Dumb It Down Final August 2020

WAR ON WEAKNESS | DUMB IT DOWN
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The dumber your content, the fatter your wallet… ..................................................... 3
A mindset shift to get you from “D” English student to 6 figure content creator… ..... 5
Why you’re not a big deal… ....................................................................................... 7
The one mistake you MUST avoid if you want people to read your shit… ............... 11
The four types of content your readers are BIOLOGICALLY WIRED to consume…15
Two proven formulas to structure your content for maximum persuasion…............ 18
Write to an imaginary friend… .................................................................................. 25
The proven 5 step writing process that annihilates “writer’s block”. ........................ 29
The most important part of content (and the part that 99% of writers ignore). ........ 34
How to create hypnotic content on repeat… ........................................................... 36
Before you hit publish… ........................................................................................... 40
The ultimate pre-writing checklist… ......................................................................... 44
Final words… ........................................................................................................... 48
Disclaimer: I recommend certain resources for further education in this guide. Some of them have
affiliate links attached. This means that if you make a purchase, I will receive a small fee. This has not
affected my decision to add them to the guide, and my commision comes at no extra cost to you.
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The dumber your content, the fatter your wallet
I am going to try my best to keep this book short and to the point, even though it is
my natural inclination to make it long and “clever”.
Why do I say “natural inclination”?
Because that’s how I was taught to write in school.
But we are not in high school right now and I’m not going to win a nobel prize for this,
so I am going to keep it short and to the point.
Why?
Because my attention span is short, as is yours and your audience’s.
But don’t fret.
Short does NOT mean shit.
In fact, as you will learn in this guide, short and dumb content will bring you more
fans and make you more money than you could ever imagine.
Do not be fooled by the simplicity of the information I am about to lay out in this
guide.
The information in this book has allowed me and many others to invent brilliant
ideas, type them onto a computer screen and implant them into people’s minds (just
like that movie Inception).
Once my ideas are in their minds, I can persuade them to do things like:
● Subscribe to an email list
● Buy a product
● Read an article
● Click a link
● Give me money
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Most of what you’ll learn in this book is specific to written content but it applies to
ALL types of content.
You can apply them to Youtube videos, podcasts, discovery calls or even dating
profiles.
As long as you are doing some form of communication, you can apply these
techniques to dumb down your content for maximum persuasion
One more thing....
Just like weaving a machete, this information can be used for good or bad.
You can use this information and sell your amazing product to your customers (and
fatten your wallet in the process).
You can use this information and spread the genius ideas in your head with the
world.
You can use this information to raise millions of dollars to feed starving children.
You can use this information to scam people out of their hard earned money.
But please don’t do the last one because one way or another, it WILL come
back and bite you in the ass.
Call it karma, call it God or call it the Simulation. Whatever. Just don’t do bad things
with it because the information you are about to learn is POWERFUL ok?
Cool, now that’s out of the way I hope you are ready.
Grab your pen, open your notepad and pour yourself a tasty beverage (a glass of
wine, a neat Japanese whiskey or coffee will do).
Let’s get you writing!
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A mindset shift to get you from “D” English student

to 6 figure content creator
Warning: what I am about to tell you goes against everything you learned about
writing from your 8th grade English teacher (or in my case Mrs. Francis).
In school, your job was to impress your English teacher
You were taught to codify your writing in as many complex words as possible.
Any kind of obscure word that would never come out of someone’s mouth in casual
conversation improved your chances of getting a good grade.
Style came before substance which meant the more variety of grammar techniques,
the better your writing, and the more likely Mrs. Francis would give you that A+ for
your end of term essay on Macbeth.
Online, your job is to inform your audience
Your words should speak to your audience, like the words you’d hear in a pub on a
Friday night.
Substance comes before style which means the better your ideas and the clearer
you express them, the more successful your writing will be.
Instead of writing with a pretentious tone, you’ll write with a casual tone.
Informative writing boils down to two things:

● Clarity
● Persuasiveness
Is there a clear and simple idea and can you persuade a stranger to buy that
idea (and product)?
Everything else comes secondary to this.
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Profitable online writing doesn’t read like what most people would consider “good
writing.”
Profitable online writing is more steak than sizzle. Yes, there is such a thing as style
but it’s more of a conversational style than it is a writing style.
If you picked up an example of good online writing and read it out loud, it
would sound more like an improvised speech from your uncle Joe at the family
Christmas gathering than the crafted prose of a Nobel prize laureate.
Action Step: Go to www.thegaryhalbertletter.com and read all of Gary Halbert’s old

newsletters. Pay attention to the *tone* of his writing. (PS: this is a guy who made
millions of dollars from writing sales letters).
Key lesson from this chapter : If you want to make boatloads money with your
content, you need to shift your mindset from writing to *impress* to writing to
*inform.*
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Why you’re not a big deal
I mean no offense but…..
You are not a big deal. No one cares about you. They only care about
themselves.
Comprendes?
You = NOT IMPORTANT
Your audience = EXTREMELY IMPORTANT
I’m not telling you this to make you feel bad.
I’m telling you this because I want you to win the attention of millions of strangers
online and the only way you can do that is make them care.
And the only thing that makes them care is to create content around topics which
affect THEM.
NOT things that affect you
NOT things that affect your friends.
Why do I keep repeating this? Simple…
When people see content on the internet, they immediately filter it

through the question
“how is this USEFUL to ME?”
I’m a man. If I stumble upon an article called:
“The natural three ingredient smoothie that completely eliminates period pain”
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I would keep scrolling and forget it within 2 seconds.
But if a woman who is currently suffering from period pain sees that headline, she is
very likely to AT LEAST stop scrolling because the information could be USEFUL to
her.
I don’t care how “talented” you are, if you cannot GRAB THE ATTENTION of your
reader, then no one is going to read your content.
The only way to grab their attention is to explicitly point out what it can do for them.
Not you. Not me. Not your nan. THEM. Got it?
Far too many websites/blogs/newsletters/emails start off by talking about themselves

