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How Long does it take you to write a good copy??

by Geenius
20 replies
Hi all

I'm newbie to the copywriting game...

And ive decided I want to become good at it.

But now, i'm struggling to write my very first sales letter - I literally wanted to draft one up and post it here on the wf-copywriting section for critique.

[Basically its a sales letter promoting a dating advice product for men, ebook, audio & Video course that would be sold off from a blog for about $47]

note: the product doesnt really exist, I just made up the idea so I can literally begin writing a sales letter for it.

But it's taking me sooo long- as of today its been about 10 days and i'm barely passed the halfway point.

I thought i'd be done by end of the week. (im using the AIDA and 12 step salesletter techniques. Also have sales letter templates that i'm trying to use)

Please let me know how long it takes YOU write your good copy.

Also if you have any tips that you use to write good copy FASTER.

I would really appreciate that.

thanx
#copy #good #long #write
  • Profile picture of the author It Should Be Easy
    I'm a terrible copywriter so keep that in mind while reading my advice. But I do think that it takes A LOT of time produce great copy. Not write great copy - that can be done in a day. But to really understand the product or service you are selling you have to let the idea grow in your mind for a long time. I am really not exaggerating when I say that for one of my products it took me a year to get the copy done but then we had a killer angle, knew our customers and had really found the hooks that the customers responded to.
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    • Profile picture of the author Geenius
      Originally Posted by It Should Be Easy View Post

      I'm a terrible copywriter so keep that in mind while reading my advice. But I do think that it takes A LOT of time produce great copy. Not write great copy - that can be done in a day. But to really understand the product or service you are selling you have to let the idea grow in your mind for a long time. I am really not exaggerating when I say that for one of my products it took me a year to get the copy done but then we had a killer angle, knew our customers and had really found the hooks that the customers responded to.
      Thanks for that "It should be easy".

      Your comment makes me feel a bit more sane now
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  • Profile picture of the author ThomasOMalley
    It could take quite some time for you to write "a good copy"...lol.

    I would try another line of work.
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  • Profile picture of the author urban renewal
    Sometimes it will take an incredibly long time.

    Others it will come quickly and the words will just roll off of your fingertips.

    Currently, I've been struggling with a sales page for several days.

    Yet, I also wrote an opt-in bribe and squeeze page several months ago that only took me two hours (~4000 words) and continues to be a proven winner.

    If it takes a long time, let it take a long time. Just don't miss your deadlines

    Hope this helps.
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    -Clayton

    http://www.ClaytonTerao.com

    I'm a conversion consultant who helps you make more money online with your business.

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  • Profile picture of the author Ross Bowring
    I did what you did. I wrote "practice" letters when I was getting started. They would take me weeks and months. And I never even truly finished one. I just had lots of bits and pieces of letters. But it was an important part of developing my writing because it was me trying to apply what I was learning from studying lots of good copywriting books.

    Don't worry how long they take you. Who cares? So long as your writing is progressively improving.

    Get good. Get paid.

    That's the order of things.

    --- Ross
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  • Profile picture of the author hirechrisgunn
    To do quality work, 15-25 minutes of research on the subject if I've never studied it before, 1:15-1:25 writing time and 10-25 minutes of editing. Budget + or - 2 hours. - This is what I would budget for a "chapter" entailing about 1200 words.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jonwebb
    Good copy?? Takes years copy that sells?? Not very long if your selling to a starving crowd.

    Here are some links on crafting wallet opening copy:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...ting-copy.html

    http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...-services.html

    http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...ce-newbie.html

    http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...ting-easy.html

    Good luck my friend

    - Jonathan Webb
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    "How to value a business or Website for purchase"
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    • Profile picture of the author racso316
      I agree on writing your own sales letters for made-up products. You can use those as samples for when you are ready to take clients.

      You can write current sales letters in your niche by hand so you can see the structure they follow. But if you already have a structure, just write. Let it all go. You can edit later.

