Heard you need constant improvement to become a master? Heard you need those 10,000 hours of practice?

It’s hogwash. A goal of ‘constant improvement’ won’t lead to success. I learned this when I signed up for Damn Fine Words, James Chartrand’s writing course.

Signing up excited me. I was excited because I was taking action towards my goal of ‘constant skill improvement’ so I could further build my business.

The first half of the course taught me a lot. This was the most valuable part – a complete writing system, an approach that could be used to take any project from start to finish.

I also liked learning with other students. Seeing how they approached lessons taught me different angles.

But then I stopped.

Halfway through the course, I stopped doing the lessons. Stopped posting to the forum. At first, it was innocent – just one lesson I’d ‘get around to on the weekend’.

But one turned into two, and two into three. Three turned into five.

Of course I felt guilty. It didn’t help that James had just asked, “Do you stick to your commitments?” (No.) But I still didn’t do the work.

Why not? Why did this happen?

I achieved more immediate goals.

I’m a practical person. So I had other goals to work on beyond ‘constant improvement’.

I’d wanted to publish a report I was working on so I could bring in more business. And I used the first lessons of Damn Fine Words to help me write my report. I got focus and structured it properly.

The report got a lot of compliments.

Then I landed a new project that paid $1,000 – a decent sum. Again I used the Damn Fine Words approach, and completing this project was easy.
But suddenly I had nothing concrete to work towards. I had gotten more than I hoped for from the course, and we were only halfway in.
Other goals seemed more important.

Constant improvement is a weak goal.

Can you picture what ‘constant improvement’ looks like? What are the benefits? What about mastery—where do you see yourself after those 10,000 hours of practice?

That’s what I thought. All I picture coming from 10,000 hours of writing is a sore hand.

But I could picture the benefits of other goals. So I achieved them and celebrated. And then stopped working to improve, because the goals I’d accomplished were damn good.

“No more instruction needed for now, thanks. I’ve got other priorities.”

Yet that’s a lie. I thought I was a decent writer a year ago. I wasn’t. And one year from now, I’ll look at this post and cringe.

So instead of ‘constant improvement’, I chose a better goal: A new project that challenged me and that kept me sticking to the course.

It let me work towards something tangible – something more than a meaningless image of 10,000 hours. And it kept me constantly improving, just as I’d originally wanted.

How about you? When you sign up for a course, do you have projects to work on? What do you do when you run out of motivation?

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Post by Patrick Vuleta

Patrick Vuleta’s a dashing duelist who makes lawyers memorable. If you’d like to learn how to craft memorable writing so clients think of you - and not your competitors - download his ebook, Duellist Copywriting: The science of memorable legal marketing, for free and with no opt-in, from his website.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
How Achieving Your Goals Kills Your Motivation first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

It’s been done tens of millions of time: a blog post is written. Someone has an idea to share with the world. Someone has a beef and they want to rant. Someone writes an inspiring poem.

Because of the glut of so many posts, blog posts have become boring. When I scroll through my reader, my eyes glaze over. I long for something exciting. Something different. Something that makes me reach to comment, that makes me laugh out loud.

I’m looking for those killer blog posts.

I know they exist.

Start with Better Titles

Only 20% of people ever click on your title, and competition for readers’ eyes is stiff in the blogging world. The old rules of direct advertising remain: headlines make or break your post.

Four-word headlines won’t cut it anymore. You need to expand. Try to up the curiosity factor or fascinate people. Use the ol’ Brian Clark of Copyblogger trick of combining a practical tip with a compelling element, like The Depeche Mode Guide to Gardening. Engage the strange.

Use a Wicked Picture

I have no clue why bloggers generally insist on tiny, bland photos.

With what you can pull off today and with all the endless beauties waiting on the high-end stock photo sites, there’s really no reason to skimp on visual imagery.

I want to see awesome, relevant, cool, sexy pictures popping out when I glance at blog posts. Something that screams, “LOOK AT ME!”

Scare me. Arouse me. Delight me. But please, don’t bore me.

Write Like You Fight

Stop writing like a fearful person scared of stepping up to the plate. Stop rushing through blog posts trying to get them done in 15 minutes.

If you’re churning out half-page junk each week, you’re not giving anyone reason to pay attention.

Write like you care. Write profound things. Write like it was a matter of life or death. Like it was a matter of honor. Of protecting your child. Or a friend.

End with Action

You know this already, but it bears revisiting: Think long and hard about what you want people to do when they stop reading your post.

