Itty bitty tip from my $12,000 Influential Writing retreat: When you finish writing, paste your text into www.perrymarshall.com/grade and count the words.

Then chop 10%.

Same thing you do when you’re whittling a tweet down to 140 characters, only less onerous.

It’s the 10% rule of great writing.

Chop words. Chop sentences. Nix dull colorless passive verbs like have, had, is and been – and replace them with active verbs like possess, exude, act and prove.

The “Signal to Noise” ratio of your writing will go UP.

Perry Marshall

P.S.: Always check the reading level of the subject line. Below age 12, please.

Word count: 106

Reading level: Grade 3.5 – Age 8.5

About the Author

Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.

He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.