Category: Writing Advice

THE BEST BLOG POST YOU’LL EVER READ

Posted on by Alastair Walton

A quick piece of writing advice:

The other day I saw an ad which claimed it could help me get a “better” body.

This really got my attention. You see, in this type of scenario, most copywriters would use the word “best” i.e. get the best body of your life in under 90 days, or something like that. But the reason why better is so much better, is because it’s honest and credible. Along with that, it sounds a lot more believable. After all, it’s a far easier to believe you can make something a little better, isn’t it?

Basically this claim seems possible and realistic.

The word better also sets up a comparison between your new and current body.

It creates the idea that by putting in the effort you can improve your body, and that this is actually achievable (by comparison, getting the best body isn’t necessarily under your control.)

The word best also has other issues.

For example, it’s difficult to prove.

(After all, how do you define or measure if something is actually the best – in a lot of cases you can’t.)

The word best also triggers skepticism. Why? Because it makes you sound arrogant. If I told you I was the best copywriter in the world, would you believe me? Probably not. On the other hand, if someone else said I was the best well…

…you’d at least consider it a possibility.

Alastair Walton

P.S. One more tip before I go. A lot of people use the word “most” without really thinking. For example, you might find yourself writing, “most people do X” i.e. most people brush their teeth at night. The problem is that you have no way of knowing if most people do actually do X. There’s no real way of proving it, is there?

This is why it’s always better to use the word “many” instead of most. There’s a simple reason for this. Many is a lot more believable, and also credible. Something else you should watch out for is the word “everybody.” i.e. everybody does X – obviously this isn’t true. Bottom line: avoid making statements that are difficult to prove and you should be okay.

​​

WHY ACTORS CHANGE THEIR NAMES

Posted on by Alastair Walton

Need help choosing a pen name?

Here’s some advice:

You see, Game of Thrones frenzy is sweeping the world again…

With the release of House of the Dragon millions of people have returned to Westeros.

I binged watched this series a couple of weeks ago and believe me, it’s worth watching (Far better than the abysmal final season of Game of Thrones.) After watching I started reading up on the actors and while doing this discovered something you might find interesting. One of the most compelling characters is Corlys Velaryon otherwise known as the “Sea snake.”

He’s played by British actor Steve Toussaint.

While reading his Wikipedia entry something jumped out at me.

Like many actors he changed his name after getting into the industry.

The reason why is simple.

The last thing you want is another actor with the same name as you.

(Which is basically what happened in Steve’s case.)

If this happens…well…it could cause a lot of confusion.  

And this contains a valuable lesson for marketers.

If you’re planning on writing a book, or starting a “guru business”, then it’s a good idea to check if anyone else is using your name. This is something you should always do…whether you’re using a pen name or your real name. Not doing this could cause problems down the road.

A good example of this is social media accounts.

If there’s a dozen people with your name and they all have Facebook accounts…well…that’s something you want to avoid. Not only that, this is especially important for SEO. Does someone with your name have a website which uses that name in the URL…are they ranked in Google? This could make it harder to hit the top of the search results.

Now, this might sound extremely simple, but it’s a big mistake which a lot of people make.

(Myself included.)

So, when choosing a pen name, make sure to first check if anyone else is using that name…

…and if they are, then pick something different.

See you later,

Alastair Walton

HOW TO WRITE A PERFECT FOREWORD

Posted on by Alastair Walton

I’ve written dozens of books over the years.

(For both myself and clients.)

Most of these were your standard “information product” or “how to” type books.

For example, “How to write and publish your book on Amazon in 21 days and sell a 1000 copies.”

That type of stuff.

There’s a lot of moving parts which go into something like this.

One of them is writing your introduction or foreword.

As you can imagine, a lot of people struggle with this part.

This is usually because they have no idea what they should write, so most of the time they write some half-assed thank you, or “congratulations: for buying the book. But believe it or not, there’s a better way to do this…and also turn your introduction into a powerful selling tool.

You see, what you really want to do is get someone else to write your forward.

Preferably, you’ll want someone in your industry who is well known, and has at least a small following. Ideally, this person should be a type of “celebrity.” What they should do is write a foreword which reads almost like a type of bio. It should mention how the person met you, who you are, your achievements, and then briefly go over what the reader will to learn in the book, as well as the benefits they’ll get from doing that.

Now, at this point you may wondering why this is necessary…

Why go through the time and trouble of finding someone to do this for you?

(After all, unless you’re connected in the industry, this can be a major hassle.)

Well, the reason why is simple.

Writing this type of foreword creates MASSIVE credibility for you as a teacher.

It’s almost like a type of endorsement.

So instead of reading some boring, dorky introduction which doesn’t really mean anything…

…the reader starts your book off with a feeling of goodwill, and most importantly belief.

They believe in you as a teacher and also in what you have to say.

Not only that, it makes the material seem a lot better than it might actually be.

Alastair Walton