Copywriting Lessons - What Have You Learnt?

[MarkAndrews IMCopywriting]

It's a bane sometimes, in fact it's a royal pain in the arse being such a highly passionate and creative individual, which can if left unbridled, get one into all sorts of trouble, quite unintentionally, often.

It looks like I'm going to have to eat my words here.

Sometimes, one embarks upon an endeavour and being, (dare I say it myself) quite a smart individual, one jumps into something, thinking in advance quite naively, that one already has in one's possession a good grasp of the facts, only to realise later, that this isn't always necessarily the case.

So, right now, good naturedly, I'm beating myself up, in my drive as ever, to strive towards the perfection that I demand of myself.

Writing good copy, excellent sales copy is a hell of a lot more involved than what it initially appears.

Sure, any individual with a reasonably good command of written English can string together a marketing sales letter of sorts.

It might make sense, it might read well, but will it sell the end product very well indeed? That is the crux of the matter, the question in hand. (Rhetorical question to myself)

Now, I'm the first to admit that from time to time, I can make a right clanger of a mistake or two, or shall we say, a propensity to stick my bloomin' great goofy foot in it, only later regretting some of the things that I have written - a typical fire horse Sagittarius habit.

Habits are strange creatures in themselves. They can either make us or break us as individuals.

If we are prepared to be reflexive and have the ability to quickly adapt to change, we can break habits that are actually not doing us personally, any favours.

Or, we can stick our necks out, bury our head in the sand, (or up where the sun doesn't shine) only to have them yanked out again to smell the roses.

I've been doing a bit of both this week with regards to myself.

Reading, learning, taking onboard new information, realising that with some things said, I've been a bit of a dick - but I'm not going to beat myself up too badly about it, for at least the self is aware, that one is not always right and one still has a way's to go, upon the copywriting learning curve and/or learning process.

There is a lot, lot more to learning copywriting than meets the eye.

It is not simply a matter of bunging together a headline, a few paragraphs, empathising with the pain, frustration and anger of prospects upon any given subject, a few subtitles, creating a story, a guarantee etc, rather it is understanding how to bring all of the factors together to make up a comprehensive whole picture, and to do so in the right order, specifically for each writing project in hand at any given time, to do it absolute complete justice and this of course - take's time, (lot's of it).

Oh, and creating shorter sentences too. Slaps himself across the forehead.

I guess my question is then, whether you are a green rookie copywriter or an old experienced dog at the game, what lessons do you find yourself constantly learning about copywriting and how can your direct experience and personal humility upon the subject, possibly help others to learn a great deal more too?

What copywriting lessons do you find yourself still learning?

Many thanks in advance and my kindest regards to all of you for sharing your valuable copywriting insights.


Mark

[dorothydot]

OMG what a fascinating posting you've done. Thank you!

Yes, you are totally right - copywriting is NOT EASY. In fact, it's far more like poetry than most people know. Every word must be bang-on perfect to pass through the readers' conscious to speak directly to their subconscious minds.

This means you must know how they think. How they choose their words to speak is a great start - but you need to go beyond that. For me, it's best to think of a friend or relative or acquaintance who is closest to the Ideal Prospect for that particular service or product, then to address my copy to that person only.

Then on to editing.

When you write, you write. When you edit, you edit. Ne'er the twain shall meet!

I discovered my innate personal strength re. writing is creating vivid scenarios and painting word pictures with hypothetical characters that the readers can identify with instantly.

This is soooo much fun! Take someone whose life is grey and dull, no sparkle at all. Give them something that makes their world glow, helps them appreciate all the small miracles and joys that every day brings.... a robin's song; a butterfly landing on your shoulder; a thick juicy steak cooked to melt-in-your-mouth perfection on the table before you - that sort of thing.

I'm a marketer and copywriter to help make someone's life just that much better. Pure and simple.

Hope this helps a bit,
Dot

PS - You'll find, to your delight, that you never, ever stop learning in this copywriting career.

[MikeHumphreys]

Originally Posted by WordPro

I guess my question is then, whether you are a green rookie copywriter or an old experienced dog at the game, what lessons do you find yourself constantly learning about copywriting and how can your direct experience and personal humility upon the subject, possibly help others to learn a great deal more too?

What copywriting lessons do you find yourself still learning?

Many thanks in advance and my kindest regards to all of you for sharing your valuable copywriting insights.


Mark

Good topic. I'll share a couple that I've picked up along the way.

