be different. 5) Remember that customers (that's you, me and everyone else) make a lot of choices simply by using colour. That's why we know that Martians are green. And Pringle's is red. But read the packaging too, will ya? Just so we don't end up with Jingle's! :) If you haven't done so already: —Subserbe_| (That's a clue!) The summary of this article isa litle more shan just bullet points. It’s slightly fleshed out, as you can se. And it gives a clear action plan. You can read the full article at: ‘nape ene psychacciescommlarteolowrbrand rm 6 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseWhich of course, brings us to the fixing the bug _| The point ofthis article is very simple to grasp. It talks about having a feedback ‘mechanism (you can see such a mechanism at the end of this book ~ yes its the bug!) And the article merely reminds you to put the bug on your twebsite, products and services (to avoid the pain of having to keep monitoring what: going wrong) ooh, the Pandora's box has opened sesame! At Peychotactics, we get about three bugs sent to us almost every day. That's about 700-900 bugs a year. ‘That's 900 times we don't have to check our own stuff with 2 fine-tocth comb. But it's also 900 things that we may need to fix. And is that a problem? Is it? 16s not a big summary. In fac, it's barely even a summary. P've put this example in, to show you just how you can finish an article without having 10 summarise in the greatest detail. To read the entire article, go to: raptiowwprychoractics.com! artwhatbugime btm First of all, bugs slow down the selling process. If a customer is, distracted, they ain't gonna listen; let alone buy. But more importantly, you're giving the customer a chance to interact with you. Moreover, when you fix a problem, you're telling a customer that you actually care. Both for your own business. And for the customer's problem, So look around your business today. You can either go over your entire website; your entire products; your entire services. Or you can put in the ‘What Bugs Me. Not a hard decision to make, eh? ‘You think it’s ridiculous don't you? It's not. Look at email newsletters with seven different articles. Look at TV ads with all the razzmatazz that doesn't seem to make sense. Look at your brochure with about fifty graphics and fone hundred million colours. And do you wonder why people don't do what you want them to do? Well don't wonder. You're distracting them, That's what you're doing. Creating chaos. What you need is a sense of order and to get a nice, clear picture, do what's recommended below. Take a drive. A short drive. Notice what the signs say. No parking. Right turn. No U Tum. Stop. Go. Slow down. And notice how all the signs aren't clumped up on one post. Do the same for your customers. Give them direction. Give them a One Way sign. Simple. Specific. And non-distracting. Summary of Article 4) Customers are confused by multiple directions. They are confused by three different articles in your newsletter and two million links. They can only choose one. By displaying the action you want them to do, you give them direction. Give them a next step, so they can move ahead logically. 2) Eliminate distractions: Audit your meetings, websites, ‘emails, brochures, letters etc. Do you have distractions that takesaway the customer's attention? Put your distractions through the shredder. They ain't doing you a whole lotta good. And tah, dab, the traditional summary. To read the entie article, go to: eeplins psychotactis comlartconfsion omSo we've seen examples of summaries Some of them are detailed. Some are bullet points Some are embedded in the article itself. ‘And yes, many articles don't even have summaties. So what do you do? Ie’s.a choice you have to make. Summaries are a great teaching medium, so I'd put them in wherever I could. Because to-date, I've never met anyone who didn't like a summary. “That says a lot about the way we absorb information, doesn't it? Which of course, brings us to a summary :) 8 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseSummary D) Sandwiching. ~ Sandwich has two slices of bread = Make sure the filling sits in berween the sandwich-fill it with the components you learned so far. ~ Concentrate on the thought-not on the words. What one thought should I take away from your article? Then wrap up the thought to create closure. 2) Blah, Blah - Structure is great, but momentum (the ‘blah, blah) gets the article rolling. Momentum also gets you to the drama stage. When you have drama, you're more excited, and ie shows in your writing, - Blah, blah is fun and helps you avoid Writer’s block. Most of the blockage is because you don't have the facts al lined up in a row. Blah, blah allows you to {get away with nor having the facts for starters, It allows you to concentrate on the ‘outline, instead of the nitey-gritry. ~ Blah, blah is best achieved not by sitting at the computer, but by blah-blahing your way to an article (yes, use the phone to write an article) 3) Summaries = Summaries help our tired brains ~ They help readers remember what they've read. - They move readers to action. 19 © Poychotacties.com | Article Writing Course20 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseYour Action Plan 1) How are you going to sandwich your article? What are you going to start your article with? And how are you going to end the article in the sandwich fashion? Simply list the sandwich in a point or paragraph form. 2) Did you call a friend and blab, blah your way to an article? How did it work? Let us know. 3) Can you take the outline of your article and summarise the outline either in: 1) Bullet Points 2) Sentences 3) Within the article itself Unsure about anything? Ei! me seamtapsychoractcscomDrama. Structure. Next Step. First Fifty - New & Knew ~ The WallContents STEPPING THROUGH STRUCTURE Taking A Wath Thug More Sata THE FIRST FIFTY WORDS Howto ge virmcdi BORING REVERSE ENGINEERING ow ome aides ly baring Un Not Such A See Aer Al TheDrat Ts opr examples . Fo Toate Subd, High Dram EXAMPLES OF THE WALL ‘od More Your Mindy HOW TO GET MORE OUT OF MAPS YOUR ACTION PLAN/ASSIGNMENT 3 6 18 23 24 26Bang, Smack Into Drama Boil some pasta tonight. Chop up some herbs. Cut the salmon really fine, ‘And grate some nice, creamy cheese Now here's what you need to do next. First pur the salmon at the bottom. “Then throw the cheese on the salmon. ‘After which you can put the herbs. ‘And last of all, cover the above ingredients with the pasta, so that neither the salmon, cheese or herbs can be seen, No I'm not being silly. Most article writers do just what I've said above. They take the contents of their articles and hide it away. They fail to create drama. And they wonder why they don't get as many readers as the next guy. You'll never get as many readers at the next guy, because you think thar it’s all about content. That it’s all about facts. And the demonstration above proves the point more than adequately. A perfectly delicious pasta may be completely ignored if you don't bring out the drama, The green of the sage, thyme, and oregano would contrast beautifully with the purple basil. The orange tones of salmon would complement the glistening olive oil on the pasta. And simply by stacking the ingredients in the right sequence, you'd have drama, And colour. Ingredients matter. Your idea matters. But don't fool yourself. Content is only wonderful if you can present it in a manner that's wows in a manner that actually brings out the drama. Content needs drama, Colour. Tension. ‘Timing. ‘And Momentum. Let's step into that world of drama with the first fifty words, Knew & New, and The ‘Wall. What's that? Turn the page and let's find out. 1 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing Course2 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseThe First Fifty Words Ever walked into a cold room on a chilly night? You know what I mean. On a really cold night, step into a freezing room and turn the heating on full. The heater chugs. It kazooozas. But the room is still brrrt. ‘And then suddenly, about fifteen-twenty minutes later, thou art toasty (as hell, might