# Swipe File

A working library of other people's work, kept so that facing a blank page means
facing a stack of proven approaches instead.

**Import this file into Notion via Import → Markdown.** The headings become
toggleable sections and the table below becomes a Notion table you can convert
into a database (click the table, then **Turn into database**).

---

## The one rule

Save it because you'd want to look at it again *while making something* — not
because you agreed with it. Agreement is not a reason to keep something.

---

## Suggested database properties

If you convert the table below into a database, these are the properties worth
having. Everything else is noise.

| Property | Type | Why it earns its place |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Title | What it is, in your words |
| Why | Text | The one sentence on what you'd steal. The most valuable field here. |
| Use | Select | Hook · Structure · Voice · Visual · Proof |
| Platform | Select | X · Instagram · TikTok · Reddit · YouTube · LinkedIn |
| Source | URL | Link to the original |
| Captured | Date | When you saved it |
| Project | Relation | Optional — link to whatever you're making |

Tag by **what you'd use it for**, not by topic. Notion's search already handles
topic. What it can't tell you is whether something is a hook or a layout
reference.

---

## Entries

| Name | Why | Use | Platform | Source | Captured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch thread, small-audience angle | Puts the counter-intuitive claim in line one and the proof in line two, so "here's how" lands after the reader is invested | Hook | X | https://example.com | 2026-03-12 |
| Pricing page with objection-led copy | Answers the "too expensive" objection above the fold instead of burying it in an FAQ | Structure | LinkedIn | https://example.com | 2026-03-14 |
| | | | | | |

---

## Why most swipe files stop being used

Two failure modes, both avoidable:

1. **Saving links instead of content.** The post gets deleted, the account goes
   private, and the row becomes a dead link with no way to recover what it said.
   A swipe file only earns its keep at the moment you're stuck and reach for it.
   If that reach fails, you stop reaching.

2. **Skipping the "Why".** Without one sentence on what you'd steal, you're left
   re-deriving what you found interesting six months later — which is slow
   enough that you won't bother.

---

## Filling this automatically

Clipping by hand is where swipe files die. [SocialClipper](https://socialclipper.io)
captures whole posts — text, images, video and threads — from X, Instagram,
TikTok, Reddit, YouTube and LinkedIn, and exports to Markdown you can import
straight into this page. Deleted posts stay readable, because you hold the
content rather than a pointer to it.

Free for the first 50 posts, no card and no time limit.