Nick Usborne's Blog, page 4

How to use AI to analyze the emotions of your prospects.

My advice to every aspiring copywriter has always been, “Step one is to listen to your audience”.

Put another way, “If you don’t know who you’re talking to, how can you know what to say?”

When you listen to your prospects and your customers, you get a feel for the emotions they bring to the table.

Identify their fears and desires, and you can speak to those emotions in your copy. Get a sense of the language they use, and you can mirror that language in your own writing.

The challenge has always been how best to collect and analyze the emotions and voices of your prospective buyers.

You can search for and read through dozens of customer reviews, but that’s a slow and arduous process. Or you can pay a company to conduct a formal sentiment analysis, but that’s expensive.

There is another way to do this… Ask ChatGPT to conduct a sentiment analysis.

This may sound a little counterintuitive. Surely sentiment analysis falls under the purview of Emotional Intelligence, not Artificial Intelligence.

Fair point, and ultimately yes, you’ll need to look at prospect emotions through the lens of EI.

But you absolutely can make a start with tools like ChatGPT.

Here’s an example, assuming I’m preparing to write copy or content about Keurig coffee makers.

First, my prompt:

Give me a sentiment analysis of Keurig brewer buyers, based on at least 50 customer reviews.

And here are the first two paragraphs of what ChatPGT came back with:

Based on a sentiment analysis of customer reviews for various Keurig brewers, the overall sentiment is predominantly positive. Customers generally appreciate the convenience, ease of use, and the variety of coffee options available with Keurig machines.

Keurig K45 Elite Single-Serve Brewer: Customers have highlighted the convenience and variety of beverages (like coffee, tea, and hot chocolate) that can be made with this brewer. They also appreciate the ease of use, which is particularly handy when trying different flavors without having to buy in large quantities. The ability to quickly brew beverages seems to be a significant factor in the positive reviews.

The analysis continued, reporting on a variety of different Keurig models, and also provided me with some customer testimonials.

Based on this, I can at least make a start on my copy… focusing on “convenience, ease of use, and the variety of coffee options available”.

Another line that caught my eye was, “when trying different flavors without having to buy in large quantities”. Interesting insight. I can see building an ad, email or sales page based on that idea.

I take the ChatGPT output as a starting point, and then layer in some emotional intelligence.

I now have a starting point. I can sit back, close my eyes, and imagine people in their own homes, using these brewers.

I can paint pictures in my mind, and begin to weave stories that include people really appreciating the easy of use… like a mom or dad being able to quickly make a single coffee, while preparing packed lunches for three noisy kids.

The point I’m trying to make is that even when you’re exploring the emotional motivations of your prospects, you can still make the task easier by using AI.

Get AI to do the heavy lifting… even for a “human” task like sentiment analysis. And then layer in the more nuanced emotions by calling on your expertise in Emotional Intelligence.

If you want to learn more about adding a high level of emotional intelligence to AI-assisted research and writing, be sure to find out about my course, Futureproof Copywriting.

The post How to use AI to analyze the emotions of your prospects. appeared first on Writing for the web - online copywriting and content writing..

How to use AI to analyse the emotions of your prospects.

My advice to every aspiring copywriter has always been, “Step one is to listen to your audience”.

Put another way, “If you don’t know who you’re talking to, how can you know what to say?”

When you listen to your prospects and your customers, you get a feel for the emotions they bring to the table.

Identify their fears and desires, and you can speak to those emotions in your copy. Get a sense of the language they use, and you can mirror that language in your own writing.

The challenge has always been how best to collect and analyze the emotions and voices of your prospective buyers.

You can search for and read through dozens of customer reviews, but that’s a slow and arduous process. Or you can pay a company to conduct a formal sentiment analysis, but that’s expensive.

There is another way to do this… Ask ChatGPT to conduct a sentiment analysis.

This may sound a little counterintuitive. Surely sentiment analysis falls under the purview of Emotional Intelligence, not Artificial Intelligence.

Fair point, and ultimately yes, you’ll need to look at prospect emotions through the lens of EI.

But you absolutely can make a start with tools like ChatGPT.

Here’s an example, assuming I’m preparing to write copy or content about Keurig coffee makers.

First, my prompt:

Give me a sentiment analysis of Keurig brewer buyers, based on at least 50 customer reviews.