1. Always keep working on your craft. Read great written copy as often as possible. I try to read stuff written by the masters or the current A-List copywriters everyday. You'll be surprised at the little things you pick up when you do that can often take good copy and lift up into really good copy.

2. Stay humble. You will have hits and complete strikeouts. Celebrate the hits but keep your ego in check. No one ever gets a hit every time -- not any copywriter you've ever heard or ever will. If they did, they'd charge $10 million plus royalties per sales letter... and have people gladly pay it.

There's too many variables and factors out of your control to produce a hit 100% of the time. Of course, you still bust your butt to try to produce a hit every time because you want to... even if it's just out of professional pride.

3. Stay positive. Don't get depressed when something you write bombs. Get pi$$ed off if you want instead but not depressed. Your client doesn't care that you're depressed. They want you to fix the damn thing if you still can. And trying to write strong copy when you're depressed... well, I don't know too many copywriters that can do it. I can't.

If you've had a rough day, do something to get yourself in a positive mindset. Personally, I'll listen to upbeat music... works 99% of the time for me.

Hope that helps,

Mike

[Dean Dhuli]

The biggest lessons I've learned about copywriting (and life in general)
is that no matter how much you learn, there's always something you
don't know and something that's still new to you.

Even now, every single day, I learn something new about copywriting.

But I prefer it this way rather than knowing everything and having
nothing new to learn.

Just imagine how boring it would be if you knew everything and there
was nothing new to learn.






[

[Mark McClure]

Mark2,

Oh dear, looks like I'll have to shelve my 'The 7 minute sales letter... your business be damned" JV I was going to pitch you :-)

Copywriting lessons?

For sure, there are skills and art to great copywriting.

And very few shortcuts AFAIK - hence the playful dig at the 'speed article writer' approach above...

What I've learned so far is that effective marketing, believing in your potential and all that good stuff counts for little unless you literally(!) relish the idea of crafting words that help sell what people want to buy. (That ole wants/needs psycho-drama hehe...)

I think many writers choke on that perceived idolatry - "the holy purity of creative writing should not be so stained on the altar of profit" stands guard in their psyche.

And that's why they'll never be copywriters...

Oh dear, beginning to sound like a Stephen Fry clone ;-)
Ya copy?

[Metronicity]

"What have you learn't"??? I've learnt how to spell for one thing. I've also learnt to write short, simple sentences - not the long convoluted sentences you seem to delight in. And cut to the chase already. Don't waffle. I appreciate you're English and some of you folk do talk "high falutin'" language but the rest of the world doesn't. So for the love of God take that "one" outside and shoot it. People don't talk like that. K.I.S.S - one likes to keep. it. simple. stupid.
As for "making a dick of yourself" - yes you have. Your rant to Daniel was plain embarrassing.
Don't go getting all offended over this post. I shoot from the hip. It's not meant with any malice. Cheers my son, Mal.

[Mark McClure]

Hey M. Metro :-)

I tried to order a pint in Sydney 18 years ago - and the bar maid said I was gender-challenged.

'Struth.

'said I had to down schooners or get the feck out.

That's when I discovered the Ozzie Slang Dictionary and realized she was right.

Crikey, even Bill Gates couldn't sell US or UK English on his Windows software stuff down under.

A rare victory.

Back to sumo and sushi.

[Metronicity]

Originally Posted by Mark McClure

Hey M. Metro :-)

I tried to order a pint in Sydney 18 years ago - and the bar maid said I was gender-challenged.

'Struth.

'said I had to down schooners or get the feck out.

That's when I discovered the Ozzie Slang Dictionary and realized she was right.

Crikey, even Bill Gates couldn't sell US or UK English on his Windows software stuff down under.

A rare victory.

Back to sumo and sushi.

Yes, well...if one orders a "pint" in Sinny, one is just going to look like a Nong. Always "schooners" or "middies", unless one is in an Irish Pub. See ya. M.

[Kevin Lam]

First off, Mal, your posts are always fun to read. Although, I must add I've never seen "learn't" being used before.

Mark, great thread.

1) No matter how good you think your copy is, there is always room for improvement. There might be a grammatical error hiding some where, lol. If you're first starting out, try to have others read it. I always send my sales letter through MS Word to check for spelling errors.

2) Not everyone is going to like your writing style simply because they are from a different part of the world. You'll just have to stick with what you do. Listen to the critiques and accept them. Only apply changes where you think it is crucial.

