What is the Best Copywriting Course?

Banned 16 years ago

Hi,
Yes, it is still good earning as long you are writing for your readers and your peace of mind. It has to be original and interesting to read and act on the message.

There are different types of Copywriting schools - first you need to identify the content that you find confidence to write and makes you satisfied with your work. After deciding this, check which course would be perfect for you!

And the second thought is, most copywriters are great readers! Try to read a lot, to write better!

Regards
Faisal

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BrainCopy

16 years ago

I'm personally a student of John Carlton (through his material of course).
I purchased his "Kick-Ass Copywriting Secrets Of A Marketing Rebel" (which also is Johns most affordable product available at $299.99)

In fact, I just got done reading it right now for the 8th time. His stuff is Golden.

Though, many people would prefer you learn from someone else. People take in information differently than others. It really depends on YOU. How you take in information. Johns material is very upfront. He's a 'very straight to the point' instructor, and really gets his point across.

I can take in information from him a lot better then I could with Dans material or AWAI. Not that the other products don't work... I just find it harder to learn from it.
again, I take in Johns stuff a lot easier... plus he reads it to you, too Haha

Hope this helps.

Best Regards,
Anthony

Thanks
1 reply

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Katharin

16 years ago

Originally Posted by Anthony La Tour

Though, many people would prefer you learn from someone else. People take in information differently than others. It really depends on YOU. How you take in information. Johns material is very upfront. He's a 'very straight to the point' instructor, and really gets his point across.

Very true... it's hard to give a recommendation for something like this because we all learn differently and benefit from different types of teaching. If it can be afforded, I always try at least two courses for things like this. Most of the time they complement each other, and often one covers a lot more extensive details so that I don't miss anything.

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MikeHumphreys

16 years ago

Originally Posted by ConcordeWarrior

What is the best course for learning copywriting without spending a fortune?

What's your definition of a fortune?

Sometimes you can find used copies of the most popular copywriting courses on Ebay for a fraction of their brand new price.

If monies are tight, I'd suggest started with grabbing a few of the most recommended copywriting books instead. There's a sticky thread of them at the top of this forum.

Is copywriting still a good way to earn a living?

Thanks a lot in advance for your comments and ideas.

It depends on how well you write copy and how well you can market yourself and get clients. The copywriters who do both of them well are making serious monies, even in a down economy.

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TheBrain

16 years ago

Hi ConcordeWarrior
I'm enrolled in the AWAI course and I have found it good as far as I've done it! Not keeping up regularly with the lessons. It cost $197.00. It's methodical I can say. Hope you find this useful.
TheBrain

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2 replies

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Rezbi

16 years ago

Originally Posted by TheBrain

Hi ConcordeWarrior
I'm enrolled in the AWAI course and I have found it good as far as I've done it! Not keeping up regularly with the lessons. It cost $197.00. It's methodical I can say. Hope you find this useful.
TheBrain

Even the best course in the world will be useless if you don't bother to do the work involved.

I did the AWAI course and I lost count of the amount of times I copied out those ads. Not just read them.

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1 reply

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brendan301 16 years ago

dan kennedy's stuff is pretty good. i'm a big fan of his.
gary halbert's the best. read the gary halbert letters for more clues.

craig garber's pretty good, i'm not sure if he has a copywriting course out but his sales letters pull like magnets. he was trained by halbert.

personally what i've found that works best for me is reading other successful sales letters and tryin to mimick their tone and style. over time you will be able to see the structure of what the writer's doing.
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Chris1203

16 years ago

Originally Posted by TheBrain

Hi ConcordeWarrior
I'm enrolled in the AWAI course and I have found it good as far as I've done it! Not keeping up regularly with the lessons. It cost $197.00. It's methodical I can say. Hope you find this useful.
TheBrain

I think that I've heard of this course but there are so many courses that offer miracle results that I get confused!

