How To Get Better At Copywriting
There is not a week that goes by the I DON’T get asked about how to get better at copywriting,
What I would do?
How I learned and so on.
So I thought I would give you a ‘quick and dirty’ version on what I would do NOW to get started quick.
(BTW I have sweet F.A. ‘affiliate’ nonsense with anything below, I have simply outlined what I would invest in, ain’t
that much – all can be done for $100-$200 or so – will give you some advanced options as well)
But before I get to that, Im 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
Innit
#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)
its almost BETTER that less eyeballs will be on it to stat.
Because it will be cr*p
And that’s OK
Because if you keep practising and learning – it gets waaaaaay better
#2 Fiction, Films & Comedy
When I dived balls 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 at all!
Now every day I do the following:
- watch one film
- 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?
Sucks donkey sword doesn’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’ (argh 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 sh*tloads 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 (like Espresso With Dan – www.coffeewithdan.com/espresso)
But I would also get the following as my ‘starter pack’ – and I’ve used ALL of these
- ALL of Ben Settle’s ebooks (they are around $5 on Amazon)
- Doberman Dan’s ‘Rookie Copywriters Survival Guide – Make 6 Figures With Little Or No Experience
- Ryan Levesque’s ‘ASK’ book
- The Adweek Copywriting Handbook
- Words That Sell
- Web Copy That Sells
- The Boron Letters
^^^^ get all of that and ACTUALLY read/digest/implement?
And then you are waaaaay ahead of the curve!
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)
- Andre Chaperon’s ARM (auto-responder madness)
- The Copy Hour membership
Was that useful?
I hope so – seems to come up a lot!
But if you HAVENT started to learn copy – I really, really thing you should take the time to do so
You DONT have to ‘become’ a copywriter full time like I did, but It will have a huge impact in all areas of your life and business
As is my want to say, its ‘the tits’
😉
Dan
PS This is JUST my copy courses, have 600 books in the other room!!