3) Clients will always have their inputs and say in how they want it to look. Don't be a push over and do exact as they say - you're the copywriter. You make the ultimate decision on whether or not to make the change. If the conversions are low, you're ultimately responsible so don't do it unless you agree.

4) Most importantly - DON'T WRITE WHEN YOU'RE TIRED. Holy crap, I wrote a sales copy one night when I was beat, but I was pushing to write so I didn't have to work much the next day. Well, when I got up the next morning to look, I was all over the place with no direction. I simply should have called it a night and tackled it the next day when my mind was clear and my eyes weren't blurry or closed anymore.

[Paul McQuillan]

Hi Mark, good post.

My newest learning endeavors have been proper research into
what I am working on. I don't have as much problem with creating
the story or ambiance as I do properly researching to not miss
gold nuggets.

As to you being a dick, most of us have our moments. Metronicity
calls you on that by being a dick (disguised as "shoot from the hip")

I have certainly had my dickhead moments

My favorite people on this forum are sometimes "dicks". Vin, Bruce, Kevin,
you and a small handful of others.

I don't mind a kick in the balls by these guys as I respect them.

They are also right most of the time...

[MarkAndrews IMCopywriting]

Originally Posted by Metronicity

"What have you learn't"??? I've learnt how to spell for one thing. I've also learnt to write short, simple sentences - not the long convoluted sentences you seem to delight in. And cut to the chase already. Don't waffle. I appreciate you're English and some of you folk do talk "high falutin'" language but the rest of the world doesn't. So for the love of God take that "one" outside and shoot it. People don't talk like that. K.I.S.S - one likes to keep. it. simple. stupid.
As for "making a dick of yourself" - yes you have. Your rant to Daniel was plain embarrassing.
Don't go getting all offended over this post. I shoot from the hip. It's not meant with any malice. Cheers my son, Mal.

If you can't be positive on a positive thread, keep out of it Mal.

Shoot from the hip you say?

I couldn't care less if you shoot blanks out of your ass, one spelling typo and you're all over this thread, being insulting and condescending - you can shove your collective bad attitudes in my opinion, back up where the sun doesn't shine matey.

To the point enough for you?

Thanks to everyone else for your more positive remarks.

I appreciate you taking the time out to give me your thoughts on the question posed.

[Paul McQuillan]

After lynching Vegas Vince I think I have had my fill of over-analyzing
people over perceived "faults".

Even though I feel grammar is important I don't feel the need to
seek and destroy people chatting on a social network.

I am here to learn and participate in discussions, not to be schooled by
desk jockeys better at grammar than marketing.

I don't know of many English teachers kicking-ass in copywriting.

Sometimes it is easier to go negative on someone and very hard to be constructive.

The Vegas Vince thread reminded me there are human beings behind
these screen names.

[MarkAndrews IMCopywriting]

Hello Paul

I'm sorry about my above reply, I didn't mean to upset anyone that has contributed positively to this thread, such as yourself.

It's just that whilst this Metro guy was taking the opportunity to lamblast me, he was also lamblasting the very same person above himself and being a complete hypocrite, here:

Why You Should NEVER Hire a Cheap Copywriter (Reply #59)

He criticises me for just one typo, which is fairly rare for me anyway, yet on the above thread / link provided, goes on and on and on with not even a line paragraph in sight.

Never mind mentioning that his own grammar (which he was so keen to pick me up on), in his reply here to my question, his own was very severely lacking.

Hypocritical people like that just get on my nerves.

[Loren Woirhaye]

In copywriting and running businesses and in personal life
I've learned that people who pick-on-you, refuse to
appreciate your value, or are consistently obnoxious
or stressful to be around are the best people to get out
of your life.

[dorothydot]

Here's a wonderful image that might help cope with, ummm, the less-than-pleasant posters, people in your life, and maybe also certain clients!

Picture a duck. In the rain. The drops just land on his l'il ol' back and roll on down off his tail - drip, drip, drip.

Duck stays dry.

Now picture yourself as the duck. And the bulls**t that you encounter as the rain. [We all know how much bulls can put out, right? lol!]

Now just go into duck-mode and let it all simply roll off your back and drip-drip-drip off your ducky tail.

You stay unfazed and comfortable by the bulls**t.

LONG LIVE DUCK-MODE!!

Hope this helps,
Dot

QUACK!

