Top Copywriting Courses...

[Kirah]

Hey all,

I am relatively new to copywriting and I would like some advice on what courses I could enroll in to better my skills.

I saw the related thread "Top Copywriting Books" and I think it is great and I will definitely order a couple of books listed.

However, what about the people who can afford to take a course or two. Which would you suggest?

I was thinking about doing the Copywriting course at the Institute of Copywriting.

Have any of you done that course already? What were your thoughts on it?



PS. Dear Admin. I think this thread would make a great sticky.

[countdevio]

I like Maria Veloso's Course
She also wrote the book 'Web Copy That Sells'

Many of the copywriting courses by Dan Kennedy,
John Carlton, etc. .. well .. they may be good copywriters
... but they bore me to tears.

I say, collect pieces of copy that make you shell
out your hard earned buck-a-roos and buy something
and emulate them. A good example is the Warrior
Forums "War Room" sales page.

I bought .. and I don't EVER buy that fast.

[travlinguy]

The Buy Impulse - 26 Mind Control Tools That Get More Customers Who Spend More Money, More Frequently by Danny Wall.

This is an excellent little ebook I discovered while fishing through my hard drive last weekend. Modeled after Joe Surarman's Triggers, it identifies 26 (the first 10 are excellent) buy triggers and emnotional hot buttons.

It's easy to understand and follow. All you realy need to do to get good at using the stuff is practise and before long you're incorporating some powerful techniques to a lot of your writing.

The only drawback to the book is that there are a lot of niggly grammatical and punctuation items. But even with these, it's well worth a look. I'd never heard of it until I found it in a folder in my docs but when I searched it came up all over the place. I'd bet you could find it as a givaway if you tried. Good luck.

[mohd]

I couldn't recommend highly enough;
Super Power Copy by Paul Hancox.
One of the best...

Mohd

[Kirah]

Thanks guys

I just bought a few books so I'll study them on my own for a bit, before I register for a course.

[ContentPro]

Warriors seem happy to help writers (and others trying to make it online), so go for it and have it critiqued. I'm sure you'll get some useful feedback on what is and isn't working with your writings.

Good luck.

[David.M]

There was just recently the exact same topic, but it somehow disappeared lol.

Anyways, I was recommended the book
The Copywriter's Handbook, Third Edition: A Step-By-Step Guide To
Writing Copy That Sells

So I purchased it on Amazon for like $8, but since I haven't gone though it yet I'm not sure how good it is. Just going by other peoples recommendations.

[snowtigress]

I studied Michael Masterson's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting. It's a course book with assignments at the end of each chapter for practice. Plus they offer to critique your work as you go.

[Nisip]

Originally Posted by David.M

There was just recently the exact same topic, but it somehow disappeared lol.

Anyways, I was recommended the book
The Copywriter's Handbook, Third Edition: A Step-By-Step Guide To
Writing Copy That Sells

So I purchased it on Amazon for like $8

It is Bob Bly and I bought it also and read it.

It is the best thing since sliced bread

Really worth it, and things you can apply right away!

[MikeHumphreys]

There's a bigger thread already created on this topic:

Top Copywriting Books... Ever

Many aspiring copywriters can get a number of the copywriting books considered to be the very best for much less than any of the courses.

In the self-study/some mentoring style, I'd recommend Ray L. Edwards Learn Copy program as Ray is one of the best copywriting teachers that I've come across to date.

As a moderator on the Copywriting Board, the AWAI course occasionally comes up and the member reviews are usually not positive. I don't personally own it so I can't give you my personal opinion... but again, it's considered a very basic course.

Hope that helps,

Mike

[Paul McQuillan]

Originally Posted by MikeHumphreys

the AWAI course occasionally comes up and the member reviews are usually not positive.

That is the understatement of the year

I say avoid that one

[sarahberra]

Wow! Thank you all for the awesome tips and recommendations! I need to go buy some books.

