Goooood day Reader,

I like to think I've got a whole bunch of smart people reading this newsletter.

Since they're smart, I don't really "dumb things down" as much as people online SAY I'm meant to. After all, you're subscribed for knowledge, not brain rot. You want to sell your services better, and get more clients. Stand out.

And that means you keep trying to learn and improve.

Well, I've found something really useful for smart people that want to improve their writing.

We write a lot

If you're anything like me, you're probably active on some sort of social media (wat up linkedin). Maybe you have your own email list. That means, you're putting a fair bit of writing out there.

I write a lot about what I believe about my industry, and how things should work.

I share my beliefs across social media, this newsletter, and on my website... because the people that share those beliefs become followers, friends, subscribers, and possibly even clients.

But I never really thought that my writing was trying to persuade people of anything.

Persuasion gets a bad rap

I've always considered persuasion to be manipulation. Trying to trick people into doing what you want.

Turns out, that's the "scammy lead gen" version of persuasion, when the bros try to convince you to buy their shitty product. It's like how you can use something for good or for evil... well, those mofos are using it for evil.

But you can use it for good. And I'm not talking about the little bullshit stories people tell themselves about how "everyone does it" and "I do this so I can help more people" and whatever other justifications they have for being a scammer.

Nah. The good side is convincing people that there are other ways to do things. Convincing them of your beliefs.

Here's one I prepared earlier

Canva, back in the day, was a nothing little startup. Back then, if you wanted those rubbish social media graphics, you needed designers and photoshop. Like, we literally used to say "photoshop it."

Canva had to compete with that.

Their entire mission, early on, was to convince people there was another way. They spent YEARS persuading people that you didn't need to use photoshop to create reasonable posters and graphics. They showed up with the right message, over and over, and gradually convinced people.

Now, they're fucking huge.

Turns out, I'm like Canva (except not a SaaS product, not rich, better looking, etc). I'm sharing my beliefs to persuade people there's a better way.

Learning to write persuasively

She doesn't know I'm doing this, but I recently built a new site for my friend Cass Whitaker, which came out sick.

Cass was planning on launching a subscription based digital product, where she releases a monthly breakdown/guide to teach people how to use proper marketing principles in their writing, in a practical way (she's probably gonna fume reading this cause I'm describing it wrong).

I didn't really understand it at the time, but I was always planning to buy it (support your friends!!!).

But it just came out and... holy crap it's really useful. The first issue is this MASSIVE guide on persuasive writing, around 5000 words or something. It's not like a blog post or one of those $7 a month newsletters or some shit like that.

This is not something for the plebs of social media. This is like reading a textbook, but one you don't mind reading. I've read it once already, and will need to read it a few more times to really sink it all in. It explains so much about how and why these things work, it's killer.

Considering I have smart people on this list, and Cass has written something that will help smart people write better, I thought I'd share it with you guys.

I'm not an affiliate or anything, I have no incentive if you buy it - I just think it's really useful and only $20 (I've learned less from $150 text books). You can check out the brief here (yes, I designed that landing page).

Anyway, good luck with the writing.

Cowabunga,
Nick Gulic