Really, is GREAT Copywriting a gift or something that can be learned?

If you've got fire in your belly...

If you've got the passion...

If you've got the desire...

If you've got confidence in your abilities...

...and lots of self belief...

If you've got oodles of enthusiasm...

If you ooze marketing knowledge...

If you love psychology...

...and human behavior...

If you're willing to dedicate a hell of a lot of your time to learning...

...and practicing the copywriting craft constantly...

If you've got persistence...

If you've got tenacity...

If you can listen to others...

...and don't mind putting yourself in other peoples shoes...

If you're inquisitive about the world around you...

...and have by nature a huge amount of curiosity...

If you love communication via the written word...

If you love people...

If marketing is in your blood...

If you love the acrobatics of the English language...

...and you have an insatiable appetite for new knowledge...

If information overload is not a problem for you...

If you never suffer from writers block...

If you love storytelling...

If you love selling...

Anything is possible.

Smoking hot,


Mark Andrews

......and that's just the beginning but well said Mark!

You can definitely learn. But, it takes a lot of discipline to learn without having a polished, professional mentor to guide you. You either write, post and test constantly -- or have constant feedback from people who know what they're talking about -- and be able to make the necessary changes, then test again to see if you're going in the right direction.

Nothing beats working for a top-notch copywriter and taking their criticism/abuse on a daily basis as a learning tool.

I believe it is both a gift and something that can be learned. Some people are naturals and just do it. Others have to learn by followed the naturals...just keep doing it and practicing it and reading copywrite from skilled people--your skills get better and better.

Both.

There are natural skills that make someone more likely to succeed at copywriting.

But even if you're not a "natural," you can still succeed... Just takes more effort.

Millions Of Talented People Waste Their Talent Each Day By Taking Wrong Decisions.
Millions Of Hard-Working People Make Fortunes By Making Smart Decisions And Backing Them Up With Perseverance!

Some people seem to have a flare for languages and that's the only talent there is to copywriting. The rest seems to be loads of practice, hard work, perseverance and smart decisions.

practice practice and practice makes you master in copy writing

In the words of novelist Stephen King, the way to learn to write well is "to write." Do a lot of it. I'm a firm believer in reading great writers as you develop your own writing style. By what I call "reading osmosis," you'll pick up their cadences, vocabulary and great thoughts.

Along the lines of the OP, what is the difference between someone with outstanding street smarts, and an outstanding copywriter?

Are street smarts learned ... or do they get beat into a person .

Marvin

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.

I would say that time is probably the single most important determining factor in achieving mastery of any skill.

I believe it has been well documented that the top performing athletes, musicians and people in any other vocation have one thing in common. They have all put in thousands upon thousands of hours of time to achieve this uncommon level of competence. Perhaps it is only uncommon not due to their talent, but merely due to the fact that it is rare for any individual to put as much time into a sport or endeavor as these peak performers have and are willing to continue to do.

My opinion, it is a skill and a craft. If you hate writing then you will never achieve Greatness.
When someone beats Halberts record then they have achieved Copy God.

Copywriting is not a gift it could be learned. It's all about practice and there is a formula for it so if you keep on practicing writing copy you will be good at it.