And here are the first two paragraphs of what ChatPGT came back with:

Based on a sentiment analysis of customer reviews for various Keurig brewers, the overall sentiment is predominantly positive. Customers generally appreciate the convenience, ease of use, and the variety of coffee options available with Keurig machines.

Keurig K45 Elite Single-Serve Brewer: Customers have highlighted the convenience and variety of beverages (like coffee, tea, and hot chocolate) that can be made with this brewer. They also appreciate the ease of use, which is particularly handy when trying different flavors without having to buy in large quantities. The ability to quickly brew beverages seems to be a significant factor in the positive reviews.

The analysis continued, reporting on a variety of different Keurig models, and also provided me with some customer testimonials.

Based on this, I can at least make a start on my copy… focusing on “convenience, ease of use, and the variety of coffee options available”.

Another line that caught my eye was, “when trying different flavors without having to buy in large quantities”. Interesting insight. I can see building an ad, email or sales page based on that idea.

I take the ChatGPT output as a starting point, and then layer in some emotional intelligence.

I now have a starting point. I can sit back, close my eyes, and imagine people in their own homes, using these brewers.

I can paint pictures in my mind, and begin to weave stories that include people really appreciating the easy of use… like a mom or dad being able to quickly make a single coffee, while preparing packed lunches for three noisy kids.

The point I’m trying to make is that even when you’re exploring the emotional motivations of your prospects, you can still make the task easier by using AI.

Get AI to do the heavy lifting… even for a “human” task like sentiment analysis. And then layer in the more nuanced emotions by calling on your expertise in Emotional Intelligence.

If you want to learn more about adding a high level of emotional intelligence to AI-assisted research and writing, be sure to find out about my course, Futureproof Copywriting.

The post How to use AI to analyse the emotions of your prospects. appeared first on Writing for the web - online copywriting and content writing..

Lead with Emotional Intelligence before you input your AI prompts.

Which comes first, AI or EI?

Do you start your writing project with AI, and then tweak the outputs to make the copy more emotionally intelligent?

That’s how most people do this. And it’s how I do it myself, some of the time.

Start with a tool like ChatGPT to do the heavy lifting. Use it to do research for a new page, the outline, and a first draft. Once that’s done, you can add layers of more emotionally engaging copy to make the whole thing more appealing and effective.

But… it doesn’t have to be that way.

You can actually lead with emotional intelligence.

Let me give you an example.

Let’s say I want to write a short blog post about saving for retirement. I know this can be an emotionally charged topic, with people worried about not having enough money to get by, and so on.

Just by recognizing that people might feel anxious about retirement is demonstrating that I’m already bringing some emotional intelligence to the table. I’m being empathetic. I’m putting myself in the shoes of my audience. I’m recognizing their concerns and anxiety.

I can now enrich my prompts with some of that emotion.

Here’s an example I worked on with GPT-4.

The Prompt:

Create a short blog post that empathizes with the anxiety of saving for retirement and offers reassuring advice.

Empathizes… anxiety… reassuring. I’ve simply loaded the prompt with some emotional terms.

Now let’s look at the first two paragraphs of the output GPT-4 generated.

GPT-4 Output:

Saving for retirement can often feel like a daunting and anxiety-ridden task. Many of us worry whether we’re saving enough, if we’re investing wisely, or if we’ll be able to maintain our lifestyle in our golden years. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the thought of retirement savings, you’re not alone.

First and foremost, it’s important to recognize that these feelings are normal. Planning for decades into the future is inherently uncertain, and it’s okay to feel anxious about it. The key is to channel this anxiety into constructive action.

As you can see, it didn’t take much for GPT-4 to understand what I was looking for. The output isn’t perfect, and I’d definitely do some editing. But it’s a reasonable start, and demonstrates a degree of emotional intelligence.

Does this mean I can rely on AI tools to create emotionally intelligent copy?

No. But it does mean you can influence the output by adding emotional terms in the prompt itself.

Then come the edits…

One thing I might want to do in a case like this is include a story or example in the opening paragraphs. I might feature the experiences and emotions of a real person who is feeling anxious about her retirement planning.

If I opened with two paragraphs on the real-life example, the opening paragraphs written by GPT-4 would be bumped to numbers three and four.

