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Best "How to Swipe" Book/Course?

by Dan Axelrod
9 replies
Hey guys,

I'm trying to find out more how to properly swipe winning sales letters and apply them to new products. Harlan Kilstein touches on the subject in "Steal This Book," but doesn't really get into the mechanics of swiping.

Do you have a recommendation for where to learn this? John Carlton's "License to Steal" is at the top of my list so far, but if there's anything else, I'd like to hear about it. I'm looking for fleshed out full demonstrations of it, not just a couple of paragraphs, and willing to pay what it takes.

Thanks,

--Dan
#book or course #how to swipe
  • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
    Hey Dan the man,

    Not here to discourage from where you want to go.

    Just a cautionary note to keep things in balance.

    OK?

    It's best for me to illustate by an example.

    The book author of the hit movie "The Secret"
    wanted to sell his book into Spain.

    Actually it was an expanded learning pack.

    Since it sold very well in US, Canada and Australia,
    one would think to keep everything much the same....right?

    Fortunatly he called in a top copywriter to help.

    First thing he did was sample Spaniards with questions on
    what their beliefs were on the subject.

    Turns out their beliefs were the complete opposite to most
    where the book and movie had done so well.

    So he feed the Spanierds belief straight into the headline,
    lead and body copy.

    They got a 40% opt-in rate from PPC.

    My point is, it's far more important knowing your target
    audience than slapping on parts of a winning headline
    from elsewhere.

    John Carlton is training people right now at his Simple
    Writing System to think of your perfect customer/client.

    It's the very first step.

    Anyway, all the best,

    Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author arfasaira
    Hiya,

    I just bought this earlier this week and I am glad I did:

    MASSIVE COPYWRITING SWIPE FILE PACKAGE no DAN KENNEDY on eBay (end time 06-Oct-10 15:58:57 BST)

    its from ebay and its a huge swipe file of the best ads and sales letters ever written including the Agora files. There are loads of bonuses including the 'Masters of Copywriting' and an interview with John Carlton.

    At less than $40, I think it's a bargain, and you are sure to find loads of useful stuff in there that is probably worth gold dust.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rezbi
    License to steal by John Carlton. He gives you five examples of his copy and shows you exactly how to swipe the right way.
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    • Profile picture of the author colinjoss
      I agree with Rezbi. License to Steal gets my vote.

      Colin
      Signature

      "You're exactly the kind of professional any business owner would be lucky to have writing his copy."

      John Carlton, the most ripped off, respected, and referred-to copywriter alive.

      Colin Joss, Direct Response Copywriter

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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
    Originally Posted by Dan Axelrod View Post

    Hey guys,

    I'm trying to find out more how to properly swipe winning sales letters and apply them to new products. Harlan Kilstein touches on the subject in "Steal This Book," but doesn't really get into the mechanics of swiping.

    Do you have a recommendation for where to learn this? John Carlton's "License to Steal" is at the top of my list so far, but if there's anything else, I'd like to hear about it. I'm looking for fleshed out full demonstrations of it, not just a couple of paragraphs, and willing to pay what it takes.

    Thanks,

    --Dan
    Dan,

    Get John Anghelache's "The Copywriting Crash Course". I have it, and it's excellent. The best, detailed How To Swipe course I've run into.

    Copywriting Crash Course - How To Cheat Your Way To Writing Killer Sales Copy

    Alex
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeHumphreys
      Dan,

      Like Rezbi said, Licensed To Steal is very good... it's one of Carlton's best that I've read/seen to date.

      Clayton Makepeace's Quick Start System has a full chapter on ethical swiping. They present a really good idea on how to organize your swipe file that I'm definitely going to implement. The rest of the course is top-shelf so if you want a more comprehensive resource besides just "how to ethically swipe" then go with Clayton's course.

      Hope that helps,

      Mike
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      • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
        I don't agree that "License to Steal" is a good product for learning how to swipe.

        The presenter dissects five of his best sales letters in detail, which I found very helpful for learning how he thinks. And I picked up a bunch of useful copywriting and marketing tips.

        But in my opinion, the actual "how to" of swiping was missing.

        Alex
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    I seem to recall Daniel Levis has a free ebook or something about
    swiping headlines and deck copy - reading aloud and trying to
    write them down from memory.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Schwenk
    Although I'm not familiar with it, Harlan (Kilstein) has a product titled The Art of the Swipe.

    Perhaps that's another one you could look into.

    The only thing regarding this subject that I am familiar with, is the same course that Mike mentioned above: Clayton Makepeace's Quickstart Copywriting Course.

    Obviously it wouldn't be worth the $1,500 price tag (check eBay first) for just one chapter.

    But as Mike said... if you're looking for a well-rounded source of information, then it would certainly be a great investment.

    -Mike
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