How Muslims can start a profitable one-person business... without risking a penny upfront - PART 4

• You should have around 400 pieces of content ready to be written at this stage. This was covered in PART 3 of this series where I gave easy to follow templates to get your content ideas down on paper. Every step builds on the previous one so please complete all of the exercises before continuing.

• Getting better at writing will help you with many other skills such as speaking and selling. You probably already write daily: text messages, emails, group chats, etc. Use this to your advantage. Write your information business’ content as if you are talking to a friend. Your unique topic is probably interesting to at least one person you know. Always think of that person when you write.

• There are no rules… you don’t have to use perfect grammar or try to sound a certain way. The best writing feels natural and relaxed. The idea is to make your writing as easy to read/listen to as possible. As long as you get your point across and your audience understand you. Here are some tips:

  • Try writing as if you’re texting your friend. Would you make it complicated or as easy as possible for them to follow your points/agree with you/take action?

  • No one likes to read long paragraphs. It feels bossy and overbearing. Use one or two sentences per paragraph. This sounds messy but trust me… it is probably the biggest hack for making your writing easy and enjoyable to read.

  • Use bullet points and lists as much as possible when you can’t use short sentences. This is particularly useful for instructional pieces (like you’re reading now) as it helps to organise your writing without looking cluttered.

  • In my opinion, bullet points are better for content structure than headings. However, if you’re writing long articles then headings are good for breaking them up into easier to digest sections.

  • Short content is easier to read than long content. Try aiming for a 3-5 minute read. It’s easier to write and you won’t bore your audience. If you need to write longer content, break it up into parts like I’ve done with this series.

  • Use bold and italics to emphasise key points. A lot of readers skim when they read so using blocks of text with emphasis will help catch their eye as they skim the page. Again, there are no rules. Listen to your own voice as you edit your writing and put emphasis where it sounds natural.

• The most important piece of advice I can give you on writing is this: write now, edit later. What does this mean?

  • Have you ever had to write something, say for school, and it took you ages just to write a couple of sentences? It was probably because you had to delete words and rewrite them due to spelling mistakes. And the first sentence didn’t sound good so you had to reword it. You had to check a reference so you opened Google and the next thing you know you’re on YouTube watching something completely unrelated. And so on.

  • Writing feels like a chore because you’re not actually writing… you’re editing.

  • Actual writing is easy. Like seriously easy. Remember: you picked a topic you know well. It draws inspiration from your interests, life experiences and personality. You summed it up into a single belief statement. You justified your belief statement with pillars. Each pillar is held up by interesting ideas. And you know at least 8 ways (templates) to write for each of your ideas. Which means you already know what to write… so just… WRITE.

  • This means don’t think about it. Don’t try to make it sound fancy. Don’t even worry about the spelling. Just write… free flow. Anything that comes to mind. They don’t even have to be complete sentences. The important thing is to get everything out of your head and onto paper (or word document).

  • What takes time is editing. And people are put off from writing because they mistake writing for editing. However… if you did all the exercises up to this point, not only will you will be a whizz at writing on your topic… you will actually enjoy editing because all you’re doing is making your topic shine.

  • It’s often difficult to write because it takes so long to see your ideas take shape. But when you take this approach, your ideas are on paper almost immediately and the rest of your time is spent making it look better and better. You should spend the most time editing—like 90% editing and 10% writing.

  • Using the the playdough analogy again—you made the basic shape, now you’re sculpting your masterpiece.

  • Once you’ve dumped everything on the page… put it away. This is the trick few people will tell you. Put it away and go do something else.

  • Come back to your writing a day, two days or even a week later and watch what happens…

  • You will feel a sense of calm. Now you can edit with a relaxed mind. You’ve clarified the idea (from your topic all the way to the template) and put everything bouncing around in your mind onto the page. Now you’re stress free. There is no pressure. You only have to organise the words into an easy to read structure.

  • (When you feel this moment, drop me a comment and let me know if I was right.)

  • The editing phase is where you fix the spellings, rearrange sentences, take some sentences out, add new ones. Always with your friend (audience) in mind.

  • Even when I have to publish the same day, I will write first, close it and do something for at least an hour before editing and sending to you guys.

• I want you to the following two exercises. If you do these exercises as described below, you will never find writing difficult again. I will give each and every one of you who complete these exercises (and sends them to me) feedback on your writing.