first.
Here is an example:
At Elite Golfers Coaching, we love to work with players at all levels. We have over
10 years of experience in delivering world-class coaching for our students and our
customers with our revolutionary Elite training system. Our staff is focused on
delivering the best training and service possible. Our passion is to Blah blah blah
no one is reading this crap...
Did you even read any of that corporate chat? Of course not!
It was all about them and what they do, and nothing about YOU.
Let’s see if we can rewrite that to make it more attention grabbing:
Are you an amateur golfer looking to add POWER and ACCURACY to your drive?
If so, chances are you are making one huge mistake…..
You are trying to hit the ball with your arms
It sounds counterintuitive, but hitting the ball with your arms is a common mistake
we see everyday.
Here’s a simple tip you can implement right now to improve your drive by 100x:
Forget your arms, keep your eyes on the ball and focus on hitting the ball by
rotating your hips.
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This counter-intuitive “hack” will do two things:

● Allow you to drive the ball further
● Allow you to hit the ball closer to where you want it to go
This little trick is just one of the first things we teach you at Elite Golfers coaching.
Our professional coaches have helped over 1,000 people just like you take their
golf game from amateur to elite.
Our coaches will work one on one with you so they can spot all the little errors you
are doing wrong, and work with you individually to correct those so you can
destroy your competition.
Click here to schedule a FREE 20 minute analysis of your drive. It’s completely
free, and we will identify all the adjustments you can make to take you to the next
level.
Ok. That’s a bit rough since I have zero experience writing about golf but you get the
point.
Notice how I started the letter by addressing the reader’s pain points head on?
Notice how I don’t even bring up the name of the company until the second half of
the letter?
I only mention the company in order to establish trust and credibility. For the most
part, the letter is about THE READER and not about ME.
I’m going to repeat the phrase one more time because it’s so important:
You are not a big deal. No one cares about you. They only care about
themselves.
When you have this mindset hardwired into your writing brain, your content will
immediately outperform 90% of the garbage on the internet.
While your competition is busy trying to “impress” their readers by writing about how
cool they are, you’ll be stealing customers from them just by talking about what their
customer’s want.
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When you make it crystal clear that your article/sales letter/email/etc is about your
reader and not you, something magical happens:
People who are interested in the writing will read it, and people who are not
interested in the writing will move on.
Key lesson from this chapter: Your content will convert 1000x better when you
make it about your reader, and not about you.
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The one mistake you MUST avoid if you want

people to read your shit
Back in 2002 when I was a first year university student, I attended a class called
“Government, business and society.”
I know, what a boring ass name for a class right?
To make matters worse, the lecturer who ran the class was a bitter old man who
spoke in a slow, monotone voice.
No matter how hard I tried to pay attention, I kept falling asleep.
I tried my best to attend his classes but after going to about 3 of them, I gave up.
My marketing class had the opposite effect on me.
My lecturer spoke with a lot of energy and commanded every student’s attention with
entertaining stories.
Even if the material was boring, she managed to make it fun, interesting and
ENGAGING with her colourful personality.
Her classes were so good, students LOOKED FORWARD to them.
If you have ever been to school, chances are you have had teachers on both ends of
the spectrum.
Just as people enjoy learning from and paying attention to interesting people,
they also enjoy learning from and consuming interesting content.
And if you want to write interesting content, you must avoid this mistake:
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DON’T BE BORING
The best way to not be boring is to write in a casual tone.
Here’s a scenario which highlights my point:
Imagine you are sitting at a bar, with a beautiful woman you just met, drinking a
cocktail.
Let’s go on to imagine that your day job is selling a really boring product like social
media automation software.
While looking deep into her eyes, would you say to this beautiful woman:
(in a monotone voice)
“Socialnator is a software which streamlines the monetisation and engagement

aspect of using social media in order to reduce the online time of our user base. It
is the flagship product which falls under the umbrella of our head company, Boring
social media software automation systems. We are currently in phase 1 of the
rollout of our…”
You would never ever speak like that in real life to a beautiful woman because if you
did, she would jump out of the window just to escape this torturous conversation.
So if you would never speak like that, why in the hell would you write like that?
I understand. If you graduated from high school english or if you have ever been in
the corporate world, your inclination is to write in a way that sounds “clever”.
This is a habit that’s been deeply rooted into your writing brain since you learned
how to write and my mission with this guide is to get you to break this habit.
Why?
Because as soon as you turn your boring monotonous writing to interesting and
engaging writing, magic starts to happen.
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Just by rewriting your content with a casual tone, your engagement, conversions and
sales will go wayyyy up.
Let’s see if we can make our little sales pitch about your boring automation software
sound more interesting:
“Ok so you know how Kim Kardashian has hundreds of millions of Instagram
followers? Well she hires a full time social media manager to run her Instagram
account you know?
A lot of famous people do this, but obviously not everyone can afford to pay a full
time salary for someone to run their Instagram.
Our software basically does all of the grunt work that a full time social media
manager would do but for a way more reasonable price.
And not only does it work on Instagram. You can use it for Twitter, Facebook and
Pinterest too.
So instead of paying 50 grand or whatever it is for a social media manager to run

one account, we only charge you $10 a month to run as many accounts as you’d
like!”
See how simple that was? Yet something stupid simple like this will get you more
sales and more engagement than that boring corporate talk from before.
To sum up:
1st boring example: leaves your date wanting to jump out the window and kill herself.
2nd casual example: leaves your date with a clear understanding of what your
product does, and leaves her wanting to know more about it.
Here is a simple exercise you can do to make your writing less boring:
Next time you have to write about a topic, ignore who your reader is supposed to be
and just write a casual letter to your grandma explaining the topic.
Literally start your letter with “Dear grandma” at the top.
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In your own words, as her grandchild, explain to her what your content is about.
Now go back through your letter and take out all the inside jokes.
And just like that, what you have written is already way clearer and much more
persuasive than the boring, formal writing everyone else teaches.
Just by using this simple visualisation technique, you will produce much more
EFFECTIVE writing than most people who have studied English literature.
Key lesson from this chapter: Write casual. Write controversial. Write fun. But for
the love of money, don’t write boring.
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The Four types of content your readers are

