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Welcome to the 56th issue of Write On!

The newsletter that is already counting the days until next football season 🥲

In today’s issue I’ll be covering:

• The latest marketing science in your inbox

• Vitamins vs. Painkillers

• Top finds this week, including a simple psychology trick for building a writing habit that sticks

Estimated read time: 2 minutes 11 seconds

The latest marketing science in your inbox

Effective marketing is built on science, not opinions. 

Ariyh turns the latest scientific research into 3-min recommendations to improve your marketing.

For example, you’ll learn the latest science in:

• Pricing & discounts

• Ad creative optimization

• Effective copy & messaging

Simple, actionable, and actually FACTUAL.

Join 25,000+ evidence-based marketers who get a new insight every Tuesday, for free.

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A quick poll so I can write better newsletters for you:

Vitamins vs. Painkillers:

A big focus of mine for this year is getting back to the basics.

Flashy ideas and trends will always try to distract you, but the fundamentals of copywriting rarely change.

One of the most important copywriting concepts you should understand is the difference between vitamins and painkillers.

Because it doesn’t matter what you’re selling.

It matters how you position what you’re selling.

You’re either selling vitamins or painkillers:

So what’s the difference?

Vitamins provide long-term benefits, general improvements, or enhancements to the customer's life.

Painkillers address a specific pain point or problem for the customer. They provide an immediate or short-term solution to alleviate the customer's discomfort or inconvenience.

Both provide value to the customer, but one technique is more effective.

Painkillers.

Let me explain with an example.

Vitamin vs. Painkiller Example:

The product we’re selling: Golf lessons

Most companies write their copy like they’re selling vitamins. Like this:

It doesn’t sound too bad on the surface, right?

The thing is… it can be way better.

Here’s how copywriting experts position their products as painkillers:

Same promise →→ Better golf game

Different positioning.

Can you feel the difference?

The painkiller version exaggerates the pain points and then presents the desired solution:

• Pain: You’re bad at golf

• Desire: Beat your friends

Top Finds This Week:

📖 Storytelling: 10 mistakes that are killing your story (and how to avoid them): (link)

💪 Writing Exercise: A simple psychology trick for building a writing habit that sticks: (link)

🖼 Frameworks: Simple storytelling framework — Start with I, End with YOU: (link)

📜 Principles: The easiest writing upgrade you can make: (link)

✍️ Write On: How Spotify sells with emotion: (link)

📚 Become A Prolific Digital Writer In 7 Days (Sponsored):

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Click here to get access.

That’s all for this week! See you next Wednesday.

Cheers,

Joe

P.S. Meme for your thoughts?

A WRITE ON REVIEW: