The sad truth about copywriting that can keep you broke...

A few years ago I did a post on here about some of the headlines I've used.

One was "To all the ugly people".

I was slammed for saying I'd used that headline. I got comments like: "You should never go negative". "So and so said...". "Blah, blah, blah". Can't recall if that was one of the posts I had gotten some infractions over or not. Funny thing is the so-called experts that caused me to get the infractions are no longer around. Actually, they've been banned.

The article I used the headline on ended up having over 12 million views and took the cosmetic company to a multi-million dollar payday.

Here's a fact...most of the copywriting courses with all their tips and tricks are just based on writing a good short story.

If you study story writing you'll get a basic understanding of writing good copy.

There's a guy with a book out about having "the big idea". That was actually something that was talked about in books that were written decades ago. His big idea was to bring up the fact of a big idea. I'm 100% in agreement with his idea, but it's something that you'd learn if you were learning how to write a good short story.

Too many times a new copywriter will pay big money and spend hours trying to find all the secrets to writing something that makes people want to buy. The secrets have been around for centuries. It doesn't take money to learn them.

Too many would-be copywriters are sitting around waiting for just the right phrases or sequences to follow. Stop doing that.

There are copywriting courses that tell you a good headline has to have a benefit, etc. There was a guy that built a million-plus following just by doing one-word headlines in full-page ads in the New York Times...and that was before the internet. NYT was never cheap to do one-page ads.

Every single principle you've read about in any copywriting course has been proven to not be the only way. Everything they tell you to do has had someone do the exact opposite and be super successful.

The problem with the "internet age" is that hoards of people have discovered copywriting and marketing and web design and video production and porn and...on and on. Someone who may or may not have ever been successful at any of the above will always have a course telling you how you can do it.

There's a whole business telling you how to do something by people who have never done it. I know this for a fact because I know some who are selling courses on how to succeed and they've never succeeded other than selling courses on how to succeed.

I've been called a troll on here by another guy that is doing VSL's for the health industry now...even though I doubt they're even breaking even with the ads they're running.

I've never sold anything on here and never intend to. Everything I post is to help those that are copywriters or plan on being one. Plus, I doubt anyone on here could afford my fees haha. And no, if you ask, I will politely turn you down because I'm semi-retired and don't need the income.

Here's what I tell new copywriters that ask for advice:

First...have you ever walked into a business and looked around and found something that blows your mind? Something you didn't think they offered? That's the stuff that only research will find. Research and research until you're exhausted.

Second thing to do...decide what emotion you want to use. I could write a whole post on this...but decide what emotion your would-be customers are going to feel when you tell them the news. You should always have some news. People love news.

Then tell the story of your offer. No hard sell required. Just the news.

Whatever you're selling, make sure you have something that is new. Something that will make people think that they've tried the other stuff and now here is something different.

If you're just selling the same old thing as everyone else then you'll fail.

Everybody has seen a million ads. They've seen a million offers. They're looking for something new that will solve their problems. They've tried everything else.

The sad news is not everyone will be a copywriter. Not everyone will be an artist. I've watched videos on Facebook where people can paint the most beautiful pictures...and yet I know I'll never be able to have their skills. It's ok. That's when you learn to outsource your work.

You can be very successful and very wealthy if you just learn to outsource the stuff you're not good at. That's another whole post.

So, back to my headline...if you try to follow all the rules that every course tells you to follow, you'll still be stuck where you are today.

Be yourself. Learn how to tell a good story. Learn how to outsource if you need to.

Would appreciate your feedback and any comments on this post.