Should they share it? Bookmark it? Copy it? Leave a comment? Those are all noble action-oriented goals, and I’m sure they’re all good, but how about making them more unique than, “If you like this, share it with a friend or leave a comment.”

Make your calls to action something sexy. Something that isn’t… well, you know. Boring.

How about you? Are you sick and tired of reading wimpy blog posts that do nothing but tell you what you already know? That look like every single other blog post out there? Are you doing anything about it? Let me know.

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Post by Demien Farnsworth

Imagine Jakob Nielson as a feisty, flamboyant copywriter - that's about as close as you'll ever get to Demien Farnsworth. He originally set out with a newly-minted Literature BA with a mind for poetry, his boots crisp and clean and his teeth set against all things business... and has come to his senses at The Copybot. Go check him out now.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
How to Stop Writing Boring Blog Posts first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

Have you ever looked over a piece of your writing, only to realize that something’s missing? It’s so easy to get caught up in all the tips, tricks and techniques:

• Write a great headline – a number, adjectives, a clear promise
• Have a gripping introduction to draw the reader in
• Make sure you spell out a benefit for every feature

All of this is good advice. But in itself, it’s not enough.

Head-First Writing Falls Flat

In the first month of my creative writing Masters, both my tutors told me that I wrote too much from the head. I’d gotten all the technical stuff right – I could construct a plot, write good dialogue, and so on – but there was no heart behind my short stories.

They were right. I was trying to follow all the rules, but I didn’t really care about what I wrote.

The same thing happens to a lot of online business owners. We tend to get caught up trying to get things perfect … but this results in copy that’s either bland or trying too hard.

There’s no real energy or excitement behind our words. So we fake it by throwing in lots of extra adjectives and exclamation marks.

Yes, the technicalities of writing are important. If your sales page is poorly constructed and riddled with grammatical errors, you’re going to put people off.

But when you sit down to write your first draft, you want to use your heart, not your head.

How to Write From the Heart:

• Focus on the why. Think about how much your product can help people. Think about the reasons you set up in business – the things that truly matter to you.
• Just write. Don’t get hung up on how to express yourself. Imagine you’re sending an email to an old friend, telling them all about what’s going on in your business.
• Choose to write on topics you care about. If you’re a freelance writer, you might not have total control over what you write about – but you can choose to specialise in something that’s important to you.
• Get interested. Any topic can excite you, if you let it. Look for a way in or an angle that allows you to say something heartfelt.

Your heart-felt piece is going to be powerful and raw … and it’ll need some shaping to make it as good as possible.

Heart-Centred Writing Needs Editing

There’s nothing false or fake about editing carefully, even if you’re writing something that’s deeply heartfelt.

When you wrote your first draft, you may have fumbled around for words. You might not even have known exactly what you wanted to say until after you’d said it – many people think things through while writing.

Editing lets you clarify your message.

You want to convey your emotions to your reader, but that means polishing up your writing so that the reader gets it. Clunky sentences and distracting typos aren’t going to help.

How to Edit With Your Head:

• Let your work sit for at least a day. If you’re working on a big project like an ebook, try taking a whole week away from it. You’ll be able to see it more objectively.
• Print your piece out (or turn it into a .pdf). Read it through and get hold of the big picture. Watch for any major problems, like whole sections that need to be cut, or subtopics that you’ve missed out.
• Pay close attention to vocabulary. A particular word might resonate with you, but will it work for your reader? If you overuse certain words, look for synonyms.
• Ask a friend for feedback. When it comes to editing, two heads are always better than one. A writing or business friend can give you a fresh perspective and honest advice.

I know it’s tough to reach deep and put your heart on the page. Every single time I write something that seems a bit too close to home, I’m reluctant to hit “publish”.

But when I do, I’m always overwhelmed by the positive response from readers.

Don’t be afraid to follow your heart. That blog post about something dear to you will touch others. That section of your ebook where you confess your own hang-ups will help people. That sales page which is honest and forthright will reach your ideal customer.
I’m no braver than you. But I ditched those short stories three years ago, and spent the rest of my Master’s degree working on a novel – something I really wanted to read. I ditched my first blog that was all about trying to make money, and started a real business around what I love – writing.

I found my voice by finding the courage to put my heart onto the page.

If I can do it … you can too.

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Post by Ali Luke

Ali Luke has just launched her debut novel Lycopolis, available as an ebook from Amazon. A supernatural thriller with a hefty dose of geekery, Lycopolis has been described as “fast and furious” and “absolutely gripping” by readers. Find out more – and get the first five chapters for free – at Lycopolis.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
Should You Write with Your Head or Your Heart? first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

This quote has been stalking me for weeks now:

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”- Jim Rohn

It gets me. It really gets me. And here’s why:

In the business books and blogs we all love, there is constant talk of finding our ‘tribe’, our most ideal clients. We create elaborate customer avatars to dig down into the demographics and psychology of our tribe.

