fbpx

Writing Workshops

Smart Sync

(With Tiago Forte)

This is my system for capturing ideas and turning them into writing. You’ll learn to effortlessly save highlights and excerpts from the reading you’re already doing.

This system is the bread-and-butter of everything I do. Implementing it will save you hundreds of hours over the course of your life.

No exaggeration.

The workshop last 60 minutes, and I hosted it with Tiago Forte.

How We Write

(With Nik Sharma)

I’ve written two popular articles with Nik: The Amazon Arbitrage and The Customer Acquisition Pricing Parade.

Most of the ideas are Nik’s. Most of the writing is mine.

Nik is a thought leader in the Direct-to-Consumer industry. AdWeek called him a “DTC Marketing Maven.” He formerly ran Direct-to-Consumer marketing at Hint and VaynerMedia.

In this video, we outlined our process for talking through ideas and turning them into an outline.

If you’re interested in the cutting-edge of collaborative writing, this video is for you.

How I Find Interesting Ideas

In this seven-minute video, I outline my process for finding under-rated thinkers. The process begins on Amazon, moves to Wikipedia, and ends on YouTube.

It’s the same process I’ve used to find writers like Walter Ong, Martin Gurri, and Marshall McLuhan. Best of all, it’s entirely free and works like a charm.

Monday Musings Writing Session

Every week, I write a newsletter called Monday Musings. In it, I write a short article and collect the best things I learn every week.

In this video, I pour through my note-taking system to show you how I compile my weekly newsletter. You’ll see why I treat writing like an assembly line, and walk away with new lessons you can apply to your own writing process.

Long-Form Writing Tutorial

Here’s a 35-minute, step-by-step video where I share my process for writing this 16,000-word essay.

I’ll show you my process for:

  • Saving ideas

  • Organizing sections in my note-taking system

  • Editing sentences before publishing

  • Making outlines

  • How epiphanies evolve into paragraphs

This is the single best look at my long-form writing process.

How to Crush it on Twitter: David Perell + Matthew Kobach Workshop

In this 100 minute workshop, Matthew Kobach (Director of Social Media for the New York Stock Exchange) and I present our techniques for success on Twitter.

We discuss:

  • How to curate your Twitter feed to maximize influence and inspiration

  • What formats and content make quality Tweets

  • How to be a good citizen of Twitter

  • How to find your niche and use data to cultivate an audience

  • How to use Twitter to become a “lighthouse for like-minded people”

  • Q+A

This workshop has a mix of practical ideas as well as philosophical principles to enhance your Twitter presence whether you have one hundred followers or one million.

Follow up twitter Q&A with David Perell and Matthew Kobach

David Perell and Matthew Kobach held an additional hour-long Q&A on Matthew’s Instagram to continue answering questions about Twitter, writing, and social media.

How to Grow Your Business by Writing: Sahil Lavingia + David Perell

In this 90 minute workshop, Sahil Lavingia (founder and CEO of Gumroad) and I present our techniques to grow your business with writing.

We discuss:

  • How writing makes you a better thinker

  • How the best writers are the best editors

  • How writing creates fans, not customers

  • Why become a respected teacher in your field

  • How small “brushstrokes” of writing create the painting of your success

  • Q&A

How to Write Weekly and Accelerate Your Career: Nick Maggiulli + David Perell

In this 90 minute workshop, Nick Maggiulli (Of Dollars and Data writer and data analyst at Ritholtz Wealth Management) and I present about how to build a successful weekly writing practice.

We discuss:

  • The “right way” to build a writing practice

  • How to consume great information

  • How to write with low friction

  • The “third door” option for success

  • What Seinfeld and Arnold Schwarzenegger can teach us about writing

  • Q&A

Why You Should Become Internet Famous: Patrick McKenzie and David Perell

In this 90 minute video, David interviews Patrick McKenzie, or Patio11, of Stripe. They talk about Patrick’s writing process, his unique intersection of expertise, and what he’s learned from writing online since 2006.

We discuss:

  • How writing online changes you from being illegible to legible.

  • The “chicken and egg” problem of building an audience.

  • Patrick’s writing process.

  • Why Stripe values quality over speed.

  • The future of niche software companies.

  • Why to love what you do, not do what you love.

Growing your audience: Anthony Pompliano and David Perell

In this 70-minute video, David and Anthony Pompliano (a.k.a. Pomp) discuss their tactics for growing an audience online. This is not a surface-level discussion. It’s a nitty-gritty discussion of what techniques have worked and have not worked for Pomp and David over their careers.

We discuss:

  • How Pomp grew his media empire platform-by-platform.

  • Why audience is the new currency Pomp’s principles for a successful media business.

  • Action ideas for Twitter, newsletters, podcasts, and YouTube.

Building a Creativity Inbox: Anne-Laure Le Cunff and David Perell

In this 80-minute workshop, Anne-Laure Le Cunff shared the techniques that have helped her write over 200 articles and grow to 12,000 subscribers in under a year writing about mindful productivity, meaningful living, and applying evidence-based learning to everyday life.

We talk about:

  • Combinational creativity and “idea sex.”

  • Action-driven note-taking.

  • How to write with networked thinking.

  • How to fail like a scientist.

How to Write Online

I explain everything you need to get started writing online. You’ll learn the basics of writing clearly, organizing ideas, and growing your online audience.

Writing in Public: Lenny Rachitsky & David Perell

Lenny Rachitsky writes a weekly newsletter called Lenny’s Newsletter about product and growth. He angel invests, advises, and was previously the Growth PM at Airbnb.

We talk about:

  • Lenny’s journey from leaving Airbnb to living by writing.
  • How Lenny writes his newsletter.
  • The content flywheel between Twitter and newsletter.
  • How Lenny distributes his writing.

How to Build a Personal Monopoly with Jack Butcher & David Perell

Jack Butcher, founder of Visualize Value, and I talk about how to use writing to build your Personal Monopoly and find success on the Internet through writing online.

We go over:

  • What a Personal Monopoly is
  • Using writing as a device to carry your ideas to like-minded people
  • How to use the Content Triangle to refine ideas

Building an Idea Factory with Ali Abdaal & David Perell

With 1.4 million subscribers, Ali Abdaal runs one of the fastest-growing YouTube channels on the planet. We share our processes for capturing ideas and turning them into fresh observations and captivating stories.

We go over:

  • What it takes to have a successful YouTube channel
  • How to collect, connect, and create ideas
  • The workings of Ali’s “Idea Factory”