And I’d definitely change the phrase “anxiety-ridden task” in that first paragraph. Feels clunky to me.

Long story short… while you’ll always need to edit AI outputs to make your copy more emotionally engaging, you can help yourself by including emotional words and phrases in the prompts themselves.

If you want to learn more about adding a higher level of emotional intelligence to writing that is generated by AI, be sure to find out about my course, Futureproof Copywriting.

The post Lead with Emotional Intelligence before you input your AI prompts. appeared first on Writing for the web - online copywriting and content writing..

The urgent need to get ahead of AI writing tools in 2024.

Towards the end of every year, I step back, take stock, see where “I’m at”, and… more importantly… try to figure out where I’m going.

This year, the stakes have never been higher.

According to a survey by Neil Patel of agency NP Digital, over 60% of text content is now being created purely through AI. And 26.8% through a combination of AI and humans.

In other words, AI now plays a significant role in the creation of over 85% of all new content being written for digital media.

This means we are already way past the conversation where some writers argue with me about whether AI writing is “good enough”.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re of the opinion that AI can’t replace human writers. We’re 85% past that point. It’s already happening.

The question now is how we can be part of the future of writing online.

Our role is to contribute the deep emotional layers of what it means to be human.

As any experienced copywriter will tell you, the most powerful force in sales copy is emotion.

In fact, emotion is the primary driver of all our purchase decisions.

We like to think our decision to buy something is well thought out and rational, but that is almost never the case.  We buy something because we want it. We lead with that “want” or desire. Then we apply rational thinking to justify that decision.

“I really, really want a Rolex watch.” Followed by… “Wearing the watch will signal to my clients that I’m successful in my professional life.”

Nice try, but the truth is, you’re just kidding yourself. There may be some truth in your justification, but honestly, you just really, really want that watch!

Human emotions are complex and nuanced. Our siblings drive us crazy, but we love them. We hate our work half the time, but it gives our life meaning.

There are as ton of subtleties and contradictions in our emotional lives.

And while AI tools like ChatGPT can understand the broad strokes of human emotion, they can’t grasp its more nuanced layers.

This is where we get to contribute in a world where AI does 85% of the writing. We get to improve on those first drafts with edits or rewrites that lead with nuanced human emotions.

Create those layers with Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to recognize, understand, and manage our own emotions as well as to recognize, understand, respect and influence the emotions of others.

EI lies at the heart of having healthy relationships with others, both at home and at work.

For marketing writers, it gives us ways to connect with our readers at a deeper level, beyond the reach of what AI tools can achieve.

This is why may latest course, Futureproof Copywriting, is divided into three sections.

Section one shows you now to lean into AI, and get the most from AI writing tools.

Section two teaches you about Emotional Intelligence, and its application to copy and content writing.

Section three shows you how to blend AI with EI, creating copy that is beyond what AI alone can achieve.

2024 is going to change everything in marketing.

When it comes to the application of AI to digital marketing, 2023 was just the warm-up period.

2024 is going to see more sophisticated tools being applied in ways that transform the space we work in, taking us beyond Neil Patel’s 85% mark.

What can you do?

First, lean into the technology. Leverage AI to your own advantage, and then train yourself in areas where AI is at its weakest, like Emotional Intelligence.

You need to start the new year in a positive, proactive way… getting ahead of a technology that will overwhelm many other writers.

And yes, enrolling in my course, Futureproof Copywriting is one of the most positive moves you can make right now.

It will give you the knowledge and skills to thrive in 2024.

The post The urgent need to get ahead of AI writing tools in 2024. appeared first on Writing for the web - online copywriting and content writing..

To prosper as a copywriter in 2024, you’ll need to know 10% more about AI than your clients and prospects.

It’s always been the case that to deliver value to a client, you need to know just 10% more than they do.

I’ve been teaching this for years.

Copywriters who are just launching their careers often feel nervous about not knowing enough. And then they realize that knowing just 10% more than their prospects is enough.

That 10% can deliver huge value.

The same is true today when it comes to AI.

You don’t need to be a leading expert in AI. But you do need to know 10% more than your prospects and clients.

This is your warm-up period for 2024.

It been only a little over a year since ChatGPT was launched. To say its impact has been transformational would be to understate it.