And we spend no small part of our time strategizing where we will locate potential tribe members, how we can connect with them and the key influencers we need to give us credibility.

Cultivating a tribe (even if you don’t call it that) is what most good marketing strategies are all about.

But in order to build and maintain our business tribe while still producing our actual products and services, there is another sort of tribe that we cannot ignore. It’s the tribe that Jim is referring to in his quote.

The Foundational Tribe

This is the tribe of significant others, friends, family or colleagues that we turn to when we need a break. They are the ones we call when we score a new client and they’re also the ones we call when we lose a client. They’re the people we lean on.

Most of us spend a lot of time thinking about and cultivating our ideal business tribe, but hardly any time creating our best possible foundational tribe.

Why is that?

We need a strong foundational tribe in order to be able to create an awesome business tribe. It’s basic common sense: if you feel alone and unsupported, all of your endeavors, business and otherwise, are going to be a heck of a lot harder.

Our foundational tribe is the engine that drives us to run our business, complete the marathon, publish that book or take that vacation.

Pretty important tribe, huh?

So ask yourself this: when you think of the average of the five people you spend the most time with, are you happy with that idea? Or do the names you come up with disturb you a little?

Maybe it’s time for some tribe cleaning.

Is there someone in your foundational tribe who really shouldn’t be there? Someone who takes and takes but isn’t giving you much value in return?

A lot of us are holding onto people that aren’t contributing to our rock solid foundation. Instead, we’re allowing them to put cracks in it.

And let me reiterate: If you’re not getting the support you need outside your business, that weakness will eventually sneak its way into your business.

So this isn’t even a purely personal question. This is about creating sustainable, solid businesses that thrive for a long time to come.

Without a strong foundation to stand on, your business will suffer.

It’s your tribe. You choose who stays or leaves. You are not chained to any of these people. If you’re not satisfied with the relationship, do something about it.

Easier said than done. Taking action in these situations is tough, especially when we have history with the person, mutual friends or maybe even live on the same street.

I get it. I’ve been there a bunch of times. If there was an easy checklist to make this less painful, I would give it to you. But there isn’t.

For some people, walking away isn’t the solution. Maybe these are your right people but neither of you have been investing in the relationship. Maybe it’s not too late and you can still get the train back on its tracks.

For others, walking away might be the only solution.

I can’t tell you which option is best and neither can anyone else. And you don’t need me to. Deep down, you know what needs to be done.

Yes. You do.

Are there people in your foundational tribe that are hurting you more than they’re helping? What are you going to do about it? Are you going to let them keep affecting your business negatively?

Or are you going to replace them with a tribe that truly helps you flourish?

Leave a Comment!

Post by Annika Martins

Annika is currently based in the Cayman Islands. When she’s not standing in her kitchen eating sun-dried tomatoes by the gallon, she spends her time coaching entrepreneurs (and the wanna-be self employed) to bring in the revenue they need to live the lifestyle they want. To read more (and watch her cool videos) about her passion for tomatoes drowning in olive oil and her belief that every entrepreneur needs a good swift kick in the ass, visit her blog.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
Is It Time to Clean Up Your Tribe? first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

It’s the middle of summer. You’re going camping, and you have the option of two campsites. One is by a running stream. The other is by a pond.

Which do you choose?

If you’ve ever had a run-in with mosquitoes before, you pick the stream. Running water doesn’t allow algae and rotten leaves to collect and rot on the surface, which means mosquitoes don’t have anywhere to lay their eggs.

What does this have to do with writing?

If you’re doing the same things over and over again, your writing has become stagnant.

Nothing is moving. Nothing is changing. Your creativity is festering. And yeah, your business is probably starting to go a little rotten around the edges.

Here’s how you keep your stream of thought clear – and avoid a business that stinks.

Keep Things Moving

Moving is better than standing still. That means you should be constantly learning, applying new ideas, and pushing forward.

If you’ve been at the same level in your business for more than a year, you’re a still pond. You’ve had the same number of clients and a consistent level of income. You write the same number of posts on the same topics every week. You haven’t launched a new product in months – maybe you’ve never launched one at all.

Since nothing is strictly wrong with your business, you think you’re doing okay. But since you’re not challenging yourself, you’re probably getting pretty bored.

And your creativity is completely stale.

It’s time to get the river flowing again.

