Copywriting - The Million Dollar Skill
When you boil it down, copywriting is basiclly 'selling in print' (or any other form of media). It can be used anytime you're trying to communicate anything to anybody.
Even if you're putting together a pure-content, no-pitch special report for your prospects that doesn't include a single link to any website, you're still using copywriting.
You're selling them on the content... the ideas that you're trying to convey. You're selling them on 'YOU' as a valuable resource that they want to continue to pay attention to and do perhaps business with. The special report and the value it offers is selling them on looking out for your next piece of content.
It's been said that good copy is easier to read than it is to ignore. Each sentence should sell them on reading the next sentence, each paragraph should sell them on reading the next paragraph, and so on...
And it's also more than just written words. The graphics you use (e.g. before and after pictures to sell your product's benefits) is also copywriting. A 20 minute video presentation you put out on the web, whether on your website or a DVD, is also copywriting.
The point is...
You should be using the copywriting principles wherever and whenever!
So what's the best way to start learning copywriting?
One of the quickest and easiest ways is through the use of a good swipe file. It's one of the most valuable assets a copywriter can possess.
A swipe file is a collection of ads, headlines, openers, one-liners, closes, and other segments from other people's sales pieces.
Having an extensive swipe file is by far the fastest way to come up with your own ads when you're staring at a blank screen. Anytime you need ideas or inspiration, you can simply go through your swipe file until something really stands out at you. Then you take it and put your own twist on it. Just reword it and adapt it to your product and your market.
The key phrase here is 'getting inspired' by other people's work. You never want to use other people's material word for word, but rather 'inspire' you to come up with your own content.
As soon as you get done reading this article, you should begin putting together your own swipe file. And also, going forward, anytime you're reading a sales letter or an ad or an email drip and you find something that really grabs your attention, swipe it. See a great opening line you in an ad? Swipe it. Receive a postcard in your mail that really gets you're attention? Swipe it.
Then, you want to categorize everything so that the next time you're racking your brain trying to come up with a new solo ad for an ezine, you can go right to your swipe file to get 'inspired' from.
Compiling a quality swipe file can take some time as you have to read through a lot of ads and sales letters to build it up. This is good though because the more copy you read, the more you will start to write that way yourself. Studying great ads by other copywriters is the single best thing you can do to hone your copywriting skills.
Here's a couple of free resources where you can create your swipe file quickly.
First is a website called HardToFindAds.
This website has an archive of some of the most profitable sales letters ever written and they're all available for free. You'll find some of the classic headlines that got people to pull out their wallets 30 years ago which still work just as well today.
Next resource is an ENORMOUS collection of sales letters that have been used by Agora Financial. Agora works with the most sought after and highly paid copywriters in the world and this file has over 500 sales letters written by them.
You can download it by clicking here: Agora Financial Sales Letters
Just a disclaimer: Reading some of these sales letters WILL make you want to buy their product, even if you're just reading for educational purposes! Take special note of these ones and study what they're doing to trigger your impulses.
If you'd like to buy a cheap (under $20) yet valuable swipe file, check out: HeadLineTips. This is a collection of pure headlines, over 1,000 of them.
I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of the first couple pages of headlines in this collection, but after that they start to get real good.
Now swipe files are a great way to get started... but... if you truly want to become good at copywriting you're going to need more than that. You have to learn the meaning and psychology behind all those words.
Where can one do this?
First, let's talk about self-education for a second.
Ask any highly successful person and they'll tell you that the best investment you can ever make is developing yourself and increasing your value to the world. You do so by acquiring knowledge and skills that others want, but are unwilling to acquire.
The one common trait among people who have accumulated their own wealth (as opposed to inheriting it) is their dedication to sharpening their own skills. They will not hesitate to spend large sums of money if it means learning something that will be of great value to them.
I've personally spent thousands of dollars myself on my own business education and continue to do so.
This doesn't mean you have to go max out all the credit cards tomorrow buying every course in sight or anything like that? Just know that the success you enjoy will be directly proportional to what you put in.
With that said...
... here's a little secret for you:
You CAN educate yourself by devouring free stuff that's out there.
In fact, some guru's free content is so good that it's literally worth ten times what you would pay for other people's products.
If that's the case, why even bother buying anyone's products?
Well, there are some things that you'll NEVER learn for free. The stuff you have to pay for will always be more complete and more advanced. It gives you the whole story whereas often times the free stuff leaves a lot of blank spaces that need to be filled in. And if someone's free content is really good, it means their actual products are that much more valuable to you. Plus, they're usually laid out in a way that's easier to follow and in a more "paint by numbers" fashion. As opposed to free content where you may have to go through a lot more of it to find the diamonds in the rough.
The right free content can provide you with much of the groundwork and building blocks with which to build your business.
And here's why this is true: As more competition develops in any given niche, people have to give away more and more stuff that they may have previously been charging for in order for them to stay ahead of the game.
That's the great thing about competition. It forces people to stay sharp and on their toes. And the end winner of it all is the consumer who gets a better product.
As Marlon Sanders says - If you really want to have a killer offer, just take what your competitor is selling and give it away as a free bonus!
Anyways, one of these free resources that has been absolutely invaluable to me is Clayton Makepeace's free e-letter 'The Total Package.' You can check it out at: The Total Package.
Clayton is known as the highest paid copywriter in America and every Monday he sends out an e-letter issue that's crammed with some of the best marketing and sales advice you'll ever read.
And it's totally FREE!
His e-letter is geared towards copywriters and some of the issues specifically address how a copywriter can find work in the freelance world, but overall the brilliant marketing wisdom he puts out applies to anyone who's interested in making large amounts of money.
If you do decide to subscribe to The Total Package, be sure to go through all the back issue archives. There's tons of past issues that you can read at no cost whatsoever. Every issue is usually well over 10 pages of pure content and the whole archive is literally a book in and of itself. There's enough reading material back there to keep you busy for weeks.
When you get your first issue, just look on the right hand side of the page and you'll see the 'archive' menu button.
If you want a more complete understanding of copywriting, here are some books that will help you. Both of these are very thorough and extremely affordable - under $15 each. Which is nice because a lot of copywriting courses are quite expensive.
The Online Copywriter's Handbook - by Bob Bly
An excellent A-Z guide specifically geared towards the internet.
The Ultimate Sales Letter - by Dan Kennedy
No-nonsense advice from the most recognized figure in direct marketing.
If you really want to dive in with something more in-depth, I would pick up a copy of Clayton Makepeace's 'Steal These Secrets!'
You can find it at the same site he has his free e-letter: The Total Package
This 509 page course (when I said more in-depth I wasn't kidding) walks you through the entire process Clayton uses when creating an ad - using real life examples. He takes 12 of his best promotions that have produced over $200 million in sales and dissects them from start to finish, going over what he did, how he did it and why it works.
This will fill in any of the blanks that are left after going through some of the free resources.
And finally, these are awesome copywriting resources from one of my favorite internet marketers today, Yanik Silver. Not only does all of his products overdeliver without exception, but I also dig his philosophy on business and life in general...
Well, there you go! This should keep you busy for a while for sure!!
But, remember... learning and acquiring this million dollar skill of copywriting will pay you thousand fold compared to what you put in. I guarantee it.