And it’s not just ChatGPT. Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon have all launched their own competing products.

Not to mention the thousands of tools that have been built on top of these tools.

That was year one.

What year two – 2024 – will bring is hard to predict.

Rumor has it that OpenAI is getting close to launching their next iteration. Maybe it will be GPT-4.5, or GPT-5. Either way, it’s likely to eclipse GPT-4 in ways that will blow our minds.

Over the next 12 months, one way or another, the world of digital marketing will be transformed, and in many cases automated beyond recognition.

Your clients and prospects are already engaging with AI. Are you?

According to a recent survey by digital agency Receptional, only 2% of the companies surveyed said they didn’t think it was important to stay updated on the latest trends in AI.

That means 98% are now paying close attention to AI.

So when it comes to working with freelance writers, who do you think those 98% of companies will want to work with? Freelancers who are ignoring AI? Or freelancers who are deeply engaged with AI?

Get to that place where you know 10% more than your clients.

If you want your clients and prospects to believe you bring value to the table, you need to follow that 10% rule.

You need to know 10% more about AI than they do.

For some freelancers, they’re already there.

But from the data I’m seeing right now, most freelancers are falling behind.

Are you there yet? Are you 10% ahead?

If not, you have a very small window of opportunity, before this technology accelerates away, beyond your capacity to catch up.

My advice is to lean into AI as a matter of urgency. Learn as much as you can about its application to the world of marketing.

A good first step – for digital copywriters and content writers – is to take my course, Futureproof Copywriting.

It will teach you all you need to know to give you that 10% advantage.

The post To prosper as a copywriter in 2024, you’ll need to know 10% more about AI than your clients and prospects. appeared first on Writing for the web - online copywriting and content writing..

A 3-Step Template for Adding Emotional Intelligence to Your AI-Generated Copy and Content.

Companies find it hard to resist the math of using AI to write at least some of their copy and content.

There are huge productivity benefits and costs savings when you compare AI-generated work with the same tasks written by human writers.

And sometimes, when writing informational content, optimized for SEO, and published in bulk, with some light human editing AI can come close to being “good enough”.

But when it’s not just about sharing information, the math changes.

As any seasoned copywriter will tell you, if you want someone to take action, you need to appeal to their emotions.

Wherever you are along the sales funnel, you’ll achieve higher conversion rates with copy that has a stronger emotional appeal.

This means that while it might help to use AI to write some early drafts, it’s going to take a human writer to weave in a strong emotional layer.

Why? Because the nuances of human emotion are a weak spot for even the best AI writing tools.

We can get there in three simple steps.

Step 1 – Emotional mapping of your audience

Experienced copywriters already try to figure out the emotional triggers of their audience.

Within the context of the product or service you’re selling, what are the principal desires and fears of your audience? Which desires can we speak to? Which fears can we address?

One of the ways I do this is to read product reviews on sites like Amazon. Or service reviews on sites like Yelp. I’ll also ask clients if they have transcripts of customer service calls or chat sessions.

Basically, I want to examine the language of my prospects. I want to see the language they use, and the emotions they express.

I might even copy and paste all the reviews, comments and transcripts I can find, and ask ChatGPT to run a sentiment analysis. It turns out ChatGPT is really good at that.

With all that done, I have now mapped the emotions of my audience. I know how they feel about the product or service being offered, and am familiar with the language they use when talking about it. I also have a sense of their emotional triggers… the desires and fears they might be feeling.

I now have what it takes to engage with my audience with a high level of Emotional Intelligence.

Step 2 – Emotional audit of your AI copy

Let’s say I want to create an email, a sales page or landing page.

First, I write a prompt for an AI tool like ChatGPT. As part of my prompt, I’ll include or reference the sentiment analysis for context.

Hopefully, with the analysis to work from, the first draft will be close to what I want.

Sometimes it is. Sometimes not so much.

But here are some questions I’ll ask myself as a way to audit the text for Emotional Intelligence:

1. Is the voice human and conversational?

AI-generated writing can feel stiff and wooden sometimes. Emotionally intelligent writing has an authentic human feel to it.

2. Is the tone empathetic?

Based on the desires and fears we have identified as part of our audience mapping process, is the copy empathetic to the emotions and beliefs of our readers?

