About the Episode
Everyone has a writer inside them. Everyone has stories inside them. They have to find a way to unravel it. In this week’s episode of the Pursuit of Learning podcast, we are joined by Ben Putano, founder of Damn Gravity Media, and author of the book, Great Founders Write: Principles for Clear Thinking, Confident Thinking and Startup Success. Throughout the conversation, we cover Ben’s journey to becoming an author, writing with a purpose, the ABC123 copywriting framework, writing with empathy, the power of persuasion, and more.
Ben starts the conversation by saying how he then started creating large-form writing projects.
As a writer, identifying the needs of your audience is vital. You have to understand things from their perspective to get their attention. Ben shares how he develops empathy with his writers. He shares with us the six questions he asks to accomplish that; Who am I writing to? What do they want? What do they need? What’s standing in their way? How can I help? Why should they care about this?
The right audience is more vital than a bigger audience. He shares that if your business is about selling services or products, you have to build the right audience that is passionate about it.
Hard habits take a long time to form. At the same time, it takes a long time to break habits. But when you do, it will change your life—wrapping up the conversation, Ben shares how he worked on giving up alcohol and how it changed his life in a better way.
Topics Discussed
A brief bio [01.41] Getting into the conversation, Ben shares his journey to becoming an author and a publisher.
Writing with purpose [07.55] Ben explains the meaning of writing with purpose and the process you must take when writing.
Product user story [13.22] Ben explains the product user story with examples.
ABC123 [20.12] Ben dives into what he means by the ABC123 copywriting framework in his book, what it stands for, and what made him build such a framework.
The crux [25.44] Care' is the essential part of the ABC123 framework, according to Ben. Further, he explains it's about why people need to care about your product.
Guarantee [36.12] Ben shares the importance of a guarantees when spending money on something risky.
Five-step framework [44.44] Ben explains the five-step framework for writing training material in his book.
Developing empathy [53.08] Ben shares the six questions he asks to build empathy in his writers.
Power of persuasion [58.23] Being ethical in your business is essential. Ben shares the process of being ethical in persuasion.
Becoming more persuasive [01.05.38] Establishing credibility, finding common ground, using vivid examples, and connecting emotionally are the four steps to becoming more persuasive, according to USC Professor and Author, Jay Conger.
Simplify writing [01.09.29] Ben dives into some rules for simplifying writing and the process you must take when you are writing.
Big audience [01.23.22] Ben dives into what we need to remember when building an audience for our writing.
