The Truth About Copywriting

Most people are not going to like this. Some of them will probably get downright pissed off. But I wish someone had said this when I was starting out.

The truth is most people have no idea what their doing. The truth is, even the best copywriters in the world have a hard time coming up with any concrete rules.

As Clayton Makepeace said "There are no rules in copywriting"

And its true. Theres no rules. People say do this, do that, but the truth is everyone is following everyone else in a line.

Like a bunch of lambs following the Sheppard. Guy says "This is the way it is" and everyone else says it is too. But you know what? Bencivenga himself said some of his best controls came from going against the rules.

Listen, the real, no B.S. truth is that the only way you are going to get good in copywriting is by understanding human psychology. Thats all copywriting has ever been, one great big psychological push towards a sale.

Its not about this or that, or whatever other rules you hear, its about people. Your selling to living, breathing human beings -- and far too many people forget that.

HUMANIZE your selling efforts. Stop trying to sell to a nameless face and start selling to people. So much of the hype and the b*ll**** in copywriting comes because the copywriter loses touch with his prospect.

He would never say half the things he puts in print to his prospects face.

The truth is for every rule you have ever heard, there is someone who has broken that rule and still pulled in a strong conversion rate. Except perhaps having a call to action, because then you dont know.

Listen the rules are really just guidelines. Dont get so caught up with who said this or who said that. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is your prospect.

THATS who should be teaching you how to write copy. The people you are trying to sell to. There is no higher authority on the earth as to what constitutes good copy than your prospect. They can teach you more than any copywriter ever could.

Why? Because they are the ones your selling to! They can tell you what is BS and what is not, what they want from you and what they dont, your greatest learning tool is in fact, free!

The rules exist because they make it easier to write copy. But its not the only way to write copy. Nor does it always produce the highest response rate.

Mark Joyner is perhaps one of the most no BS people I have ever gotten info from. He cut straight to the chase saying that most people dont really even know their test results. There are so many factors which are often not controlled.

Furthermore, there is so many old rules which arent really all that true. You can double your response rate with better graphics and visuals. Yet people swear by copy. Now, I do have a very strong belief in copy but ive learned so many things OUT OF THE BOX from talking with prospects.

Think back to the time when you first got started in internet marketing. Before you had ever seen a direct mail piece or a salesletter in your life. Think back to when you would click on adwords ads, see a bright, hypey looking page and reach for the back button as fast as humanly possible.

That is how every single one of your prospects thinks. They JUDGE YOU based off of how your page looks. If it looks spammy, shady and like your going to hack into their computer, then they are AFRAID to even stay on your page! never mind give you their credit card number!!!

Remember when you ordered your first product online? Do you remember feeling AFRAID that you might not get it delivered? Or that they would STEAL your credit card?

Yet, so many people lose touch. If you can just get into the minds of your prospects and see things from their perspective, then you can always write great copy. Because YOU know what they want to hear, YOU know what they believe and dont believe, YOU know whether or not they will want to buy or not. YOU know whether they will even bother to stay on the page.

FACT - Most of your visitors stay on your site for less than 10 seconds, and a lot of it probably has to do with how your page looks

So what im saying is, while the rules are useful, dont fall into the trap of thinking it is always one way and never another. There is no universal laws to writing copy, just guidelines. Take them as such.

And try innovating, it can make you a lot of money when all the other copywriters are copying what Schwab did 50 years ago. You will be way ahead of the game. Copywriting EVOLVES and has ALWAYS evolved. It NEVER stays static, so trying to cling onto ancient rules is futile. Principles are great, but dont get deluded into thinking that copy that worked 50 years ago works just as well today. If it did those ads would still be running.

But it doesnt, because the hearts and minds of your prospects change. Which is always and should always be your greatest source of copywriting knowledge.