3. Does the copy include elements of story?

Stories are shared and enjoyed by everyone, across all cultures. They are almost always rich in emotions, and are a reliable and quick way to create a deep connection with your readers.

4. Is the copy respectful and non-manipulative?

ChatGPT knows how to write sales copy, but sometimes it can feel a little too direct, salesy and manipulative. If that’s what you see, rephrase the sales pitch in a more sensitive and respectful way.

5. Is the copy culturally sensitive?

Tools like ChatGPT can be biased, depending on the data sets on which they were trained. Review the copy and make sure it isn’t insensitive to people, based on their gender, ethnicity or religious or political beliefs.

Step 3 – Emotion-driven rewrites where necessary

Once I’ve completed the emotional audit, I’ll go back in and edit the AI-generated text.

To hit all 5 points in the audit may involve quite a lot of rewriting. That said, there have been times when ChatGPT pretty much nailed it, and there was very little I needed to do.

One way or another, to get copy with maximum impact, you should go through each of these three steps when working with AI-generated copy and content.

To learn more, and to advance your skills as an emotionally intelligent writer, check out my course, Futureproof Copywriting.

The post A 3-Step Template for Adding Emotional Intelligence to Your AI-Generated Copy and Content. appeared first on Writing for the web - online copywriting and content writing..

A 3-Step Path to Adding Emotional Intelligence to Your AI-Generated Copy and Content.

Companies find it hard to resist the math of using AI to write at least some of their copy and content.

There are huge productivity benefits and costs savings when you compare AI-generated work with the same tasks written by human writers.

And sometimes, when writing informational content, optimized for SEO, and published in bulk, with some light human editing AI can come close to being “good enough”.

But when it’s not just about sharing information, the math changes.

As any seasoned copywriter will tell you, if you want someone to take action, you need to appeal to their emotions.

Wherever you are along the sales funnel, you’ll achieve higher conversion rates with copy that has a stronger emotional appeal.

This means that while it might help to use AI to write some early drafts, it’s going to take a human writer to weave in a strong emotional layer.

Why? Because the nuances of human emotion are a weak spot for even the best AI writing tools.

We can get there in three simple steps.

Step 1 – Emotional mapping of your audience

Experienced copywriters already try to figure out the emotional triggers of their audience.

Within the context of the product or service you’re selling, what are the principal desires and fears of your audience? Which desires can we speak to? Which fears can we address?

One of the ways I do this is to read product reviews on sites like Amazon. Or service reviews on sites like Yelp. I’ll also ask clients if they have transcripts of customer service calls or chat sessions.

Basically, I want to examine the language of my prospects. I want to see the language they use, and the emotions they express.

I might even copy and paste all the reviews, comments and transcripts I can find, and ask ChatGPT to run a sentiment analysis. It turns out ChatGPT is really good at that.

With all that done, I have now mapped the emotions of my audience. I know how they feel about the product or service being offered, and am familiar with the language they use when talking about it. I also have a sense of their emotional triggers… the desires and fears they might be feeling.

I now have what it takes to engage with my audience with a high level of Emotional Intelligence.

Step 2 – Emotional audit of your AI copy

Let’s say I want to create an email, a sales page or landing page.

First, I write a prompt for an AI tool like ChatGPT. As part of my prompt, I’ll include or reference the sentiment analysis for context.

Hopefully, with the analysis to work from, the first draft will be close to what I want.

Sometimes it is. Sometimes not so much.

But here are some questions I’ll ask myself as a way to audit the text for Emotional Intelligence:

1. Is the voice human and conversational?

AI-generated writing can feel stiff and wooden sometimes. Emotionally intelligent writing has an authentic human feel to it.

2. Is the tone empathetic?

Based on the desires and fears we have identified as part of our audience mapping process, is the copy empathetic to the emotions and beliefs of our readers?

3. Does the copy include elements of story?

Stories are shared and enjoyed by everyone, across all cultures. They are almost always rich in emotions, and are a reliable and quick way to create a deep connection with your readers.

4. Is the copy respectful and non-manipulative?

ChatGPT knows how to write sales copy, but sometimes it can feel a little too direct, salesy and manipulative. If that’s what you see, rephrase the sales pitch in a more sensitive and respectful way.

