Want to win the online writing game? Listen to Sam Parr. He built The Hustle into one of the world’s largest newsletters and sold it to a multi-billion dollar company, and he's mastered the art of turning viral hooks into big businesses. Here’s what I've learned from him: 1. If simple words were enough for Hemingway, they’re enough for you. 2. The best market research tool was invented thousands of years ago: talking to your customers. Get your finger on the heartbeat of your customer’s problems. Otherwise, you’re shooting in the dark. 3. Thinking in headlines will make you a clearer thinker. It will help you see how an idea should be framed, identify different ways to tell your story, and show you the soul of your topic. 4. Sam says: “I firmly believe in putting my back against the wall.” Deadlines, pressure, and harsh goals will pull out the best from you. 5. Short attention spans aren’t the problem people think they are. Some of the most popular online essays are longer than 5,000 words. There are other data points too. Rogan has the world’s biggest podcast. Popular standup specials on Netflix are sometimes 90 minutes long. The problem is that your content isn’t good enough. 6. How do you make it good enough? Sam tells writers to make their work “slippery.” Cut the fluff. Make it move. Keep the energy high. 7. When you start writing and don't have an audience, go to where your readers are and do the work of telling them about you. Look for Internet subcommunities where you can reach your readers. Find the people who want what you have, but just don’t know about you yet. While starting The Hustle, Sam went to the r/selfpublishing on Reddit. 8. Sam Parr copied the best sales letters of all time by hand. Let the writing you admire pass through your fingers, fall out of your pen-and you will discover the heartbeat of eloquence. This method is called copywork. 9. Speaking of copywork... if musicians learn music by copying other musicians, why don't writers learn writing by copying other writers? 10. Most people suck at writing because they’re scared. “Will people like my article?” they say. That's loser talk. The only way to get past this is to toughen up. Come at your keyboard with boldness. Pounce on it. Timidity is the enemy. 11. The optimal post length is shorter than 500 words or more than 2,000 words. Don’t bother with anything in between. 12. To improve your company’s copy, look at what big companies had on their site before they got big. Use the Internet Archive. Study their branding. Copy their design. Dissect their word choice. Most companies are sharper and more focused in the early days before design-by-committee becomes a plague. 13. It doesn’t matter if you’re easy to read, if you’re also easy to forget. Aim to get stuck in your readers’ mind like a catchy song. Be easy to read, but hard to forget. 14. To see what hard to forget writing looks like, study this popular line from the Bible: "Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." Notice how the word day reappears in daily, and the word trespass is used twice. This practice of repeating words with intention is called “polyptoton” and makes for stickier writing… 15. Just like you should look at what big companies did before they got big, you should look at the habits of successful people before they got big. A 13 year old basketball player should look at what Lebron James was doing at 13, not what he’s doing today. There’s more alpha in the “early career” part of all outlier success stories. 16. Sam Parr’s mantra for business (which he has tattooed on his thigh): “Bold. Fast. Fun.” It’s really hard to beat someone who moves fast, takes risks, and has fun doing it. 17. Sam Parr’s favorite business book: How To Get Rich by Felix Dennis. Sam says it has the best information, perspectives and stories for those who want to make $ via starting a business. 18. If you're making a sales page, use the AIDA framework. The hook is for getting Attention, the content is for generating Interest, the conclusion is for inciting Desire, and the CTA is for inspiring Action. 19. Book recommendation for anybody who wants to write more memorably: The Elements of Eloquence. Sam can write, sell, and entertain. Come for the writing, stay for the stories about women who want to sleep with werewolves and the time he crossed paths with a soon-to-be convicted felon.
@DharmeshSpot10 ай бұрын
Loved this episode. Especially the parts about copywriting and adding soul to writing.
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
Thanks for listening! Was fun to learn a little more about you
@dian_youtubes10 ай бұрын
What other skills do you find underrated?
@mitchellcohen10 ай бұрын
Awesome conversation. Two takeaways I'll use now when writing: 1) "Does this make me smile" such a handy reminder 2) Keep it BFF (bold, fast, fun)! Loving these podcast episodes. Keep them up!