BIOLOGICALLY WIRED to consume
Just like you can’t force a baby to eat, you can’t force your audience to read.
The only way you can get anyone to read your content is to give them a reason to
pay attention.
There are four broad types of content that people respond to.
This isn’t some new age marketing gimmick.
These four things are biologically wired into our brains.
Let’s explore them one by one.
1) People respond to what’s NEW
People get used to their environment and the content they see VERY FAST.
This is why the idea of “market saturation” is overblown baloney.
People have an inherent belief that there is always something newer and better.
If you don’t believe me, just look at how many brands of bottled water there are.
Objectively it is just water in a bottle, yet businesses continue to build profitable

brands from this simple product by making it *seem* new.
People want new things so if you want their attention, give them something they
haven’t seen before.
2) People respond to what’s ENTERTAINING
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You would think that with the abundance of cheap digital entertainment we have at
our disposal, people would stop being bored right?
WRONG.
People are bored by default so if you can entertain them in some way, you are going
to get A LOT of attention.
I see this all the time on Twitter.
Tweets with deep and highly technical actionable advice get very poor engagement.
But wrap that actionable advice inside a funny meme and you have the perfect
formula for a viral tweet.
The same goes with any kind of writing.
If you can entertain your audience in some way by making them laugh or making
them smile, you will do very well.
A good example of this in the writing sphere is satirical news sites like the Onion.
3) People respond to what’s useful
Most people live in their own world and spend their entire day worrying about their
problems.
A great way to hijack their train of thought is to talk about their problems, then
present them with a solution.
Sounds simple doesn’t it?
Well… It is!
The problem is a lot of new writers are too busy thinking about themselves and their
own problems (“No one is going to read my writing, bahhhhhh!”)
All you have to do is dangle the useful carrot in front of their eyes and they will want
to read on to find out how to get it.
Be useful to people and you will build an audience fast.
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4) People respond to what’s unusual or out of place
Unusual is anything that seems out of place.
All humans are pattern recognising machines so if we see anything that seems out of
place, it immediately grabs our attention.
You may not notice the faded brown awning of the bakery you’ve been visiting since
you were a child but if they rebranded themselves with a bright yellow logo, it’s going
to make you look twice.
NOW….
All of these categories get attention but if you want to keep a reader’s attention,
your best bet is to create USEFUL content.
Friend, there is a reason why “how to” headlines and articles outrank everything
else.
People have problems and they seek solutions to those problems.
So….
If you can help people solve their problems, they will pay you with their attention (and
their money!)
Cool huh?
Key Lesson from this Chapter: Make your content useful and you’ll be flooded with
new readers waiting to throw money at you.
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Two proven formulas to structure your content for

maximum persuasion
First off, there’s no “one size fits all” formula to writing.
I don’t care if it’s Stephen King speaking.
If anyone ever tells you there is only one way to write, they are 100% wrong.
If you write something, and your reader understands clearly and concisely what you
intended to say…..you win.
That being said….
There are certain formulas you can use to structure your writing for maximum
persuasiveness.
The two formulas I’m about to reveal are proven structures you can use.
Think of these formulas as “training wheels”.
Once you’ve tattooed these ideas into your brain, you can explore other styles but
these are two proven ways to structure your writing to:
- Get more eyes on your writing

- Add more 0’s to your bank account
Formula # 1 P.A.S
It stands for:
Pain
Agitation
Solution
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Repeat after me
“Pain, Agitation, Solution”
Here is the step-by-step breakdown of how to apply this formula:
First, you identify a PAIN they are feeling.

Most people are insecure and walk around thinking about their biggest problems. If
you can speak about a specific problem that’s causing them a ton of pain, you will
get their attention immediately.
Second, you AGITATE their pain with strong visual language.

This is where you press your finger into the bullet wound. Using visual words, paint a
picture of the worst case scenario for your reader if he doesn’t take action to solve
his problem right f*cking now! He knows he has a problem that’s causing him pain.
Make him feel the intensity of that pain.
Finally, you present them a SOLUTION.

You’ve found where your reader is bleeding from. You’ve put your finger in the bullet
wound to intensify the pain. Now it’s time to give him an option for a way out. Present
him with the solution and tell him exactly what he needs to do to relieve himself of
the pain. Tell him to go buy that product, click that link or whatever it is he needs to
do to stop the pain right now.
Let’s go through 2 different examples of how you can apply the P.A.S formula.
Example # 1 Convince Harry to buy a bicycle
Problem: Identify a problem that’s bothering your reader
Hi Harry
You know how the other day you were complaining to me about how broke you
are? Well, I know a way for you to save an extra $150 per week.
Agitation: Make the problem really really painful
Your bank account is already bleeding with bills, yet you spend $150 per week on
gas. If you keep spending that $150, you’re going to be bankrupt before we even
get to Christmas! $150 per week adds up to $7,800 a year! That’s almost 8
THOUSAND dollars you are WASTING every year just so you can drag your ass
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through traffic so you can get to the job you hate.
Solution: Provide them with a solution
My neighbour Maureen is having an emergency garage sale tomorrow because

her and her husband have to leave the country this weekend. She just bought this
brand new bike last month that’s as good as new. Ever since she started using the
bike to ride to work, she’s saved about 5 thousand dollars worth of gas, and lost 50
pounds just from cycling everyday. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! Why
don’t I send you the photos of her bike and I’ll even put in a good word for you so
she gives you a really good deal since you’re my friend.
If you have any questions, this is her number. She’s really desperate to get rid of it
and you’ll never get a deal like this again.
Example # 2 Convince someone that they need to read more books
Problem: Identify a problem that’s bothering your reader

