Talking Shrimp Resources
(Secrets to my rich, aromatic blend.)
For finding words
Find the right, catchy-sounding words for your course or product name.
Find slang and expressions you can’t remember because your brain is deteriorating.
Or, just discover what it’s called when your fat hangs over your private parts.
onelook.com
There are so many ways to use this supercharged thesaurus. Say you want to find words related to “power." It does that, just like a regular thesaurus.
But it'll also find words related to “power” that start with the letter “s" (like, strength). Or that have the letters “ow” right in the middle. (For instance, crown.)
This is great for creating alliteration, consonance, interior rhymes…all the devices that help a phrase have a nice ring to it.
other sites
Whoops, I forget how I say things in real life! Hey, it happens. So I browse through these sites -- meant to help people learning English as a second language -- to refresh my slang memory.
rhymezone.com
Where I find rhymes. Yes, I have to look them up. Because I'm not Eminem.
b-rhymes.com
(Another handy one if you’re not Eminem.)
Sometimes you can’t come up with a good rhyme. But an almost-rhyme (or b-rhyme) will do nicely. Music and rap lyrics use b-rhymes all the time. For instance, “refrigerator” and “circuit breaker” aren't a true rhyme but they go together like…well, like peanut butter and seersucker.
idioms.thefreedictionary
I want an expression that uses the word “shop.” I just type “shop” in the box, and voila. “Let’s talk shop.” YES! That’s just what I was looking for.
urbandictionary.com
It's not just for discovering names of sex acts you’d never think to do. It’s also handy for rediscovering the slang you already know.
For creativity and business
My favorite tools for getting in a groove, staying prolific, getting down your best ideas and thoughts, and communicating your genius to the world in emails (you know how I feel about emails) and on social media.
for learning storytelling
One of my favorite writers gives my absolute favorite MasterClass. It's Storytelling with David Sedaris, and I listened to it multiple times. So entertaining, and full of insights that have changed my work. I'll listen again.
for "morning pages" and being prolific
I swear by my daily morning writing in 750words.com. That's not an affiliate link, but I wish it were, because I recommend it constantly. It's a site that starts you with a blank page each day and counts your words as you progress to 750. It lights up green when you hit it, and then you're done. If you want to be.
ILYS.com is also great, especially if you can't stop yourself from hitting delete and editing as you go. You can't see what you're typing until you're done with the number of words you set out to write.
for making a website
Get that About Page written...with Talking Shrimp's About-Page Builder (With Professional Mini Bio Templates).
Also:
for creating/offering a digital course
I host all the Talking Shrimp mini-courses and bigger offerings (Inbox Hero, Launch Hero, etc.) on Kajabi. It's pretty easy to use, and they have great customer service.
for emailing a subscriber list/ sending newsletters
If you're just starting or don't have a hugely sophisticated funnel with lots of segmenting, use ConvertKit. I miss ConvertKit. It's easy to compose in, and plenty good for tagging and segmenting. I switched to ActiveCampaign because I needed certain functionality, but trust me: ConvertKit is great.
for making a KILLING with your emails
First, have you read this Talking Shrimp post on 21 ways to improve your email opens, clicks, and sales? It's what we call an "epic" post. A great resource.
Next, hello. Are you on my list? My emails have been called a masterclass in using stories that sell. Start getting them now.
And if you want a REAL masterclass (on the page), where I make over and dissect a broad range of emails from different businesses to show you how you can use your voice, personality, and stories to sell, you need Inbox Hero. (And Story Hero and Launch Hero.) If it's available, pounce. If not, get on that interest list.
for building your subscriber list
To build your list, you need people to opt in. I use Optin Monster for the opt-ins you see on this site. (The one that slides in at the bottom, the "click-to-popup" ones you'll see around the site, like if you click here, etc.)
for organizing and recording thoughts
Write it down, genius! That's my mantra to myself. Because if I don't, I'll forget.
Evernote is where I keep my bank of stories to use in emails and elsewhere, and also random admin notes. Flights, font color pixel numbers for my brand, what have you.
