If you had five hours a day to study copywriting what would you do

Join a creative writing course or seo writing, as you should be able to differntiate your style/functionality of writing from others.

Get out some classic letters...

Then write them out by hand.

You could also read salesletters and get a feel for the type of language that's used in it. When you start having the "aha" moments, you'll know you're on the right track.

- Dean

You've got yourself a plan.

Now stick to it. That's the hardest part.

If I were doing this, I'd:

THINK about the end result of 90 days of immersive studies.

I'd write it down. Put it on a White Board so I could see it every day. I'd create a "View from the Rooftop" so I could visualize and see the RESULT.

I'd build RUNGS on the side of the bldg I'm climbing so I see progress. IF you backward chain from the roof down, you'll create a step by step plan of action and simutaneously create a CHECKLIST to mark your progress.

These rungs would be TIME measurements, with the step off rung the 90th day. I'd break these steps down into weeks, then into 7 days.

A day might look like this:

HOUR 1 Read and take copious notes (there is a list of what to read in the sticky section)

HOUR 2 Rewrite my notes so I'm sure of what I've read.

HOUR 3 WRITE one of the "classic" copywriter's ads out and study it.

HOUR 4 Post questions and/or review various copywriting forums, web sites

HOUR 5 Read/Study human psychology, motivation, brain function.

REPEAT for 5 days. On the 6th, WRITE for the full 5 hours or until you can't write any more.

7th day. Rest and REVIEW and try to talk to an established copywriter, many will give you a few minutes of their time if you ask.

Each week, I'd use the "rungs" of the ladder to check off my progress. I'd have Headlines or openings on the list, sub heads or sound bites (maybe write a 2 minute infomercial too).

All of the WHAT to do with the time would be written down and planned out BEFORE I began, so I stayed focused, learned what I needed to learn, made it enjoyable to my learning styles and have a clearly identified GOAL ("view from the rooftop") for the 90 days.

So, for me, it begins and ends with PURPOSE.

What is the purpose? What is the goal? What RESULTS do I want to see in 90 days?

KNOWING the answers to those questions allow you to create a step by step PLAN OF ACTION which keeps you focused, and prevents you from flitting to the next thing. IF your results you want are BIG enough, and you know they will be a game changer in your life, you will keep your nose to the grindstone and at the end of the time, you'll have a very SOLID foundation on which to build.

gjabiz

PS. Many Warriors might be envious of someone having 5 hours a day, BUT, these same people have an hour, and in that hour, with a PLAN they could reach the same rooftop in ONE year.

And there is PLENTY of evidence here that many Warriors have spent a year FLOUNDERING and flopping around like a fish out of water. AND have spent BooKoo Bux $$$$$$ instead of spending the time to learn and become proficient at a lifetime value skill, such as copywriting.

Remember to take regular breaks,
exercise, breathe deeply, sigh,
and apply yourself again.

Stephen

P.S. Read the Robert Collier
Letter book at least twice,
and Ogilvy on Advertising
several times more during
your studies.

I think feedback is a very important part of a skill-developing process, so I'd certainly post your fictitious-product sales letters on this forum or others to get it looked at.

- Sammy

Print out as many WSO sales letters here (especially the ones where you've purchased the product). Study them and you would get a feel for how a good sales letter is crafted. Study the headlines, how they agitate the problem, then offer a solution followed by a strong call to action.

There are tons of great sales letters here that are proven to sell.

Look at 43folders.com, has some good suggestions for writing. But I think the only thing that matters is WRITING. And then putting it out somewhere where it can be judged. And while it's being judged, WRITE. And continue this. On and on.

Best thing i would suggest is build a swipe file of some of the best sales letters online and offline. John Carlton has some free things out there as well as Dan Kennedy. Both are excellent. I've got Dan's Ultimate sales letter book and its a great read on the mechanics of a high converting sales letter. Of course, there are many other great copywriters, but i just listed my top two.

Get a client, or make a product and start doing your own DM.

Aside from doing cold calling and door-to-door (Rick's idea - golden)... The best and ONLY best way to learn copywriting is to write copy.

But let me be very, brutally honest -

Five hours per day is chump change. Especially when you're starting out. My first year or so in this business was 365 days worth of 16-20 hour days, working and building the business I was working on.

