Reverse-Engineer Top Content Into Reusable Templates

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Creating fresh, new content consistently isn't easy.

One specific struggle I had was creating engaging article structures.

When I began writing two years ago, my priority was quantity over quality. Earlier this year, I realized I'd published over 1,000 posts. But looking back, I knew it was time to improve.

You may feel similarly—realizing the need for better content yet unsure how to evolve.

You want to grab reader attention while still being scannable. Without strong frameworks, writing feels scattered, causing readers to lose interest quickly with nothing gained.

I knew templates would help. But they seemed stiff.

Luckily, with AI like Claude or ChatGPT, you can input your ideas and get help organizing them well.

But instead of letting AI fully control structure, it's best to provide an example framework that works.

Why not leverage proven successful content into custom templates?

This way, spend more time creating quality content and less time formatting.

The "Find-Form-File Process" helps you do that.

What You'll Learn

• Extract frameworks behind top content

• Make personalized templates

• Use AI to accelerate creation

Find good examples, transform into templates, then file for later.

Step 1: Find Proven Posts

I recently found Justin Welsh's "My 5-Step Copywriting Formula" post, which I saved and made into a template.

Few tips:

• Keep a swipe file of successful content examples

• Include all types: social media and long-form

• Note what you like/dislike (Important. You’ll see why.)

• Properly tag and label posts so they’re well organized.

• Spend 20 minutes every few weeks building your templates.

This post was adapted from my personalized Justin Welsh template.

How I formed Justin’s post into a template…

Step 2: Form Your Proven Content Templates

1. For Justin's post, I copied/pasted it into a Google Doc.
   Note: If it’s text only, you could paste directly into Claude. When it has images, I prefer to upload the PDF so it recognizes the images too.

2. Downloaded as a PDF.

3. Uploaded to Claude with prompt:

Create a template using the PDF I've uploaded so it acts as a scaffold that I can use to write any type of list posts. 

Wrap elements in curly braces with descriptors so I know what needs to go within each element, for example: My 5-step {type} {formula/framework/system}.

Make sure it's a complete comprehensive template using the framework, structure and format in the PDF.

Every heading should include variables and state H2 (heading type).

Here are the first results:

Close.

But it's missing the copywriting framework used for each step. You can improve it by asking:

Let's improve the template/scaffold and include the copywriting step and psychology. Use variables within each different step.

You’ll notice a big improvement and only 5 steps as intended.

You could save it as-is into Notion or Google Docs.

Or, have it create a template for only the intro with this prompt:

Now write an intro (150 words max) using this format/structure:

## What you'll learn today

{Overview of main topic}
{Key learning #1}
{Key learning #2}
{Key learning #3}

Remember to use the PAIPS framework

Now, whenever you want to write a post using the PAIPS framework, all I need to do is include these elements:

And get a properly structured post.

After some back and forth, here were the final results:

Remember how I said to log what you like and don’t?

You want to personalize your templates — tranforming them into your own so they don’t sound like everyone else.

This way, you can continue improving your templates and making them yours. Remixing proven frameworks while maintaining the parts you like and removing what you don’t.

Step 3: File For Later

All that’s left is putting your template together and file it in your content database.

Then, when you're ready to write or have a brain dump for a post, you grab the correct template, ready to go.

You can grab the one I created from Justin’s post by clicking the button below:

Results

Alright now it’s time to see the template we’ve created in action.

The first step is to gather your elements such as,

• Topic

• Audience

• Problem

• Desired Outcome

• Solution

You’ll notice how much context I provide AI.

This is KEY.

It’s what turns your content from an obvious AI-generic template to something that sounds like you.

Along with the elements, paste the template we’ve created from earlier.

And here are the results:

Not bad, eh?

Don’t limit yourself to posts you find on social or blog posts.

You can do this for,

• Ads

• CTAs

• About page

• Newsletters

• Landing pages

... the possibilities are endless…

Hit reply and let me know what you think. I’d love to know.

What You Learned

The Find-Form-File method empowers solo-entrepreneurs to:

1. Find: Build a swipe file of content you like

2. Form: Create and form reusable templates

3. File: Have templates ready to publish from

Now you can reverse-engineer what works and create well-structured engaging content in minutes.