There is not a week that goes by the I DON’T get asked about how to get better at copywriting, writing words etc etc

What I would do

How I learned

Etc

So I thought I would give you a ‘quick and dirty’ version on what I would do NOW to get started quick.

But before I get to that, I’m going to give you some tips from ME that have not only made me a better writer, means that I get anywhere from 35-50% open rates ON A BAD DAY, and you know….make monies from writing words

#1 Write every day

This is perhaps the most powerful ‘thing’ I have done since learning the craft.

Write. Every. Day

Social media, blogs, forums, emails – whatever – just make sure that EVERY DAY you write something It doesn’t matter if anyone reads it for starters – in fact (and I say this the same with people who are starting to do videos)

It’s almost BETTER that less eyeballs will be on it to start.

Because it will be a little ‘meh’ if you’re new

And that’s OK

Because if you keep practising and learning – it gets waaaaaay better

#2 Fiction, Films & Comedy

When I dived deep into learning copy, I read nothing BUT copy books and manuals, and watched trainings

But I stopped the above

Now although I became ‘technically’ proficient at writing, my ability to wave and craft a story suffered. My copy became ‘too’ copy, if that makes any sense….

Now I do the following:

– watch one film/2-3 sitcom type things

– read 2-3 chapters of a fiction book (fast paced ones like jack reacher, or anything with a multi-layered/character based story)

– listen to or watch stand up comedy, or a comedy podcast

What happens is I’m learning every day how to craft words in a way that keeps people reading, entertains them and helps me see how to put words together to make them ’flow’

Tis very useful

Plus a brilliant way to start and end your day, as I do

#3 Become a student of life

I consume information from all over across a variety of topics; from history to politics to crime to quantum physics (true) to psychology to sport and god knows how many other areas.

Think about it like this

Ever been stuck in a social or networking situation with someone who has nothing to say?

Painful isn’t it…

(So, don’t be that guy/guy when you write)

As the age old saying goes: ‘if you want to be interesting, be interested’

Now this is generally in regards to when you meet other people, but it also massively applies to copy

The more you can know of the world at large, the more it bleeds into your copy AND acts as great ‘fodder’ for content

#4 sneaky headphone ‘hack’ (sigh I hate it but can’t stop using that word!!) – also online version

Want to write some copy that directly speaks to your audience?

Find out where they hang out…

Get out your laptop…

Whack the headphones in…

Turn on no music…

Listen

A little tactical eaves dropping on your ‘avatar’ can do wonders – can give you some great stories and ideas for what to write, as well as a business idea or two

Online business?

Well get yourself onto forums and in groups where your audience are – lurk – and keep an eye out for reoccurring topics and themes.

See any posts that have loads of comments or threads that run into hundreds or thousands?

That’s where you want to be hunting

Works like gangbusters, trust me on this

(that and there are some amazing subject lines and ideas you can ethically ’borrow’ here too!)

Right, that’s enough from me – now what I would do resource wise?

Now as a rule I would, as soon as I can, get myself some copy coaching or put myself in a place where I had access to copywriters on a day to day basis

But I would also get the following as my ‘starter pack’ – and I’ve used ALL of these

1 – Ben Settles Big Book Of Business

2 – Doberman Dan’s ‘Rookie Copywriters Survival Guide – Make 6 Figures With Little Or No Experience

3. The Boron Letters

4. The Adweek Copywriting Handbook

5. Words That Sell

^^^^ get all of that and ACTUALLY read/digest/implement?

And then you are rather further ahead of probably most folks

If you want to invest a little more I would suggest you get:

– Ben Settles Email players

– Doberman Dan’s Newsletter

– My ‘Espresso With Dan’ membership (www.coffeewithdan.com/espresso) OR my copy course

– Andre Chaperon’s ARM (auto-responder madness)

– The Copy Hour membership

Today’s was a bit of a ‘brain dump’ with some broad brush strokes

Hopefully you got some value