Ever come across the work of Will Storr?

He’s the bestselling author of The Science of Storytelling.

He’s also just released a new book called A Story is a Deal: How to use the science of storytelling to lead, motivate and persuade.

As you can imagine, his stuff is right up my street!

Storytelling is absolutely the key to success in sales letters, email newsletters, blog posts and marketing copy – because it grips the reader emotionally, drawing them into the content, holding their attention for longer.

Which is why I follow Will Storr’s work on Substack.

If you recall, I wrote to you earlier this year about Substack, a platform where you can publish stories, essays, rants and opinions directly to readers.

These are also sent out as email newsletters.

Popular topics include finance, business trading, tech, food, drink, politics, arts and culture.

You name it, really!

As well as sharing regular free content that helps you find new readers, you can publish the ‘good stuff’ behind a paywall and make money from those posts.

So Substack works as a standalone online publishing business AND as a method of growing an audience for other products and services.

(I rate it very highly, though I prefer the free email newsletter model as you can generate more income from even tiny lists.)

Anyway…

Last month, Will Storr published a fascinating Substack article that shows just how powerful AI can be as a tool for generating free viral content that grows a business.

Although, as you’re about to see, he isn’t happy about this.

This was the headline that snared my attention…

SCAMMING SUBSTACK?

How to get money for nothing and likes for free on the world’s favourite newsletter platform

In the piece, Storr writes about how he’s noticed something strange happening on Substack…

A wave of deeply emotional essays has swamped the platform…. with many of them going viral, racking up thousands of likes, comments and shares.

On closer inspection, he spotted that they all shared certain qualities. For example, they all began with sweeping, poetic declarations like:

“There’s a kind of loneliness that doesn’t come with tears…”

“There’s a silence that follows most men…”

“There’s a hush that follows an ending…”

Storr soon realised that these were AI-generated articles.

Other telltale signs included:

• An anonymous author
• No real detail or lived experience
• Bland, vague anecdotes
• Fake-sounding quotes
• Repetitive rhetorical tricks that sound profound but say nothing.

Yet despite these being AI creations, they were wildly popular.
Readers praised them with comments like:

“This is beautifully honest and so full of truth.”

“It resonated so deeply. Thank you for this.”

“Best. Piece. I’ve. Ever. Read.”

But Storr isn’t happy.

He describes this as “gruel” – writing that’s “Sloppy on the palette, thin, monotonous, tasteless, anonymous… and yet you have the vague sense that swallowing it is supposed to be somehow good for you.”

And yet… clearly, it works!

These Substack articles are reaching people, engaging them, and gathering subscriptions.

So while Storr is critical of this ‘Substack scamming’ as he calls it (BTW it’s not illegal or unethical – he’s just using emotive language to get attention!), I have another take on it.

The Profitable Flipside of ‘Substack Scamming’

Starr’s article proves 100% that AI-generated content can attract customers and grow a business.

Not only that, but it can stir up genuine emotions in readers and give them real value that makes them come back for more.

This should give you some encouragement to think about using AI to start and grow a home business.

For example…

• Starting a Substack and getting paid for content, or using it as a customer-finding platform.
• Creating your own free email newsletter to promote products and services. (This is what I would recommend! ;-))
• Using free content to draw visitors to your website, web-shop and sales pages.

Of course, you need to use it wisely.

Simply asking ChatGPT to write you an article will inevitably produce something generic, with all the obvious AI traits that Storr rightly points out.

Which is why I recommend using a combination of AI and your own input to make the content – and then make tweaks and cuts afterwards to address the ‘telltale’ signs.

Here are some suggestions…

Show Your Personality

Make it clear to the reader that you are a real individual by using an author name (or pseudonym), and making sure there are plenty of details which are specific to your life experience and personality.

You can do this before you begin by feeding a detailed biography into AI.

It should contain plenty of information about your worldview, life experience, likes, dislikes and character traits.

The more you give AI at the beginning, the less you need to do in the edit afterwards.

When you get the first AI draft, then go through it and add as much of your own voice as you can.

That might include humour, sarcasm and strong opinions.
Wherever possible, tweak sentences so that they sound much more like YOU would say them.

(I recommend reading the draft aloud and highlighting any lines that you wouldn’t normally phrase in that way).

Avoid Generalities

Add in real details, dates and specifics wherever you can. These bring a piece to life and make it unique to you.

For example, AI might write: “I went to a party and felt weird. I wasn’t aloof. I just couldn’t get my head around talking to strangers.”

But this could apply to a thousand other people – so add some details of where and when this happened.

Perhaps you had a specific brand of drink in your hand, and a particular piece of music was playing in the room.

If so, use these details!

“I went to a retirement party in a loft in Digbeth last weekend and felt really weird, standing there with a warm Budweiser, listening to Beyonce. I wasn’t aloof. I just couldn’t get my head around talking to strangers.”

Try to think about real events, places, people and emotions that you felt, then get them into the copy.

Check for Repetitive Statements

AI likes to take a banal statement, then flip it like this…

“It’s not X, it’s Y.”

“You think it’s because of X – but maybe it’s really because of Y.”

“We fear endings not because they are endings… but because they are beginnings.”

These turn a basic idea into something that sounds very grand but has little substance.

When you spot these common AI phrases, simply rewrite them in the way you would say them to a friend if you were speaking in person.

Fact-check Quotes and Claims

Will Storr points out that Ai ‘gruel’ often includes a quote by someone famous – but not necessarily a genuine one.

So make sure you check any quotes, and also cross-check any referenced authors, books and studies to check that they are correct.

If you are unsure, you can always cut the quote or re-write it in your own words.

Same goes for any big scientific claims. If possible, use Google (or ask Chat GPT to do a web-search) to find the original sources.

And Finally… Some VERY Exciting News!

If you’ve read this far (and enjoy my emails), you might be exactly the kind of person I’m looking for.

You see, next Thursday (12th June), I’ll be sharing something I’ve never done before…

For the first time, I’m looking for a small group of motivated people to hand over an exact replica of my own digital publishing business…

It’s a fully built, plug-in-and-profit system based on what’s worked for me for the last 22 years and generated closer to £50 million.

It will be built specifically around you.

The audience is chosen for you.

The tools to attract and engage hungry buyers are done for you.

Best of all, you’ll have a suite of products (with done-for-you sales promotions) that you can offer to these hungry buyers and keep 100% of the profits for yourself.

You just personalise it (it’s easy and fun), switch it on, and start growing.

Right now, all I’m looking for is a show of hands.

It won’t be for everyone, and because of its exclusive nature, I am capping the number of people I will work with.

Does that sound interesting?

I hope so!

Keep an eye on your inbox… more details to follow on 12 June…