How to publish on TPM - guide for authors, writers, and contributors

Quote from Lucio Buffalmano on January 27, 2022, 8:50 pm

If you're reading here, it means you may become a TPM's author.

That's awesome :).

These are brief instructions to help you through it:

1. Click on "add new"

 

Then:

2. Come up with a high-level "format" for your post 

If it's a review, the typical TPM format is:

1. Intro: name of the product, author, what the product is about
2. About the author (bigger font): who he is / who they are, their background
3. Bullet summary (H1 tag): in bullet points, the main takeaways.Note: H1 and H2 tags are important because they show up in the "table of content" on the top page, serve as big-font titles, and are the most relevant for Google and SEO purposes.
4. Summary / review (bigger font / H1): these days I don't make it a tag because "summary" adds little value in the table of content. But decide for yourself what you prefer
5. Main takeaways (H2 tags): you can use chapter/modules as titles as long as they're descriptive (ie.: "chapter 1" says nothing. "Chapter 1: how to introduce yourself" is descriptive). Or you ou can turn the author's key insights into "action steps" for your titles (even better)
6. Criticism (optional): if you think the author badly misses the mark on some crucial points, or if you have deep expertise to refute the author's claim, then make a section just for that. This can be the most value-adding section in some cases
7. CONS: what you didn't like, what's missing, or what could be even better. TPM reviews are all about tough love and raw honesty, so don't hold back
8. PROS: is there anything that sets this course / book apart? List it here. Something you particularly enjoyed? List it here
9. REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS (OPTIONAL): TPM seeks to be practical. Use this section either as a summary or as a "best of" of the most applicable wisdom. This can also be what were for you the most applicable nuggets of wisdom 
10. Review: purely what you think. In this section, you also want to answer one of the reader's most important section: should I buy this course? Should I spend time on this book/product?

Example of good use of big titles VS H-tags

If it's not a review but an article, then you have more freedom of choice.

What format you go for depends a lot on what type of post it is.
If it's very practical, then you can use H2 titles as "list of steps".

If it's more of an overview, then you can use titles more like "chapters".

3. Add pictures / video embeds / links with pictures

The best way to write a bad article is to make it a wall of text.

Even a good article is not going to be read by many unless you make it visually appealing.

So add some pictures (resize them first to less than 100kb) or add some video embeds as examples / case studies.
Sometimes the author of a book will mention a video example, so that's a great opportunity to add a ton of value by actually showing that video example.

The good news is that if you drop a link from within the website -just the link, without hyperlinking a specific word-, often that article's main pictures is shown.
So that's an easy way to add appealing images without having to search for them.

4. Add relevant links

Example:

Or, if we write "frame", then link to the "basic lesson on frames".

And maybe add at the end the more popular article on "10 frame control techniques" -dropping the full link without text is enough in this case-.

Dropping the link is also good because WordPress automatically pulls a picture, and as we know pictures make the article more compelling.

Feel free to link to your other posts here, posts you've written somewhere else, or anything outside of TPM (the only rules are: relevant, value-adding, & high-quality).

5. Choose a good URL Slug (right side of screen)

Stock URLs are the full titles.

However, long URLs look ulgy when people want to share the link, and they're not good for SEO either.

Shorter and more descriptive URLs are better, so edit it:

6. Pick the right category (right side of screen)

The stock category is "power dynamics".

However, that category is for TPM's own articles.

For reviews, scroll down and select "reviews", and then what's most appropriate.

For example, a review for a negotiation product would be:

• Reviews
  • Negotiation resources

More than one category may apply.

 

7. Pick a featured image (right side of screen)

For books, it will be the book cover.

For courses, you can use the face of the author, their logo, or make your own image and put your name as the reviewer (I can share some stock image I use that are easy to edit).

Make the size under 50kb: feature images are going to show small anyway and small images keep the website fast.

8. Double check SEO is good (bottom of the page)

We don't go crazy with SEO at TPM because we focus on quality and value first.

But still:

If it's not at least appealing to read, nobody will click on it and nobody will read it.

So make sure the title is appealing.
It's the most important sentence of the whole article.

For a review, you could write:

• What we love of (course name)
• 5 things I learned from (course name)
• I'm sorry, but (name of course) fell flat on me
• (book name) by (author name): 7 ways to win at life

And provide a "meta-description" (ie.: what will show in Google result).

You can simply write there "this is a review of X by (your name) and this is why we love it / hate it".
But feel free to change it as you please.

9. Check how it looks

Simply click on "preview":

A new tab opens and it shows how the post will look like to the world once it's published.

It's a great tool to helpy ou write well.

You can use while you write as well to help you guide on how to work next.
For example, if you see long walls of text, you'll know you need to add a picture, a title, or a video.

10. Let Lucio know once done

Once you're done writing, let Lucio know and he'll take a final look at it before publishing it.

... And most of all: enjoy your moment of creativity

I know...

This sounds tedious as hell :).
And albeit there is some tedious work, it sounds more complex to write than to actually do it.

You may have to experiment in the beginning to get the hang out of it, but it's relatively simple.

And the main part is always the actual content that you will create.

So enjoy sharing your wisdom, ideas, and opinions with the world.

Becoming a TPM author is quite an achievement.
We have an unrelenting focus on quality and we set a high bar, so only a few can qualify to become authors.

So a truly warm thank you for your time, effort and wisdom, and congratulations on being a writer and TPM's contributor :).