5. Is the copy culturally sensitive?

Tools like ChatGPT can be biased, depending on the data sets on which they were trained. Review the copy and make sure it isn’t insensitive to people, based on their gender, ethnicity or religious or political beliefs.

Step 3 – Emotion-driven rewrites where necessary

Once I’ve completed the emotional audit, I’ll go back in and edit the AI-generated text.

To hit all 5 points in the audit may involve quite a lot of rewriting. That said, there have been times when ChatGPT pretty much nailed it, and there was very little I needed to do.

One way or another, to get copy with maximum impact, you should go through each of these three steps when working with AI-generated copy and content.

To learn more, and to advance your skills as an emotionally intelligent writer, check out my course, Futureproof Copywriting.

The post A 3-Step Path to Adding Emotional Intelligence to Your AI-Generated Copy and Content. appeared first on Writing for the web - online copywriting and content writing..

The faster the pace of AI adoption, the more important it is writers don’t fall behind.

Back in 1995 I published my first website. Those were the early days of the web as a place for business.

That year there were just 16 million people online.

It wasn’t until 1998 that the number of people using the web hit 100 million.

From zero to 100 million in a little over 3 years.

That rapid rate of change was deeply disruptive to traditional, bricks-and-mortar businesses. Companies were struggling to keep up and adapt.

Now let’s fast-forward to November 2022, and the launch of ChatGPT.

It took ChatGPT just 60 days to get 100 million users.

Just 60 days.

Why the huge difference in the speed of adoption?

The main reason is that the web was a new technology, and was being built from scratch.

New infrastructure, new software, new services. It was all new, and took time to develop and deploy. Plus, many of those 100 million people had to go out and buy their first computer and dial-up modem.

With ChatGPT and other AI tools, they run on existing technologies. We access them through our favorite web browser. Other than a huge investment in compute power, AI doesn’t need new hardware.

The moment ChatGPT launched, we could immediately access it with the computer we already had, through the browser that was already open.

The second reason is that these tools are so easy to use. They use a simple interface with an invitation to chat. I simply type in my question or request in natural, everyday language. No need to learn a new software tools, or complex online services.

A third reason is that these tools were immediately and obviously incredibly useful. Million of people rushed to use them, because they could see the benefits.

This insane rate of adoption presents a challenge to all companies, large and small.

Companies had just 60 days to adapt to a world where over 100 million people were using ChatGPT.

Again, just crazy.

This is a tool powerful enough to upend entire industries, but your 12-year-old daughter can also use it for her homework.

Whether you’re Bill Gates or the 12-year-old, you get access to the same tool, with the same power, for the same price.

Now, a year later, companies are still struggling to figure out how and where to deploy AI.

They’re anxious to figure out how best to maximize the upside of AI, while mitigating the risks, some of which are obvious, others not so much.

And every company, organization and country is scared of being left behind in this fast-moving AI arms race.

There is a particular challenge here for writers and copywriters.

While these tools can do many things now, including coding and design, their first use case was writing.

That makes total sense, because these are essentially writing machines. You write a prompt, and the AI comes back with written text.

And as anyone who has spent much time with these tools will tell you, if you give them a good prompt, they write very well.

Is the copy and content created by ChatGPT perfect? Is it as good as the writing of a skilled and experienced human writer? No, it isn’t.

But that misses the point.

Is a pair of sneakers you buy from Foot Locker as good as the hand-crafted, bespoke leather shoes made by John Lobb of St. James Street, London? No, they aren’t. But you can buy the sneakers immediately, and at one hundredth of the price.

Same with AI-generated writing. You get it almost immediately, and the price is negligible.

So don’t be surprised if companies leap at the chance to use these tools to create copy and content for pennies a page.

Next steps for digital copy and content writers.

If you’re a professional online writer or copywriter, and you’ve decided to ignore or dismiss AI, you’ll be in a defensive position from now on.

The adoption of AI isn’t going to slow down any time soon. And if you don’t keep up, you’ll always be losing work to writers who are leaning into this technology.

Plus, these tools will become more and more sophisticated, and companies will learn how to use them in more and more ways.

And those companies will be looking to partner with people who are keeping pace with AI and everything it can do.

That includes us, as copy and content writers.

If we’re not at the leading edge of this wave, our prospects will look past us to writers who are.