Challenge Yourself

Challenge yourself to do one new thing in your business every day. Crack out those e-courses and ebooks you’ve bought and start writing down the tasks they suggest in your calendar.

Your business will begin growing and changing because of your efforts. And as your business changes and grows, up the challenges.

If you’ve successfully launched a product, start researching how to pull off an even bigger launch next time. If you’ve doubled your client base, start investigating whether you should take on some help to triple it.

Never stop moving forward. Standing still is how the skeeters get you.

Clear Out the Debris

After applying new strategies and ideas, you’ll find that your business has begun moving forward – but slooooowly. You’re not so much a river as a trickling stream, and you’ve probably got a lot of debris collected around the edges.

What do I mean by “debris”?

A bad accounting system. Procrastination habits. An email system that doesn’t work. A typo that’s been on your website for ages. A newsletter that you never actually send out, even though you have sign-ups and subscribers.

That’s the sort of stuff that’ll start to fester and wreak havoc on your business if you don’t watch out.

So here’s your second challenge: in addition to adding one new thing that works for you every day, start looking for one old thing that’s working against you.

These can be small things. On the first day, maybe you fix that typo. On the second day, write an email for your list. On the third day, call up some accountants in your area.

One new thing and one old thing, every day.

Raise Awareness

Any environmentalist will tell you that one of the reasons running water turns into stagnant pools is because of erosion and destruction by well-meaning campers.

Since they don’t know they’re causing harm, they don’t stop. But if they realize how important it is to help out, they’ll get engaged – and they’ll recruit others to the cause.

This equates to marketing.

If you’re looking to make your business a more engaging, creative, fast-moving place, you need people to rally to your cause.

You want to bring around and encourage people who want to work with you – or even for you.

You want to develop relationships with people who have similar ambitions, like colleagues and peers who are willing to lend a hand when you need one in exchange for your help when they need you.

How do you improve your marketing? By raising awareness.

Get on social media and talk about what you’re trying to do. Ask for help and get people’s feedback. Write to people directly and see if they’d be willing to help.

Let people know what you’re trying to do. Revamp your mission statement or philosophy or About page. Put up a notice on your home page that says what you’re all about.

Promote your products and services. Shout it from the rooftops: this is a place where creativity flows.

Smell that? That’s not the stinky whiff of stagnancy. That’s the sweet scent of awesomeness.

Got some ideas for stirring up still waters? Let’s hear ‘em in the comments.

Leave a Comment!

Post by Taylor Lindstrom

Taylor hails from Boulder, CO, and she blogs for people who are too good to fail over at... well, Too Good to Fail. Go check out her inspiring posts now.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
Are You Building a Business That Stinks? first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

The worst piece of writing advice I ever heard was to write the way I talk.

The next time you have a conversation, listen to yourself. If you wrote the way you talked, your writing would be riddled with space-filler words and phrases such as “like” and “um” and “you know what I mean?”

You’d rely on your inflection to make your meaning clear. Your vocabulary would go right down the toilet. And if you’re anything like me, you’d curse a lot more than palatable for your average business website.

Write like you talk always struck me as incredibly foolish advice.

In fact, I think writing like you talk is half the impetus behind some of the poorly written articles I review for guest posts on this blog. So many people out there think it’s a great idea to start a post the way they’d start a verbal conversation:

“Hey, I’m Tom, and I bet you’re wondering who I am.”

No. I’m wondering why you’re writing the start of an article the way you’d introduce yourself at someone else’s family reunion.

I have a lot of prejudices against this advice of write like you talk, but I recently read something that made me reconsider.

Maybe the problem isn’t writing the way we talk.

Maybe the problem is that we don’t talk well enough.

Advice From Someone Who Writes More Than I Ever Will

There’s an essayist, a very contrarian sort of writer, named Christopher Hitchens. He showed up in a Flavorwire collection of “Helpful Advice from History’s Fastest and Most Prolific Writers,” and his little blurb actually gave the hated advice: “Write more the way you talk.”

Well, obviously, I was not pleased.

I didn’t even know who this guy was, but clearly he didn’t know what he was talking about. I read the rest of the blurb just to prove it – and then Hitchens changed my mind completely:

To my writing classes, I used to open by saying that anybody who could talk could also write.

Having cheered them up with this easy-to-grasp ladder, I replaced it with a huge and loathsome snake: ‘How many people in this class, would you say, can talk? I mean really talk?’

That had its duly woeful effect.

What Hitchens was saying was essentially this: yes, everyone who can verbally communicate can also communicate in words. But few people can verbally communicate effectively.

