Welcome to this week’s edition of the Creator Summit Newsletter where every Tuesday you’ll get an email from me helping you become a more holistic creator and entrepreneur, or a “Full-Stack Creator” as some might say.

In the world of content creation and online business, everyone tells you how to make $10k per month… but nobody tells you what to do when you get there.

My mission with the Creator Summit Newsletter is to do that and much more…

That being said, let’s get into today’s message:

A Brief Overview of Today’s Message:

My 5-Step Writing Process for my Ghostwriting & Newsletter Clients:

1. Understand

2. Organize/Outline

3. Relate

4. Create

5. Edit

Over the past 6 months, I’ve created content and ghostwritten for 6 and 7 figure entrepreneurs, business owners, and creators.

But it wasn’t until I was asked one simple question that I developed a clear writing process for myself and others to follow…

Here’s the story:

I was on a Zoom call with a potential client and he asked me… “Eric, what’s your process for writing and creating content for clients?”

“Great question.” I thought… but I didn’t have an answer.

Up until this point, I’d never been asked this question, nor had I ever thought about an actual writing process that I follow.

I looked around the room trying to come up with a sophisticated answer… nothing came to mind.

So I responded with… “Well, I don’t really have one. I wake up at 5:30am every day, look at what I need to get done, and just start writing for a couple hours.”

“Okay, got it,” he replied.

🤦‍♂️

I thought I blew it with that answer… but he ended up agreeing to work with me anyway.

I decided after that Zoom call that I’d never get caught flat-footed again.

Since then, I’ve taken the time to carefully put together a 5-step writing process that I use to create compelling content for myself and my clients.

Here’s what it looks like…

1. Understand

Writing about a topic in depth requires you to do one thing ahead of time… understand it!

Before you write about anything, you should first seek to fully understand the topic.

If a client wants you to write about something, that means they understand well.

And you should, too. A half-understanding of a concept often leads to errors and gaps in your writing.

Before I put any words to paper, I research the topic and take as many notes as possible.

2. Organize/Outline

Once you’ve done plenty of research and have come to understand the topic in great detail, start to organize your thoughts and outline the topic in main sections such as:

• Introduction

• Story (if applicable)

• Main point

• Main point

• Main point

• Closing

• CTA

For example, with this newsletter, I thought in depth about my writing process and what it looked like and then created a general outline to follow.

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3. Relate

Once I have a general outline of what I’m going to write, I look for anything that I can relate to or tie in… most often it’s in the form of a story.

For example, I pulled in a brief story of me on a Zoom call that’s relevant to this post.

Stories are great for making ideas “sticky” in your readers’ minds.

I promise if you share your message and add a story, they’ll be more likely to remember it than if you just shared the content without one.

4. Create

The most obvious section of the process… you have to sit down and create the content.

This is essentially a brain dump session… I have my notes and a general outline to follow, and I write anything and everything that comes to mind.

Keep the pen moving… and keep the keyboard clicking.

The key is to not be critical at this point. You can’t improve what doesn’t exist.

Get everything out there… you will go in and edit at a future date.

This is often the hardest part. To help with this step, I set a block of time (usually 60-90min) and I force myself to sit down and write.

5. Edit

After the first draft is complete, go in 2 different times to edit.

The first time is to do a full edit and revamp process. Fix errors, clean up sentences, clean up formatting and design, etc.

The second time is to finalize… I make sure this step happens earlier in the day when my mind is the sharpest.

I’ll carefully read over each sentence to make everything flows nicely… and then add in graphics, links, images, etc.

This is the final review process before hitting “post” for myself or sending it off to a client for approval.

And now, after writing up this email… I officially have a writing process to follow.

That’s all for today’s message. Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

Eric Higgs

P.S.

Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help:

• A personal brand isn’t complete without a consistent, high-value newsletter that gets sent directly to your audience.

  Click the link below to discuss having our team build, grow, and write your newsletter.