🪄Cut the Fluff: Throwing “good enough” in the bin

Cut the Fluff is a weekly newsletter that will help you become a confident editor. If this was sent to you, subscribe here so you don't miss the next lesson.

Hey Reader,

“It’s good enough. I’ll hit publish.”

How many times have you said that to yourself?

I’d bet almost every day.

And that’s not a bad thing. Published is better than perfect, as they say.

But what if you could spend 10-20 more minutes on a draft and take it from good to great?

So instead of “good enough,” you say:

“It’s great. I’ll hit publish.”

How good would that feel?!

I won’t promise I can teach you my 7 years of editing experience in 2 minutes (so you can beat 99% of people) 🙄

But I will spend the next 2 minutes walking you through my social post editing checklist to help you build your confidence.

It’s quick to learn. The trick is actually to implement it with every post you write. If you’re willing to do that, you’re going to massively improve your results.

And let me be clear before naysayers come for me: Sometimes, good enough is good enough. Life gets in the way, time is short, and responsibilities abound.

I’m talking about when you’ve got the means to improve it and don’t know how.

Lesson: Editing your social posts

To show you how this works, I’m going to share a post I wrote on social a few months ago.

I got meta and went through the checklist on the actual post as I wrote it, which is one of my favorite ways to teach because you get to see my thought process out loud.

Here we go:

Nobody knows what the hell to look for when they’re self-editing.

Here’s the checklist I use to make sure my posts make an impact (for beginners, experts, and everyone in between):

✅ Have I given them a reason to stop scrolling?

✅ Have I solved a problem my audience cares about?

✅ Does the information I shared match their awareness level?

✅ Have I been specific about how it’ll help them?

✅ Have I tapped into relevant emotions?

✅ Does every sentence add value?

✅ Have I followed “what” with “why” and “how”?

✅ Have I shared a next step?

✅ Final sense-check: Does the content align with my goals for the post?

Let’s get meta and use this post as an example (I love getting meta):

✅ Have I given them a reason to stop scrolling?

I’m an editor, and my audience knows that already. So, sharing my checklist is enticing because it’s like an over-the-shoulder view of my process.

I’ve also poked the pain by referencing a super common problem: self-editing. That gets people’s attention because they’re desperate for a way to solve this problem.

✅ Have I solved a problem my audience cares about?

This checklist will help them overcome a struggle, so yes!

✅ Does the information I shared match their awareness level?

It works for every awareness level. It’s designed to be useful for beginners, experts, and everyone in between. Beginners need this information, and everyone else is curious about how their peers do it. That knowledge sharing is always helpful.

But If I stopped at just the checklist without getting meta, it’d be more beginner/problem-aware focused. This extra deep dive helps me span all awareness levels.

✅ Have I been specific about how it’ll help them?

In my hook, I say it’ll help people ensure that every post makes an impact. If I’d said, “It’ll help you make your writing better” that would have been super general and less helpful.

Because I got specific, it’s obvious that this advice is for social posts. But not just any social posts, posts that make an impact, which is my audience’s primary goal. Ba-boom.

✅ Have I tapped into relevant emotions?

Yes, in the hook, I tapped into pain: “Nobody knows what the hell they’re doing.”

With the checklist, I intrigued: “Here’s my personal process.”

And with the deep dive, I’m taking them on an “aha!” journey: “Ohh, I see exactly how this works!”

✅ Does every sentence add value?

My sentences are cohesive, meaning they have flow. It’s specific, clear, and concise.

✅ Have I followed “what” with “why” and “how”?

Yep, we’re nearing the end of the “how” right now!

✅ Have I shared a next step?

Yes (see below!)

✅ Final sense-check: Does the content align with my goals for the post?

My goal was to help everybody at every level feel more confident when editing, so, yep!

This week, I challenge you to run your social content through this checklist and see how it feels.

Of course, a checklist is only as powerful as the skills you already have. If you don’t know how to write a scroll-stopping hook on social, checking yourself against that limited knowledge won’t do much. Same with following the "what" with the "why" and "how," making sure every sentence adds value, and everything else on that list.

Step 1 → Learn the skills.

Step 2 → Check the skills.

I’ll keep sharing ways to do both here. But if you want to accelerate your learning and get great right now, check out my hook writing and editing courses. I’ve set up parity pricing for both, so you pay based on where you are in the world.

Any questions about anything, just hit reply!

Cheers,

Erica

PS: I'm thinking about testing a new offer. I miss working 1:1 with people, but my time is limited, so I'm only opening up 3 spots. It'd be for entrepreneurs, founders, or content marketers who want to attract + convert more high-value clients through your online writing (social posts or blogs). I'll only do it if I get enough interest, so if you're keen, reply and say "NEW OFFER" and let's talk.

When you're ready, here are 3 more ways I can help:

1. Grab Hooked on Writing Hooks. Join 642 students who've learned to write scroll-stopping hooks and finally get their content seen. This course teaches you the frameworks I used to grow from to ~80k followers on social and make multi-six figures on LinkedIn and Twitter/X (without resorting to clickbait or BS tactics). It's my first collaboration with Rob Lennon, and buyers say they use Rob's AI bots daily to write powerful hooks.

2. Grab Content Editing 101. 181 people have bought up my new collab with Rob Lennon and are loving it. This course teaches you how to edit your writing from a sentence-by-sentence and big-picture view. These frameworks allowed me to go from an underpaid freelance writer to a Head of Content and industry expert.

3. Join Power Your Platform. Over 5,500 people read Power Your Platform to embrace their unique point of view and build real authority on social. Subscribe to my free newsletter with Kasey Jones if you're keen to finally grow authentically on social.

What'd you think of today's issue? Reply and let me know :)

Erica Schneider

Cut the Fluff

🪄Cut the Fluff: Throwing “good enough” in the bin

Lesson: Editing your social posts

When you're ready, here are 3 more ways I can help:

🪄The unsexy middle (when the lust wears off)

🪄 My entire launch strategy (ungated & free)

🪄 New adventure alert: I'm launching a Substack!