So here’s my amendment to the hated advice:

Write the way you talk – if you can speak persuasively, eloquently, and clearly.

Which brings us to the next question: what do you do if you can’t do either?

Be Aware of Your Words

Most of the time, we’re not terribly aware of how we sound when we communicate, either in writing or in spoken conversation. I can’t tell you how many miscommunications occurred because I thought an email was written tersely or someone I was speaking with misinterpreted what I was saying.

We have spats all the time over miscommunication. And yet very few of us are actually aware that we are miscommunicating until someone draws our attention to it by being offended.

The next time you write an email or have a conversation – even if it’s just with your best friend, who knows you well and would know you were kidding if you told her you sometimes have an urge to kick puppies – be aware of the words you choose.

Be aware of how you sound to a stranger overhearing you.

Be aware of how you would react if you heard someone else say the same sentence.

We get so used to being able to speak easily that we treat it like walking – it just happens, naturally, and we don’t need to think about it anymore. Except we do. When we stop paying attention, we’re more likely to stumble.

Stumbling happens in your writing, too.

Choose the Right Words

If you want your writing to improve, then you need to think in a way that communicates better. It’s not easy to pick the right word, both in speech and in writing, but make an effort.

Eliminate space-fillers such as “um” and “like”- they’re usually conveying something in the inflection that is supposed to carry extra information.

Don’t use emoticons to get your meaning across – this is basically the equivalent of smiling to show you’re joking. If you feel you need an emoticon to show that the sentences was meant lightheartedly, rewrite the sentence.

Rely wholly on words, and choose them carefully.

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Post by Taylor Lindstrom

Taylor hails from Boulder, CO, and she blogs for people who are too good to fail over at... well, Too Good to Fail. Go check out her inspiring posts and beautiful encouragement now.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
Why You Should Never Write Like You Talk first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

Hunter S. Thompson was the creator of Gonzo Journalism – or as he called himself, “the doctor of journalism” – and the writer of the infamous books Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga, and The Rum Diary.

Thompson was known for his drug frenzy-filled stories, his use of powerful verbs and wild descriptions, and the ability to tell a story like a journalist.

He was a brilliant, ingenious, erratic writer – fearless, twisted, passionate, and slightly wicked.

Even without sharing the same love for firearms or the deep animosity towards Nixon or the constant drug and alcohol use, any writer can learn a thing or two from this bizarre and vivacious writer.

Steal From Your Heroes

Hunter S. Thompson started by helping out with editing in the high school yearbook. He then went off to the Air Force and landed his first writing job as a sports editor in The Command Courier by lying about his experience. And while attending Columbia University School of General Studies and taking creative writing, he worked for Time as a copy boy for $51 a week.

It was said that during this time he would sneak off into a room with a typewriter and rewrite his favorite author’s books such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gastby and Ernest Hemmingway’s A Farewell to Arms.

He did this because he wanted to understand and learn the magic and flow of a great writer.

Go find your favorite book or author, sit down and use this peculiar practice to improve your writing. Read out loud as you’re typing, and learn the fluidity of remarkable storytelling.

When you use this method, you can:

• Refine your writing
• Exercise your knowledge of grammar and punctuation
• Expand your vocabulary
• Develop an appreciation for language and word choice
• Help you adopt a style that fits you best
• Assist you in finding your writing voice

It’s impossible to write exactly like Fitzgerald or Hemingway, but taking a little bit of their style here and there won’t hurt. It can spice up your writing and assist you in painting a picture with words.

Draw Your Readers in With Powerful Verbs

Hunter S. Thompson was a wizard at showing the reader what he was seeing, not telling them. Readers swore they had visions themselves just by reading his descriptions of hallucinatory drug binges.

People literally hopped in their cars and went to Vegas hoping to catch a whiff of what he’d described.

Verbs are the most important words writers will ever use. They engage and attract the reader like no other part of speech does. They are literally where the action is. They are the words that tell us what’s happening.

As writers, we’re always striving to engage our readers and to compel with our words. Remarkable writing makes the reader feel like they’re a part of the story, as if the scene is happening under their feet.

Use powerful verbs to paint a vision of what’s happening, and your readers won’t just understand it – they’ll feel it.

Engage your readers with powerful verbs and descriptions. Go beyond “to be” variants – we’re trained to skip over them. Use unusual verbs, verbs that evoke emotion and reaction. Find a verb that matters.

When you do, you’re not only painting a picture – you’re letting readers step into the scene and walk in the world you’ve crafted.

Persist

Writing requires a lot of discipline — it’s a long tedious, slow, and agitating process. It is physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding to do what we do. It takes more than 10,000 hours and a few gray hairs to master this craft.

Hunter S. Thompson faced adversity and failure on the road to becoming a writer.

He was fired from Time for insubordination.

He was fired from The Middletown Daily Record in New York for damaging the office candy machine and arguing with one of the paper’s advertisers.

He wrote about riding with the Hell’s Angels; several took offense at his descriptions and issued Thompson a savage beating.

In 1960, he went down to Puerto Rico to take a job with the sporting magazine El Sportivo, which folded soon after his arrival.

You may not be beaten by a gang of motorcycle outlaws, or travel to Puerto Rico for a job only to find out the place collapsed, but if you’re a writer, you probably face innumerable roadblocks and hardships.

It’s your mission to turn every failure into a memorable, lifelong lesson – or better, into art. Hunter S. Thompson used his Puerto Rico experiences to write The Rum Diary.

What can you create with your own failures?

Know Yourself

If you write, don’t make excuses. Don’t moan about how hard it is. Know that this is something you have to do, and do it to the best of your ability. Create. Strive to be better. Take posts like this one and apply it immediately, now, today, to molding your abilities as a writer.

If you’re a writer, that’s what you’ll be. There’s no use fighting it. Just ask Hunter:

“As things stand now, I am going to be a writer. I’m not sure that I’m going to be a good one or even a self-supporting one, but until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says ‘you are nothing’, I will be a writer.” ? Hunter S. Thompson

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Post by Paul Jun

Paul Jun became a writer out of nowhere. Unable to find his passion in life, he decided to teach himself how to become a writer and blogger. He continues to go to school full-time while writing on his website, where he shares insightful tips for blogging, writing, and personal development. He believes with the right attitude you can turn dreams into a reality. You can also follow him on Twitter.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
What Hunter S. Thompson Can Teach You About Powerful Writing first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

We are our own worst critics.

One of the most daunting tasks facing writers is the task of finishing the rough draft. For many writers, the rough draft is the hardest part because they don’t know how to shut off the critical part of their brain and just finish it.

Instead, they nitpick. They rewrite the intro a hundred times. They thumb through a thesaurus looking for that one perfect word.

And six hours later they haven’t even dented their quota.

I propose we cut it out. For many reasons: it’s a waste of time, it’s counter-productive, it’s frustrating beyond belief.

If you still don’t believe me, here are five specific reasons not to criticize your first draft until it’s finished.

1. It’s called drafting for a reason. Nothing you write is set in stone. It’s not uncommon for authors to go back and revise their books for second and third editions, tweaking and changing phrasing and wording they weren’t satisfied with. And those books were already printed!

Your second draft will be better than your first and your third draft will be better than your second.

2. The delete button exists. Yes, it does. And it is a great—delete delete— And it is a magical thing.

3. You can’t see the whole picture until the first draft is done, even if your first draft sounds like it was written by a precocious middle school student with an obsession with the word ‘awesome’.

But once the outline is there and you can read your intentions between the lines of scribble, you can go back and redo the piece until it’s comprehensible and you’ve found synonyms for ‘awesome’ that make you sound all grown up (even if you aren’t, really).

4. Heat is hot. The moment only lasts so long, and you’re on a schedule. It’s vital to get the words out before the heat of the moment cools or turns stale. Write when you are inspired, and don’t stop until it’s all out, every last drop.

You can go back later and tweak, edit, revise, and perfect the work. See #1.

5. Sometimes the beauty is in the mistake. Your first draft will be entirely flawed. Terrible, messy, contradictory, inconsistent. But sometimes, when you’re really lucky, you’ll find a gem hidden in all that garbage.

And who knows? You could have been writing about the mating habits of grasshoppers and in the jumble of your first draft a beautiful gem shines out above all the rest. Maybe it’s the beginning of another story or article or poem. Maybe it’s just the place you should have started the piece to begin with. Maybe it’s a unique insight into human psychology that not even the likes of Freud or Nietszche could have dreamed up.

You just never know what’s gonna happen.

This advice is true with every kind of writing. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a poem, a short story, a novel, an article, website copy, marketing slogans, pamphlets, brochures, press releases, daily newspapers, or the best goddamned literary porn of all time.

Write the first draft and be considerate enough not to give yourself any grief.

At least not until the first draft is done. Then you can tear it to pieces.

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Post by Matt Herron

Matt Herron is the lead content strategist at The Phuse (http://thephuse.com). He also writes freelance journalism, short fiction, keeps a blog, and is always looking for exciting new projects. Use Twitter to get in touch with him.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
5 Reasons Not to Criticize First Drafts first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

Simple and easy are often used interchangeably, and in many cases they are. But simple and easy are different words with different meanings.