add). Ie aint quite summer, but hey, your blood is suddenly flowing again. ‘Aha, you've run into the heater syndrome of copywriting! ‘The heater, what? Your copywriting needs blood to flow too, y'know. When you first start writing copy, you're all stiff Your brain isn’t quite doing the kazooza. The words and the ideas need ‘some loosening up. ‘There's not enough heat in your copy. Yer, if (yes, if) you do get to 150-200 words, your ideas are starting to flow. Flow, flow, flow your words...quickly down the stream “The hottest, most dramatic part of your information is not sitting in Paragraph No.l, but is cozily cuddled in the midst of hundreds of other words somewhere down in. Para 6 or 8 or 10, “The most outstanding part of your concept is not in the spotlight, but hidden away, likely to be missed completely. where it’ “The biggest reason why your opening paragraphs tend to sound ugh, is because you aren't paying attention to the heater syndrome. So here's what you do to get things hotter again... Step 1: Take an old article or piece of copy. Step 2: Go down co the 150-200 word mark. Ie’ time to do some cut and pasting. Step 3: Cut and paste the thought/copy around the 150 mark and put ic right at the top of your article/copy. Here’s what you'll find Once upon a time, there was a litle girl named Goldilocks. She went for a walk in the forest. Pretty soon, she came upon a house. She knocked and, when no one answered, she walked right in. Around the 150 mark, here's what comes up: “This porridge is too hot!” she exclaimed. So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.” This porridge is too cold,” she said. So, she tasted the last bow! of porridge.” Ahhh, this porridge is just right,” she said happily and she ate it all up. 3 © Peychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseCan you see the difference in the drama? “The second set of words (past the 150 mark) have more movement, more description, ‘more mystery and intrigue. You literally want to know more. And excuse me, but when a customer wants to know more, it means they're going to read more, aren't they? Or to put it another way, if the reader doesn't read the first fifty words, they aren't likely to read much more. (Ooh, that hurts!) Which makes the first fifty words pretttty important, doesn't it? “The first fifty words of your speech, in your copy ot in your article are your make or break point. If the words don't lunge at your customer, and grab your customer's brain by the throat, the brain wanders off to something more exciting, ‘The movies do the ‘exciting bit’, the soaps do it, so why don't you? Remember how “The Titanic’ began? When did you see the boat sailing out? In che first few frames? Or about 15-20 minutes into the movie? So what was in the first few minutes of the movie? Drama? lecbergs? People headed to their doom? It’s the heater syndrome, mon ami... Drama, Power. Action, Intrigue. It’ all buried 150-200 words into your copy. Turn up the hear by moving your warm copy right to the top. (Or to put it another way. Make your copy kazoooza! (Nove: When I started writing this copy, I was struggling too. The ‘heater syndrome? idea was actually buried somewhere lower down in the original copy. Once I got the ‘heater’ concept moving, I was easily able to bind the rest of the article with the "heat’ analogy. And the article became far more effective. So yes, I take my own advice, too, you know. You can see the earlier version of the article in the box on the next page). 4 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseDo something really silly. Pull up one of the pieces of copy you've written, ‘And start counting the words. One hundred, One hundred and fifty. Now look what you wrote at about the 150-word mark, Then look back at what the firse few words of your paragraph looked like. And kaboom it will hit you! “The opening paragraph is not sitting at the top (where you put it), but is cozily cuddled in the midst of hundreds of other words. The most dramatic idea is not up, front and center but hidden away, where its likely to be missed completely. Darn, darn, darn! “The biggest reason why your opening paragraphs tend to sound ugh, is because you aren't paying attention to the heater syndrome. “The heater, what? You know what I mean, On a really chilly night, step into a freezing room and turn the heating on full. The heater chugs. It kazooozas. But the room is still brrrrr. Yet 15-20 minutes later, suddenly thou art toasty (as hell, I might add). Itain'c quite summer, but hey your blood is suddenly flowing Your copywriting needs blood to flow too, y'know 5 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseBoring Reverse Engineering Irs all very fine t say go down to the 200 word mark and find the drama. If you're feeling all intimidated at this point, frst ofall know that everyone does feel they're never going to get down co 150 words. But with the help of biah, blah~and with the help of your outline, you'll get there for sure. Buc that’s nor what this section is about. ‘This section isn’t about finding the interesting part of the article. Nope, this is kinda harder. What you've got to do in this section is take an already interesting article opening, and make it boring. How could you make these openings realy, really boring? How To Fight Customer Perceptions (And Win) By Sean D'souza Are too! Are not! Are too! Are not! Are too! You've played this game as a child, And no matter which side you were on, you simply stuck to your position, without budging an inch. So how do you win the battle of perception? You do what Grizz Wylie does. Grizz, a well-known coach for the New Zealand All Blacks, is considered by many to be gruff and abrasive. If you ask Grizz if he's gruff and abrasive, he'd be more than likely to say ‘na’ Now this article is about perception. And how it’s impossible to fight perception. Can you think up a boring start to this article? Ie just as hard to write boring stuff, eh? So if it’s just as hard to write boring stuff as exciting stuff, chen why bother with writing boring? Might as well head into the excitement zone and create some really powerful drama. And in the pages to follow, you'll see exactly how I (yes, moi) go about finding the “first fifty words’, And then I'll reveal to you a ‘secret’ that everyone should know, but don't know. The...ahem...cough...cough...secret of ‘creativity. 6 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseWhy Discounting Sends Clients To Your Competition By Sean D'Souza Seven fire trucks. Six hours of belching smoke. ‘Scurrying firemen scurrying around, desperate to contain, and eventually outfox the flames. [And what happens right after your local mall has had a huge fire? Why a fire-sale, of course On Sunday morning, in the middle of the year, it was like being in the midst of the run-up to Christmas. Cars jammed the parking lot. Scores of bargain-hunters descended on the stores, To prevent a nit, and a stampede, several stores literally shut their doors. All this chaos over a discount This article is about discounting-but not just discounting, but how discounting sends your clients to the competition. How can you come up with a yawn, yawn opening? Can you do it? How do you really make this opening hard to read? How To Make A 'One-Wave' Presentation By Sean D'Souza Your brain is like a surfer on the waves. When the surfer sees a big wave coming, he rides that wave. And then he zigs and zags to keep his balance, as the wave tushes madly to shore. But right after the ‘surfer's wave' is another wave. And another. And dozens of others. But the surfer can only ride one wave, right? Right. And that's why your presentation is so confusing. ‘That's why you put your audience to sleep. That's why your audience can't sum up in one word or phrase what you just said. You're getting the audience to ride too many waves 7 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseHow I Find The First Fifty? How To Fight Customer Perceptions (And Win) | So how did I get to these fifty words? The way you always do. You focus on one ‘angle; one thought’. And as I urote my outline, I remembered how kids seem to fight. And how it doesn’t matter what the other one says, the perception stays. So after ‘warming up’ a bit, it seemed almost too easy to write the start that you see below. How To Fight Customer Perceptions (And Win) By Sean D'souza Are too! Are not! ‘are too! Are not! Are too! You've played this game as 3 child. And no matter which side you were on, you simply stuck to your position, without budging an inch. Why Discounting Sends Clients To Your Competition Td been mulling aBOU cover, because of my trusty oulline, but the opening still seemed to be hovering around sales in stores and other boring stuff: And then one day, we were on our walk, and I saw these big fire trucks at the mall. And that provided the opening that created the first fifty words. Notice, that I didn't get this idea while writing the article and ‘warming up.’ Thad to see a real hot (not warm) fire, before I got this idea. And then it was easy-peasy to fill in the blanks for the rest of the article. Why Discounting Sends Clients To Your Competition By Sean D'Souza Seven fire trucks. Six hours of belching smoke. Scurrying firemen scurrying around, desperate to contain, and eventually outfox the flames. And what happens right after your local mall has had a huge fire? Why a fire-sale, of course (On Sunday morning, in the middle of the year, it was like being in the midst of the run-up to Christmas. Cars jammed the parking lot. Scores of bargain-hunters descended on the stores. To prevent a niot, and a stampede, several stores literally shut their doors. All this chaos over a discountHow To Make A 'One-Wave' Presentation Was easy wo ride on. And how ‘many thoughts confused the issue. And so I started to write about presentations. Now notice, that the concept of ‘one wave’ applies to websites, article writing, headlines etc. But I chose presentations (yea, focus) and stuck to it. And as I was writing, I started to warm up. What was really cool, was I remembered this surfer story from a presentation Td heard earlier. And since I was thinking about presenters and what made them so boring, I remembered this presenter (and his story), and I had my first fifty words. How To Make A 'One-Wave! Presentation By Sean D'Souza Your brain is like a surfer on the waves. When the surfer sees = big wave coming, he rides that wave. And then he zigs and zags ta keep his balance, as the wave rushes madly to shore. But right after the ‘surfer's wave' is another wave. And another. And dozens of others. But the surfer can only ride one wave, right? Right. And that's why your presentation is so confusing. ‘That's why you put your audience to sleep, That's why your audience can't sum Up in one word or phrase what you just said. You're getting the audience to ride too many waves So what did you find? Could you see a trend in all the ‘first fifty words’ above? You can't? You'll slap yourself on the forehead when you see how you'll spot the trend. everywhere, when you learn the..cough...cough..secret. 9 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing Course“The Secret of Creativity Monkeys and Computers. Brush and Car. Margaritas and Asylum. Keys and Yoga. Zero and Plane. What's the connection between any two of these words? Nothing, right? I mean, logically, you can find a relationship between a monkey and a computer. And you can indeed find some margarita in an asylum. And you do need keys to enter yoga class. But hey, youre force-fitting the issues, aren't you? Well, welcome to C-R-E-A-T-V--EY! Have you seen that New Yorker cartoon of a dog. He's sitting on a chair with a ‘computer in front of him. And there's another dog at the dog's feet. And the first dog tums to the second and says: “On the Internet, no one knows youre a dog,” See the connection? Dog and Internet. Surfer on a Wave and Presentation. Kids fighting and Perception. Fire Trucks and Discounts. ‘The secret to creativity is simply being able to put two unrelated objects, things, people, yada, yada, together. Thats it. When I say I'm going to talk to you about how to ‘increase customers’ and then start my presentation by ‘demonstrating how the conveyor belt” works at the airport, I'm being creative. But as we learned already this creativity jazz only goes so far. You have to quickly get the reader back to the point as soon as possible. So as we saw with Mare Kern's article (http://www.habitdoc.com), The article was about: Cutting back your drinking in stages. Unrelated Object: Steps in a tall building, And here’s how his first fifty words rolled out: If given a choice of how to get to the ground floor, would you choose to “leap off” a tall building or take the stairs down? Would there be a greater willingness to get off the top of the building if you knew that you could take the stairs? People with alcohol problems often feel chis way - like they are precariously balanced con top of a tall building, and have been told that they can't come down unless they jump. They even have been told that no stairs exist. But then how did they get to the top of the building in the first place? 10 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseThe disconnect is what causes Creativity. And now you'll see it everywhere. In music, In cartoons. In writing, In art. In dance. Ie’ all creativity. And creativity is just high-speed science, But high speed science that can be slowed down and explained. And you know what? Ifyou can explain how you drew a cartoon, or cooked a dish, or put together a song, then it’ a science. But most ‘creative’ people are processing, so quickly chat they cantt explain the science to you. Well, now you know. Creativity at the very core, is when you put two unrelated objects together. Bur again, {ee’s not forget why so much communication dollars are wasted. Let’s not forget why. ‘They get so taken up with their creativity, that they forget to connect back to the original premise. They simply go their merry way with the disconnected object and. what you then see are these crazy advertisements, and TV commercials that makes you shake your head and wonder ‘what they were thinking” Disconnection creates humour. Ie crates pathos* (big word for pity, sympathy) It creates excitement. It creates all the drama you're looking for. But drive the disconnection too far, and you'll simply drive the reader mad. Now that's not a good goal, isi? See the connection? What's boot-licking got to do with cost-cutting? And what’s email got to do with dungeons. But hey, it’s funny, eh? n © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseRecessions and College Grades? What’s the connection? Are you starting to see how creativity works? And you don’t always need words to express humour. Or pathos. Or grief. All you need is a disconnect. So what’s the disconnect in this picture? What causes you to smile and pay attention? We're not exactly done with the frst fifty words yer. When you get your bonus “12 ways to jumpstart an article”, you'll find a dozen ways (or more, who knows) to start your first fifty words. But we do know something. We know for a fact, that the more precise your ‘topic’ the more you have a very defined ‘angle’, the easier you're going to find the starting fifty words (yes, even without the warm up). But I wouldn't discount the warm up. Even today, after having written well over 500 articles (and counting), I still ind that the warm up accounts for well over 65% of good starts. So yes, get the outline going, warm up, and your first fifty words will pop up-just like that! Ok, so we're done with the first fifty words. But we still have to deal with curiosity! R © Paychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseUnending Curiosity is a No, No! Let’ look at a few examples of opening paragraphs that create intense curiosity. Example I: Six hours of belching smoke. Scurrying firemen scurrying around, desperate to contain, and eventually outfox the flames. And what happens right after your local mall has had a huge fire? Why a fire-sale, of course On Sunday morning, in the middle of the year, i was like being in the midst of the run-up to Christmas. Cars jammed che parking lot. Scores of bargain-hunters