The fastest way to never run out of content

"The eight laws of learning are explanation, demonstration, imitation, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition."

That’s a quote from the legendary basketball coach, John Wooden.

I love it because it addresses something that makes most people feel uncomfortable.

We learn through imitation.

Every great writer, every great marketer, every great creator I've ever studied has a swipe file. A collection of stuff that works. Not to copy word-for-word, but to study. To absorb the structure. To see the patterns. And then to make it their own.

The old school copywriters used to hand-copy entire sales letters by hand just to internalize the rhythm. Gary Halbert even made his sons do it.

But here's what most people do instead.

They scroll past a post that stops them in their tracks, think "damn, that's good," and then keep scrolling. Gone forever. No record. No reference. No way to ever use it.

Or maybe they bookmark it with good intentions. But in reality, they’re never going to look at it again.

I used to do the same thing. I'd see brilliant content, then scroll on by. It's like going to the grocery store to look for ingredients but you never buy anything, and nothing gets cooked.

So I built a system for it.

Inside my Notion dashboard, I have a swipe file database. Every time I see a post that resonates, whether it's a Guidance post, a Storytelling post, or a Character post, I save it directly into Notion using a free browser extension called Save to Notion.

One click. It's in the database. Tagged by content type. Ready to study, repurpose, or riff on whenever I sit down to write.

And the thing is, once you start doing this, you never run out of content ideas.

Because you're not starting from a blank page anymore. You're starting from a proven post that already worked for someone else, and you're adapting the structure for your niche.

Which is exactly what John Wooden was talking about.

You learn through explanation, then demonstration, then imitation, and then, repeat, repeat, repeat, until eventually it becomes yours.

[CTA FOR GENERAL LIST]:

Inside the Influential Writing System, I walk you through how to build a swipe file that practically writes your content for you. You'll learn how to save posts directly into your Notion dashboard, tag them by type, and repurpose them for your own niche.

If you haven't grabbed the dashboard yet, today's the perfect day. It's free, and you'll have a swipe file up and running in about 10 minutes.

Here's the link:

https://influentialwriting.com

Talk soon,

Kevin Hood