Writing Engaging Content for Ebooks

13 Copywriting Formulas to Level Up Your Writing Game (and Why You Need a Formula) Quick story from the chessboard with my twin girls: The first time we played chess together, I thought I could just jump in and make quick moves. But soon enough, I realized my girls were learning more strategy than I was! As the game went on, I started to see the importance of having a solid opening and structure to win. Without a formula, I was just making random moves. Turns out, writing is a lot like that – you need a plan to make your message stick. After writing thousands of pages of content, here’s my #1 rule: don’t start without a formula. 1. Before – After – Bridge Before: Describe where the reader is now. After: Paint a picture of life without the problem. Bridge: Show them how to get there. 2. Problem – Agitate – Solve Identify the problem. Agitate its impact so they feel the urgency. Solve it with your product/service. 3. Features – Advantages – Benefits (FAB) Features: What does your product do? Advantages: Why is this helpful? Benefits: What’s in it for the reader? 4. The 4 C’s Clear Concise Compelling Credible 5. The 4 U’s Useful: Give value to the reader. Urgent: Create a sense of urgency. Unique: Show the benefits in a unique way. Ultra-specific: Be precise to grab attention. 6. Attention – Interest – Desire – Action (AIDA) Attention: Grab them right away. Interest: Share relevant info. Desire: Show the benefits with proof. Action: Prompt them to respond. 7. A FOREST A: Alliteration F: Facts O: Opinions R: Repetition E: Examples S: Statistics T: Threes (repeat 3X for impact) 8. The 5 Basic Objections I’m busy. I’m broke. It’s not for me. I don’t believe you. I don’t need it. 9. Picture – Promise – Prove – Push (PPPP) Picture: Set an engaging scene. Promise: Highlight how your product helps. Prove: Share proof to back up your claim. Push: Encourage a clear call to action. 10. The Psychological Pull of Open Loops Start a cliffhanger story, and don’t finish right away. 11. The Reader’s Digest Blueprint Use facts, brevity, and specifics to capture interest. 12. Sonia Simone’s Marketing Story Needs Hero: Your customer. Target: The goal they want to reach. Problem: The barrier they face. Mentor: That’s you! Moral: What they learn through your solution. 13. Writing to One Person Targeting one specific reader is key to making an impact.

Storytelling should be a required course for every student and professional. Because it’s the only way to truly change minds. When I first began writing, I realized that without a story, my words only reached the intellect. To truly resonate, writing must touch both the head and the heart. As I began teaching writing, I realized few people truly were taught how to weave story into their writing — especially when writing articles, posts, or books. Here are seven techniques I teach to help weave storytelling into anything you write: 1. Start with a Hook: Your opening lines are your first, and sometimes only, chance to grab your reader's attention. Use an intriguing question, a surprising fact, or a vivid scene to draw them in. 2. Show, Don't Tell: Rather than stating facts or feelings, show them through actions, dialogue, and sensory details. This technique helps readers experience the story rather than just reading it. 3. Create Relatable Characters: Real people are actually characters to those of us who don’t know them. Treat them that way to your readers, and describe them in ways that bring them to life, whether your spouse, boss, or colleague is a character in your story. 4. Build a Compelling Plot: Stories need something to happen —- action. Use conflict and tension to create suspense and propel your story forward. 5. Use Vivid Descriptions: Paint a picture with your words. Descriptions should be vivid but relevant, enhancing the story without overshadowing it. 6. Include Dialogue: Dialogue brings life to your writing. It's a powerful tool for revealing character traits, advancing the plot, and adding realism. 7. Create a Satisfying Conclusion: Your ending should tie up loose ends and leave the reader with something to think about. A great conclusion makes the journey worthwhile. From Theory to Practice In my own journey, whether writing 'Super Mentors' or 'Pennymores', I've learned that storytelling is not just about entertaining. It's a tool for conveying ideas, sharing experiences, and connecting deeply with your audience. Remember, the most effective writing doesn’t just speak to the mind; it speaks to the heart. By mastering storytelling, you’re not just a writer; you become a storyteller, leaving a lasting impact on your readers. Now, it's your turn. Take these principles and weave them into your next piece. Watch as your words gain power and your stories leave imprints on the hearts of your readers. #StorytellingInWriting #NarrativeTechniques #EngagingContent #HeartfeltWriting 📖💡