That makes sense, right? Companies can’t afford to align themselves with suppliers and partners who dismiss or ignore the power of AI.

Your next steps…

I encourage all writers and copywriters to lean into AI. Get ahead of the crowd. Show your clients and prospects that you’re ready to help in this new and fast-moving world.

If being an early tech adopter doesn’t fit your personality, then learn from people who love to be on that leading edge.

Myself, I’ve always tried to lean into change. It’s how I came to publish my first website in 1995. I’m fascinated by what’s new. I like to try new stuff, and quickly get bored with old stuff.

Little wonder that I’m all-in on AI. I find it amazing, scary and fascinating.

And I’ve poured a lot of that enthusiasm and energy into my latest course, Futureproof Copywriting.

The course goes deep into using AI as part of your writing process. But it goes further than that. It also shows you how to make AI-generated writing even better, by infusing it with Emotional Intelligence.

Why Emotional Intelligence? Because that’s the weak spot for AI tools like ChatGPT. They don’t do emotion very well.

In other word, my course will show you how to use AI to the max, and then to make it better by adding human emotions.

There’s a value here that will be very attractive to your clients and prospects. “AI, made better”.

One way or another, don’t get left behind. AI isn’t going away. You need to lean in and embrace it.

As your next, essential step, learn all about my course, Futureproof Copywriting…

The post The faster the pace of AI adoption, the more important it is writers don’t fall behind. appeared first on Writing for the web - online copywriting and content writing..

3 Ways writing with a high level of Emotional Intelligence can enrich your life.

There is something flat and unsatisfying about writing in a formulaic way.

Academic writing. Business writing. Marketing writing.

You do the work. You put the words together. You wait for pay day.

As a copywriter, the least satisfying type of writing for me is when I follow some kind of template or framework. That kind of structure may reflect a “winning and proven” approach to writing an ad, landing page or sales page.

But… I don’t get much pleasure from writing like that. I’m following the rules, but I don’t feel that I’m putting any of myself into the work.

More specifically, I don’t feel any human connection with my readers.

Writing with a high level of emotional intelligence can change that. It not only sets your writing apart from anything done by AI alone, but can also be more deeply rewarding for you as a writer and a person.

Let’s look at just 3 of the ways EI writing can enrich your life.

1. Self-empowerment through emotional connection

If I take the trouble to really get to know my audience, and understand their feelings, I can reach a place where I feel genuine empathy for my readers.

When that happens, I’m no longer just a writer communicating with “an audience”. Instead, I’m a real person who is reaching out and connecting with other real people.

When I write this way, two things happen.

First, my readers sense their own feelings are being recognized and validated. They feel good. And that emotional connection will make them more likely to buy.

Second, *I* feel good. By writing from a place of empathy and caring, I feel a connection with my readers which simply doesn’t exist when I take the “formulaic” approach.

Now I feel empowered. I feel I’m in a position to genuinely help my readers. I feel my work matters. A good feeling!

2. Creative fulfilment

The formulaic approach isn’t creative. It’s like the writing equivalent of painting by numbers.

As a result, I don’t feel fulfilled. I’m just copying something. I’m not creating anything new.

That changes as soon as I break the mold and tap into the power of Emotional Intelligence.

By listening to my readers, and empathizing with their own emotions, I can create a narrative that truly speaks to them. Maybe I’ll share a story, or lead with a metaphor.

One way or another, I’ll be creating something new, a new way to engage with my audience more deeply.

And that act of creation is fulfilling.

Ask any kid with paper and a box of crayons… being creative is fun!

3. A deeper sense of purpose

Many years ago I was feeling a little down about my work. I felt like my life simply revolved around “selling stuff” with words.

I shared this feeling with a friend over a beer or two. My friend was also a former client, and he said, “Nick, you’re selling yourself short. The work you did for my company had a huge impact. In fact, we had to hire two new people! Your work made a real difference, at several levels.”

His feedback changed a lot for me. It shifted my mindset. It made me think about the people who would be reading my copy and content. It made me want to engage with my readers at a deeper, more meaningful level.

Put another way, our conversation inspired me to pursue a deeper sense of purpose by being more emotionally intelligent in my writing.

Wrapping it up…

There are two things here…

First, writing with a high level of emotional intelligence is way more rewarding than following rules or templates.