So you walked out of college with a five figure debt but you still can’t land a job in
your profession. Now what?
Agitation: Make the problem really really painful

You have two options. You could keep sending resumes with the hope that you get
lucky amongst the hundreds of applicants. Meanwhile the interest on your college
debt continues to drain your wallet.
Or you could pick up a few books, learn some practical skills, and start making
money on your own.
That’s how guys like Elon Musk and Warren Buffett got started. They are both
prolific readers and now they are both billionaires.
The best part is, books are cheap. Hell, if you are really strapped, you could go to
the library for free.
Your college debt isn’t getting any smaller. Instead of trying to compete with
everyone else, you could learn a new skill by reading a few books and start making
some cash money tomorrow.
Solution: Provide them with a solution
The sooner you start reading, the sooner you’ll learn some skills which you can
monetise and generate cash from which you can use to pay down your debt.
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To help you get started, you can claim a month worth of unlimited Amazon credits
by clicking here.
Start reading today so you can start earning tomorrow.
Ok, neither of these examples are perfect but you get the gist.
As you get used to writing with the P.A.S formula in mind, your content will become
more persuasive and your conversions will improve.
Action Step: Download the P.A.S template from your Gumroad folder. Make a copy
of it and start using the template to structure your next piece of content.
Formula # 2 A.I.D.A
This stands for:
Attention
Interest
Desire
Action
How to use this formula:
First, you need to grab their ATTENTION.

By now you know from the previous chapter that people respond to what’s new,
what’s useful, what’s entertaining and what’s out of place.
Second, you need to capture their INTEREST.

You’ve done the heavy work by getting their attention. Now you need to keep that
attention by giving credibility to your message with interesting facts and stories.
Next, you have to make them DESIRE what you have to offer.
Show them how better their life will be with the product in their hands. Create a world
where their problems don’t exist, and make them imagine living in this world. Tell
them a story of how someone else who is just like them improved their life with your
offer, and how they are capable of achieving similar results.
Finally, make them take ACTION.

Tell them to sign up to that newsletter. Tell them which link to get. Tell them
specifically which steps they need to take to get your offer. Describe in detail how to
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take one specific action and then tell them what will happen after they take that
action. Hold their hand through every step of the way.
Let’s look at 2 different examples of how you can apply the A.I.D.A formula.
Example # 1 Convince someone to take a fat loss pill
Headline: How to lose up to 50 pounds of fat and still enjoy your favourite meals
Attention: Get their attention

Contrary to what the “health experts” say, you don’t need to eat boring, rabbit food
in order to melt unwanted belly fat.
The truth is, fat loss has little to do with what you eat, but how efficiently your body
is able to break down what you eat.
Interest: Keep their attention with interesting facts

The chemical processes your body takes to break down food in your body is called
metabolism, and not everyone is born with the same levels of metabolism.
Think about it…
We all have that one friend who is able to eat whatever and whenever she wants
but is still skinny as a twig.
Do you think that happens by magic?
Of course not!
The reason why she’s able to eat a tub of ice cream without adding a single inch to
her waistline while the rest of us can’t even treat ourselves to a small block of
chocolate without gaining 10 pounds boils comes down to one thing….
Different levels of metabolism!
Desire: Make them desire what you are about to offer

Thankfully, I have discovered a super fast way to speed up your metabolism.
You can do this without having to:

- Eat bland chicken breast and boiled vegetables
- Train like a professional athlete
- Give up eating your favourite foods
All you have to do is mix one tablespoon of Metabolite with a teaspoon of apple
cider vinegar, and let your metabolism take care of the fat burning.
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Action: Explain to them step by step how they should take the action and
make it urgent
I am so confident that you will torch the fat off your body that I am going to let you
try Metabolite for 30 days, COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE.
All you have to do is click this link, fill in your address, and within 2-3 business
days you will have a 30 day supply of Metabolite at your doorstep, 100% FREE.
If you want to melt off that fat without going on a “rabbit diet”, get your free 30 day
supply of Metabolite here.
Example # 2 Convince Bob to buy a standing desk
Attention: Get their attention

New research now shows that excessive sitting can cause permanent damage to
your spine.
If you use your computer for anything other than checking Facebook, then
chances are your sitting position is doing long term damage to your posture.
Interest: Keep their attention with interesting facts
According to a new study from MIT, continuous sitting of greater than one hour per
day can do irreversible damage to your standing posture.
Desire: Make them desire what you are about to offer
So unless you want to be a hunch back at age 50 and hand your life savings over
to a chiropractor, you should consider changing your desk.
If you care at all about your long term spinal health, I can recommend this one
thing….
Action: Explain to them step by step how they should take the action and
make it urgent
Get a Standing Desk.
Yes I know it seems like a pain in the ass to stand while you work but after a few
tries, you’ll enjoy it a lot more than sitting.
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If you want to avoid looking like the hunchback of Notre Dame, click here and grab
this standing desk. It’s 50% off for the next 24 hours.
Action Step: Download the A.I.D.A template from your Gumroad folder. Make a
copy of it and start using the template to structure your next piece of content.
Key Lesson from this Chapter: Use these two templates as “training wheels” to
structure your content.
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Write to an imaginary friend
In the introduction, I reminded you that in school you were trained to write for your
English teacher.
In the online world, you’ll have success writing to your ideal customer.
You see, the best writers aren’t the best wordsmiths. They are people who
understand the market they are writing for.
They understand the struggles and emotional pain points their readers are
experiencing so it’s easier for them to create content that touches those points.
I’m not into yoga, so I’d be at a huge advantage if I was trying to sell products to
yoga practitioners compared to someone who does yoga daily.
If I were writing content for the Yoga market, I would need to create a composite
customer who represents an ideal customer in this specific market.
Let’s call her “Jane”.
“Jane” is an example of what marketers call a customer avatar.
If I am in the business of writing content and selling products in the yoga market, I’d
be looking for “Janes” with a lot of money.
The “Jane” I want to write for is likely:

● White
● Married
● A woman
● Between 35 and 60
● An executive with a six figure income
● Owns a home with a picket fence
● Lives in the suburbs
I just made this up but this is a good start to begin building my “Jane” avatar.
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Here is “Jane” in her yoga gear:
Pro tip: Get a photo which represents your ideal avatar. It makes this writing
technique 100x more powerful.
Now that I can picture Jane, how can I better communicate to her?
The best way is to start THINKING LIKE JANE.
Imagine what her biggest fears are.
Imagine what problems flood her head on a day to day basis.
Imagine what her goals and dreams are.
In this scenario, Jane is likely a married woman, a mother, and a full time
professional.
Life for Jane is highly stressful because she has to balance her family life with her
career.
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She feels stressed and she rarely has time for herself, which is why she got into
yoga.
What does a busy mother and busy professional want?
- To take the weight of stress off her shoulders.