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1 reply

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Anita Ashland 16 years ago

The best part of the AWAI course is the Hall of Fame book of 50 successful direct mail letters. Fortunately you can buy that on Amazon for less than $10. Amazon.com: American Writers & Artists Institute...
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managepro

16 years ago

Hey, Try Ted Nicholas, I have used some of his books, he has a reputation of having sold over 6 Billion Dollars worth of merchandise through his business career .... Thats quite a bit...

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arfasaira

16 years ago

Hiya,

I asked the same question a few weeks ago and a fellow warrior pointed me to this course: http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...heres-how.html

I signed up with Paul Hancox's course and so far I am 5 modules in and its FANTASTIC! Plus you get coaching and what really sold it to me was that he helps you get your first two clients. The assignments build on what you have learnt and are not too overwhelming and in module 5 you get to see a great video on a sales letter.

Another warrior also suggested this Stopwatch Copywriting
This is a steal at $17, and would not cover advanced techniques, but is worth a look to get the basics.

best of luck!
Arfa

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Ross Bowring

16 years ago

The report in my sig is a benefit of your War Room membership.

My guarantee: (adapted for this post from a car dealer in my locality) If you don't learn anything new then I'll kiss your Mother-in-law!

Now, I know some unscrupulous son-in-laws will use the stealth tactics in this report to make wads of cash, and still, they'll call on me to ravish the excruciating bain of their sorry existence.

But so you get the free copywriting help you deserve, I'm prepared to put my supple lips on the line!

--- Ross

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2 replies

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fypnlp

16 years ago

Originally Posted by Ross Bowring

The report in my sig is a benefit of your War Room membership.

My guarantee: (adapted for this post from a car dealer in my locality) If you don't learn anything new then I'll kiss your Mother-in-law!

Now, I know some unscrupulous son-in-laws will use the stealth tactics in this report to make wads of cash, and still, they'll call on me to ravish the excruciating bain of their sorry existence.

But so you get the free copywriting help you deserve, I'm prepared to put my supple lips on the line!

--- Ross

I'll second that

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Lance K

16 years ago

Not sure how I missed that War Room thread. Thanks for the heads up, Ross.

That's one bad ass report. Thanks again for sharing it.

Originally Posted by Ross Bowring

The report in my sig is a benefit of your War Room membership.

My guarantee: (adapted for this post from a car dealer in my locality) If you don't learn anything new then I'll kiss your Mother-in-law!

Now, I know some unscrupulous son-in-laws will use the stealth tactics in this report to make wads of cash, and still, they'll call on me to ravish the excruciating bain of their sorry existence.

But so you get the free copywriting help you deserve, I'm prepared to put my supple lips on the line!

--- Ross

[ 1 ] Thanks
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Ross Bowring 16 years ago

Originally Posted by Lance K

Not sure how I missed that War Room thread. Thanks for the heads up, Ross.

That's one bad ass report. Thanks again for sharing it.

Thanks Lance. Read a lot of your posts over the years. Thank you for taking the time to read the report, and for kindly labeling it "bad ass".

--- Ross
- Thanks
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Nathan Rufus

16 years ago

Hey ConcordeWarrior.

If you're really tight for money I would suggest getting "Web Copy That Sells" by Maria Veloso. Brilliant book and chapter 3 alone is worth the money (once you read that chapter go and watch some informercails and see how those things are literally trying to hypnotise you. You'll start to notice the tactics being used everywhere, Frank Kern is a master at it)

But if you can scrape together any money at all, (...like I'm doing now...) go for John Carlton's Simple Writing System.

Every guru in the industry swears by him and if you go to his blog and just have a read, you'll see exactly why.

He is a genius writer.

Reach new heights,

Nathan

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tylerdrun

16 years ago

Originally Posted by ConcordeWarrior

What is the best course for learning copywriting without spending a fortune?

I once heard about AWAI. Has anybody here used them?

Are there any others?

Is copywriting still a good way to earn a living?

Thanks a lot in advance for your comments and ideas.

I'd say Influence, Mystery Method(Yes... that tells you how to manipulate people and build trust without buyer's remorse), Ultimate Sales Letter.

