10 sentences that’ll improve your writing more than 4 years of college writing classes:

Good morning, this is the Not Boring Personal Branding. Your weekly tour guide for all things personal branding.

In Today’s edition:

• 10 sentences that’ll improve your writing more than 4 years of college writing classes

• Your weekly building template for LinkedIn

• Early bird pricing for the Brand30 May Cohort ends on Friday, April 15th

1. Write first, edit later

Writing and editing are two different functions of the brain.

Do a brain dump in bullets. Then come back later and edit.

Doing both at the same time will prevent the creativity from flowing.

2. Write below a 5th grade level

Simple wins. Always.

College taught us using big words made you smart.

What really makes you smart is being understood.

3. Organize information into lists

Reading big blocks of texts is hard.

Instead, package ideas into lists.

• ABC

• 123

• 7-step ___

• 9-day ____

Putting information into lists helps reader feel organized.

4. Read your writing aloud

If it doesn’t sound good when you say it loud, chances are it won’t sound good when being read by others.

Find out where you run out of breathe (then work to combine sentences).

Find where you stumble over words ( then work to simplify your words).

It’s hard to see friction in your writing. Sometime you need to hear it.

5. Make your writing skimmable

People skim your writing, then they decide to read the entire thing.

Use formatting techniques to ensure your writing is digestible.

Use bold subheads, use 80% short sentences and 20% long sentences, and remove any blocks of text that come across as intimidating.

6. Remove “I think” from your writing

This makes your writing sound weak.

Just say what you have to say.

The internet rewards conviction, not indifference.

7. Write for 1 person

If you write for everyone, you write for no one.

“Hey YOU.”

This makes the reader feel important.

8. Sell a transformation, not a product

You are giving them the opportunity to change.

Not something they can hang up on their wall and never use again.

9. Be specific

Your writing sounds believable when you use specific numbers and language.

Don’t say: “We are the best”

Say: “We have 1,300 customers across all 50 states. More than all of our 4 competitors combined”

10. Replace “I” and “me” with “you” and “your”

Use the words “you” and “your” in your copy to make it more engaging.

It’s about THEM.

Not you.

Your Weekly Digital Building Template

Not sure what to write about today?

Here’s a template to get the creative juices flowing:

Me at :

• problem 1 (e.g. broke)

• problem 2 (e.g. living with parents)

• problem 3 (e.g. not sure where to go in life

Me at :

• Achievement 1 (e.g. millionaire)

• Achievement 2 (e.g. happily married)

• Achievement 3 (e.g. Have my dream job!)

That's it for this week!