Sat. Apr 27th, 2024
From the book Steal Like An Artist.

Did you ever notice that certain posts or headlines or ads or images get your attention? Maybe you don’t, which is fine. In that case, start paying attention. And then start collecting them. I first heard about this from Tim Ferriss in his podcast almost a decade ago. It’s called a “swipe file” and he would literally rip things out of magazines (even if they were in the dentist’s office) to keep in a hard folder. Well, we are in a digital age now so you can find an easier to swipe and save this stuff.

Why do you want to do this?

  1. To copy and tweak headlines for your posts (and get better openings).
  2. To help in spur your creativity for future posts.
  3. To make you think and understand why some copy works and help you rework it for your next FB, IG, Tik Tok, or other post.
  4. To see which words are the best to use in the headlines or body of a post.

From an article on swiping:

When you are swiping, you are not violating copyrights, trademarks or intellectual property. You are just analyzing and reverse engineering what’s already working. Then you interrelate that knowledge and come up with new unique solutions.

This stuff is very complicated and there is a whole industry made up of companies that analyze these things. I don’t think you need to fall into that rabbit hole. Just spend a week and start swiping and saving and see what gets your attention and then try it with your posts.

If you find some great ones that work please send it my way so I can share it with others.

(The image is from the book Steal Like An Artist.)

180060cookie-checkWhat’s In Your Post?
(Visited 85 times, 1 visits today)

By Douglas Farrago, MD

Douglas Farrago MD is board certified in the specialty of Family Practice. He is the inventor of a product called the Knee Saver which is currently in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Knee Saver and its knock-offs are worn by many major league baseball catchers. He is also the inventor of the CryoHelmet used by athletes for head injuries as well as migraine sufferers. From 2001 – 2011, Dr. Farrago was the editor and creator of the Placebo Journal which ran for 10 full years. Described as the Mad Magazine for doctors, he and the Placebo Journal were featured in the Washington Post, US News and World Report, the AP, and the NY Times. Douglas Farrago, MD received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Virginia in 1987, his Masters of Education degree in the area of Exercise Science from the University of Houston in 1990, and his Medical Degree from the University of Texas at Houston in 1994. His residency training occurred way up north at the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. In his final year, he was elected Chief Resident by his peers. Dr. Farrago has practiced family medicine for twenty-three years, first in Auburn, Maine and now in Forest, Virginia. He founded Forest Direct Primary Care in 2014, which quickly filled in 18 months. Dr. Farrago still blogs every day on his website Authenticmedicine.com and lectures worldwide about the present crisis in our healthcare system and the effect it has on the doctor-patient relationship. Dr. Farrago’s has written three books on direct primary care: The Official Guide to Starting Your Own Direct Primary Care Practice, The Direct Primary Care Doctor’s Daily Motivational Journal and Slowing the Churn in Direct Primary Care (While Also Keeping Your Sanity) are all best sellers in this genre. He is a leading expert in direct primary care model and lectures medical students, residents, and doctors on how to start their own DPC practice. He retired from clinical medicine in October, 2020.

Comment Here and Join the Discussion