[MarkAndrews IMCopywriting]

It helped and had me grinning from ear to ear, for it actually reminded me too of the advice I quite often give to other people - so, time to take my own medicine.

I thought it ironic too, cos I'm just up to Chapter 4 writing a book here all about, well - plastic ducks of all things.

Sorry if I went a bit quackers.

Thanks for the messages and I hope you both have a wonderful start to the week.

Cheers!

Mark

Originally Posted by dorothydot

Here's a wonderful image that might help cope with, ummm, the less-than-pleasant posters, people in your life, and maybe also certain clients!

Picture a duck. In the rain. The drops just land on his l'il ol' back and roll on down off his tail - drip, drip, drip.

Duck stays dry.

Now picture yourself as the duck. And the bulls**t that you encounter as the rain. [We all know how much bulls can put out, right? lol!]

Now just go into duck-mode and let it all simply roll off your back and drip-drip-drip off your ducky tail.

You stay unfazed and comfortable by the bulls**t.

LONG LIVE DUCK-MODE!!

Hope this helps,
Dot

QUACK!

[bf68]

Interesting thread and hopefully this brings out input from both the newer copywriters and the senior pro's that drop in from time to time.

My lessons?

1. I agree - it's not as easy as might seem to the casual observer. In fact, it's usually a lot harder. Like a great sales person, makes the process seem so effortless or any pro in any field for that matter, a master copywriter produces copy that before you know it has the reader taking the desired action.
2. It's easier if you have good teachers - both courses and mentoring from great copywriters and great ads themselves.
3. Practice leads to skill
4. Copy is important but it's not just about the copywriting - a few other ducks need to line up as well
5. It helps if you like to crawl inside people's minds because that's where the golden egg is every time.

PS. I think the word is "lambast" but don't shoot the messenger. Mal above may have been more tactful in his comments but then that's where he chooses to live. Is it really worth getting upset at that?

[Swastik]

The best lesson I've learned is that Practice is what makes you better.

Even if you've read tons of copywriting books, studied tons of great sales copies - writing one on your own and testing it on the market will teach you a LOT!

Great thread Mark!

[Matt James]

One of the 'lessons' that made a huge difference to me is to just slow right down.

I used to get this anxiety if I had a blank screen in front of me. Now I've realized that taking time and letting ideas percolate leads to better work.

Taking longer leads to stronger letters, which leads to better results for your clients, which leads to.... charging more for your services

[David Raybould]

Wordpro-

Some tips.

Practice.

Read great copy

Write great letters out by hand.

Read great letters aloud.

Practice.

Write salesletters about household
objects. The more mundane the
object, the better.

Practice breaking everyday things
into as many benefits as possible.

Analyze newspaper headlines. Why
are they there? Why do they work?

Practice.

Devour every good copywriting guide
you can find. Then do it again, just
for the hell of it.

Read The Elements Of Style.

Twice.

Practice.

If you're serious about learning
copy, devote hours to these things each
day.

Then devote more, until writing consumes
you.

Start living like that, and as if by magic,
you'll start to develop some copy skill.

Good luck

-David Raybould

[Paul McQuillan]

Originally Posted by WordPro

Hello Paul

I'm sorry about my above reply, I didn't mean to upset anyone that has contributed positively to this thread, such as yourself.

Mark, your response was warranted. I am actually getting a little tired
with people assuming because of a typo on a forum someones career
in copywriting is over.

That is why I brought up my behavior on the Vegas Vince thread.

It's a good thing Gary Halbert had perfect grammar....

[Paul McQuillan]

Originally Posted by Matt James

One of the 'lessons' that made a huge difference to me is to just slow right down.

I used to get this anxiety if I had a blank screen in front of me. Now I've realized that taking time and letting ideas percolate leads to better work.

Taking longer leads to stronger letters, which leads to better results for your clients, which leads to.... charging more for your services

I have just reached this revelation myself Matt

good reply!

[MarkAndrews IMCopywriting]

Mark grins - hmmmmm thanks David, practice some more you say?

I've been writing fluently pretty much non stop ever since I was 4 years old non stop, as soon as I had mastered the art of reading fluently.

I write absolutely non stop - if you looked over some of my previous comments, no offense, you would have seen already that I have spoken about how writing consumes me with an absolute passion.

I breathe writing every single hour almost of every single day, often writing for well over 30 hours or more at a stretch - it's now 2pm here and I'm still going from yesterday.