What is simple is not always easy.

This is an important distinction, because we often look for so-called ‘secrets’ the probloggers guard only to find that what they do is fairly simple stuff. And almost straight away, we discredit or downplay those ‘secrets’ because we don’t believe it can be that simple.

What we fail to take into account is that just because it is simple in theory does not mean it will be easy in practice.

To illustrate my point, consider the issue of weight loss.

The Thing About Weight Loss and Blogging Success Is…

Losing weight is simple in theory. You just have to create a negative calorie balance, meaning you have to spend more energy than you ingest. You either eat less food or exercise more, or do both. And you lose weight.

It really is that simple. All the issues around carbs, fats, and the best types of exercise are just details.

Yes getting the details right will allow you to lose weight quicker and more effectively. But at the end of the day, if you exercise 4-5 times a week and eat less food, you become a weight-loss success.

Despite the simplicity, losing weight is one of the hardest things to do. Every day, thousands of people go on a diet… only to be off it in a couple of weeks.

Why? Because the mind is a feeble thing. One minute it’s excited and pumped, the next it’s indifferent and exhausted.

Willpower is temporary. It comes and goes, and with it your ability to do even simple tasks consistently.

Why Succeeding As a Blogger Is Simple but Hard

Becoming a successful blogger is a lot like becoming a successful weight-loss story. They both involve doing things that are simple in theory but hard in practice.

Successful blogging involves writing quality posts on a regular basis and promoting them through methods like guest posting, commenting, social media etc.

It really is that simple.

Yet most bloggers fail because (like dieters) they can’t stick to their resolutions. They can’t stick out the tough times when no one reads their blog and no one accepts their guest posts.

Eventually willpower starts to give way to old habits. Other activities look more attractive. It seems too hard to succeed and too easy to walk away.

What does that mean for those who want to succeed as bloggers?

The lesson is that you should not confuse simple with easy. What is simple is not always easy.

And consequently, most bloggers won’t succeed because they’re unable to do simple things over extended periods of time. Maybe years.

If you just stick it out long enough, you beat most bloggers. Simple – and easy.

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Post by Aman Basanti

Aman Basanti is a consumer psychology writer who has worked in sales for years and is currently completing a psychology degree. He's also making the rounds at A-list blogs like ProBlogger, BusinessInsider and MarketingProfs - and now he's here. Check out his website at Age of Marketing now!

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
The Difference between Simple and Easy – And Why It Matters to Bloggers first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have done it. I have found the ultimate secret to success. The magic bullet, if you will. It’s a precise method that takes you from where you are now (nowhere) to where you want to be (pool side, surrounded by beautiful individuals and sipping on something that’ll get you very intoxicated).

Best of all, you won’t have to pay $997 for some bloated ebook + video course that takes 40 million hours to get through and bores you half to death.

Before I enlighten you on this amazing method, let me ask you something: Do you know why you haven’t already reached the success you seek?

• It’s not because you’re lazy (although some of you are).
• It’s not because you don’t know how (how-to products are more common than Oprah re-runs).
• It’s not because you don’t have the time (if you truly want something, you’ll make the damn time!)
• It’s not that you don’t have the passion (why else do you slave away 16 hours a day?)

The real reason you haven’t yet achieved success is because you haven’t clearly defined what success means to you. And you don’t keep your eye on the prize.

For example: Let’s say one week you define success by owning a Ferrari. Then the next week you wish for a mansion. The week after that you want to fly around in your own private jet, flush with your own service tending staff and the finest cook money can buy.

Well, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll never achieve any of these goals. Ever.

Why? Well first of all, you don’t even know what you want. Your success wish list jumps around more frequently than a kid playing hopscotch. Second, you don’t have a firm grip on your definition of success.

There is nothing wrong with material prizes as a definition of success. Just make damn sure that if you want to own a Ferrari, then you have an income stream that sustains the sort of lifestyle where you can drive around in one. And driving around in a Ferrari requires a very different income stream than flying around in a private jet. So does owning a mansion. It’s not a matter of aiming low or aiming high; that’s nonsense. It’s a matter of aiming, then locking on to the target.

So “success” should really mean “an income stream that sustains the lifestyle I desire.”

Here’s the good part: I know a method of achieving such success, and it’s practically foolproof.

1. First, define the prize you’d like to have. Pick one – and only one. Not ten.
2. Then, figure out how much income you need to achieve that prize and sustain it.

