Psychotactics

Why Clients Buy—And Why They Don't

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Philosophy
    • About Psychotactics
    • Contact Sean
  • Free Articles
    • Psychological Strategies
    • Starting Up Strategies
    • Marketing Strategies
    • Article Writing Strategies
    • Copywriting Strategies
    • Internet Marketing Strategies
  • Podcast
  • Blog
  • Clients
    • Client Results
  • Products
    • Start Here First
    • Home Study
      • Article Writing
      • Uniqueness Strategy
      • Info Products
      • Copywriting
    • Books
      • Brain Audit
      • Under $50
      • Above $200
    • Membership
  • Workshops
    • Online Courses
    • Worldwide Workshops and Meet-Ups
  • Services
    • Speaker
    • Consulting
  • Fun Stuff
    • Resources
    • Cartoons
    • Recipes

The Curse of Self-Edit

Author: Sean D'Souza

When we sit down to do a project, we never seem to see the end of it.

Let's say you want to create a simple information product such as a fifteen minute audio.

Technically speaking, this audio should take you fifteen minutes to create. If you sit down and write an outline, it should take you thirty minutes at best.

Yet that's not what happens

Your self-editor kicks in.

And then all hell breaks loose.
You want to fix the ums, the ahs. You don't like the sound of your voice. You want to fix this and you want to fix that. And suddenly the thirty minute project is now either a three-hour project. Or the project is postponed indefinitely.

And this curse of self-editing is easily fixed if you follow these simple rules:

1) For starters at least, do not record sitting in front of your computer.
2) In fact, don't record anything till you write a brief outline.
3) This outline should not take you more than 10 minutes. If it does, it's not an outline.
4) The outline should cover three main points. And then three sub-points under every main point.
5) Get a friend to call you. And ask the questions based on the points and sub-points.
6) Record the conversation.
7) Fifteen-twenty minutes later you have a product.

And now when you listen to the product, you'll hate how you seem to have ums, ahs and other gaps. You'll find you may have even rambled at times. It doesn't matter. It's a good enough product. And it's time to get it out.

The reason why people never get anything done, is because of the evil power of self-editing.

If you want to get rid of the curse, use this simple system.
Ok, enough reading. Off you go to create your product.

Next Step: Want to learn more about Info Products Marketing? Find the entire infoproducts strategy series in text, audio with cartoons!
Subscribe : Get Updates via RSS | Get Updates via Email (Fill in your details in the top-right hand form)

Next Info Products Article: The Choice Paradox: Why Customers Want More And Less Simultaneously
Next Step: Read actionable articles on info products.

The Headline Report

The Headline Report has been downloaded over 155,000 times. In ten minutes (or less) you’ll learn how to systematically build a headline that works. Click on the button below to get a detailed report on "Why headlines fail (And how to create headlines that work)".

Get the Headline Report

Filed Under: Info Products Tagged With: info products, infomarketing, information marketing, information products, small business marketing ideas

Comments

  1. John Soares says

    April 15, 2010 at 9:33 pm

    I find that the less concerned I am about making mistakes in my speech, the fewer mistakes I make.

    I also find that I need to be well-rested. When I’m tired I’m far more likely to have pauses or mis-speak.

    And I agree that it’s crucial to have an outline.

    Reply
  2. John Soares says

    April 16, 2010 at 2:27 am

    So Sean, what’s your method for eliminating ums?

    Reply
  3. Judith says

    April 15, 2010 at 11:41 pm

    I have to disagree. It’s EZ to record in Audacity and only a few minutes to take out the ahs and ums to have a professional sounding audio.

    The extra 10 or 20 minutes is worth making a good first impression.

    Reply
  4. Martina Roters says

    April 16, 2010 at 1:09 am

    Hi!
    You know, you can get accustomed to things – even so ugly things as your own recorded voice!

    Thanks for this oh so true article!

    Reply
  5. Sean D'Souza says

    April 16, 2010 at 2:11 am

    And there’s a way of completely eliminating ums in your audio as well 🙂

    Reply
  6. Sean D'Souza says

    April 16, 2010 at 2:14 am

    @Judith: It may be fine if you’re recording a few minutes worth of audio. I’ve done three-seven day workshops. And removing ums and ahs are well, impossible…

    Better to learn how to eliminate it completely. Amazing as it may sound the elimination/reduction of ums and ahs can be done in less than 20 minutes of learning it. 😉

    Reply
  7. Sean D'Souza says

    April 16, 2010 at 2:53 am

    https://www.5000bc.com/index.php?option=com_jfusion&Itemid=100063&jfile=index.php&topic=5660.0

    Reply
  8. Sean D'Souza says

    April 16, 2010 at 2:53 am

    Oops.

    One second.

    Reply
  9. Judith says

    April 16, 2010 at 2:54 am

    @Sean Your article wasn’t talking about live seminars but rather a simple 15 minute audio and that’s what I based my disagreement on. It takes very little extra effort to sound professional.

    Reply
  10. Sean D'Souza says

    April 16, 2010 at 2:55 am

    That’s correct, Judith.

    However here’s a link that shows you how to do it right the first time around. (I did get a y’know though).

    In M4a file (with chapters)
    https://www.psychotactics.com/audiofiles/blog_audio/Reducing_Ums.m4a

    In mp3 file
    https://www.psychotactics.com/audiofiles/blog_audio/Reducing_Ums.mp3

    Reply
  11. John Soares says

    April 16, 2010 at 10:03 pm

    Thanks for the mp3 Sean!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

What Bugs Me small business marketing bugs

Does anything on this website bug you? Nothing is too small or too big. If there's something we can fix, we'd love to know. The bug of the month even gets a hand-painted cartoon + postcard. Click here to report a bug.

The Headline Report why headlines fail report

The Headline Report has been downloaded over 155,000 times. In ten minutes (or less) you’ll learn how to systematically build a headline that works. Sign up for the Psychotactics newsletter and get access to a detailed report on "Why Headlines Fail (And how to create headlines that work)" Click here to subscribe and get it right away

PSYCHOTACTICS

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

sean@psychotactics.com | Skype | Privacy

Copyright © 1999 - 2023 PsychoTactics Limited. Website Development StressLessWeb

  • Home
  • About Us
    ▼
    • Philosophy
    • About Psychotactics
    • Contact Sean
  • Free Articles
    ▼
    • Psychological Strategies
    • Starting Up Strategies
    • Marketing Strategies
    • Article Writing Strategies
    • Copywriting Strategies
    • Internet Marketing Strategies
  • Podcast
  • Blog
  • Clients
    ▼
    • Client Results
  • Products
    ▼
    • Start Here First
    • Home Study
      ▼
      • Article Writing
      • Uniqueness Strategy
      • Info Products
      • Copywriting
    • Books
      ▼
      • Brain Audit
      • Under $50
      • Above $200
    • Membership
  • Workshops
    ▼
    • Online Courses
    • Worldwide Workshops and Meet-Ups
  • Services
    ▼
    • Speaker
    • Consulting
  • Fun Stuff
    ▼
    • Resources
    • Cartoons
    • Recipes