[Full disclosure: Jason Treu (pronounced “Troy”) is one of my private Clients. Recently, I’ve been helping him launch his new book “Social Wealth” as well as his startup life coaching practice. I wrote the forward for it. I encouraged him to write this article because he’s accomplished something admirable:

 A #1 Bestselling Book on Kindle. In not one, but two very competitive business categories. (Do you know how hard this is? 🙂 ):

Click Here to Get the Book on Amazon

Normally, I loathe to reveal the identities of my Clients. But in this case, I believe Jason’s story is well worth reading. He’s achieved something many of my other Clients want for themselves: To be a bestselling author. My hope is this article inspires you to action.

PS: Reach out to Jason if you’re struggling getting your book launched. I’m serious. He’s got the goods, as you’ll see.

PPS: Update: Spoke a bit to soon..

As of 9/12/14, Social Wealth is now #1 in Amazon’s Business and Investing Category.

Click Here to Get the Book on Amazon

On to Jason’s story…]

Ok, perhaps you may think the title of this article is a bit over the top or over-complimentary of Rick Duris.

However, I urge you to keep an open mind. Go ahead, read my story. I assure you, every word is true.

I always had a dream of starting my own life coaching business and becoming a bestselling author.

Candidly, I was struggling. Badly. When I was introduced to Rick, unbeknownst to him, I was at an emotional low point in my life.

I lacked the crisp, emotional, engaging language needed to powerfully communicate my ideas and get people to take the action I wanted for them. As a life mastery coach, I could coach people effectively all day long, but my words on paper lacked oomph.

In Rick’s language, I couldn’t convert. As a result, I saw my dreams going right down the drain. 🙁

I felt crippled. Hobbled.

Then when a friend introduced me to Rick, I saw some of his writing and I was impressed. Then he reworked some of MY writing, and I was blown away.

He made my ideas sound 100X better.

I had to learn how to write like that.

 

Fortunately, under Rick’s guidance and buckets of my own blood, sweat and tears, I learned fast. And thankfully, my coaching business, instead taking a nosedive, started a rapid ascent.

But honestly? I’ve never wrote… re-wrote… edited… re-edited… And re-wrote again so much in my life.

It never stops with Rick. I swear, the man is obsessed.

Here’s one of the recent results I’m pretty proud of: My book “Social Wealth” just was published. And not to boast, after just 4 days into my launch, it’s already an Amazon Kindle #1 Bestseller in TWO categories.

Click Here to Get the Book on Amazon

Today, I want to share with you 3 “big rock” copywriting takeaways I learned from Rick. They literally changed my life. And they may help you to improve your writing so you too can get your current and potential clients to take the actions you want…

 Three Life-Changing Copywriting Lessons
I Learned from CopyRanger:

 

1.  It’s ALL About the Emotions You Want Your Reader to Feel

“When you write, you gotta make people feel something… draw them in… add some drama… share your personal stories and experiences. ”

Do you know how many times I heard that? (Just shoot me 😉 )

Originally in my writing, I tried to tell people what to do and how to do it. Like a long, descriptive to-do list.

Well trust me, even though I’ve been told my information is great, that doesn’t quite get the job done.

I tried. Hard. But there was always something remote and impersonal about my writing.

With Rick, I discovered how much people truly love stories. People share their experiences with others with stories. Usually and naturally full of drama, emotion and personality.

Think about this for a moment: When you tell a friend or spouse or loved one about what happened during your day, you don’t tell them some dry, boring, unemotional story, do you?

No.

You tell them about that idiot at work… the incompetent SOB boss who just doesn’t get it… the psycho you’re dating who pulled that crazy stunt on you… You get all emotional, re-enacting your day.

So liberally sprinkle your experiences and stories throughout. They don’t have to be long. Even one or two sentences can work. Just write out your story as you would tell a friend. Not as you would normally write it.

That’s what I did. That’s what worked. Amazingly well.

Just make sure you use words that stir up the emotions you want them to feel.  If you get stuck, talk to friend and tell them what you are trying to get across and maybe they’ll have a great story you can use.

I did that a lot with Rick. Rick would always encourage me to record the conversation.

Whatever you do, find that emotional story with a strong, dramatic hook.

2. “Will That Person EVER Shut UP?” (Be Concise, Clear and Compelling!)

I bet you’ve run across many people that tell you these looooonnngggg, drawn out stories and you thought to yourself…

“Geeze, can you just get to the point already? I don’t have all day to listen to this.”

Well, that’s the same thing with your writing. Be clear, concise and compelling.

At first, I use to come to Rick with super long, wordy copy and tried to cover every objection. I tried to impress people with my wordplay. Rather than impact people emotionally.

You know what he said?

“Cut that copy down NOW! In fact, cut it down more than you want!”

We’d spend hours collaborating. I’d watch on Skype as he’d strike and edit and refine my copy.

I found that if I thought of a couple main points to get across, I was much more effective because people would actually read it all. Versus reading just half of it.

So, I fixed my issues by coming up with 2 or 3 main points, re-writing my copy and then editing it immediately.

Then, I’d show Rick. And ask why he was cutting it down some more. 🙁  Seriously!

Secondly, I was too “wordy” in my copy. Previously, my sentences lacked crispness and clarity. I didn’t get to the point. Honestly, I still suffer from some of that to a large extent. It’s the former lawyer in me.

Just go through each sentence you write and ask yourself if you can make it shorter and clearer. I promise it will make a major difference in your writing.

3. “It’s NOT What YOU Think… It’s What THEY WANT.”

We’ve all heard it…

“Solve the problem that your reader has and you will be successful.”

Blah, blah, blah. If it was that easy…we’d already be doing it!

Here’s the dreaded disease I suffered from: Wanting to tell people what their problem WAS instead of identifying with them first on what they thought their problem actually was.

Rick would say…

“It doesn’t matter what YOU think or want…it’s what they think they want. Start there first, AND THEN lead them where you want them to go.”

What helped me was to first write out all the challenges a person may have. Then, I’d go through them and rank them in importance. Then I’d follow that up with doing some research on Google to get further evidence on my premise.

This helped me get inside the heads of the people I was trying to reach. My writing became much more powerful. I could tell by my results.

As of this today, after just 4 days, I have 52 5-star reviews re-affirming I did a pretty good job in the book…

Click Here to Get the Book on Amazon

Fortunately, very simple, quick, often radical shifts in our thinking can make all the difference in the world in our writing. Rick has this unique ability to convey these in a way I was instantly able to apply.

So that’s it. That’s how Rick changed my life. He helped write better, he helped me become a bestselling author and he helped me launch my coaching business. I hope these ideas help you, inspire you and give you a few “arrows in your quiver” to reach your audience more effectively. Maybe even become a bestselling book author like I did.

Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it too.

And if you need advice, inspiration and encouragement, or if you want discuss your book ambitions with me, I’m here. I love to share what I learned. Feel free to email me. [email protected] My website is http://beextraordinary.tv I’ll help you in any way I can.