- To take her mind off the chaotic environments of family and office.
To feel like she is at peace.
How can I get her attention?
Let’s say I am selling a yoga retreat to Costa Rica.
Perhaps something like:
“Escape to a tropical paradise and connect your mind and body for better health,
happiness and well-being”
If “Jane” sees a headline like this coupled with a photo of an exotic beach in Costa
Rica, I am confident it will grab her attention.
Do you see what I’m trying to do here?
I’m trying to appeal to Jane’s desire to relax and escape from the chaos of her life.
Before you write a single word, take some time to get into the mind of your idea
reader.
Here are some questions to help you build your “Jane” or “John”:
● Man or woman?
● What is their job?
● What is their income level?
● How old are they
● Are they single or married?
● Do they have kids
● What’s a day in their life look like? (very important)
● What are their biggest fears and problems?
● What are their biggest desires?
● What keeps them up at night?
● How can you solve their problems?
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Key Lesson from this Chapter: Create a composite of your ideal reader and
imagine you are writing to that one, specific person.
29
The proven 5 step writing process that annihilates

“writer’s block”
“Writer’s block” only exists because most people don’t have a proven and repeatable
writing process.
You are going to get around this by having a proven process you can use on repeat
to create content, just as a Nike sweatshop has a process to make shoes.
Here’s how most people approach writing:
Open up Google docs.

Wait for “inspiration” to strike
Procrastinate
Blame “writer’s block” for their procrastination
Eventually write something that sounds “clever.”
Here’s how professional writers approach writing:
Have a proven process for writing good content

Open up Google docs.
Apply process.
Every writer has a different process. Here is how I approach mine:
1) Plan
2) Write first draft
3) Trim draft
4) Take a break
5) Revisit & Publish
Step 1: Plan
This is the most annoying step but it’s also the most important.
You cannot write clearly if you do not first think clearly.
30
Before you pen a single word, make sure you plan out what you want to say.
This doesn’t have to be complex.
The most important part of this step is to answer these two questions:
1) “Who am I writing to? (see chapter 7)?”

2) “What is the one key message I want to convey to this person?”
Once you answer these two questions, jot down the key points you want to highlight
in your piece and one action you want the reader to walk away with.
Pro Tip: If you are serious about creating great content that builds audiences and
makes sales on auto-pilot, I highly recommend you invest in Joshua Lisec’s The
Best Way to Say It persuasion writing system.
Step 2: Write the first draft
This is the fun part.
Once you have the reader and the key message in mind, revise your research
material and start writing.
Don’t hold back. Write as much as you want without any self-censorship.
Write whatever comes to mind and write as much as possible.
For this step, it’s more important to overwrite than not write enough.
Don’t look back at what you’ve written. Just keep writing until you can’t write
anymore.
Step 3: Trim draft
This is where 80% of the magic happens.
Think of this step like trimming the weeds in your garden.
No one likes to do it but it’s important if you want your writing to be simple, clean and
persuasive.
31
The first thing you need to do is cut out all the unnecessary words.
Don’t say “low socioeconomic background” when you can say “poor.”
Don’t say “waste disposal engineer” when you can say “garbage collector”.
Cut adverbs.
These are words that end with “ly” and 99% of the time, they are useless (BTW I was
about to say completely useless there but I cut it out)
Don’t say “he spoke loudly” when you can say “he screamed”
Don’t say “it’s hugely important” when you can say “it’s important.”
Adverbs bloat your sentences and nine times out of ten, you don’t need them.
Write in visual language.
If you want to persuade your reader to take action, your writing needs to create a
mental movie in their head.
This is why you need to go through your draft and make your language as dramatic
and as visual as possible.
If you are telling a story, focus on the four Ws; who, what, where, when.
This puts your reader in the middle of the scene that you are painting.
If you are writing a “how-to” piece, appeal to the reader’s emotions.
For instance if you are writing a piece about how to monetise Instagram, don’t talk
about how many sales you will get.
Instead, make the reader imagine the freedom he will feel by making money from his
phone.
Shorten your sentences and paragraphs.
Ever wonder why textbooks are so boring and painful to read?
32
It’s because they are written in a boring tone and presented in large blocks of text
which are painful for the eyes.
Huge blocks of texts in tiny font written in a monotonous language?
No wonder why students cram for exams. No one wants to read that shit more than
once.
Writing that is broken up into short sentences and short paragraphs is more inviting.
If a potential reader lands on one of your articles and sees huge blocks of text
bundled together, they will click away.
Step 4: Take a break
If you have done steps 1 to 3 correctly, you should be sick of writing at this point.
You have reached mental exhaustion and now it’s time to take a break and let your
subconscious do the work.
Go for a walk.
Workout.
Read a book.
Listen to some music.
Occupy your mind with anything other than writing.
Step 5: Revise and Publish
You’ve planned out your content.
You’ve written and trimmed it down to a point where you are sick of it.
You’ve taken a break to give your mind a rest and hand the work over to your
subconscious mind.
Now it’s time to give it one more lookover before you press the “publish” button.
33
A lot of writers recommend that you print out your content and read it out loud, or
even better, read it out loud to another person and see how they react.
I read it over a couple of times, maybe change a bit of the formatting, then hit
publish.
Now comes the scary part….
Testing your content out in the world of reality because reality is what
determines whether your writing is good or not.
This is why you should never be attached to the outcome of your content.
You may write the perfect sales letter but maybe your research was weak and you
get no sales.
You may write the most thought provoking essay but maybe the headline was weak
so no one read it.
Whatever the case may be, if your piece of content doesn’t do what you
intended it to do, it’s not good.
You aren’t in the business of writing an obscure novel that only excites literary critics.
You are in the business of writing content that’s intended to get the reader
- To click a link
- To buy a product
- To sign up to a newsletter
- To read an article
- Etc
If it doesn’t do any of the above, it’s not good content.
Key Lesson from this Chapter: Never “wing it” when it comes to writing. Have a
process and keep using the same process with every piece of content you create.
34
The most important part of content (and the part

that 99% of writers ignore)
I hate to hurt your writer’s feelings but the headline is way more important than
whatever “genius idea” you wrote about in the body.
Don’t take it personally. It’s just the reality of the digital attention economy.
The headline is so important that newspapers hire headline specialists called copy
editors to write their headlines.
Imagine being a journalist who invests hundreds of hours working on a story only to
have the perspective of the story completely changed because the copy editor
decides to write a headline which doesn’t represent what you wrote.
Thankfully, you won’t have to do that because when you write your own content, you
ARE the copy editor.
The purpose of a headline is to “sell the click” as a famous ghostwriter friend of mine
would say.
If you fail to do that, then no one will read your article, no matter how good it is.
A great headline makes you curious the way the smell of sauteing onions makes you
salivate when you’re hungry.
If you go on Google, you could probably find a dozen headline “formulas” but I find
they tend to be pretty useless as they don’t leave you with enough room for
creativity.
Instead, here is what I recommend you do…..
Write your headline LAST.
That may seem counterintuitive but it’s the most effective way to write a powerful
headline.
35
Here’s why:
Many times when you are writing a piece about a particular topic, you won’t discover
the big idea behind your writing until you have written a draft or five.
Perhaps you are writing a story about the benefits of drinking clean water but
halfway through your second draft, you discover you’re actually writing about the
dangers of consuming sugar.
One of the biggest mistakes writers make is to treat writing like a linear process.
They write the headline, then they move onto the lead paragraph, the body and
finally the conclusion.
What this linear formula fails to address is that the messy writing process is
actually a messy thinking process.
Throughout that process, you may find yourself exploring angles and ideas that you
never thought about before those fingers hit the keyboard.
The only headline formula you’ll ever need to know:
1) Write out your draft.
2) Discover your big idea (the one thing you want your reader to walk away with)
3) Put the big idea into headline
4) Write multiple variations of this headline
5) Pick the one that gets the most attention
This five-step process will help you craft more powerful headlines quickly, and
ensure that the rest of your writing actually gets read.
Key Lesson from this Chapter: Write the headline last. Make sure it encapsulates
the main idea of your content and grabs the attention of your ideal reader.
36
10
How to create hypnotic content on repeat
The only purpose with any piece of content you publish is to “hypnotise” the reader
into taking one specific action.
The best way to fulfil this purpose is to take one single, big idea and plant that idea
into their brain.
Remember. Your reader has a short attention span. At most, you have 5 seconds to
capture their attention.
This attention span can only focus on one thing at a time.
Think about the last time you were speaking to a friend. You had his full attention,
and then all of a sudden, he glances down at his phone.
You figure it’s just normal since everyone looks at their phone nowadays so you
keep talking.
Two minutes later your friend glances up from his phone and says “sorry man, what
were you saying?”
You roll your eyes and tell him to forget about it.
This is what happens when you stuff your content with multiple messages and ideas.
You lose the reader’s attention and he clicks away.
To ensure this doesn’t happen with your writing, you are going to apply the golden
rule aka...
The Rule of One
The rule of one is a concept that I learned from the book, Great Leads (my
booknotes are included as a bonus to this guide).
37
It’s a powerful way to ensure that everything you write, every piece of content you
create is packed to the brim with hypnotic power.
When you apply the rule of one to your content, you’ll hypnotise your readers with
your ideas and direct them to take action.
The rule of one isn’t just about having one big, central idea. It states that each piece
of content you put out must have 5 key elements:
1. One good idea - Lead the content with one and only one, powerful
idea
2. One core emotion - make sure that idea creates an emotion, a single
emotion, which will compel the reader to respond
3. One captivating story - support that idea with one engaging story or
one compelling fact
4. One single, desirable benefit - Relieve one big pain or attain one big
desire
5. One inevitable response - direct the reader to one, and only one,
action
To demonstrate the power of the rule of one, let’s take a look at five books in the
Amazon self-help best seller list. You will notice how each of these have a big central
idea and narrow focus:
1. The four agreements: a practical guide to personal freedom by Don

Miguel Ruiz - A code of conduct to achieve personal freedom
2. Atomic Habits by James Clear - a proven system for destroying bad habits
and building good habits
3. 13 things mentally strong people don’t do by Amy Morin - How to be
mentally strong
4. Seven habits of highly effective people by Steven Covey - the habits you
need to adopt in order to be successful in your professional and personal life
5. Never split the difference by Chris Voss - How to negotiate in high stakes
situations
Most non-fiction writers mess this up by trying to overwhelm their readers with a
buffet of ideas.
This mindset behind this approach seems logical: “If I throw a bunch of ideas at the
wall, one has to stick. So the more ideas I give, the better the chances I have of
getting one idea to stick.”
38
It’s a common approach for writers who learned how to write academically but don’t
know how to write hypnotically.
The beauty of the rule of one is that it’s easier for the reader to understand: it’s
simple, it’s big, it’s immediately understood, and most importantly, it is believable.
Case Study: First Iphone Launch
One of the best examples of the rule of one in is the launch of the very first iPhone.
Action Step: (Watch this video before you read on) https://youtu.be/MnrJzXM7a6o
Let’s break it down:
1. One good idea: an ipod, a phone and an internet communicator… in ONE