descended on the stores. To prevent a riot, and a stampede, several stores literally shut their doors. Example 2: Here's a simple exercise. Go to the mall. Pick up a box of Pringle’s potato chips for me, will ya? But when you get back to your home, you find something strange. The pack doesn't say Pringle’. It says Jingles. And someone has misspelled the word. ‘chips’ and spelt it as ‘chops’. So instead of Pringle’s Potato Chips, you've got Jingle’s Potato Chops. Yeah the opening gets your attention. Bur curiosity can only go for so long. A paragraph or ewo at beat. Because curiosity isa double-edged sword. If you use it indiscriminately, you'll find at first, customers will be attracted to your information. But then not read through to the end. Do the curiosity thing a few times, and the customer will learn that youe just teasing them with the first fifty words, and stop reading your articles. And you'll head first into the delete section, and then finally in the un-subscribe section. So what we're doing wich the first fifty words is getting attention, bur then relating it to what comes next, so that the reader can keep reading. So how do you structure curiosity right? Here's how you do it You go right to the meat of your topic, right after you've got my attention, You've got about a paragraph or two to create the drama. So you have the license to go for 50, even 100 words, with your drama. Buc if you go on too long, it gets boring. Drama is like watching a disaster unfold on TY. The first few minutes are interesting. But then if it goes on and on, you get bored. Now TV presenters know this. So that's why they give you so many angles on the same ‘disaster.” You see the same drama in a soap; in ‘Desperate housewives. Or in a thriller series like ‘24, You'll see the drama build up sharply, and then drop down to the main story. Your reader is intrigued by the drama, but it's crucial to get to the point. That kkceps the reader engrossed, B © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseRemember why the reader started reading your article in the first place In the earlier examples, the reader was interested in 1) Discounting 2) Branding with colour. ‘Now you got them all intrigued, with your dramatic opening, which is fine. But now it's time to get to the point. This getting to the point is very important. Most of us are so chuffed at the thought of finding our drama that we go on and on, and on. And going on and on is the best way to lose a reader. Drama is tut. Timed. And powerful. It comes and goes. And keeps the tension. Ie’ not long drawn and boring. So be aware of the first fifty words, but then get right into the topic your headline promised in the frst place. (Curiosity is all very fine. But unending curiosity. That's a no, no! No. No. Or Knew, new? Let’ flip the page and find out. “4 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseNew and Knew ‘Theres a hie song by Madonna. Ir’sa song called “Hung Up. If you listen to it, you'll somehow get involved in the song. ‘And then your fingers would start snapping. Your feet would go tappity-tap. And you'd find the tune familiar. Even though you've never heard the song before So what's in the song (or the album for that matter) that locks you in? How come the songs instantly get your attention? And more importantly, why is it that they manage to keep that attention? ‘And can Madonna teach you a trick or two, that you could use for your communication? ‘You ber she can, Because she using the Power of ‘New’ and Knew" “New’ as in something you don't know. Knew’ as in something you do know. “New’ as in something dramatic, that you've never heard before. ‘Knew’ as in, ‘hey I've heard that before and i's cool.” In fact, Madonna's album, ‘Confessions on the Dance Floor’ takes snippets from forty years of dance music. Stirred in between Abba, the Pet Shop Boys, Giorgio Moroder, Tom Tom Club, Stardust and the Jacksons are little chunks of music from Madonna's existing albums. IF you stop and listen carefully, you'll hear sounds from ‘Like a Prayer,” Papa Don't Preach’, and ‘Die Another Day. Aha, so that's why you were tapping those feet! But what has tapping feet got to do communication? Notice how this article started? It started with some ‘new’ information. When something is ‘new’ it has a sense of crunchiness, that instantly grabs you by the throat and forces you to pay attention. You were expecting to read how to keep the attention of your customer. Instead Madonna and her hit song, whooped into the first paragraph. That’s the factor of ‘new.’ “Then as you read further, you'll hit a patch where you say: “Aha, I knew that!” and you'll kinda ease into the rest of the words, as you take in the information. And that’s the factor of ‘Knew.’ ‘The factor of ‘Knew’ is a nice feeling, It’s warm, fuzzy and cuddly. It takes away the fear of the unknown. And ic gets your feet tapping. And your brain smilingTo get your customer's attention you need to use ‘new" No, no. Not the exact word. But you need to have a newness in your communication. So when I present the ‘Brain Audit’ [set a chair in the centre of the room. I chen proceed co sit down on the chair. Then I stand up. Then I sit down. “Then I stand up. “Then I sic down. ‘Then I stand up. Ie’ new. I's different. It gets the customer's attention. I then switch to the factor of ‘knew’. I then talk about how the chair isnt likely to breaks, despite me sitting and standing up all day (probably all yea). And the audience knows that. They know that the chair is buile to take many, many sit-down-stand-up routines. ‘And then 1 talk about how advertising and marketing doesn't have the same robustness as a chair. “That marketing and advertising relies on guesswork, hoping that somehow customers will see the ad and buy something, And then I bring in the ‘new’ concept of the Brain Audit, that pretty much shows you ‘how your customer is thinking. Before I head off again, into the ‘knei In effect, my speech is peppered with ‘knew’ and ‘new’ And if you listen to the audio on Triggers (available with your Premium copy of the Brain Audit) you'll hear the constant move between these two factors, But why is it so important to use these factors? Because as you get attention with something ‘new’, eyes pop; ears become Spock-like, and your audience's brain goes on red-alert. When you bring in the familiar factor of the ‘I knew that’, the audience relaxes. ‘And relaxing is a good thing too. Because too much of ‘new’ would keep your brain always on tenterhooks; always on overload. You experience the overload at many workshops and seminars. You get such a lot of brand-new information, that you suck i up like a sponge. 16 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing Course“Then like a sponge your brain kinda sags. And leaks sprout. And you lose bit of information. Suddenly, it seems like a good idea to take a coilet breaks eat a muffins do anyching bur keep listening to this ire hose of new stuff (powerful as it may be). Real power comes from alternating ‘lnew’ and ‘new’ As long as you can keep the flow going, you can keep the attention of your audience right through a book, a presentation, or just about any communication. Use the factors well, and watch how your audience's brain goes ‘tappity-tap, tappity- cap, tappity-tap.’ Use it badly and your audience goes to sleep or simply walks away. But you ‘knew’ that already, didn’t you? 3) UV © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseExamples of New and Knew Let's look at a few examples of ‘new’ and ‘knew. Example Six hours of belching smoke. Scurrying firemen scurrying around, desperate to contain, and eventually outfox the flames. And what happens right after your local mall has had a huge fire? (NEW) Why a fire-sale, of course. ‘On Sunday morning, in the middle of the year, it was like being in the midst of the run-up to Christmas. Cars jammed the parking lot. Scores of bargain-hunters descended on the stores. To prevent a riot, and a stampede, several stores literally shut their doors. (KNEW) Example 2: Here’ a simple exercise. Go to the mall, Pick up a box of Pringle’ potato chips for me, will ya? (KNEW) But when you get back to your home, you find something strange. The pack doesn't say Pringles. Ie says Jingles. And someone has misspelled the word ‘chips’ and spelt it as ‘chops’. So instead of Pringle’s Potato Chips, you've got Jingle’s Potato Chops. (NEW) ATS ACTUALLY A (OST: CuTTING PRoci What's ‘New’ and what's ‘Knew?’ What makes these cartoons get your attention? The ‘New’ or the ‘Knew?” Who knows? So where do you start? At NEW or KNEW? ‘Well, there's little choice eh? You have to start somewhere. So you can start any where. I know my advice doesn’t help. But where you start doesn’t matter as much as how you move forward. First try NEW. Then try KNEW. Remember that you may start your article with NEW and then move to KNEW. To keep the drama going, it may also need a bit of NEW and KNEW in the article itself, Before you start writing whole paragraphs, go back to outlining. What will you say thar’s NEW. What would then bring the reader back to KNEW. Do this all in an outline format...in one line or less, long before you start beefing up the article. And yes, listen to the audio because there are far more examples and more explana- tion about this concept. So we've learned the drama that NEW and KNEW can create. NEW and KNEW enables us to move the article (and the reader) along with by alternating the tension and relaxation. Bur at times, we have to create a deliberate wall. A wall that seems insurmountable. ‘And then you've got to play super hero and break down that wall. What's the wall about? And how can we create drama with the wall? Ler’s find our in the next section on ‘How to create a wall” 9 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseThe Wall ‘The wall is nothing but a wall. ) ‘A dead end. Imagine you're driving down a new neighbourhood and you turn into a street. Normally a street leads to another street, and you can find your way out. Unless of course you run into a dead end. “This is che ‘wall, A dead end. On the street, a dead end is just a bloomin’ nuisance. Bur in an article a wall is the reason for drama. So why is the Wall important? Irs important because it addresses an objection. Now you may see yourself as a writer of articles, but you're more than that. You're actually selling an idea. And all sales y of thinking, to your way of thinking, means I have to now walk over from my For example: IF you think that headlines shouldn't be too long, and I come along and. tell you to write long headlines, then your brain is immediately resistant to the idea. ‘Why should you write long headlines because I tell you so? You have this resistance, and though you may pay attention to what I have to say, your objection still stays your mind. Now what good writers do, is that they recognise the objection. And they create a wall. So the writer is deliberately taken co that wall, where the objection rears its nasty head. And then the expert writer, having led you to the wall, then gently cakes you over the wall, and over to the other side. But what does the wall do? It heightens the drama. When I'm toodling down the street with zero-obstacles, I'm just toodling down the street. But when [run into an obstacle that’s ten feet high (like a wall), then I'm instantly interested. And the drama comes back. And hey, when the writer (that’s you) comes around and destroys that obstacle, then I feel a great sense of relief. But I also recognise your expertise. You were smart enough to look into my brain, and see where I would object. And that gets you points on two fronts: The front where you anticipated my objection (and kept me engrossed), and also where you broke the wall, and let me through. But remember the wall brings agitation So yes, bring up the wall, bur don't build walls after walls, afer walls. That will just drive the reader up the...ahem...wall. 3) You already have the drama of ‘NEW and KNEW’, and the wall is a unique device that tackles the biggest objection. One wall in an entire article should be more than enough—and more than appropriate since you're going to be covering just one angle. One angle will have one big objection. Cover off chat objection in the wall, and move on. Like I am right now. 20 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseExamples of the Wall The Customer Stampede: How can you harness it? By Sean D'Souza Gay Does your marketing campaign tend to go suddenly quiet? The — phone should be ringing off the haok, your web server should be ‘crashing with the number of orders, yet all you hear is the sound of silence. One psychological factor could throw your entire a marketing campaign out of whack. What is that factor? And how can it make your campaign come alive again? Read this article to solve the puzzle, - oe Grandmas never moved so quickly! tend to ge suddenly quiet? | at's go back to the 70's. Imagine we're in a department store. ‘You, me and a whole lot of other people. No one seems to be in any’sort of hurry. You're looking at beachwear, I'm looking at ‘some shirts and we're not even remotely thinking about jeans. We're not even thinking of buying anything. ‘Then suddenly there’s an announcement. “attention, K-Mart shoppers. We have a Blue Light Special in the Men's department: Lew's jeans for only $19.95. Hurry, this sale ends when the blue light stops spinning.” You hear it before you see it. It's a low rumble. Then seconds later like an army of wildebeest on the move, a multitude of ‘shoppers seem to roar ahead. And God help you if you're in their way! Mild mannered grandmas tum into menacing Indy 500 racecar drivers. Housewives push, shove and jostle to avail of the bargain as soon as they can. Teenagers bent an stretching their allowances join the fray. ‘Shopping carts tumble, angry words fly. And while the blue fight flashes, it sounds like 2 zoo with a hundred angry wildebeest. ‘Which psychological factor creates such a level of pandemonium? Could it possibly be the bargain factor? ‘You'd be quick to jump to that conclusion wouldn't you? I mean 3 bargain is a bargain is a bargain. What else is there to consider? What you may have missed in the thunderous stampede is the fact that the blue light has stopped after a duration of about 15 minutes, Suddenly there's a kind of hush. Notice how the buying euphoria has died down. The shoppers go back to their fitting rooms. They window shop, perhaps buy a few things. Perhaps not. ‘You still think it’s the bargain price, don't you? So go figure this one out. See the wall? In this article, the reader is almost made to believe that the factor that drives customers is one of bargain prices. Then the carpet is pulled from under the reader: The reader then gets proof that it’s not bargain prices at all. That in fact, the price was irrelevant. That’s the wall. And it creates drama. To read more, go to: hrep:/ hwwwspsychotactics.com/arturg.htm a © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseThe Swittest Way Lo Convert Prospects Into Clients By Sean D'Souza There are two ways to convert prospects into clients. Ss oneisby seling tothe cent. ‘ One is by not selling at all. ‘Which one do you prefer? Well, don't tell me, Because I know the answer already. ow to Convert Brosmeas te You'd sure as hell want the second option. CSnisemtcm Nowhere's the scary part Jim Collins ‘The client wants the second part too. ae um. oh... See what I mean? Both parties want the transaction to go through without the push-push-shove-shove. Yet somehow most of us try to push-push-shove-shove. So the question must arise. What do you do? How do you get. the dient to buy into what you're selling, without..ahem...selling itat all? Let's ask Jim Collins, shall we? Jim Collins was a college professor who wrote two books. ‘Built to Last’ and ‘Good to Great’. ‘Good to Great! has sold well over 2 million copies in the last 5 years. ‘And what do you think Jim does to impress the CEOs and ‘Marketing honchos at large companies? Why nothing He doesn't sell anything. But Jim's speaking fees are $50,000 per hour (yes, per hour--you read right!) And Jim won't consult with CEOs, unless the CEOs go to Colorado (where Jim lives) And Jim will set the agenda for