Let’s say you’d like a Ferrari. A used F430 costs around $170,000. Maintenance and gas for one is usually around $10,000 a year. Insurance has too many variables (such as your credit rating, accident history etc.) so we’ll leave that out for now. So you’d need a total sum of $220,000 to buy and sustain your Ferrari for 5 years.

Now take this goal, and divide it down to a monthly amount. So $220k works out to $18,333 per month. Now divide this further into a weekly goal, which works out to $4,583. That last step is mucho important – you need small, achievable steps in order to succeed.

So how will you make $4,583 per week? Well, being the savvy entrepreneur that you are, it’s highly likely that you’re going to have to sell stuff. Awesome stuff. If you don’t have stuff to sell, then do whatever it takes to create a valuable product to sell.

I want you to look at the products or services you provide. For the sake of simplicity, let’s say you have product A priced at $97 and product B priced at $197 and you want each of these products to make up 50% of your weekly goal. This means 23 copies of product A and 12 copies of product B. That equates to 3 sales per day of product A and about 2 sales per day of product B.

Think about that for a second. Is it really that hard to sell 2 copies of your high end product on a daily basis? That’s nothing. It’s so easily achievable it should be a joke. You should be laughing right now. But that’s not even the best part.

Here is where things get really good. Sign up for a newsletter service and create an autoresponder email list called Success Goal. Add your own email to this list – make sure it’s your main email, the one you check most often.

Next, set up 24 auto responders that you’ll send to yourself. 12 will be used to help you keep your eye on the prize, and the other 12 will be used to help you keep tabs on your small, achievable income goal steps.

Write two emails to send to yourself. You’ll copy/paste one in the Eye-On-The-Prize autoresponders and copy/paste the second in your Income Steps autoresponders. Set your system up to send the first autoresponder bi-weekly and the second autoresponder on a weekly basis.

Here’s an example of what you might write to yourself for the bi-weekly Eye-On-The-Prize email:

Title: Hey you cupcake, this is what you wanted to achieve

Dear Future Self,

On [date], you decided that achieving a Ferrari would be your ultimate symbol of success. Every action you take should help you move closer towards that goal. Look at what you’re doing – if it’s not helping you move closer, then stop immediately and get back on course.

Remember the initial excitement you felt when you thought about this goal. Visualize what it would feel like if – right now – you were driving around in that Ferrari. Don’t let go of this vision.

• If people try to throw you off track, show them your middle finger.
• If people get in your way, run them over.
• If you encounter huge obstacles, find a way around them.

Your goal is to get that Ferrari. Keep your eyes on the prize and pat yourself on the arse, because you rock.

Yourself

Your second, weekly autoresponder should look something like this:

Title: Your end of the week goal – $4,583

Dear Future Self,

By the end of today, you should have made 35 sales or have banked $4583. If you did, then congratulations! By the end of the year, you’ll have that Ferrari in your driveway, just like you wanted.

If you didn’t manage to hit your goal, then there’s something wrong. Increase your marketing, increase your conversions, or seek help so you can reach your targeted sales goals. Do whatever it takes!

Because if this keeps up, you’ll end up with mere chump change by the end of the year… just like every other average Joe.

You’re not average. Average doesn’t cut it. Thousands of people have Ferraris, and you can have one too. All you have to do is take the right action.

By next week, you should have $9,166  in your bank account. If you let yourself down, how will you set an example for others?

Wipe the dust off your shoulders, pick yourself up and back on the horse you go. HIYA!

Yourself

How perfect is that? Obviously your emails will be based on whatever prize and/or goals you’ve figured out, but the point is that the method works.

I used this very method to increase my client base by 100% and reduce my workload by about 50%. My ultimate success goal was the 100% increase in paying clients, which I achieved. My short-term goals were to increase my marketing efforts and create more template-type content I could customize in minutes instead of hours.

So be creative, and get cracking. The experts already tell you to set up autoresponders to stay in touch with your potential customers and get them to take action, so why wouldn’t you use this technique on yourself?

One thing I’ve realized is that knowing marketing psychology doesn’t make you immune to it… so instead of falling for other people’s hoopla, fall for your own. It’ll put money in your pocket instead of theirs. And if you found this method useful, consider putting money in my pocket. I won’t mind. I’ll even give some to James.

Here’s to brainwashing yourself to success.

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Post by Fitjerk

While he has a passion for writing and oozes the entrepreneurial spirit,FJ is a fitness expert first and foremost, focusing on impeccably accurate advice. To read more of his ramblings, check out his fitness blog.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
How to Spam Yourself to Success first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.