[VideoCreator]

Do yourself a favor and go to audible and search for 'Wizard of Ads'. Talk about enlightenment. I saw a completely new world after I finished the first one. There are several.

[DougHughes]

I did AWAI. I wasn't that impressed with the course. The books in Mike Humphrey's post are critical. I would also suggest reading Robert Cialdini's books on influence and persuasion.

Cialdini is a social scientist who has conducted empirical research on Influence and persuasion. There are some gems in his work.

Brian Keith Voiles book "AD Magic" was good also.

I have done Carlton and Kennedy copywriting courses, but the most valuable copywriting courses for me were Ken McCarthy's Advanced Copywriting Course and Yanik Silver's Ultimate Copywriting Workshop.

Hope that helps,

Doug

[jukeboxhero]

That maria velasposa ladies web copy that sell book does rock...Anything dan kennedy, joe sugarman triggers....

I don't know about you but I'm putting tons of effort into learning video sales skills it seems to be the wave of the future.

[ghyphena]

I second Mohd' recommendation of Paul Hancox's Super Power Copy; I think it's very good for beginners.

I was about to buy the AWAI course but was turned off by the torrent of bad reviews, both here on WF and elsewhere... apparently they had to change to their name from "Institute" to "Inc" (dodgy or what?)... the author uses his family members' testimonials... and they run out of a derelict old office block in Florida.... and, to top it all off, their whole positioning is very biz-opp: "learn copywriting and make money".

Source: Can't post links yet but if you google "awai scam" first result or so should be from friendsinbusiness website.

I, too, would stay away.

Gil-Ad

[Kirah]

Thanks for all of the responses.

I bought "Scientific Advertising", "Web Copy that Sells", "How to Write a Good Advertisement", "The Copywriter's Handbook", and the "Adweek CopyWriting Handbook".

I'm also browsing this forum, and trying to practice on my own.

So far, I have to admit (and I am SO glad that none of my friends are part of this forum) but I am not as creative as I thought lol. Many ideas that I thought were really good seem mediocre now. I'm hoping I can learn FAST!

I've started to read the Hopkins and I have to say that so far it is awesome. There are so many core things about advertising that I ignore because I've been caught up with doing anything to "get attention" or "trying to make people laugh."

This sentence was a wake up call for me: "Ads are not written to entertain. Entertainment seekers are likely not be the people you want to target."

[bethrobinson]

Don't discount all of AWAI's products because of the bad reputation of their flagship 6-Figures course. For example, I've bought and read carefully both of their web-related products with Nick Usborne, a really great process on constructing multi-page website content (yes, with intent to drive sales) for businesses with Pam Foster, and am in the middle of the B2B copywriting course with Steve Slaunwhite. They also have at least one joint venture with Bob Bly that I haven't gotten into yet.

All of these have value, although they are not geared towards the type of sales letters that seem to be of greatest interest in this forum. They are perhaps overpriced, but if you subscribe to the mailing list they regularly cycle through discounts on various types of products.

I do intend to do some more detailed reviews in the future, but haven't made the time yet.

[TimCastleman]

I am really surprised no one has mentioned this $17 course that I think is under priced by several hundred dollars. Seriously, get this course and start writing copy sooner rather than later.

Copywriting Success Shortcut System

[Anita Ashland]

I agree Tim, 3 Hour Ads/Copywriting Success System is excellent.

I bought it a couple of weeks ago because I had to write a sales letter on a very tight deadline for one of my regular clients and wanted tips on setting up a system for writing a sales letter very quickly. His 12 minute sales letter demonstration was helpful as was the worksheet that helps you organize the letter. I also like his bullets and headlines swipe file.

It doesn't have the meat that you'd get from one of the classic books on copywriting but his system is useful for those times when speed is of the essence and at $17 you can't go wrong with it.

[MIB Mastermind]

Yanik Silvers home study course is awesome but will set you back $1400.

Anything by dan kennedy will be good.