✨I can’t stress enough that you must inject storytelling into your content.✨ ☕Sitting down with a colleague and friend the other day… 🤖We chatted about the future of content with AI. 🤖He agreed that all writers who want to continue ‘writing’ 🤖Will need to become editors. He agreed that unremarkable content will be replaced by AI writing tools. And he agreed that the content that will be needed, over and again… ✨Will be personal stories.✨ You can’t replace: 🔵Experience 🔵Expertise 🔵Authority And, oh, what a coincidence! 🛑That’s largely how Google determines rankworthiness (making that a word). To that end, I’d like to help you out. ✨✨I’m breaking down how I use storytelling in my posts.✨✨ ⚔️Here’s how I write from a storytelling POV ⚔️ (And have garnered 350k impressions in five months) 1️⃣ Decide on a story. It can be the most obscure story in my life, like 🦋Having a conversation with a friend 🦋Learning about taxes with my mom 🦋Quitting my corporate job 🦋Blowing my first chance to mentor But it has to be something that ONLY I have experienced. 2️⃣ Put the story in the first to second line of your post. The hook has to be STRONG. ⭐Elements of a strong hook:⭐ ✅Tells what post is about IN THE FIRST LINE ✅Prompts the reader to keep reading ✅Concise and direct 🚧Every post will not hook every reader.🚧 Remember, you are writing for a specific audience. Today, my hook/post is geared toward people who want to learn about content AND people who are interested in learning about storytelling in content. ⭐Rules for a strong hook:⭐ ☑️Uses first or second person POV ☑️Introduces a common problem/insight ☑️Features strong, actionable verbs ☑️OR features a strong story element 3️⃣ Make the connection to your lesson in the first 3 lines. Research shows: you have very little time to grab your user’s attention span. Keep it by getting to the point right away, THEN explaining further. 🔽This is called the inverted pyramid format.🔽 🔷Make your point first.  🔷Discuss after. 🔷Summarize last. If your hook is a storytelling hook →Connect it to the overarching topic in the next line or two. If your hook connects your story and lesson right away, →You’re golden! 4️⃣ Infuse your story with your lesson. Get to the story to illustrate. BUT 👏🏽Keep making the connection throughout the post.👏🏽 ✨✨✨The reader should never lose sight of the lesson.✨✨✨ 5️⃣ Tie it all together in the end. Be sure that you circle back to your original point. This should be easy if you’ve done all of the above, 🕯️But so many posts just fizzle out. Finish strong with an actionable verb and an EMOTIVE message. That’s it! Happy Thursday, friends. #contentwritingtips #storytelling #contentslayer ______________________ I’m a content slayer ⚔️ I help founders/established companies Solve content production issues Streamline the content process Facelift old content And much more DM me to learn how I can help you slay your content goals. 🐉

A client just told me that a report we wrote generated $400K in influenced pipeline. Given their initial investment and average deal size, we're pretty happy with that. Here's what I think we did right: - We started with empathy, not data. We all know that we need to tell a story with data. Data, no matter how objectively interesting, is just more bloody numbers without story-telling. But the story works better if we start with the question: "What narrative will also make the reader feel deeply seen and understood?" In general, I like to build my content around the idea that most people are overworked and underappreciated. Making them feel seen, validated and supported is the job of good content. You want to feel like a sigh of relief. - We were more useful than the typical ebook. We didn't just do a data dump. We had good data, but, on its own, it would get a "huh, interesting, fine, I'm getting on with my day." Instead, we turned it into practical, specific, do-this-right-now advice that would help the reader feel smart in their next team meeting. That resulted in significant organic reach, as people did the unimaginable and...actually shared this report with other people. - We got some really, really good interviews. We got internal SMEs (the type who spend all day talking to clients) to comment on (well, rant about) the data. Because the company culture at this particular brand is to be a) honest and blunt and b) extremely smart, I had a bunch of excellent sound bites to include. They added a lot of punch to the data and made the report something worth actually reading. The overall effect is that you got a specialist consulting session for the price of your email address. - We really cared. It's a little embarrassing, really. The hard-nosed marketer in me feels like this one shouldn't be true. But I've seen it time and again with my clients. With content, you get out what you put in. I don't mean you need to be impractically creative, or spend wildly too long on every piece. But setting a high standard for being meaningful, actionable, clear, and rigorous consistently translates into better marketing results. What do you all think? What else goes into a high ROI piece of content? I'd love to know!

