Keep it Quick and Dirty
Don't worry. This is mostly SFW.
TL;DR
If you’re content isn’t landing, here’s two quick fixes:
Make it shorter (quick).
Be less polite (dirty).
“The quick and dirty version is this…”
The first time I used this phrase was back when I was doing B2B sales for a Christian-based organization. It never dawned on me that it might not be the most appropriate phrasing in a sales call.
But thankfully, the prospect had a great sense of humor and laughed.
And now it’s verbiage I’m pulling back out because I tend to see two major problems with content online:
Content that is too long (especially social media posts.)
Content that is too polite.
Recently, my wife had to make an announcement to her customers that she was nervous about. She recorded a 5-minute Loom video and sent it to me to review.
Not only was 5 minutes far too long to say what she needed to say (too much repetition, too much meandering around the point), but it came across as though she were apologizing for making a wise move in her business.
I told her to hold off on sending it, pulled out my laptop, and wrote a script that came in at 1:45. She admitted that the script was better, stronger, more assertive—while maintaining her natural warmth and voice.
In this case, quick was the key. And as far as dirty goes? Well, the first version was overly polished. Felt forced and apologetic. We didn’t need to make the message “dirty,” but we did need to bring it back to earth.
So how do you keep your content both Quick & Dirty?
Quick
1 idea per post. People can’t handle more than that. Even in most blogs and book chapters, you really need to only land one idea at a time.
Ask yourself if you would read a post that long. If the answer is no, then you should cut it down.
Be more ADHD. Recently, someone told me they write for people with longer attention spans. That’s great. But online, most people these days are ADHD.
Give yourself a line budget. Set a budget for yourself on how long you’ll let a post be and then stick with that budget. Try starting with 12 lines.
Have more to say? Turn it into a long-form post like a blog. Or a podcast script. Or the first draft of a book chapter. But online, attention spans are short.
Dirty
One of the keys to standing out is to be less polite, less nuanced. Maybe this is the “Twitter/X Effect,” but the fact remains that it works.
Use strong words. Words like “kill,” “need,” “never do X,” “stop doing Y,” and the occasional swear word if that’s your personality.
Cut out nuanced words. Words like “sometimes,” “almost,” “often,” etc. You can always provide nuance in a conversation or in the comments.
Bring it down to earth. You might be over-polishing with flowery language, jargon, and unnecessary niceties. Just be real.
Turn unpopular opinions into unpopular facts. Yes, you’ll turn some people away. But those are probably the wrong people for your audience anyway.
If you don’t have unpopular opinions, go digging for some. Find a popular speaker, read their posts, document the ones you disagree with, and start sharing away. For instance, I like Simon Sinek, but I believe “start with Why” is wrong. No one cares about your Why. They care about their Why. (More of this in my aptly-titled book Start With Story.)
Okay, with that outta the way, here are this week’s content ideas.
What’s a nuance word you want to cut out of your online vocab?
What’s an unpopular opinion you have and why?
Who’s your favorite contrarian content creator?
What’s your audience’s Why?
Describe how you pick content ideas for a post.
And if you’re a paid subscriber, look below for those bonus content ideas.
Until next time, keep changing the world—one story at a time.
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