      In fact, David Ogilvy said:

      12. I am a lousy copywriter, but I am a good editor. So I go to work editing my own draft. After four or five editings, it looks good enough to show to the client. If the client changes the copy, I get angry--because I took a lot of trouble writing it, and what I wrote I wrote on purpose.

      Altogether it is a slow and laborious business. I understand that some copywriters have much greater facility.
      So don't get discourage. Do your research, read niche sales letters, follow your structure and just write as much as you can, then write some more... then edit it afterwards.

      Hope that helps.
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      • Profile picture of the author Enfusia
        Forget about time. Instead focus on the one thing that matters.

        There is only one thing that matters in copywriting and that is results. Everything else is blah, blah, blah.

        One of the best ways to learn to get results is to do it.
        By doing it I mean write a letter and drive PPC at it and tweak it until it converts.
        You'll learn very fast when it's your money paying to test.

        I know this is going to fly in the face of most every copywriter out there but oh well it won't be the 1st time.

        I don't have a swipe file and recommend others dump theirs as well.

        I can hear it now; Oh the heresy, oh he can't be telling the truth everyone has a swipe file, no way dude - your full of it every copywriter has a swipe file. And likely many more.

        But the truth is, no I don't and here's why.

        98% of copywriters can't write copy. They really truly don't know how. Instead they pull out their swipe file and pull the kinda sorta best pieces into a pile and start sorting, blending, merging and rewriting just a little.

        The copy they swiped may not have converted for beans but they don't know that. It may just be copy that other people swipe filed.

        So, they are literally doing their non work from someone else's non work which may not even work at all (at getting sales that is). No wonder their conversions stink.

        What I do with every single piece is sit down and write 100% original copy.

        Does it work?

        Well, the control I just beat was converting at just over 1.6% with over 20k clicks. My copy converted at 12.1% with 20K clicks.

        I never saw the control until after I wrote the letter. But when I did it was obvious I had seen 2 sections before. Remember I said I don't have a swipe file but I NEVER said I don't read copy, sales letters, newsletters etc...

        The client was busting my chops over my fee at first. Now his only question is how fast can I start on his next project.

        I don't say this to brag at all. But to make a point which is: DON'T let swipe files keep you from becoming a great writer. If you over use them you'll never create anything yourself and so never really get good at your craft.

        Don't worry about time, focus on getting results.

        Patrick
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      • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
        How long does it take to construct an irresistable
        offer you can deliver on?

        If you want a winner, build a winning product.

        Writing copy for a dynamite product is far easier
        than writing copy for a dumb, redundant, unnecessary,
        or uninteresting product.

        I'll grant you that some good products are not
        interesting on the surface - even some breakthrough
        products have been. Read Schwartz and Collier
        to learn the basics of how to solve this problem.
        Clayton Makepeace also covers it well in his expansive
        blog archives.

        A lot of internet ebook type things are lame, redundant
        and overpriced products that don't deserve anything
        more than small-time sales. You can still learn from
        writing and launching such products.
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  • Profile picture of the author serryjw
    It used to take me 40 hours with dozens of re-vision of my resume for a sales job...It must have worked, I always got a job offer. Work on getting RESULTS...that is the only thing that counts.
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    • Profile picture of the author Enfusia
      Originally Posted by serryjw View Post

      Work on getting RESULTS...that is the only thing that counts.
      Precisely!
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      Free eBook =>
      The Secret To Success In Any Business
      Yes, Any Business!
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      • Profile picture of the author serryjw
        When it comes to IM, knowing your target audience is vital. I used to laugh when I wrote my resumes. I used the verbiage THEY wanted to hear. NOW that computers READ your resume it is even MORE important.
        Some resume writer found my resume on the internet. She TORE it apart and re-wrote it. She was looking for a sale...WTF? It worked...why fix what is NOT broken.
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        • Profile picture of the author aidacopy
          geenius,

          relax. you're doing great! copywriting is a skill. it takes time. with each new letter you'll get a little better.

          when you get stuck, take a day off and do something else. clear your head. rewrite some sales letters by hand. see what the competition is doing...

          it's like losing weight: if you weigh yourself few times a day you'll drive yourself insane. but if you exercise for 10 days in a row and then weigh yourself, you'll start to see the results. continue doing the same for another one, three, six months... now you're really getting somewhere.

          for now, just focus on what you can do today.

          aida
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  • Profile picture of the author Raydal
    Originally Posted by Geenius View Post

    Hi all

    I'm newbie to the copywriting game...