Pause before writing that $5,000 ebook. Glossy ebooks take weeks of research/writing/editing work and thousands of dollars to create. Well, good ones should. Most aren't worth it. How to validate if an ebook is going to have any ROI for you: 🔹 Check whether your competitors have written the same ebook (only proceed if you can do it WAY better) 🔹 Check the search volume on the topic. Check Amazon also, to see if the topic is well covered there 🔹 Make sure it is core to your business and rooted in one of your services (otherwise it's just nifty info) 🔹 Make sure it will educate your buyer in a way that makes them a more qualified buyer 🔹 Verify that ChatGTP cannot answer all the questions you hope to discuss 🔹 Test the idea on social or on your blog. Are people responding with interest? Then, once you write it, make sure: 🔸 The reader will be able to improve their business with what's there - it's not just nice information 🔸 The CTA at the end is clear and has value for your business 🔸 You can re-use it in 100 ways (derivative content pieces) 🔸 It's a complete treatment of the topic 🔸 It's got a unique POV Go ahead and gate it if it's got the outstanding value we hope it does. Create a viability checklist to go over with the team when someone comes up with an idea for an ebook that they won't let go of (you know, this happens all the time). There are some who think the ebook in its traditional format should just die. I download them all the time and refer to the good ones all the time. The trouble is, only about 10% of them are good. Is your team doing ebooks these days? Why yes and why no?

I've published thousands of pieces of content in my career. I wish I knew these 3 things after the first 10. 1. Build with a narrative in mind. Most "capital C" Content programs—blogs, podcasts, ebooks, webinars, etc— aren't cohesive. They're repositories of loosely related collections of information. Maybe they organize topics by cluster, occasionally there will be a part 1, part 2, part 3, but by and large it's disparate information with no connective tissue. Building with a narrative in mind means remembering to keep a continual throughline through everything you publish. Build up to the problem the webinar solves with blog posts. Use video to show processes more efficiently than words can. Use podcast interviews to bring in outside voices. When everything is in service to the narrative, it gives readers, listeners, and viewers more reasons to explore the content ecosystem you're designing, and has been shown to increase return visits, shorten sales cycles, and improve customer lifetime value. 2. Focus on a single set of competing values. At their heart, most stories can be distilled into a simple "this vs that." Freedom vs Security Integrity vs Glory Simplicity vs Sophistication If your content doesn't feel like it has any direction, see if you can identify a set of competing values, —and if you can't, try this: Look at the reader's decision. What tradeoff are they being asked to make? A good story often hinges on a moment of choice. Zoom out from the tactic. Instead of “how to write better emails,” ask “what’s the deeper tension behind email strategy right now?” (e.g., automation vs personalization, scale vs intimacy). Listen for the emotional stakes. Behind most business decisions is a fear of getting it wrong. What are they afraid to lose—or desperate to prove? Test the polarity. If both options seem equally good or equally bland, you don’t have a story. You have a list. Raise the stakes. Once you name the conflict, everything else tightens. 3. Know what each piece is for. After you’ve got your throughline and your values in place, the next mistake is thinking every asset has to do everything. It doesn’t. A blog post doesn’t need to sell and educate and entertain and convert. But it should do something deliberately. Ask this of every piece: Is this meant to set context? Is it meant to build urgency? Is it meant to shift belief? Is it meant to help a champion make the case internally? Is it meant to close the loop? When you know the role a piece plays, the structure gets clearer. The scope becomes manageable. And the metrics make more sense. Your calendar stops looking like a backlog of “deliverables” and starts looking like a story arc with strategic intent. ---- These are lessons I’ve picked up on the path from freelance writer to Fortune 500 consultant. If any of this hit home, I’d love to hear what you wish you knew after your first 10 pieces. Drop it in the comments.

Blanket statements that ebooks and long-form content don't work and are unhelpful. I tested a tonne of different content types this year and got solid traction from ebooks, gated content, interactive demos, and podcasts. I've seen comments on LinkedIn saying that each of these doesn't work. Especially for B2B SaaS. A bit about how we've made them work: 1. Everything gets repurposed Remember people consume content differently. Call me rogue, but I sometimes download a PDF ebook and read it cover to cover. I downloaded Commsor 🦕's Go To Network ebook and did just that. → BUT, some people won't. So meet them where they are. → Ebook chapters get ungated as articles, info goes into zero-click social posts, opinions get shared in newsletters, podcast interviews run with contributors, etc. 2. Don't work alone Commsor's ebook was magic because it had guest chapters from a bunch of people I really respect. I came for their opinions and read the whole damn thing because it was so interesting. → Work with guest contributors for distribution, trust, and just great content. 3. Figure out how to measure success The goal is probably not for someone to download an ebook and then do an enterprise demo of the tool. 🙋♀️ I fell into the trap of trying to measure our first ebook that way for a while. → Figure out what to measure (and what not to). 4. Tie to wider strategy Long-form content doesn't stand alone. It's part of bigger strategies and campaigns. → e.g. We're testing niching down to a chosen segment. An ebook is part of our content strategy for that segment. We measure the campaign as the sum of its parts. 5. Check expectations → Internal marketing is important to help people understand the content's purpose, holistically. → Set high standards for long-form content quality. We all know there's a sea of crap AI (and non-AI) content. I fervently believe great, human content still has a place. Even ebooks. Even for small marketing teams at a startup.