device: the iphone.
2. One core emotion: think differently
3. One captivating story: Apple reinvents the phone
4. One, single, desirable benefit: Revolutionary UI that’s intuitive to use and
allows you to listen to music, use your phone and the internet all at once.
5. One inevitable response: It will be available in June 2017. Be one of the first
people to own this revolutionary device.
To create timeless content over and over again, you must implement the rule of one
in your copy.
The rule of one takes a mediocre piece of content and turns it into a weapon of
persuasion.
To persuade your reader, you start with one, single, compelling big idea and you
support that idea with appropriate facts and stories, all unified by the single idea and
the single emotion which acts as the persuasion driving force behind your entire
piece of content.
What makes a compelling big idea?
It’s big.
It’s easy to understand.
It’s useful to the reader.
It makes sense on a visceral level.
39
Implement the rule of one in all of your content and you will be shocked at how much
stronger, and effective your content will be.
Ignore the rule of one and your content will fall flat and disappear into the dead
space of the internet.
Key Lesson from this Chapter: Apply the rule of one if you want to hypnotise your
readers into taking action.
40
11
Before you hit publish...
Before you publish any kind of content, it’s important you give it one final review and
prune every sentence to make sure:
● It’s maximally dumbed down

● It’s necessary
● It gets to the point in as few words as possible
The best communicators in the world are able to take complex topics and
explain them in super simple, dumbed down terms.
This is why when I review my writing, I put it through the filter of my “inner child
voice.”
When a baby wants something, he doesn’t say “Mum, I’m thirsty. May I please have
some juice?”
He screams “Mummy! Joooose!” (while pointing at the juicebox)
When I review my own writing, I put it through the filter of my inner child voice.
This visualisation technique is a silly but practical way to ensure that I am

getting to the point as efficiently as possible with every sentence.
If I lose attention or if any word or paragraph confuses me, I correct it straightaway or

I take it out.
If at any point in your writing, you have to pause to think, or you get bored, either
delete it or rewrite it.
Here are some common errors to look out for when you’re reviewing content in the
child voice:
● Obscure inside jokes (Do not use humour unless you know your audience
really well and you’re 1000% sure your reader will “get it”)
● Any sentence that’s hard to read or makes you think twice
41
● Any sentence where it seems like you’re trying to sound clever for the sake of
sounding clever. If it can be said in a shorter sentence or in dumber words,
then keep it short and dumb.
3 Powerful things to keep in mind as you review your content
# 1 Keep “thinking reps” to a minimum
Reading is a form of thinking. The harder your content is to read, the more “reps”
your reader has to do.
The more “thinking reps” your reader has to do, the faster you’ll lose her attention.
The less “thinking reps” your reader has to do, the more likely she’ll stick around to
read the rest of your article.
Example:
Lots of thinking reps: Joe departs from his place of abode prior to the rising of the
sun in order to arrive at his place of employment in due time to fulfil his duty as a
waste management manager.
OR
Few thinking reps: Joe leaves home before sunrise so he can get to work on time
where he works as a garbage collector.
# 2 Use analogies
Readers love analogies as they are an easy way to explain a complex concept.
Example:
Conducting marketing research online has never been easier. With a “plug n play”
software like SEO Hacks at your fingertips, it makes no sense to spend months
learning “search engine optimization” on your own…. especially when you have
more important business to take care of. Doing SEO on your own is like Jeff Bezos
going around knocking on his customer’s doors himself, instead of outsourcing it to
the Amazon marketing department.
# 3 Get to the damn point
42
This is the fundamental principle of being an effective non-fiction writer.
A good writer isn’t trying to IMPRESS the reader with fancy words and complicated
grammar.
Your goal is to INFORM the reader with relevant information in the least amount of
words possible.
This means avoiding academic English only understood by English literature

professors when it can be said in dumbed down, casual English.
Example:
Bad: “Here at Schulster and partners, we have a vested interest in bringing our
clients the best possible tax solution through the application of our client priority tax
synergy system.
Good: If you’re a business owner looking to pay less taxes and maximise your
after-tax profit this year, call us at 1-800-456-789.
Example 2:
Bad: In an effort to address the rising rate of violent crime in the southern district, I
would like to publicly announce my intention to favor the ruling of Congressman
Cutty in his advocacy to pass Proposition 561-B in his jurisdiction governing
minimum age to purchase alcohol on a commercial premise.
Good: Proposition 561-B will go into effect next Monday, 2 July. This means the
minimum drinking age in the southern district will be raised from 21 to 24.
When you are editing your content, read it through the filter of your inner baby voice.
If it takes extra “thinking reps” to understand the information, either rewrite it or

delete it.
Get to the point as soon as possible so the message is CRYSTAL CLEAR in your
reader’s mind.
The only time you are allowed to write something that’s clever, vague and confusing
is if:
● You’re writing an essay for your Liberal Arts degree
43
● You’re an insecure jerk trying to sound “intelligent” in order to impress people
Key Lesson from this Chapter: Before you hit publish, give your content a line by
line review to ensure it is maximally persuasive.
44
12
The ultimate pre-writing checklist

You have reached the end of this guide and you know what that means..
It’s time to sit down, face the blank page and write.
But before you do that, let me leave you with some advice that will make your writing
process far easier.
Writing is a mental process.
Just as you should stretch and warm-up before you do heavy exercise, you
should stretch and warm-up your brain before you sit down to write.
Some of you might roll your eyes at this but if you skip this step, you run the risk of
bringing your emotions to the page.
For example, say you just had an argument with your wife and you are feeling angry.
If you don’t take these steps, you will channel this anger into your writing.
If you are feeling cheerful, happy, playful? You will also channel those emotions into
your writing.
Now that’s out of the way, here are some pre-writing rituals I use to get myself in the
right frame of mind.
1) Clean up your environment

