Thrilled to join this vibrant community of writers and seekers of clarity. I'm Bonny, a startup coach and former founder. I am working on my next book and want to craft impactful narratives that resonate. I am also forever helping founders refine their pitches or work on penning meaningful posts - I believe in the power of words to inspire action. Excited to learn, share, and grow with you all—and maybe polish my writing chops to Shani's legendary standards! Looking forward to connecting and collaborating. Let’s create something amazing together. 🌟

For those who do paid writing for B2B companies -- as a freelancer, agency contractor, or employee -- is there a project type that is most typical? For example, do you mainly write blogs, white papers, or emails? Something else? Any direct response copy like sales pages? I’m asking to get an idea of the work if I were to start a write-for-hire business.

Some of the most effective communicators in the world are salespeople. And Misa Zhang, who brought in millions of dollars each year for top news organisations, including Reuters, Dow Jones, and The Wall Street Journal, was one of the best. In the latest episode of The Alchemy of Writing Podcast, Misa shared with me her deepest persuasion secrets, including: How she used her knowledge of body language to understand and influence prospects... How she reframed small talk into caring for clients to help build a stronger connection... How she made sure she was targeting the right people to seal the deal she wanted... And how she coaxed her more guarded prospects to open themselves up to her. Here's an excerpt from our riveting conversation, which is a must not only for aspiring sales wizards, but also for anyone interested in boosting their persuasion and communication skills generally: "You gotta make them that interesting person that has got a lot to share, to talk about. Believe me, everybody's got that potential. And if you can't bring it out from them, it's your fault. If I find somebody boring, it's because I've been lazy." And another: "Through thousands of years of evolution, we've learned to lie with language. But we can't lie with body language. If you record a video of any social interaction, and play it, and analyse it, you realise there is a ton of information hidden in the body language. And just imagine you can pick it up in real time. You really have a massive advantage over others." I encourage you to catch the full episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5K7gW5Zf7RwuHiuZ3Q6Lw3?si=22b7cd9fcacc4730

I've been using Adobe Express and Canva to create my Express Yourself series for LinkedIn. I'm generally satisfied with this edition about showing vs. telling. It seems incomplete, though. Also, what would you want to see in an edition? So far, I have tried to cover topics that my adult ESL students asked in class.

If you've taken my courses, you may already be familiar with the exercise below. Maybe you're not. Either way, don't feel worried about having a go. There's no right or wrong answer. See it as a chance to strengthen your editing muscles, to discover what's possible from the attempts of other students, and perhaps to learn from some friendly feedback. Here goes. Apply the four ingredients of simplicity, clarity, elegance and evocativeness -- in whatever way you understand them right now -- to enhance the following sentence: "It was indicated to the president by his Chief Adviser that it should be attempted to formulate a decision to act at the earliest opportunity, in the best interests of circumventing what might otherwise result in the country flowering into embarking on a prolonged, extended and exorbitant Military conflagration."