You don't really have a choice - if you're working in any worthwhile market, you're up against writers with much more experience than you. So get your experience quickly. Write your sales letters.

One thousand words per day is chump change. If I'm productive for 2 hours, I've got around 3k under my belt. Good days range upwards of 15k words of final copy.

ON TOP of your 5 hour writing days, you should add two to three hours of STUDY per night.

If you're not dedicated to this field, you will see slow results. If you see any results at all.

Welcome to the honest truth - To write, you must write.

- HR

I also used to be in face to face sales. It's a very good way to learn how to translate those same skills into print.

And like Rick said, it's not all about hype, and "power words". Heck try telemarketing for kicks if you have to.

I also recommend people pick up a copy of "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie. It was the stepping stone into my sales career.

- Dean

Read everything: novels, trash, tabloids, science, magazines. In other words, get out of the narrowness of "copywriting" and see how writers actually write.
Secondly, practice. This is on your list already, so good. It's simplistic, but no one ever got good at any talent without practicing it.
Thirdly (and this is vital, not to be dismissed), get a hold of E.B. White's classic essay, "The Elements of Style." It remains the shortest, clearest and best tutorial for effective writing. I'm sure it's available online, or any librarian would be happy to guide you to a copy.
Copywriting is a function of writing first.

AshleyAA has a massive idea there that helped me out.
Check out gary halberts stuff and write it out by hand. Once you do this, will be a lot easier to get into the minds of peoples psychology.

Also study books by Robert Greene.
I came to a pretty intense realism recently about copywriting and psychology which was induced through his books, the 48 laws of power, the art of seduction, the 50th law and the 33 strategies of war.

Go through letters, books, movies, novels and mainly raise your own awareness!
Watch what people do in the street as you walk by and make a story in your mind.

Has anyone read "The Kybalion"?

It's a very good book on hermeticism and deals with energy, vibration, "duality", and a lot of other stuff. Haven't quite got to the end nor completely comprehended everything in it, but I have to say it's taken my level of thought to much freer level.

I think it's about 100 years old now. The Kybalion claims to find it's owner when he or she is ready... Very interesting concept.

"The 'All' is mind"



— The Kybalion.

- Dean

The Kybalion?! Wow! Nicely done, Dean! Haven't EVER heard that Three Initiates classic suggested here on the forum. (And shame on me for not having done so.)

Since we're on the topic, how about Franz Bardon's trilogy (especially the first and third; the second's pretty picayune)? His breathing techniques alone could revolutionize one's attitudes, if probably applied.

If i had 5 hours a day, i would go to clickbank and start rewriting every copy page that i can lay my hands on. One thing is sure, there is no day that will go by without my becoming better at copywriting. You will find the flaws of other copies, those are the ones to ignore while you build on the strengths. As the days go by, you will become better than what you were.

if you're going to worry about writing 1000 words a day, a secondary goal should be to get that 1000 down to 500 without losing any meaningful content.

I would buy one of Jason Fladlien's products for sure.

- write 2,000 words a day
- write out the best sales letters you can find and write them out by hand. DO NOT TYPE THEM.
- read copywriting books and take notes: then re-read the books and take more notes
- write sales letters for REAL products

I think you must start with a very well known product. Your car, for example. After that, you will be able to write and to put the most important ideas in a mental list. If you'll follow that list for any product, you will become a good copywriter.

I would suggest writing more than only 1000 words per day. On any normal day I write over 5000 words and sometimes over 10,000 and I know that the more I write the better I become.

Also if you want to learn copywriting check out some of the high converting products on clickbank because they understand what it takes and many of them hire $10,000 a page writers to do this for them.

Here's what you do...

Pick one copywriter that you like.

Make sure you know three things about this copywriter.

1 - You know they get big numbers in terms of conversion rates

2 - You know where their salesletters are located, online or offline

3 - You know they have a course which teaches how to write salesletters

Take their salesletters from "2"... study their copywriting course "3" and try and match each teaching of theirs to the salesletter they wrote.

This will help you make things *click* faster.

And once that *click* happens...hand copy their salesletters at least 1 each day.

Good luck soldier.