5 Writing Hacks You Can Use to Grow Your Audience Fast
You’re making this harder than it has to be.
I see so many aspiring writers who just get in their own way. You’re probably one of these writers.
There are simple little writing hacks you can use to get better fast.
But, you have to use them.
You have to listen.
Honestly, basic blogging techniques are so good and persuasive that you can teach almost anyone how to write the type of content that would build an audience.
But, on top of that, you actually have the desire to be great. Combine that with blogging techniques, and you’d be unstoppable.
The only real thing that’s stopping you? You want to do it your way. You’re Daniel son. You won’t just wax the damn car. Is your way working? Do you have the audience and income you want? No?
Then, listen, grasshopper.
Use these tips, practice them for six months, and I’d be shocked if your audience wasn’t ten times the size it is now.
Use This Deadly Persuasive Combination
If you write the most clickbait headlines possible and combine them with the most in-depth and thoughtful prose possible, you’ll create a weird but positive cognitive dissonance.
People will comment things like:
“You know, I thought this was going to be another one of these fluffy articles, but this was actually good.”
Notice all the psychology going on here:
- People expect to be disappointed by clickbait, but they still click, what does this say? First, sometimes click-bait triggers emotions so deeply they can’t help but click. Second, when a reader clicks your article, they are holding out hope you’ll actually have something useful to say.
- Your content sticks in their mind because of these opposite forces working at once.
- You use clickbait to meet people at their lower and selfish nature, but you help them rise up to their higher nature, which is what they really want.
See, when you say you don’t want to write click-bait, you’re not communicating what you think you are communicating.
You think it’s a sign that you trust your writing, but it’s a sign of the opposite.
If you have powerful words to share, why wouldn’t you package them the best way possible?
You’re scared to make big promises with your headlines because you’re afraid you can’t deliver on them.
Companies with useful products don’t treat their packaging as an afterthought. If good writing was all it took, book covers would be brown with no words on them.
Think, my friend.
Learn how to write killer headlines and write killer prose.
People will love you for it.
Stop Saying Phrases Like This
Remove phrases like:
- I think
- I believe
- In my opinion
We know what you think and believe because you’re the one writing the post.
You don’t want to come across as being unsure of yourself. People want to be led. If you’re the writer, you’re the leader.
You have to get comfortable with making generalizations. Obviously what you say won’t apply to one hundred percent of the people who read your work. If it misses, fine. But if it hits, and it will for most, you’ll be golden.
This doesn’t mean you have to pretend to be infallible.
You just want your words to have more of a backbone.
The more conviction you have behind your words, the more power your words have over your audience.
Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Reader
You don’t have to use a bunch of one-sentence paragraphs like I do, but take a look at the spacing of your articles in general.
Can you get away with writing large walls of text? Yes. But are you Malcolm Gladwell? Oh, no? You’re an aspiring writer just trying to get by?
Maybe, just maybe, you should try good ol fashion blogging techniques for a while instead of trying to write the next Cat Person.
Again, not using simple writing hacks like spacing is a telltale sign that you don’t want to be successful. It’s not that you need to use this technique, but from your vantage point, you should be trying everything possible.
The way you space your writing affects how the message comes across to readers. Also, it affects whether or not they actually read your entire article. Most people see a huge wall of text and run.
A few simple rules are:
- Never use more than three sentences in a paragraph
- Use one-line sentences occasionally to make points stand out
- Use bullet points and subheadings to separate ideas
Here’s the way I look at blogging techniques.
First, learn the rules.
Second, break them.
Learning blogging rules helps you not suck at writing. After you no longer suck at writing, you can write any way you want to.
Can you succeed without doing it my way? Yes, but it will be harder and you’ll probably quit before you ever get good enough to be successful.
Your choice!
The Cure For Writing That Nobody Wants to Read
Use the word ‘you’ much more often than you use the word ‘I’
If you went through a draft of your article and simply worked on changing that ratio, your views will skyrocket.
Here’s the reason.
It’s not so much that you’re not allowed to use the word ‘I’ or talk about yourself. It’s that when you do it, you almost always have the wrong energy behind it.
You’re not telling a first-person story because you want the reader to draw something from it. You’re just self-absorbed and want to use your blog as a journal.
This speaks to a deeper truth, the ultimate writing hacks if you will:
Nobody cares about what you have to say.
Nobody is eagerly awaiting your words. The opposite, actually. People have every incentive not to read your writing:
- They don’t know who you are
- There are about 287,392,400 things more fun and easier to do than read a blog post
- Most online writing sucks
Come to writing with the attitude that you have to do everything possible to get attention, and you’ll be successful.
Again, this doesn’t mean pandering.
Learning to use the word ‘you’ helps you understand how to put the right energy behind your writing.
Now that I have practiced this technique so long, I can write an entire story about myself and keep your attention. I doubt I would’ve learned how to do that without first learning the ‘you technique.’
See a theme here?
Study the basics and get as esoteric as you want when you actually know how to write and build an audience.
Focus on the Critical Points
You’ve probably heard of the 80/20 rule before.
80 percent of the outcome comes from 20 percent of the effort.
This applies to writing online. If you get a few parts of the article wrong, it’ll tank the whole thing. If you master the ability to get really good at what matters, the rest of the content itself won’t matter a ton.
These are things like:
- Headlines – Honestly, just getting these right sets you apart from most writers.
- Intro & conclusion – Start and end with a bang.
- The order of your points – Put your best points and items in your listicles at the top and bottom
- The order of your content – If you’re writing a blog post or essay, make sure to start and finish the points themselves strong.
- Elements of beauty and persuasion– Subheadings, bullet-points, italics — these things can seem like window dressing when they’re actually quite important and persuasive.
One comment I get about my writing a lot?
People say it’s basic.
And it is basic but in a good way.
While other writers try to get cute with their fluffy prose, I can hit people on a deeper emotional level with writing simple sentences.
That’s the key to learning how to write.
Writing isn’t…about…words.
Writing is about the concepts and emotions behind words. Words are just the medium you have to use to get the point across. That’s why I say there’s such a thing as a technically boring yet gifted writer.
Who do you want to impress? Readers or snobby writers?
Honestly, those snobs can keep their little journal awards and sell less than a thousand copies of their books. Have fun MFA grads.
Me? I’ll take making a six-figure income with my words, having millions of readers per year, and fans who can’t wait to read what I put out next.
Which path do you want to follow?
If you’re smart, you know there’s only one correct answer.
