improving copywriting skills

[ara07]

there are many copy writing techniques and books available in the net. can someone tell which one is really effective in improving copy writing skills?

[Sathya]

I would suggest this:

Top Five Books for Copywriters

Cheers!

[ArticlePrince]

Keep in mind that no matter how much you read, nothing will help more than practice. I usually read a book a course a month, then implement it as I go through that month. Keeps me from getting bogged down.

[Alex Cohen]

Here are three books that would give you a great start. Each can be found at amazon.com ...

1. The Ultimate Sales Letter, 3rd Edition (2006), by Dan Kennedy, $10.18
2. Web Copy That Sells, 2nd Edition (2009), by Maria Veloso, $14.93
3. Ca$hvertising, 1st Edition (2008), by Drew Eric Whitman, $10.19

Alex

[Moolah_Copywriting]

How to Write a Good Advertisement: Victor Schwab

Stan

[Sam Mlambo]

Definitely check out the resource section in the copywriting forum here. A good resource that has helped me tremendously is "On the Art of Writing Copy" by Herschel Gordon Lewis

You'll rapidly improve your copy skills if you practice as much as possible.

- Sam

[GaryJBloomer]

Lots of opinions here. The best way to become a better writer is to read more great sales copy, then copy it out by hand. Tedious I know, but you'll get the flow of the text from this exercise and one only becomes a better writer through writing and through reading. I hope this helps. Good luck.

[ElGatito]

Originally Posted by GaryJBloomer

Lots of opinions here. The best way to become a better writer is to read more great sales copy, then copy it out by hand. Tedious I know, but you'll get the flow of the text from this exercise and one only becomes a better writer through writing and through reading. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Agreed, and if you can't find good salesletter, go on Gary Halbert's Letter and copy them.

And even if you can't find them, read John D MacDonald. It'll show you what's real storytelling.

[MikeHumphreys]

Originally Posted by GaryJBloomer

Lots of opinions here. The best way to become a better writer is to read more great sales copy, then copy it out by hand. Tedious I know, but you'll get the flow of the text from this exercise and one only becomes a better writer through writing and through reading. I hope this helps. Good luck.

That's a proven method and one that I've personally done as one part of my years of training. Personally, I think typing it while reading it out loud works as well as writing it by hand but that's my opinion and not anything scientifically proven.

If you have the funds, another way to hone your skills is hire a copywriting coach to mentor you. It's rarely cheap and most of the good ones will push you hard to develop your skills completely with a liberal dose of tough love tossed in. It's not for the weak at heart or thin-skinned either.

Of course, when you realize that the copywriting coach's reputation is also on the line to help you become a solid copywriter, then you will appreciate their hard work and criticism too.

[Jennie Heckel]

Dear Ara07:

I recommend going to Clickbank and doing a search on a topic you are interested in (it is easier to write on topics you know a lot about) and then find the top Clickbank sales letters with the highest gravity.

Next, print them out and write them out by hand.

Next, go back to the sales letter you rewrote by hand and highlight the persuasion keywords they used to SELL you. That will help you understand their thinking while they wrote it!

Last, if you wrote the sales letter on wide width notebook paper, skip a line between when you rewrite it and then write in a different color your edits, like you would be a copy editor, change sentences around and reword things.

Then type it up and you have your first "real sales letter!"

Simple as 1, 2, 3.

Good luck,

Jennie Heckel

[MikeHumphreys]

Originally Posted by Jennie Heckel

Dear Ara07:

I recommend going to Clickbank and doing a search on a topic you are interested in (it is easier to write on topics you know a lot about) and then find the top Clickbank sales letters with the highest gravity.

Next, print them out and write them out by hand.

Next, go back to the sales letter you rewrote by hand and highlight the persuasion keywords they used to SELL you. That will help you understand their thinking while they wrote it!

Sorry, but a high gravity doesn't always mean it's a well-written sales letter. It can also mean that they have made a lot of sales driven by affiliate promotions. If there's a high affiliate payout then it will get a lot of affiliate action.

[ElGatito]

If you look at the Panic Away product, it constantly has a high conversion; over 100. Right now it is at 162. But the salesletter is TERRIBLE. It start with some weird qualification, There is an awkwardly placed opt-in. And so on and so forth.

Also most internet salesletter are MUCH longer than they should. They go on for pages and pages. Hells, each time I bought something, I didn't read most of it, and I'm a copywriter. Usually, its because the Prelaunch phase is where the sale is made.

Instead I put some links to create a swipe file on another thread :
Legendary copywriting sales pages?

In there, you have the two Wall Street Journal letters, and a BUNCH of links of different swipe files, including those that Ben Settle put up in his blog.

I would suggest, copy the two WSJ letters first : that will be an education in itself. And yes whether you type or write is the same. The simple action of copying three four times and remembering will be the most important.

If you need anything else, just contact me through Skype.

Cheers,
Alex

[Jo_Shua]

The best way to improve your skills is to just get out there and do it. Until then, it will always be theory for you... and not a skill. Some provided a means to do this via practicing (re-typing or re-writing proven sales letters). Still, the best way to improve your skills is to put what you learned and what you practiced into action... on your own sales letter or a client's.

To expand upon your education check out that thread of Top Copywriting Books... Ever that Paul recommended.

[writeright]

I believe these great books should help. But again, I would suggest that you start reading more books that teach you copy writing without being one. If you ask any copywriter, which book helped them a lot to draft their copies the way they do... they would come up with anything and everything, but a self-help book. It could be 12th page of the Godfather, Mills & Boons or To Kill A Mockingbird... You never know