the CEO; the 4-day session (no more and no less) And Jim will ask for (and get) his consulting fee. But waitasec, you aren't Jim... Youll probably never be Jim. You'll probably never write a book that sells two gazillion copies or more. But you can still do what Jim has done. Because what lim has done, isn't about selling. What Jim has. done, is put together an info-product. Again the wall pops up. The article shows you how you can convert prospects into clients. And how author Fim Collins does exactly the same for a considerable fee. Then suddenly there's the wall: You aren’t Jim. What are you supposed to do? To read more, go to: http://www.psychotactics.com/artprospectstoclients.him,Summary “This brings us to the end of the first part of creating drama in articles, So let's just summarise what we've learned. Summary: First 50 Words ~ The fist fifty words wakes up the reader and gets them hooked onto your article. - So first, what are the first fifty words? ~ Where do you find the first fifty words? - The big mistake that writers make - How curiosity creates drama - Why curiosity is a double-edged sword 7) How to rapidly bring the main story back, and to avoid dragging the drama out too long. Summary: New and Knew - How We Go From New To Knew ~ Why Our Brains Get Bored ~ Why too much of NEW or KNEW is dangerous - Five Ways to Create N-E-W ~ The importance of the connection. Summary: The Wall - The Importance of the Wall - Why The Wall Creates Drama - Why ‘The Wall Creates Expertise ~ How the wall could be an objection or a deliberate blind alley. - Dont overdo the drama of the wall. Use it sparingly. B © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseHow To Get More Out of Maps Important Note In your mindmaps, you have live links to articles. The mindmaps can be expanded and you can click on the live links to see the articles. You'll need the free Mindjet Reader to read the maps. You can download the FREE Mindjet Reader at: hetp:/!www.mindjet.com/us/download viewer, phy Click on the “+ sign to expand the topic. ‘Group Exercise: + ForLive Call Next Week [Opening | Tonic 1: The Firs S0 Words {Assignments | First 50 Words :: | Knew-New :: The Wall = Summary | a ~~! First Fifty Words }# 2 The Wall > {Knew and New 9 The topic expands to reveal all the material. f you click on the ~~ (minus sign). it hides the ‘maternal ‘he Etal Problem ot Seepy Cust {Drama? wy unining | Personaliy, Group Exercise: * For Live Call Next Week { Opening (Assignments |-| First 50 Words :: | Knew-New :: The Wall :: #{ Summary } 3{ The Wall } [Knew and Now |= © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing Course| Bu he question arises: Do we start with NEW or KNEW? And the answers: soos actually matte whal you start win. Wa realy matters is that you wiles from one to the other #0 that you These are live links. I you click on these links, theyll take you to the respective aticle which gives you an example of the lesson being taught. 1) Create drama wehout creating too much agtasen 2).Go tom relaxed, nice and easy back to tho drama | 30 you can create KNEW bul how do you create NEW? Richard Ganson and PR A 2 Discounting [ supemar: To expan he concept of | Signatur Fuel Gauge: To ex _Laown Moning Guy To expen the rept of Recuing Pay ‘he twist, So how do we create a Swat? Listen to this audio from a ive arte 25 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseYour Action Plan Step I: Pick 10 Angles (You've already done this) Step 2: List 10 objections to those angles Step 3: Find disconnected objects/things to those angles. List 10 of them. Unsure about anything? Eni! me at seancepryehotartiescamDrama. Structure. Next Step. Headlines~ Headllines-More HeadlinesContents HEADLINES ARE A PAIN THE BUTT Tometo get il he pain DE-CONSTRUCTING HEADLINES. Eaplonig by Hoalins Work WHAT CREATES CURIOSITY? Wersplr andar eran HOW TO JUMPSTART YOUR HEADLINES Toe Pac of How And Why THREE HEADLINE MISTAKES These Mita Coad Get Yo Al Kasted Up 11'S RAINING HEADLINES SUMMARY, Al Good Sea YOUR ACTION PLAN/ASSIGNMENT B 16 8 19Headlines are a pain in the butt. Yes they are. “They've always been that way. And there’ a reason why it’s so painful to write headlines. All you'e ever told, is 0 write a headline, And then youe given erummy systems to write the headlines. Or even worse, you're told to copy other headlines and tweak them around. in the burt. ‘And that’s what malkes headlines ap: Bur headlines don't need to be a problem at all. And they aren't. And we're just about to find out why. 1 © Psychotaeties.com | Article Writing Course2 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseDe-Constructing Headlines Ifyou were to place seven headlines on a sheet of paper, and asked a qualified customer to choose the most interesting headline, would that customer pick your headline? ‘And whar if you did this experiment week after week. Could you indeed make thar customer choose your headline repeatedly? Seems like a shetorical question, right? I ‘mean what are the odds of your customer picking out your headline repeatedly. And yet, that’s exactly what you can achieve if you structure your headline in the correct Now structure brings up a big yawn soun Because you're getting the feeling thac you'll have to write headlines that are kinda formulaic. Aha, but that’s quite true. You'll be following a formula, no two ways about it, but the formula will help you become far more effective. And as you turn cout dozens of stellar headlines, you'll soon become an absolute pro at headline writing. To go down this road of expertise, we have to examine the core of headlines. And in examining the core, we see that three headline elements pop up repeatedly. 1) Headlines with problems. 2) Headlines with questions in them. 3) Headlines with an intense amount of embedded curiosity. So let’s look at headlines with problems in them Example Example 2: How co deal with ‘freeloaders’ in your business Example 3: How to hand off your most hated business tasks low to avoid wasting money on advertising So why does the problem work? See the problems? They are: ‘Wasting money, freeloader, and hated business tasks.” “These are things you detest. And we know from our own experience that the brain responds to problems, better than to solutions. And it does so, because it wants 0 solve the problem. So when a headline brings up the problem, the brain immediately lights up, and is interested in what's being said. Now understand context ‘The context is: Your headline is just one of many headlines. So whether you're writing for the newspaper, magazine, an online newsletter or your own blog or website, you've got competition. There are other headlines. The reader can turn the page, click away to another link, Or simply ignore your message. Once the reader has moved on, they've moved on. You can't afford to be namby-pamby. You've got to get the reader's attention right away. And the problem gets the reader’ attention. 