Second, becoming an emotionally intelligent writer lifts you above everyone who relies too much on AI tools like ChatGPT.

I’m a big fan of AI, and I use it a lot. But I always write my own final draft, and seek out ways to weave in ways to engage with my readers at a deeper, emotional level.

This combination of AI plus Emotional Intelligence is what I teach in my course, Futureproof Copywriting.

The post 3 Ways writing with a high level of Emotional Intelligence can enrich your life. appeared first on Writing for the web - online copywriting and content writing..

4 Ways to use Emotional Intelligence to serve and grow online communities.

Whether your community is on Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack, Telegram, Discord, or on some other platform, many of the challenges remain the same.

If you have any history in community building, you know how fragile communities can be. Sometimes a community starts to lose momentum and energy. People run out of things to say. Or one or two members start arguing. And so on.

The key to keeping everything under control, with a positive vibe and forward momentum, is to apply a high level of emotional intelligence to your work as a moderator.

In this post we’ll look at just 4 issues that impact online communities, and how applying a high level of emotional intelligence can make a big difference.

But before we start, a quick refresher or what we mean by Emotional Intelligence…

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage our own emotions… while also recognizing, understanding, and being empathetic to the emotions of others.

It’s about being sensitive to emotions, whether they are your own or someone else’s. And when you’re managing a group, the emotional interactions can get pretty complicated!

Also, while I address much of this post to community managers and moderators, the same lessons apply to those of us who participate as members of online communities. Same advice, same rules!

Let’s get started.

1. EI builds proximity and trust.

As the creator or moderator of a community, you need to make yourself available. And that doesn’t just mean logging in and watching other people talk.

Being available means participating in a way that reveals who you are… including your feelings and emotions. By being as transparent and as authentic as possible, you will draw people closer to you.

Show a little vulnerability and community members will engage with you at a deeper level, and they’ll grow to trust you.

This is the starting point for anyone hoping to lead a vibrant and growing community. And it takes a high level of emotional intelligence in your writing… or even your use of emojis!

2. EI facilitates meaningful conversations.

A community that sticks to “just the facts” can become pretty dry and uninteresting.

By communicating with a group with emotionally intelligent writing, you can draw out more personal stories, experiences and opinions.

This levels up the quality of conversations within the group, and encourages people to engage at a deeper level.

The more meaningful the conversations, the more likely it is that members will remain active in the group for longer, and recommend it to others.

3. EI helps resolve conflicts in a positive way.

Once you have established trust with your community members, it’s going to be easier for you to resolve conflicts between members.

And conflicts are going to happen! Hopefully they’ll be small ones, and won’t last for long.

Your starting point, as an emotionally intelligent communicator, is to listen first. Hear what both parties are trying to say. Be empathetic to their opposing points of view.

From that vantage point, you can then step in and help without taking sides, or adding fuel to the fire.

I’ve seen some community moderators do this really well, and it’s amazing to see how effectively they can defuse a situation before it gets out of hand.

Put simply, they demonstrate high levels of EI in their writing.

4. EI encourages inclusivity and diversity.

Online communities can become a little tribal. And sometimes those tribes can splinter into sub-tribes.

Before you know it, “only people like us” are welcome.

This is going to run counter to the inclusivity missions of many companies and organizations.

A moderator trained in emotionally intelligent writing can then step in and gently change the narrative to make the community more inclusive and less tribal in its thinking.

Even if you simply participate in online communities…

So far, I’ve been talking about the often daunting task faced by community managers and moderators.

But the same mindset can be applied to the rest of us who simply participate in a few online communities.

The more emotionally intelligent we are in how we write and contribute to the group, the more comfortable people will feel in engaging with us.

Emotionally intelligent participants are more emotionally available to others, more sensitive to the feelings of others, and are more likely to rise up as prominent and respected members of the community.

And remember, participating on online communities is almost always about writing. It’s not enough simply to have a high level of EI… you also need to know how to WRITE with a high level of EI.

Which is why your next step is to learn about my Futureproof Copywriting course. It’s all about using both Artificial Intelligence AND Emotional Intelligence to dramatically level up both your copy and content, across all digital media.

The post 4 Ways to use Emotional Intelligence to serve and grow online communities. appeared first on Writing for the web - online copywriting and content writing..