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
👊🏼
@laneycakes8 күн бұрын
youre a great interviewer David, thank you for this series
@moneymakingsim431410 ай бұрын
HANDZ DOWN THE BEST SAM PARR INTERVIEW!!!10/10!!! Love hearing introspective, word nerd POV’s!! Good shii!!👍🏽10💯
@PavelHenkin10 ай бұрын
This episode made me subscribe. I'm a software developer, and writing is core to my profession (which, unfortunately, many people in the industry don't understand.) There are a lot of great insights in this interview and your interviewing skills definitely bring them out.
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
Thank you… and welcome 🙌🏼
@ChristopherRomero8 күн бұрын
So good. Second time listening and I’ll definitely give it another few listens.
@jayrabe10 ай бұрын
This conversation flew by. Shantaram is the only fiction book I've read in the past 10 years! Amazing book
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
Thank you!
@FarhanAbroad10 ай бұрын
My favourite book to date
@sergiofitch43786 ай бұрын
watching them struggling to remember the Twilight series is eye-opening
@andychang27392 ай бұрын
"Hot vampires turn into Werewolves"
@alexjoh135 ай бұрын
This is phenomenal. Taking a step back and re-evaluating how we run our business and how we write all types of copy at the moment. This really helped. Going to relisten tomorrow.
@talialavor84115 ай бұрын
David! This is my absolute favorite podcast! Nothing like it. It just feels so different from an experience standpoint. And how blessed are we to get access to such brilliant people? It almost always proves that success is not accidental.
@virtuousmountainwoman4 ай бұрын
The writing skill of getting the texture of a good writer🎉 I like this and this is the piece I take from this interview.
@gkadkol10 ай бұрын
Sam at his best, David making room for better representation of info. Slam dunk!!!
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
👊🏼
@eniac7810 ай бұрын
This was great and full of practical interesting advice. I started listening to My First Million and discovered who Sam is recently. I love reading and write not as much as I should. Would have liked to hear comments on how AI is changing writing on the net.
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
Well, let’s get you writing more then
@chrismilton879210 ай бұрын
Loved this episode! Two legends with words.
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
Thanks!
@eugeniocg307910 ай бұрын
2 GOATS ! 🐐
@ethansleeper695210 ай бұрын
Dude why does literally every podcaster live here in austin now 😂 like i’ve never even seen this podcast and now he’s mentioning the hill country?
@expeditioner932210 ай бұрын
Please break down long videos into chapters. Writing in public interest.
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
Done!
@laneycakes8 күн бұрын
whats the name of this 900 page fiction book?! i might have missed it but i didnt catch the name
@kaynesheenan10 ай бұрын
amazing chat. so much goodies in here!
@JayYangInspires10 ай бұрын
Sam is a legend 🔥
@paulussantosociwidjaja47813 ай бұрын
Lots of good stuffs, thanks!
@Felix-cz1bn3 ай бұрын
This channel is gold
@DanCumberland10 ай бұрын
"I wonder if Eminem read that book" hahahaha
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
Hahahahaha, still wondering….
@smoothheadape69679 ай бұрын
This is not just good, but brilliant.
@nicklydon87674 ай бұрын
Loved this. The tactical info is great. Can’t wait to implement
@brendan22409 ай бұрын
Amazing Episode
@abhijitmohanty64010 ай бұрын
Content is top notch. Just make the thumbnails more realistic, no AI stuff.
@scottscheper10 ай бұрын
Great episode ✍
@kshitizchandra733310 ай бұрын
Whats the website name at 2:58??
@tylersherman98804 ай бұрын
The funnest author is Chuck Palaniuk!
@hrmt-substackАй бұрын
IN.CRE.DI.BLE content guys! Love what you're doing. I'm implementing right now the attention-grabbing commentary on my welcome emails
@Because_Reasons5 ай бұрын
This has become my fav youtube channel :L
@talialavor84115 ай бұрын
Also, copy writing is still alive and well at least in the homeschooling community.