3 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseSo creating headlines with a problem is nor just nice to have, but pretty darned. crucial. At this point we have to compare our headlines vs. headlines we've written before. And what is the core of the headlines we've written before? We've written (or are likely to write) headlines with solutions in them -- rather than problems (even though we know that problems work better). So yeah, you can keep banging your head on the solution wall, or you can start using problems in your headlines. And the good news is thar the problem is not the only way to get the attention of the reader. The second Element of getting attention is simply one of asking questions. Example I: How to avoid wasting money on advertising becomes: Can you reduce your advertising spend by 80% (and still gain new customers)? Example 2: How to deal wit there a guaranteed way to get rid of them instantly? ‘freeloaders’ in your business becomes: Freeloaders: Is Example 3: How to hand off your most hated business tasks becomes: Do your most hated business tasks cost you 10-20% less profit each year? So yeah, you see we didn’t go about writing new and fancy headlines. We just took: the very same headlines that already had an embedded problem in them. And we said, “Hey, can we put some question marks in these headlines?” And our brain, our wonderful brain, thought about it for a second and said, “Yup, why not?” And so we instantly realised that we could take any headline and make it a question. Yes, just like that. But why make it a question? You know that answer already don't you? You make it a question, because what happens when you ask a question? Yes, our brains need an answer. And when a customer is reading your headline, and the headline has a question, then they're drawn to your article because they need to know the answer. [And knowing the answer means the reader is pulled into the vortex of the rest of your article, and will stay there reading the rest of your article, if you use the concepts we learned in the three sessions before this one: Namely the sessions on structure and, drama And yes, there’ one more way to get customers into the vortex. And it’s what got the 4 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseRemember curiosity? Example 1: How to avoid wasting money on advertising becomes: Can you reduce your advertising spend by 80% (and still gain new customers)? Example 2: How to deal with ‘freeloaders’ in your business becomes: Freeloaders: Is there a guaranteed way to get rid of them instantly? Example 3: How to hand off your most hated business tasks becomes: Do your most hated business tasks cost you 10-20% less profit each year? (Okay, so we've made no changes at all to the headlines that went through Element 1 and Element 2, Why is that? It’s because they’ already loaded with curiosity. 5 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseWhat Creates Curiosity? So what creates curiosity? And is there something as crappy curiosity? Let's find out, shall we? ~ Curiosity is created by unfamiliar Concepts/terminology ~ Curiosity is created by a direct contrast to the existing status quo So let's look at specifies How to avoid wasting money on advertising vs. Can you reduce your advertising spend by 80% (and still gain new customers)? How to hand off your most hated business tasks vs. Do your most hated business tasks cost you 10-20% less profit each year? ‘The specifics are obvious to you, aren't they? The headline was pretty darned good before we tweaked it with specifics. Then suddenly the headline snapped to attention. Suddenly it got even better than before. And it was all by putting in some specifics. Now I want you to pay attention to the fact that the headline didn’t require the question to be specific. It ust needed specifics. So what do I mean by that? If I said: How to avoid wasting money on advertising. vs. How to avoid wasting 80% of your money on advertising, then I've only changed one element. I've only changed the specific ‘The 80% that a business will spend on advertising. That's it. And the headline still becomes instantly sharper and more focused. Which then brings up the question: Can we get even more specific? So instead of ‘How to avoid wasting 80% of your money on advertising’ we had a headline like: How bread manufacturers can avoid wasting 80% on their advertising” do you think that ‘car manufacturers would be interested? No they wont, but do you sce how it forces you to focus? How it nails you down to one angle? ‘That if you'e talking about bread manufacturers in your headline, then the rest of the article has to have some dough. And some yeast. And sugar. ‘And salt. And it can’t have fenders and steering wheels. ‘That's the power of specifics. So if we take a topic like smart dressing, we get: ~ Spend 50% less on your clothes without buying on sale. = Choosing the wrong clothes for work can lower your salary by 25-50%. - You can double your wardrobe using what you already have in your closet. - Learning to “cluster” your clothes makes shopping a breeze. (Courtesy: hrep:!/www.thesmarterimage.com) 6 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing CourseAnd if you've into measuring plant brix, then we get: “The connection beeween low brix food, diabetes and obesity. Interpreting brix readings on cucumbers. Isa 12-brix strawberry twice as good as a 6-brix strawberry? And while we're still on the farm... ~ Is run-off reducing your nacural capital by 80% each year? ~ Can you inerease sol fertility at half your current annual cost? - Is transpiration the cause of 50% of your crop losses? - Can ground-cover increase your profits by 30%? - Is humus loss responsible for 50% of your capital erosion? (Courtesy: hexp://www:holisticdecisions.com) So let's look at ignitions for classic bikes... How can you get 10% more horse power from your classic bike How an electronic ignition can keep your bike out of the shed and on the road. Did you know chat a 2amp-hour battery with a Pazon will last a whole race meeting? (Courtesy: htep:/fwww-pazon.com) ‘Which takes us to the second curiosity factor of the unknown, What's the unknows or unfamiliar concepts and terminology? What are unfamiliar concepts or terminology? eg. A concept called the Yes-Yes Factor. What's the Yes-Yes Factor? You dontt know, right? Well that’s because I made it up--but hey, I then put it in the headline as well to attract attention. (*The article is at htrp:/www.psychoractics.com/artyes.htm) Have you heard about the “Three Prong System?” Well, that's unfamiliar for some of You 100, isn't it? Those of you who know about the “Three Prong System’ will have read the notes, heard the audio or attended the Website Masterclass. And when it was introduced, it instantly gets attention And for a third example, let's talk about ‘Artversumption’. What's Attversumption? Ir’ the sequence of ‘attraction, conversion and consumption’ that’s crucial in getting, customers to keep coming back. You might think that unfamiliar concepts drive customers away But no, we're all cats in a way. We're al curious. And thae which hasn't killed us, has made us stronger. So yes, we've been curious before, and we've learned more as a result (even when things went wrong). So we rely on our cutiosity. And when faced with unfamiliar concepts or terminology in an article, report, book or workshop for that matter-we're instantly hooked in. 7 © Paychotaeties.com | Article Writing CourseAnd if you've paid close attention, you'll have realised one thing. That we've slid from just cteating curiosity into the realm of branding. That branding is the name we've given for the phenomenon called the Yes-Yes Factor. That branding has been created with terms like the “Three Prong System’, and ‘Artversumption.” ‘That instead of calling it the three-step system, we're giving it a name and calling it the Three Prongs. That instead of saying Attraction, Conversion and Consumption, there's a name called Attversumption. So yes, you can create curiosity. And you can create it with unfamiliar terminology ot concepts, but also think up a name, Naming the unfamiliar concept makes it casier for the reader, especially as they go through reading the rest of the article Which then rakes us to the third factor of curiosity: Curiosity is created by a direct contrast co the existing status quo. What's status quo? Yes, isa rock band. Bur essentially you can define ‘status quo’ as the ‘the existing state of affairs. The opposite of the status quo is what causes curiosity. So if you understand the term ‘outsourcing’ does the term ‘insourcing’ get your attention? You know that when you'e in a meeting you need to be on reasonably full alertness, bur what if you could ‘relax in a meeting?’ You know thar headlines cause atcraction, but what ifT could demonstrate to you how a headline can instantly drive your customer away? Creating direct contrast to the status quo creates intense curiosity. So when you take the thee concepts of insourcing, relaxing in meetings, and distracting headlines, you get sharp contrast, and hence intense curiosity. But notice that the terminology or concepts aren't unfamiliar. ‘Ateversumption, ‘The ‘Three Prong System and the “Yes-Yes Factor’ were completely alien to you. But ‘insourcing, ‘distraction in headlines’ and ‘relaxing in meetings’ are simply contrasting the status quo. And from this contrast we get headlines such ast 1) Can Insourcing Save You Outsourcing costs? 