B2B tech companies are addicted to getting you to subscribe to their corporate echo chamber newsletter graveyard, where they dump their latest self-love notes. It's a cesspool of "Look at us!" and "We're pleased to announce..." drivel that suffocates originality and murders interest. Each link, each event recap and each funding announcement is another shovel of dirt on the grave of what could have been engaging content. UNSUBSCRIBE What if, instead of serving up the same old reheated corporate leftovers, your content could slap your audience awake? Ego-stroking company updates are out. 1. The pain point deep dive: Start by mining the deepest anxieties, challenges and questions your audience faces. Use forums, social media, customer feedback and even direct interviews to uncover the raw nerve you're going to press. 2. The unconventional wisdom: Challenge the status quo of your industry. If everyone's zigging, you zag. This could mean debunking widely held beliefs, proposing counterintuitive strategies or sharing insights that only insiders know but don't talk about. Be the mythbuster of your domain. 3. The narrative hook: Every piece of content should tell a story, and every story needs a hook that grabs from the first sentence. Use vivid imagery, compelling questions or startling statements to make it impossible to scroll past. Your opening should be a rabbit hole inviting Alice to jump in. 4. The value payload: This is the core of your content. Each piece should deliver actionable insights, deep dives or transformative information. Give your audience something so valuable that they can't help but use, save and share it. Think tutorials, step-by-step guides or even entertaining content that delivers laughs or awe alongside insight. 5. The personal touch: Inject your personality or brand's voice into every piece. Share personal anecdotes, failures and successes. 6. The engagement spark: End with a call to action that encourages interaction. Ask a provocative question, encourage them to share their own stories or challenge them to apply what they've learned and share the results. Engagement breeds community, and community amplifies your reach. 7. The multi-platform siege: Repurpose your anchor content across platforms. Turn blog posts into podcast episodes, summaries into tweets or LinkedIn posts and key insights into Instagram stories. Each piece of content should work as a squad, covering different fronts but pushing the same message. Without impressive anchor content, you won't have anything worth a lick in your newsletter. 8. The audience dialogue: Engage directly with your audience's feedback. Respond to comments, ask for their input on future topics and even involve them in content creation through surveys or co-creation opportunities. Make your content worth spreading, and watch as your audience does the heavy lifting for you. And please stop with the corporate navel-gazing. #newsletters #b2btech #ThatAshleyAmber

I studied how top creators tell stories. They all break these 3 "golden rules" of storytelling. 👇 Here's what I discovered after analyzing their most viral content: // The first rule they break: "Start with the hero's journey" Top creators ignore this completely. Instead, they hook with the transformation their audience wants, then work backward. They know nobody cares about the journey until they care about the destination. Example: Instead of "I was broke and lost..." they start with "I built a 7-figure business." Then they backfill only the most relevant parts of the journey. Why? Because transformation sells. Journey just provides proof. // The second rule they break: "Show, don't tell" Elite storytellers do the opposite. They tell the punchline first, then show the proof. Social media rewards clarity over creativity. Attention spans are too short for subtle buildup. Look at viral posts: "I made $1M in 12 months" "I quit my job today" "I sold my company" They lead with the ending. No setup. No context. Just impact. Then they earn the right to tell the story. // The third rule they break: "Focus on the details" The best creators strip 90% of the details out. They know specific details kill relatability. The more details you add, the fewer people can see themselves in your story. What works instead? The top creators I studied use a simple framework: 🎯 1. Start with the end transformation 2. Add only the details that drive desire 3. Create "gaps" for the audience to fill with their own experience Example: Instead of "I woke up at 5am, made coffee, and journaled..." They write: "I changed one morning habit." Simple. Universal. Intriguing. The results speak for themselves: → Higher engagement rates → More audience connection → Better content scalability Here's the truth about storytelling: The best stories aren't about painting perfect pictures. They're about creating spaces where your audience can see themselves. // But hey -- maybe I'm wrong. 👍 to agree. #marketing #writing #business