Before You Ask For a Critique...
Warriors,
For those of you who are not seasoned copywriters, it can be easy to miss critical stuff in your copy. We've all been there (except Gary Halbert who, legend reports, honed his copywriting skills in the womb).
However, this makes an impact when you ask for a critique. If the "big stuff" isn't in place or hasn't at least been attempted, that's what people will focus on.
This doesn't really help you that much, because to explain exactly how to do even one element of copy successfully is pages and pages of writing, and we just don't have that time. It also means that anyone "lurking" and seeing what others say about the copy misses out on the benefits of specific, actionable examples.
It also probably annoys the actual copywriters a lot, who probably get sick of repeating themselves in every thread and saying "you need a headline" or "you need to focus on benefits".
Now, that's not to say that you shouldn't ask for critiques. They're great for not only you but anyone who comments on them (to refine their own thought processes) and anyone who is just reading along. However, in fairness to everyone (including yourself), please, please, PLEASE do the 100% best job you can BEFORE you ask for a critique.
That means studying copywriting. You don't have to know everything but you should at least have some kind of checklist of the things good letters often include, and how they do those things. Pretty much every "how to write copy" book does this, and there are some amazing ones out there (see this thread - http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...ooks-ever.html - some of my favorites are Paul Myers' "Million Dollar Copy", Bob Serling's "Power Copywriting For the Internet" and others).
If you can't be bothering reading and learning the ten or so books it will probably take you to have a very basic grasp on copywriting, bite the bullet and hire a copywriter. Copywriting is a skill that takes a long time to pick up, and a lot of practise to master, and although there are some AMAZING copywriters here who FREELY give advice (Ray Edwards, Vin Montello etc) I can only assume that they feel a little taken advantage of when someone posts a letter that is such a mess that they can't even think of where to begin taking it apart.
I have seen some real shockers in my time, as we probably all have. I can see when someone has TRIED to at least follow copywriting "rules", and when they haven't, though. The ones where people have done their best, I'm happy to offer whatever help I can, but the ones where they expect others to point out things they could learn had they just cross-referenced a $19 copywriting ebook (and yes, there ARE some AMAZING ones out there for that price), well, I just can't be bothered.
To summarize, if you want to write your own copy, STUDY COPYWRITING. Take at least a damn good hack at creating a good letter. Critiques should be for the things that take experience and an eye for detail, or one critical thing that "slips through the net" - not for a page that lacks every element of good copywriting.
I'm interested to hear people's thoughts on this topic, by the way. Some would think I'm spot on and some would say I'm a moron - what do you think?
-Dan
For those of you who are not seasoned copywriters, it can be easy to miss critical stuff in your copy. We've all been there (except Gary Halbert who, legend reports, honed his copywriting skills in the womb).
However, this makes an impact when you ask for a critique. If the "big stuff" isn't in place or hasn't at least been attempted, that's what people will focus on.
This doesn't really help you that much, because to explain exactly how to do even one element of copy successfully is pages and pages of writing, and we just don't have that time. It also means that anyone "lurking" and seeing what others say about the copy misses out on the benefits of specific, actionable examples.
It also probably annoys the actual copywriters a lot, who probably get sick of repeating themselves in every thread and saying "you need a headline" or "you need to focus on benefits".
Now, that's not to say that you shouldn't ask for critiques. They're great for not only you but anyone who comments on them (to refine their own thought processes) and anyone who is just reading along. However, in fairness to everyone (including yourself), please, please, PLEASE do the 100% best job you can BEFORE you ask for a critique.
That means studying copywriting. You don't have to know everything but you should at least have some kind of checklist of the things good letters often include, and how they do those things. Pretty much every "how to write copy" book does this, and there are some amazing ones out there (see this thread - http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...ooks-ever.html - some of my favorites are Paul Myers' "Million Dollar Copy", Bob Serling's "Power Copywriting For the Internet" and others).
If you can't be bothering reading and learning the ten or so books it will probably take you to have a very basic grasp on copywriting, bite the bullet and hire a copywriter. Copywriting is a skill that takes a long time to pick up, and a lot of practise to master, and although there are some AMAZING copywriters here who FREELY give advice (Ray Edwards, Vin Montello etc) I can only assume that they feel a little taken advantage of when someone posts a letter that is such a mess that they can't even think of where to begin taking it apart.
I have seen some real shockers in my time, as we probably all have. I can see when someone has TRIED to at least follow copywriting "rules", and when they haven't, though. The ones where people have done their best, I'm happy to offer whatever help I can, but the ones where they expect others to point out things they could learn had they just cross-referenced a $19 copywriting ebook (and yes, there ARE some AMAZING ones out there for that price), well, I just can't be bothered.
To summarize, if you want to write your own copy, STUDY COPYWRITING. Take at least a damn good hack at creating a good letter. Critiques should be for the things that take experience and an eye for detail, or one critical thing that "slips through the net" - not for a page that lacks every element of good copywriting.
I'm interested to hear people's thoughts on this topic, by the way. Some would think I'm spot on and some would say I'm a moron - what do you think?
-Dan
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Kevin Lam -
Thanks
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