Sometimes one writer can completely change your life.
Sahil Bloom is that writer for me. I discovered his work about a year ago on social media. What I thought was possible as a writer has since shifted. Learn these short lessons from Sahil to write and make money online.
Upgrade people’s lives like this
Sahil has made a difference to my life by sharing weekly:
- Rule of thumbs
- Mental models
- Frameworks
- Paradoxes
- Razors
Each of these writing categories are shortcuts for the brain to think better and act smarter. Until I came across Sahil’s writing I hadn’t heard of half of them.
It turns out in life that most things can be turned into shortcuts and containers of thinking. The best thing Sahil does is make up his own. Even writer Sean Kernan did this.
He birthed “The Logan Paul Effect.” It’s where the most successful creators on platforms like Youtube aren’t who you’d expect or necessarily want.
Make up your own frameworks to help readers find shortcuts.
Become obsessive-compulsive about framing
I swear to god Sahil sits down and looks at every word of his content on a phone. There’s rarely a single word on its own line or a big clunky paragraph.
When words look sexy on the page it makes us want to read them.
Too many pretentious professor wannabes write in huge blocks of text. Even worse, they don’t even use subheadings in their writing so it’s impossible to navigate and skim. Stupid.
Sahil uses loads of dot points in his posts. I even saw one writer go a step further and turn big chunks of their 2000-word weekly newsletter into dot points.
Dot points in writing signal to our brains “this is easy.”
When your writing is easy it gets read more. That’s why Sahil has one of the biggest social media followings on the internet.
Tweet Credit: Sahil Bloom
Sounding smart is stupid
Sahil is a normal dude.
He’s no Einstein and it shows in his writing. His sentences are short, sharp, and punchy. He chooses simple words so 5th-graders can understand.
Many writers fall into the trap of using words like “esoteric” when “weird” will work just fine. The trouble is much of the internet speaks english as their second language.
When you write for Oxford university professors you place a giant limiter on your audience growth — and impress no one.
Write simple.
Do this with the reader’s time
A lot of online writing is done for the writer’s erotic pleasure. It forgets the reader altogether by wasting their time.
Sahil curates the crap out of what he shares. It’s never a long boring read. And if he shares a longer piece in his newsletter, he uses images to illustrate his points and give the reader a rest from the text.
Rule: ferociously respect the reader’s time.
The best example is The Milk Road newsletter. They have a time indicator at the start of every edition. You know exactly how many minutes you need to spend to get all the latest crypto nuggets of the day.
I see other online writers respect readers’ time, too, by placing the time required to read in the subtitle of their articles. Copy.
When you write for time-conscious readers it’s easier to build an audience.
Don’t be afraid of this writer’s boogey monster
Listicles to some writers feel like death.
They hate ’em. If they see another “5 ways to be happy” post they feel as though they wanna rip their eyeballs out. I get it.
But writers like Sahil use list posts more than any other format type. Why? Lists make it easy to read.
When your ego says “I won’t write listicles” it destroys much of your online success. Lists are just a way to organize information. They’re not a badge of honor or a toxic opinion.
If you won’t use listicles, get over yourself.
Tweet Credit: Sahil Bloom
The best writers secretly do this
I’ve studied the best online writers. They painfully have one trick they all use: copywriting. Sahil can write copy too.
Copywriting is persuasive writing. Many people think it’s just used to sell products/services. Wrong. Copy is used to persuade readers to read, and even, sign up to a newsletter.
Copywriting is a way of life.
It’s code for short sentences, using words that rhyme, rewriting old cliches into kickass new ones, being slightly inspirational, and applying writer frameworks such as alliteration in your writing.
The #1 place Sahil uses copywriting skills is in his headlines and hooks on social media.
They’re just so damn good. His titles are irresistible. They feel valuable or like you’re missing out on some killer ideas. The key is he delivers on his promises which enhances his credibility over time.
Tweet Credit: Sahil Bloom
The obsession with email lists is a sign
I watched an interview with Sahil on Nathan Barry’s podcast. In the interview Sahil goes deep on his philosophy around email lists.
Like any good writer, he doesn’t give a crap about followers or trust any social media app. Early in his writing career he started funneling his followers over to a S-Stack newsletter.
Later he switched to ConvertKit. The reason writers like Sahil make the transition from newsletter software to email software is so they can easily segment, monetize, and use automation with their email subscribers.
Become obsessed with email lists. Own the audience you build.
Publish weekly tweet threads
That’s how Sahil became known.
Rather than publish single tweets, he maximizes the algorithm by publishing tweet threads.
Tweet threads are longer than single tweets so they get more of the reader’s attention and are higher value — naturally, the algorithm rewards those two things because they’re good for the little birdy’s business.
Tweet threads also force a writer to get to the point, and boy, don’t more writers need to do that, right?
Closing Thought
Learn from the new breed of online writers such as Sahil Bloom.
Even the old goats like me can learn from him. Watch how they take what would normally be a 5000-word boring-ass essay and turn it into concise magic that is easily digestible.
TikTok forced entire generations to become more concise. Writers need to pay attention and learn from Sahil’s example.
