14 Ideas on How to Grow Your Business by Writing (THREAD)
Ideas are all from @shl and @david_perell
Notes below 👇
Ideas are all from @shl and @david_perell
Notes below 👇
(1/14) Everyone is a writer
• Engineers, designers, managers, etc.
• You can't avoid writing, might as well do it well
• Gumroad relies a lot on writing, so does Amazon
• Engineers, designers, managers, etc.
• You can't avoid writing, might as well do it well
• Gumroad relies a lot on writing, so does Amazon
(2/14) Write about what excites you
• One essay at a time
• Over time, it builds into what you stand for
• If you're not excited, others won't be
• One essay at a time
• Over time, it builds into what you stand for
• If you're not excited, others won't be
(3/14) Write whatever helps you think better
• Writing is the medium of thinking
• This ensures you gain from the time spent
• Writing is the medium of thinking
• This ensures you gain from the time spent
(4/14) Write before you're an expert
• Expertise is a ladder
• Wherever you are, there will be people above who you think are experts
• And people below who view you as an expert
• People below want to learn from you
• Expertise is a ladder
• Wherever you are, there will be people above who you think are experts
• And people below who view you as an expert
• People below want to learn from you
(5/14) Write for one person
• Write for everyone and you write for no one
• Write for one person and you write for thousands
• Though you reach a small % (1% of 100), over time that grows to 100k and you reach 1,000
• Not everyone will be part of your tribe; that's okay
• Write for everyone and you write for no one
• Write for one person and you write for thousands
• Though you reach a small % (1% of 100), over time that grows to 100k and you reach 1,000
• Not everyone will be part of your tribe; that's okay
(6/14) Paradox of specificity
• Bill James was writing for a tiny group of people who were specifically interested in baseball
• But over time, he got interest from people in other sports, traders, sports managers, math wizs, etc.
• Bill James was writing for a tiny group of people who were specifically interested in baseball
• But over time, he got interest from people in other sports, traders, sports managers, math wizs, etc.
(7/14) Write like your audience is smart and busy
• What do they need to know?
• What problem does your writing solve?
• These are the people you want to attract
• What do they need to know?
• What problem does your writing solve?
• These are the people you want to attract
(8/14) Write protein bars, not empty-calorie snacks
• You want your writing full of good content and usefulness
• Though "snack" articles are easy to read, you might find you don't learn much from them
• You want your writing full of good content and usefulness
• Though "snack" articles are easy to read, you might find you don't learn much from them
(9/14) Write evergreen, unique content
• They continue to build your audience
• 15 years from now, Sahil's essay will still be extremely relevant (Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company)
• They continue to build your audience
• 15 years from now, Sahil's essay will still be extremely relevant (Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company)
(10/14) Writing well == thinking well
• Thinking well == higher probability of success
• Your writing reveals how you think about a problem
• Thinking well == higher probability of success
• Your writing reveals how you think about a problem
(11/14) Writing creates a cache
• The cache (i.e., documents) scales data availability
• People can access the cache instead of going to you
• The cache (i.e., documents) scales data availability
• People can access the cache instead of going to you
(12/14) Writing is iteration
• The only good writing is re-writing
• Share drafts, get feedback, iterate
• What you view as excellent writing is likely the outcome of many rounds of re-writing
• The only good writing is re-writing
• Share drafts, get feedback, iterate
• What you view as excellent writing is likely the outcome of many rounds of re-writing
(13/14) Goal: Strong idea, Simple writing
• Focus on the idea, not the words
• "Clever" writing hides weak ideas
• Focus on the idea, not the words
• "Clever" writing hides weak ideas
(14/14) Coin terms
• "Inbound marketing" from HubSpot
• "Design thinking" from IDEO
• Own the terms you want to be known for
• "Inbound marketing" from HubSpot
• "Design thinking" from IDEO
• Own the terms you want to be known for
Here’s David explaining about coining terms:
And here’s another summary by @paigefinnn:
