Many amatuer writers feel that writing is about complex sentences and long, fancy words. But the professionals now that the opposite is true. Writing clearly is far more important than writing cleverly. And over the years as a professional writer, I’ve developed one strategy that works over and over to create clear, concise writing. I call it the “talk to me like I’m five years old” technique.
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I have a bad habit when I write. In fact, it’s not simply bad — it’s actually embarrassing. But I have to tell you, it is also one of the most important habits that makes me who I am as a writer. CLICK HERE to read the full story. http://kevinfranzonline.com/?page_id=300
ENJOY!
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Hey Guys -
Have you always HATED outlining? I know when I was younger I dreaded doing it!
But since then I’ve learned a few tricks and now I would never write any other way! Check out a new article I wrote on the subject:
http://kevinfranzonline.com/?page_id=289
I’m interested in what you think!
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NOTE: The following is a classic reprint of my most read writing article . . .
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One often ignored secret to massive success for your sales letters and marketing materials is to add a compelling, emotional story. Whether to story tells of a true customer experience, or simply illustrates a possible use for your product, a well written story draws readers in, and leads them through your letter almost without even being aware that they are reading a sales page.
But how do you create a story like this? What steps should you follow?
This article is the first in a series demonstrating a writing system that I call “Five Steps to a Story.” I’ve taught the system successfully to thousands of people through my speaking engagements and writing seminars, and over the course of this six article series, I’ll teach the system to you also.
The focus of this first article is to expose you to the Five Steps to a Story system, and to actually list the steps that we will be covering in the remaining articles of the series.
So, what exactly are the five steps? Here they are:
Note: Yes, I know at first glance it may seem strange the Step 5 of the instructions for writing a story would be “write the story,” but once you understand the entire system it will all make sense.
Essentially, here is how the system works. You start with a simple image in your mind of the type of story you want to write. This opening image can come from anywhere, and in the next article we will describe several ways to get this opening image.
Then, in the following steps, we manipulate the picture until the “bare bones” of the story come together. Steps 2 and 3 of this series will cover this.
Next, we create a road-map, or outline, of the story. Some writers, of course, do not take this step, but in my system I find it extremely valuable to blueprint how you see the story coming together. Step 4 in this series will show you exactly how to do this.
And finally, in Step 5 we will get to the actual writing of the story. Putting words on paper until you have completed your vision for the work. I have many tips and tricks that make this step far less painful than it may appear now. By the time you’ve completed the instructions of this step, you will have completed your first story.
The reason that my Five Steps to a Story system works so well for so many people is that the hard work is done early in the process, before even sitting down at the computer to write. All of the stress of the dreaded “blank page” is removed, and by the time you actually need to put words on paper, you already “know” what you are going to say.
So with these preliminaries out of the way, I encourage you to find and read the next article of this series – “Five Steps to a Story, Step 1 – Start with a Picture.”
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There is little doubt that Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing program available today. Writers of all levels use it daily, and it has become the unofficial “standard” for business. If you are a marketer, chances are great that you use Word to create your sales letters, marketing pieces, and even website copy.
There is a difference, however, in how most amateur writers use the program and how professional writers use the program. In my many years of writing with Word, I have consistently used a handful of commands over and over, and not quite in the way you might think.
Let me explain. Read more…
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The Secret Trick of Professional Writers to Get More Writing Done in Less Time
By Kevin Franz
When putting words on paper becomes a large part of your day, you inevitably begin to develop skills to help you get the job done faster and with less effort. One of the first skills I learned is to never write something new if you have something existing that will serve. Rarely will an experienced writer start a new file from scratch. There are always previous works available to use as a starting point – pages of pre-done text that need only a little tweaking and formatting.
But with that convenience comes a problem. And that problem is Read more…
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Hey all -
I recently decided to go in a different direction with my blog and other online media. The first step is creating this “new-look” site for hosting my blog. Hope you like the colors and layouts!
In the coming weeks, you will see more and changes – mostly additions – to the Kevin Franz Online sites.
Enjoy!
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Hey Folks –
I don’t find web sites that I really, really like very often, but just recently I stumbled on a site that is absolutely first rate. If you write sales material – or really, write anything at all – then you are going to want to check out www.copyblogger.com.
The article list on the right side of the page features a virtual master class at headline writing, and the content of the articles is light years beyond most free sites.
And before you wonder, no, I am not affiliated with copyblogger in any way. It’s not my site, or a friend’s site, and I’m not getting paid to say this. I’m just a fan of well written information, and this site is certainly that.
Enjoy.
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It’s an old saying that “the devil is in the details.”
If we modify that to copywriting, it would be the “devil is waiting to pounce on incorrect details.”
Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer often speak of the need to have an affinity to a market. That is, to sell to a group of people, you have to know what they are like. You have to talk like they talk, act like they act, and craft your marketing materials around their particular idiosyncrasies.
Nowhere is that more important than when you are crafting the details of your sales letter. If you mess up even one little thing, an entire group of potential customers will immediately invalidate the whole message. Huge percentages of your readers will throw out the piece right there, without ever getting near your actual offer.
To find out what to do about this problem, and how to correct it, check out this link:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Sales-Letter-Copywriters—This-Mistake-Can-Make-You-Look-Dumb&id=4071572
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On Friday I will be heading out to the Westin O’Hare hotel to attend Ken McCarthy’s System Seminar.
The System Seminar is one of the best and longest-running online information marketing seminar in the country, and routinely attracts a great lineup of speakers from all phases of marketing. This year, the keynote speaker is Drayton Bird, a legendary copywriter with more than 40 years of experience (yes, I said 40!).
There will be tons of other great speakers and topics over the course of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and I hope to come home with tons of great new ideas.
This will be my first ever “high-end” (i.e., expensive) seminar. I’m looking forward to an amazing time.
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