Never, ever work in a messy environment.
A messy environment leads to messy thinking which leads to messy writing.
For example, these days I work from my kitchen table. Before I sit down to write, I
make sure there are no dirty dishes in the sink as it “clogs” my brain.
Clean your room. Make your bed. Do the dishes.
Pro tip: pretend a date is coming over in 15 minutes and you need to clean up fast.
45
2) Drink water
Drinking a ton of water is the best way to eradicate so-called “brain fog”.
Most of the time, “brain fog” comes down to two things:
1. A shitty diet
2. Dehydration
This is not a book about nutrition so we won’t go there but just keep in mind that if
you’re writing with a cheese pizza in your belly, you are likely going to get brain fog.
I always write in a fasted state as I tend to have greater clarity, focus and
concentration when I am fasting.
And I always have a 1 litre bottle of water by my computer as I write.
If I feel any sort of brain fog, I just chug a ton of water and 99% of the time that
clears it up.
3) Affirm: Writing is easy.

Look.
Unless you are penning the next Nobel Prize novel, there’s no such thing as “writer’s
block.”
For 99.99% of the writing population, “writer’s block” is an excuse.
It doesn’t exist.
You just think it does because you’ve been psyoped to think writing is hard.
It’s not. You’ve just never had a process for writing.
Well, now that you’ve read this guide, you have that process and it’s just a matter of
applying it.
Repeat to yourself daily “Writing is easy.”
4) Listen to Baroque music.

This is a style of classical music that primes your mind into “thinking mode.”
46
Go to Youtube and type in “baroque music” and you will find a number of lengthy
videos.
Put your headphones on, play a track and get writing!
5) Keep the big idea at the forefront of your mind
The best way to eradicate writer’s block for non-fiction writers is to keep your mind
focused on the big idea.
As we explored in chapter 10, the big idea is the key message and takeaway of your
content.
What I suggest you do is write your big idea down on a post-it note and stick it to the
corner of your computer screen so you never lose sight of it.
The biggest problem I see with bad content is it is all over the place. The writer starts
off with one idea then wavers in and out of other ideas.
Writing is persuasion and your job as a non-fiction writer is to get one single point
across to the reader’s mind.
This rule applies whether you are writing a tweet or a chapter of a book.
6) Check-in and write.
The concept of “checking in” is something I learned from a mindset book called
Gorilla Mindset (highly recommended).
Before I start writing, I always check into the moment.
This allows me to align my present action (the what: writing an article) with my vision
(the why: building a personal brand).
The actual process of checking in sounds silly but it has worked wonders for me and
I’m confident it will work for you.
The point here is to increase awareness of what I am doing (writing) so I don’t get
distracted by all the noise (social media, news, my neighbour’s dog barking etc).
I literally talk my way through my writing process.
47
“I am about to write . I am going to do this because ”
Now that you have gone through the pre-writing checklist, go write some great
content!
Key Lesson from this Chapter: Writing is similar to exercise. You should do a
mental “warm-up” before you sit down to write.
48
13
Final words
We’ve reached the end which means it’s time for me to say goodbye so you can get
writing.
Hopefully you discovered some tips in this book that stay with you for life.
Even if it was just ONE useful tip, I’m confident the advice in this book will flatten
your learning curve and accelerate your content creation success.
Cheers for investing in Dumb it Down.
I look forward to speaking to you soon.
- Eddy Quan, War on Weakness.
49

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WAR ON WEAKNESS | DUMB IT DOWN

The dumber your content, the fatter your wallet… ..................................................... 3

The dumber your content, the fatter your wallet

Why do I say “natural inclination”?

Because that’s how I was taught to write in school.

Because my attention span is short, as is yours and your audience’s.

But don’t fret.

Short does NOT mean shit.

One more thing....

Let’s get you writing!

A mindset shift to get you from “D” English student

In school, your job was to impress your English teacher

Online, your job is to inform your audience

Informative writing boils down to two things:

Everything else comes secondary to this.

Action Step: Go to www.thegaryhalbertletter.com and read all of Gary Halbert’s old

I mean no offense but…..

You = NOT IMPORTANT

Your audience = EXTREMELY IMPORTANT

I’m not telling you this to make you feel bad.

NOT things that affect you

NOT things that affect your friends.

Why do I keep repeating this? Simple…

When people see content on the internet, they immediately filter it

“how is this USEFUL to ME?”

I’m a man. If I stumble upon an article called:

I would keep scrolling and forget it within 2 seconds.

Far too many websites/blogs/newsletters/emails start off by talking about themselves

Let’s see if we can rewrite that to make it more attention grabbing:

If so, chances are you are making one huge mistake…..

You are trying to hit the ball with your arms

This counter-intuitive “hack” will do two things:

The one mistake you MUST avoid if you want

I know, what a boring ass name for a class right?

No matter how hard I tried to pay attention, I kept falling asleep.

My marketing class had the opposite effect on me.

Her classes were so good, students LOOKED FORWARD to them.

The best way to not be boring is to write in a casual tone.

Here’s a scenario which highlights my point:

(in a monotone voice)

“Socialnator is a software which streamlines the monetisation and engagement

So instead of paying 50 grand or whatever it is for a social media manager to run

Literally start your letter with “Dear grandma” at the top.

The Four types of content your readers are

This isn’t some new age marketing gimmick.

These four things are biologically wired into our brains.

Let’s explore them one by one.

1) People respond to what’s NEW

This is why the idea of “market saturation” is overblown baloney.

Objectively it is just water in a bottle, yet businesses continue to build profitable

2) People respond to what’s ENTERTAINING

I see this all the time on Twitter.

The same goes with any kind of writing.

3) People respond to what’s useful

Sounds simple doesn’t it?

Be useful to people and you will build an audience fast.

4) People respond to what’s unusual or out of place

Unusual is anything that seems out of place.