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Voice & Tone

• Conversational and Approachable: The writing maintains a friendly, informal tone and often addresses the reader directly.
• Authoritative Yet Relatable: Content is backed by research and personal experience, establishing credibility without being overly formal.
• Encouraging and Supportive: The articles aim to inspire and motivate readers to take actionable steps.

Grammar & Writing Style

• Sentence Structure: Write directly, using plain language and full sentences. Every sentence should make sense if it were the only one on the page. Write about the subject, not about the structure of the article.

  Don't	Do
  Reach for both chairs and you hit neither.	There are three reasons to care.
  Three reasons to care:	There are three reasons to care.

• Active Voice: Sentences should be constructed in the active voice to create a sense of immediacy and clarity.

• Inclusive Language: Writing should be mindful of inclusivity and accessibility for a diverse audience.

• Short Paragraphs: Most paragraphs should be 3–5 sentences.

• Sentence Length: Sentence length should be varied to balance ease of readability and natural flow.

• Punctuation: Varied punctuation is welcome, as long as it suits the sentence best.

  • Em dashes: Em dashes ****may be used without spaces when appropriate, but excess or incorrect use should be avoided (e.g., when semicolons, commas, or periods are more appropriate).
  • En dashes: En dashes should be used without spaces for ranges.
  • Semicolons: The first letter after a semicolon ****should not be capitalized.
  • Colons: The first letter after a colon ****should be capitalized.
  • Commas: Use an ****Oxford comma for lists.
  • Periods: Periods ****ending sentences should be used inside quotation marks for quotes, and outside quotation marks for titles.
  • UI Elements: Use bold for UI elements such as Settings.
  • Titles: Work titles, such as books, should be in Italics.

• Numbers: Numbers should be written in text for one to nine, and as numerals for 11 and above.

  • Thousands: Numbers in the thousands should be abbreviated to Ks (e.g., 1K, 100K).
  • Millions and Billions: Numbers in the millions and billions should be written as 5 million, 5 billion.
  • Percentages: Percentages should be written as 5%, not 5 percent.
  • Rounding: Use discretion to avoid unnecessary precision. Decimals should typically be rounded to one decimal place for numbers between 1–9, and to no decimal places for numbers 10+.

• Spelling: Use American English (e.g., color, not colour).

  • Compound modifiers: Hyphenate before the noun (e.g., data-driven decisions).
  • Ecommerce not e-commerce.
  • Ebook not e-book.
  • AI not A.I.

Structure & Formatting

• Clear Headlines and Subheadings: Each article begins with a compelling headline, followed by descriptive subheadings that guide the reader through the content.

  • Headline and Subheadings should use title case.
  • Subtitles should use sentence case and include a period.

• Section Openers: Section openers should stand on their own. Don't start a section with a word that points back to the one before it ("that," "this," "these," "all of it"). Open with a full thought that a reader would understand if they landed on the section cold.

  Don’t	Do
  None of that takes weeks.	A first draft doesn’t need to take weeks to write.

• CTA and Promotional Sections: Promotional sections should stay crisp. Get to the offer fast and cut the setup. Two short paragraphs is usually the ceiling.

• Bullet Points and Numbered Lists: Key information is often presented in lists for easy scanning.

  • Bullet lists should start with a capital and end with a period.

• Use of Bold and Italic: Important points are emphasized using bold (phrases) or italic text (1–2 words) to draw attention.

• Visual Aids: Images, charts, and screenshots are incorporated to illustrate concepts and provide visual interest.

  • Image sources should be included in the image captions.
  • Datawrapper should be used for interactive charts and tables when possible.

• Emojis: should be avoided in headlines and subheadings and used sparingly in content.

Content Themes

• Business Ideas: Articles focused on research-backed business ideas with supporting research and suggested next steps.
• Practical How-To Guides: Step-by-step instructions on topics related to starting and growing a business.
• Case Studies and Personal Experiments: Personal experiences and experiments to provide real-world insights.
• Substack and Content Creation: Tips and strategies for building and monetizing a Substack newsletter.
• AI for Business: Practical ways to use AI tools to streamline operations, automate workflows, and make smarter, faster business decisions.
• Entrepreneurship and Life Design: Practical frameworks for building a business that supports your life, not the other way around. </aside>