Just absolutely adore the written word as a form of expression.

It's only recently I've taken up actual copywriting as in sales copy, although I have written for business purposes, advertising and marketing for the past 26 years or so, ever since the day I left school and went instantly into self employment, running my own company which I set up myself.

If I put in much more practice, I'll explode!

No, you are right though, you can never stop learning and of course, there are so many different styles that one can never stop this learning curve, even if by choice, one wanted to.

Wishing you a fantastic start to the week!

Best regards.

Mark

Originally Posted by David Raybould

Wordpro-

Some tips.

Practice.

Read great copy

Write great letters out by hand.

Read great letters aloud.

Practice.

Write salesletters about household
objects. The more mundane the
object, the better.

Practice breaking everyday things
into as many benefits as possible.

Analyze newspaper headlines. Why
are they there? Why do they work?

Practice.

Devour every good copywriting guide
you can find. Then do it again, just
for the hell of it.

Read The Elements Of Style.

Twice.

Practice.

If you're serious about learning
copy, devote hours to these things each
day.

Then devote more, until writing consumes
you.

Start living like that, and as if by magic,
you'll start to develop some copy skill.

Good luck

-David Raybould

[dorothydot]

Ditto, WordPro. I also have been writing my whole life-long.

I don't know about you, but I became a copywriter for 2 reasons: first, it's a way to use my skills to help make other people's lives better. Second, I am disabled and some extra income would make my life a whole lot more comfortable! They say money can't buy health; but I'm here to tell you - it sure as he** can make poor health a LOT more comfortable!

When I first started learning copywriting (AWAI's basic course) every chapter held wonderful techniques. I'd make up a product and write a sales letter using that brand-new technique. One of my favorites was a letter selling dachshund puppies from my little wedding present, Ilsie. More than one person wanted to buy a precious little bundle - but since Ilsie was spayed, uh - t'warn't gonna happen.

Also, those practice letters gave me a great start on my portfolio. Wasn't long before I began re-writing ads I got through the mail.

Hope this helps, and keep on writing!
Dot

[David Raybould]

Originally Posted by WordPro

Mark grins - hmmmmm thanks David, practice some more you say?

I've been writing fluently pretty much non stop ever since I was 4 years old non stop, as soon as I had mastered the art of reading fluently.

I write absolutely non stop - if you looked over some of my previous comments, no offense, you would have seen already that I have spoken about how writing consumes me with an absolute passion.

I breathe writing every single hour almost of every single day, often writing for well over 30 hours or more at a stretch - it's now 2pm here and I'm still going from yesterday.

Just absolutely adore the written word as a form of expression.

It's only recently I've taken up actual copywriting as in sales copy, although I have written for business purposes, advertising and marketing for the past 26 years or so, ever since the day I left school and went instantly into self employment, running my own company which I set up myself.

If I put in much more practice, I'll explode!

No, you are right though, you can never stop learning and of course, there are so many different styles that one can never stop this learning curve, even if by choice, one wanted to.

Wishing you a fantastic start to the week!

Best regards.

Mark

Mark that's great.

But I meant practice writing copy.

[MarkAndrews IMCopywriting]

Not much chance of me stopping now is there?

As the good old Magnus Magnusson was so fond of saying, until he kicked the bucket - may he rest in peace, "I've started, so I'll finish!"

Almost an oxymoron, sort of.

(Oop's this one was to Dorothy - sorry David, you just pipped me to the post there)

[MarkAndrews IMCopywriting]

Originally Posted by David Raybould

Mark that's great.

But I meant practice writing copy.

Yes, I hear you David, I am, believe you me - I am doing that every day, for many hours at a time.

Thanks very much for your encouragement, much appreciated!

[Metronicity]

Originally Posted by WordPro

If you can't be positive on a positive thread, keep out of it Mal.

Shoot from the hip you say?

I couldn't care less if you shoot blanks out of your ass, one spelling typo and you're all over this thread, being insulting and condescending - you can shove your collective bad attitudes in my opinion, back up where the sun doesn't shine matey.

To the point enough for you?

Thanks to everyone else for your more positive remarks.

I appreciate you taking the time out to give me your thoughts on the question posed.

Funniest part is, you still haven't fixed your "learn't". Ah well...some people never learn.

[MarkAndrews IMCopywriting]

Sometimes things are best left the way they are.

Sometimes things are best left unsaid.