Whether I'm on the phone with customer service and want to remember the name of the person who promised me the refund (and the record locator, thank you), or I'm on the street and just overheard a gem of a conversation I think I'll remember but *know* I'll forget, because age, I jot it in evernote.
for quick copy tweaks...
....to take your copy from "meh" to MONEY!
I've got one thing to say (in many, many words): 60-Minute Makeovers Copywriting Mini-Course.
for composing Instagram posts on desktop
I'd be in prison for some violent crime by now if I tried to compose all my long-ass IG captions on my phone. Or, I wouldn't do Instagram. I hate typing on the phone! And line breaks are a pain. So I use later.com to create my posts. It sends the post to my phone, and copies the caption to the clipboard, ready to copy-paste into Instagram.
Talking Shrimp Copywriting Freebies
5 Secrets to Non-Sucky Copy
A Talking Shrimp classic! Learn how to take the C.R.A.P.P. out of your writing and add in the S.N.A.P.P.
Fun fact: This originated as a talk for my friend Marie Forleo's first live event, back in 2009. She's the one who told me to turn it into an opt-in. (That's after I said "a what-in?")
The Inbox Hero List-Building List
Whenever Inbox Hero or Launch Hero come around to help you write must-read, must-buy emails to your subscriber list, Shrimpers ask, "But how do I *build* my list in the first place?
I put together this list, which requires no opt-in because it's in the form of a fugly google doc, of methods I've used to build my own list. My list is almost all organic. Very little from ads, and no sprays or pesticides.
"Must Open" Subject Lines
For emails that always get opened: my 33 most-opened subject lines, ranked by open rate...plus 4 that tanked!
PLUS: Templates to make your own irresistible subject lines.
My most popular freebie, this nugget will help you jack up your open rates and get subscribers a little bit obsessed with you.
Signature Talking Shrimp Trainings
On-demand learning! (What you saved your allowance for.)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
60-Minute Makeovers Copywriting Mini-Course
What if you could take your website or sales page...From meh to money? From bye-bye to must-buy? From so-so to SOLD!... All with just a few powerful word tweaks that take you under an hour? It's my best-selling mini-course to date, and a perfect complement to The Copy Cure — in either order!
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
About Page and Professional Bio Builder
Have trouble writing about yourself? Here's your lifeline. Don't let your About page — the secret, hot profit center of your site — leave a single dollar, euro, or shekel on the table. Grab this and get 'er done.
(With Bonus Guide: Your Mega-Impressive, Money-Making, Professional Mini Bio -- perfect for any media you do).
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
Inbox Hero! Email-Copywriting Course
Want to write emails that get your subscribers opening, clicking, drooling and BUYING? I'll show you how, before-and-after style. In these email makeovers, you'll see mistakes even the online-biggies make in their newsletters, and how I'd fix them.
Plus, the REVERSE makeovers: a showcase of high-converting emails, with a point-by-point breakdown of why they work, and what you should steal ASAP.
You asked for an all-email version of 60-Minute Makeovers...and here it is! (With a whole lot more. Let's just say it got kinda big for its "mini-course" britches.
Other rando things you've asked about.
For preventing / erasing wrinkles
Avene Retrinal + 0.1 Cream
(WTF is this doing here? What do you care, do you want young skin, or not?? I’m generally an absurdly undisciplined person, but I’m rigorous about a few things: making the bed when I get up, going to my dance class 3 days a week, wearing sunglasses whenever I go outside during the day, and applying my Lady Creams at night. People ask me what I use. This.
For Pleasure
Whoa there, don’t get all hot and bothered. This is not the curtained-off “adult” section. Just TV and book recommendations. They’re not biz-related. They’re all books I couldn’t put down, which is my holy grail. This is the kind of book list I wish someone would make for me, so I made it for you. (MAKE THAT, "WILL" MAKE FOR YOU. COMING SOON!)
In the meantime, I talk about everything I like and recommend (and hate and don't recommend) in my emails. If you're not on my list, that's where the pleasure's at!