2) How To Avoid Headlines That Distract Your Customer in the middle of a meeting, 3) How to secretly relax your mi Now notice how much you've already learned. Even as youre listening to this audio, you're wondering how insourcing works. And at the same time, you're thinking, well if it does work, then how much of my costs can it save? So you're not just curious, but youre longing for specifics as well. Which is of course, what your customer longs for. And which brings us to the end of this section on curiosity. And also brings us to the ‘end of the first section on the Three Core Elements of Headlines 8 © Psychotactics.com | Article Writing Course‘Why and ‘How’ Headlines When You Want To Jumpstart a car, there are two cables. ‘The red cable and the black cable. Headline writing has two powerful cables too: They'te called “WHY” and “HOW” You can literally get a headline jump started by using WHY and HOW Example 1: How to avoid wasting money on advertising, Example 2: How to deal with ‘freeloaders’ in your business Example 3: How to hand off your most hated business tasks And then let's head off into WHY Territory As we've seen before, we can literally rake the same headline and tweak it around, So yes, we have a HOW type of headline. How do we make it a WHY type of headline? Example 1: How to avoid wasting money on advertising, becomes: Why most small business ‘accidentally’ waste money on advertising Example 2: How to deal with ‘freeloaders’ in your business, becomes: Why ‘freeloaders’ instantly turn into ‘monster clients’ Example 3: How to hand off your most hated business tasks, becomes: Why handing, over your most hated business tasks increases profits Now I personally write for quite a few blogs, for national newspapers and international magazines. And of course, I write articles for the membership at 5000be.com and Psychoractics newsletter. And they toral somewhere in the range of about 300 articles a year. And guess what? Becween 80-90% of these articles have headlines with HOW or WHY. It’s the simple factor of curiosity When a headline starts with HOW or WHY, you want to know HOW or WHY something happens. And that factor of curiosity pulls you straight into the article like a magnet. From there on, it's the first fifty words that continues the slip-sliding into the rest of the article ‘Which brings us to a critical juncture. How are we to come up with HOW or WHY headlines all of a sudden? ‘There's nothing sudden, if you've been diligently doing your assignments so far. Remember the angles you were told to come up with in the very first lesson. And you came up with about 10 different angles. Well now take HOW or WHY and put them on those angles, and you'll instantly see how either HOW or WHY will fit exactly over those angles. Of course, as you start writing even more angles, you'll get even more reasons (0 put HOW or WHY in the headlines. Bur then, will your audience know that youre constantly putting in a HOW or WHY in the hea 9 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing Course‘You may believe your audience is tracking you all the time; listening to every word you say; hovering over every word you write--and they're not. Their only interest in your information is based on your angle. If you've got an angle that’s worth my time, I'm going to read it. If you don't have an angle that’s worth my time, then I'm not. So how do we know this to be true? ‘We know this to be true, because if you're an artist for instance, and you see an article on, “How to prepare your canvas with gesso”, then you'll be mildly, to not at all interested. Why? Because you've already learned how co put gesso on the canvas. You know what gesso is, and once you've done it, you don't need to read an article, But if you're not an artist and want to learn how to put gesso, then the artiele becomes really valid. Which then brings us to the really, really important part of article writing. Did I say article writing? [ actually meant communication. When you communicate, the first thing you have to decide is who you're communicating to. ‘We just heard about gesso. Now most of you may not have known what gesso is, and not cared. And that's good. Because gesso isn’t for everyone. Bur if you were getting into say acrylic painting, then gesso is of vital importance to you, because you need to get the canvas ready before painting. And if you'e a sort of experienced painter, the gesso story won't interest you at all. But that's not true. Because it all depends. I can take an angle on gesso that identifies how most experienced painters under-use gesso. Or how to create unique textures with gesso, Or something that even the intermediate painter may be interested in learning. Which is why target audience is so important. Ifyou ask a consulting business, for instance: Who's going to read your articles, then they'll say: “Small to Medium Businesses”. And that’s rubbish. You can’t have such a broad audience. Do you know of even one small to medium business? Can you give me a name of this business owner? No you can't. Because a business can be either small or medium. And even there we need to chunk down, because a small business can be a 10 person business or a 200 person business. (Ora one person business. And trust me, the problems ofa tiny, tiny one-person business aren‘ the problems of a business with 5 people, let alone 10 or 20 or 500. If you're talking to a beginner in acrylic painting, ‘you need different angles and headlines and outlining than if you're talking to someone intermediate. 10 © Psychotacties.com | Article Writing CourseIfyou're not clear--and I mean crystal clear-about your taxget audience, then your articles and your headlines are going to be complete shots in the dark. And all of this trouble of structure, drama, and next step (that you'll soon learn about) will be wasted. So before we go any further, I want you to be very clear about your target audience. And then dig up the angles you wrote in the first assignment. And match up the angles with the audience, Do the angles fit? If they do, then it’s time to put a HOW and WHY on those angles and create powerful, curiosity-driven headlines So before we go bungee jumping into the world of headlines, le’s doa litle audit ‘We've seen of course, that the HOW and WHY play an outstanding role in creating headlines. But how do we know that we're really writing a great headline? ‘We know because we've learned what makes headlines tick. So let's see what made headlines tick: 1) Problems 2) Questions 3) Curiosity So you can all these three elements: Problems, Questions and Curiosity in your headline. Bur you may choose to skip the Question element for instance. Here are some headlines I've written that don't have questions fo instance. -Why Your Brain Stops You From Buying -How ‘The Want Factor Can Reveal Your USP. -How ‘To Make Your Client Remember Your Website ..Forever! “The Plate-Spinning System: How To Run Several Projects Simultaneously -Is Brand Extension Possible? The Concept of the Umbrella Brand -How To Fight Business Battles You Can't Lose. “The Critical Importance of Time Replacement -How Training Increases Your Expertise Factor “The Logical Case For Increasing Your Prices -How Microwaves Overcome Writer's Block -Do keywords in headlines lead to greater website traffic? -Why Customers Leave Suddenly: The Vital Importance Of Sequencing -How Un-Bundling Can Help You Increase Prices “The 70% Principle: Why You Never Get Projects Off The Ground -Why Customers Won't Buy (Despite Getting To Your Product Page) ty: How To Turn The ‘Not-So-Interested’ Customer Into An The Case For (And Against) Pop-Ups On Your Website ‘The Logical Case For A ‘Stop-Doing} List -How Ego-Killers Can Drive Clients Away n © Psychotaeties.com | Article Writing Course-How To Go From Free to Fee “The Power Of Enough -Why Discounting Sends Clients To Your Competition -How To Overcome The Curse of ‘Feature Creep’ -Why Creativity Is A Myth

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