How-to books are all over the place. I wrote a little about this yesterday but I wanted to expand on my thoughts.
The top read articles online are “how-to” or have a number such as “7 secrets to…” attached to them. This is what copywriters teach will get you the best opportunity to have your article shared or even read. It works because we are all looking for a shortcut in some form or fashion. No one thinks to themselves, “I really want to take a few extra years of my life to get where I want to be in my career.” No one. Ever.
But the problem is just what we’ve been talking about the past couple of days. We have to do the hard work or we’ll never really get to where we are striving to be. The easy stuff anyone can do. Anyone can follow 10 steps to start a blog or 15 ways to get the most out of Disneyland.
The hard part is what matters though. And no one wants to go on a diet that promises weight loss only after you’ve eaten healthy whole foods and worked out consistently for at least 30 days. That doesn’t sound fun to anyone. We want immediate results.
There are no shortcuts like I had hoped there would be. There are no easy ways to build your brand image so clients come pouring in. It takes hard work over time. That’s the secret no one wants to hear.
The even harder part is that you don’t get to know what’s working and what’s not until you’re already where you want to be. If you get there.