    And ive decided I want to become good at it.

    But now, i'm struggling to write my very first sales letter -
    This quite normal for about anything you are learning to do--even riding
    a bike. Writing is a discipline. Especially writing with an intention
    to persuade. The important thing is that you would be learning
    and cutting down the time each successive time write a new
    letter.

    -Ray Edwards
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    The most powerful and concentrated copywriting training online today bar none! Autoresponder Writing Email SECRETS
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason_V
    Halbert's famous Family Crest sales letter, even though it was only around 180 words took...

    Wait for it

    It's coming

    Are you ready?

    18 months!

    That letter though was mailed over 600 million times and made Halbert millions. Not only did fulfilling the orders make him millions, he wound up selling the company for millions.

    I just can't even imagine how many times that letter got rewrote over the course of 18 months and to get pared down to a mere ~180 words.

    I think this pretty much hammers home the concept others have been pointing out, the question of "how long it takes to write the copy?" isn't as important of a question as "how long does it take to write a quality results oriented sales letter?"

    At first, you won't really know. You're just going to have to test.

    Halbert by then had a pretty good handle on what he was doing and probably could just "feel" that it was right after his 18 months of working on it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Geenius
    Wow

    Thanks so much for the helpful replies.

    Here's some of the nb points that have stood out for me from your replies:
    -Focus on results by testing my letters vs trying to write 'good copy' in the shortest amount of time

    -Quality results-proven copy is common to have taken awhile, even months to write, and as a beginner getting started practising to write is the most important thing I can do right now

    -Writing out current successful sales letters by hand will give me a good idea & flow of writing winning letters

    -A consistent writing practise schedule will cause me to win over time eg. One letter per day etc

    -Read/Analyse good sales letters but ultimately develop your OWN salesletter writing technique

    -Study the greats eg. Clayton Makepeace, David Ogily, Gary Halbert, Bencivenga etc

    Yeah, let's do this!
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  • Profile picture of the author HVDMarketing
    Some great copywriting advice being shared here, thanks guys.
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  • Profile picture of the author DanteRomero
    It depends on the market (do I already understand it or do I need to do more research? How much more research?), how many successful ads I've had in that market before (Do I need to study other ads before beginning? How many other ads?), If I've written for a similar product before (Again, how many ads do I need to study? How much time do I need to spend studying the product?).

    If the stars align and all those are in order, I can crank out a good letter very quickly. If it's to a new market and I've never touched a product anything like it, it could be significantly longer (if I want it to be good. I could just shoot in the dark... which unfortunately many writers do)
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    "Perfection isn't important. Improvement is."

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    • Profile picture of the author galitsyn
      From my experience, a good copy may come up within a day.. It all depends on inspiration.

      What I usually do is plan my sales letter, carve it up into segments. Then I start filling the segments up. I not necessarily start from the very beginning I may start from the middle. The main idea is to bring it on what is the first on your mind. I don't use to squeeze my thought out. As soon as my inspiration has come to an end I put the copy off and start doing anything else. But I still keep the copy on my desk top in case a stray idea to visit my mind.

      Since I usually sell my own products I use to start a draft of my sales letter as soon as I start working on my new product. In most cases I come up with a final version by the end of the development process.

      However I had some hard time with some of my sales letters and they took me a while..
      One more hint, I usually give my final version to one or two of my mates to raise some criticism. It helps if you used to spend a lot time composing it and may already missed some logic or style
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