Positioning

If You Don’t Provide A Story, The Reader Will Imagine Their Own (And They’re Bad At It)

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Jean Hanff Korelitz

“People need a narrative, and if there isn’t one on offer, they make one up.” – Jean Hanff Korelitz, Born May 16, 1961. In a world without humans, stuff just happens. Nothing means anything. Nothing foretells anything. Nothing is destined or fated. Nothing is deserved. Nothing is earned. There’s physics and luck. That’s all. But […]

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How To Convincingly Fake Originality (Without Imitating, Plagiarizing, Or Ripping Anyone Else Off)

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Salvador Dali

“Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.” – Salvador Dali, Born May 11, 1904. Originality is overrated. Sure, you don’t want to be a copycat. But you don’t have to be a creative genius, either. Some other famous mucky-muck once said something like “the secret of creativity is hiding your sources”. I

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When Your Persona Is Your Product, You Must Give It a Flavor No One Else Has

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Don Rickles

“When you stand alone and sell yourself, you can’t please everyone. But when you’re different, you can last.” – Don Rickles, Born May 8, 1926. There is no flavor that every tongue will find appealing. Hell, not even every taste bud on the same tongue will like every flavor it touches. But there are flavors

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Write From a Place of Emotional Truth, and Transfer That Emotion to Your Reader

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Joseph Joubert

“Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure. Emotion is easily transferred from the writer to the reader.” – Joseph Joubert, Born May 7, 1754. Maybe Joe here was only intending to write things that gave people pleasure. In which case, I would agree with the first part of his statement. But is

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How to Sell By Telling People What They WILL NOT Get When They Buy

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Sigmund Freud

“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.” – Sigmund Freud, Born May 6, 1856. But Siggy, what if people could have freedom, but WITHOUT the burden of responsibility? Wouldn’t that be the greatest thing since sliced bread? What would people pay for that kind

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Make Them Believe You Would Tell Them All Your Secrets, And They Will Love You

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Harper Lee

“Folks don’t like to have somebody around knowing more than they do.” – Harper Lee, Born Apr. 28, 1926. When you’re trying to position yourself as a trusted advisor, your audience can’t ever feel like you are holding out on them. They can’t feel like you’re keeping secrets or withholding valuable knowledge for yourself. Countering

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Infinite Ideas To Write About When You Need Them (Preparation Hack)

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Frank Auerbach

“Ideally, one should have more material than one can possibly cope with.” – Frank Auerbach, Born Apr. 19, 1931. “I can’t think of anything to write about.” Some people say that. Baby non-writers do. Not me. I am a bottomless wellspring of material. I didn’t used to be. But I endeavored a little to make

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