Just Write an Email
BY STEPHAN MILLER
How did you sell your last product? Imagine that I
am a newbie writing you an email after reading your ebook. How would you
answer the question? I bet you could send me a 300 word reply in no
time. Words would flow from your keyboard as fast as you can type. You
have just written your next article. Don't think so? Too easy? Read the
next paragraph.
Robert Allen has written you an email. He needs
you to write a chapter in a new book that he is putting together and
he needs it in a week. Are you up to the task? Can you have it done in
time? The theme of the chapter: the unique way that you sold your last
product. Okay, start writing. How long did it take you to write the
first sentence? A hour, two. Remember, millions of readers will be
viewing the results.
If you want to, do both exercises above and
compare the results. Which piece reads better? Which one sounds like a
high school textbook? Read them aloud and I bet the answer becomes
clearer. You would be proud to let anyone read the email addressed to
the newbie but create a pen name for the book chapter. Why is there a
difference here? Both of the subjects were the same. The same person
wrote both pieces. Or was it the same person?
In example one, you were yourself. You were just
answering a question. You were more than happy to explain your
knowledge to someone who just casually wrote you an email. In example
two, you became "the author". Maybe you had to outline the chapter
first, make notes, research it. In other words, do as many things as
possible to put off what you really sat down to do. Just write. After
all, with thousands of readers critiquing your work, everything has to
be perfect. There is no room for mistakes. And yet the email reads
better.
So why not write an email. The next time you
have a great idea for an article, turn that idea into a question and
email it to yourself. Well, you don't actually have to go that far,
but if it helps, do it. Then all you have to do is reply to it. Don't
worry about grammar. Don't worry about going off on a tangent. That
tangent may be exactly what you need to make your article, oops,
"email" stand out. Just explain everything you need to in order to get
your point across. If you need to, click "Create" in Outlook and start
writing. Try it. And don't follow the instructions in the next few
paragraphs until you are done with your email.
When you are done, read it out loud. Any time
you slow down or stumble over the words, cut those word out. Any part
that sounds like your sixth grade English teacher instead of you, chop
it. Take no prisoners. You will know your own voice when you hear it.
Just listen for it. Your readers want a new perspective just as much
as they want information. You are not writing for the New York Times
and you definitely don't want to become Joe Friday. Slip the facts in
with your personality and your readers will be flocking to your web
site in search of more info. Or for that matter, they will be flocking
just about anywhere you want them to flock.
Don't forget to make sure you covered everything
that you needed to cover. If you need add a word here and rearrange
paragraphs there, do so. Once the idea is alive in your email, it is
hard to kill it. Don't worry about that. Just make your email
complete. You will know when it is. You will get that feeling that is
hard to explain, but involves printing your article out, sticking it
to your refrigerator, telling your neighbors, and rehearsing for your
Pulitzer Prize acceptance speech. If you notice any of these symptoms,
your can now safely begin to refer to your "email" as an article
without killing it or triggering writer's block.
Use this method as described and I promise you
will become a much more productive writer. So how did you make your
last online sale? Write me an email.
P. S. I did write this in Outlook and addressed
it directly to you.
Stephan Miller is an eBay seller,
freelance programmer, writer, and webmaster.
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