Thanks
1 reply

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Hyaku_Man 16 years ago

Originally Posted by tylerdrun

I'd say Influence, Mystery Method(Yes... that tells you how to manipulate people and build trust without buyer's remorse),

Mystery Method? Are you serious? Hahaha. That`s a course/method for how to seduce women. It may be influenced by sales persuasion ideas, but you`d be much better off going to the source and studying actual copywriting materials. (Unless you want to learn to pick up girls too)
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Caetano

16 years ago

Hi... Being from Sydney, I recently did a course called Copywriting: Writing for Profit by Bernadette Schwerdt. I thought it was fantastic since it takes you by the hand and teaches you everything you need to know (from the basics upwards) about copywriting. Plus she provides a number of DVD's. I also did the Stopwatch Copywriting course which was unreal. Good luck with it.

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angerewi

16 years ago

Hi there, If you are looking for another copywriting course one that I would suggest is Mike Dillards "The Copywriters Guild" I have just completed it and it was excellent. Good luck with the future

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RickDuris

16 years ago

The course that really inspires me every time I listen is Ken McCarthy's Advanced Copywriting Course. He nails it. There's no fluff or generalities. - Rick Duris

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Rezbi

16 years ago

Originally Posted by RickDuris

The course that really inspires me every time I listen is Ken McCarthy's Advanced Copywriting Course. He nails it. There's no fluff or generalities. - Rick Duris

I've listened to some of his course and I agree.

I'm going to have to get it sometime, but it's a little on the expensive side.

He teaches, from what I gathered, the way Gene Schwartz wrote copy.

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kevinAnderson

16 years ago

AWAI's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting.This copywriting course is headed up by Michael Masterson, one of the most successful copywriters ever. Masterson has sold over $1 billion of products and services using direct-response copywriting, and he's the mastermind who helped grow Early To Rise and Agora Financial into hundreds of millions in annual profits.

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MontelloMarketing

16 years ago

LOL... I took this course. It's not even in the top 10 of best courses.

In fact it's among the worst courses in my opinion... and one of the most expensive at $500.

Originally Posted by kevinAnderson

AWAI's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting.This copywriting course is headed up by Michael Masterson, one of the most successful copywriters ever. Masterson has sold over $1 billion of products and services using direct-response copywriting, and he's the mastermind who helped grow Early To Rise and Agora Financial into hundreds of millions in annual profits.

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Rezbi

16 years ago

Originally Posted by MontelloMarketing

LOL... I took this course. It's not even in the top 10 of best courses.

In fact it's among the worst courses in my opinion... and one of the most expensive at $500.

Really?

I took it when I was starting out and thought it was pretty good.

Maybe it was for a beginner.

Or have I not compared it to enough others?

Although I have to admit, if I was spending that much now, there are definitely a few others I would pick.

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MontelloMarketing

16 years ago

I've found it to be woefully old-fashioned for something that is supposed to be "dynamic" and up to date.

I found nothing in the course that isn't given away in a free report these days. And imo a $12 book like Schwab's "How to write a..." book teaches more.

Even if it's not as bad as my memory is recalling... it's definitely not "the best."

Originally Posted by Rezbi

Really?

I took it when I was starting out and thought it was pretty good.

Maybe it was for a beginner.

Or have I not compared it to enough others?

Although I have to admit, if I was spending that much now, there are definitely a few others I would pick.

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Rezbi

16 years ago

Originally Posted by MontelloMarketing

$12 book like Schwab's "How to write a..."[/B] book teaches more.

Even if it's not as bad as my memory is recalling... it's definitely not "the best."

Well, I would have to say the Schwab book is actually better overall.

What I do like about the AWAI course is it is practical and, IMO, suitable for beginners.

Let's just say, if someone has already bought it, I'd tell them to go ahead and do it, anyway. It didn't do me any harm to go through it.

However, I must admit I didn't just do what they said. Where they would say read it a few times and copy it out three times, I actually copied out the ads so many times I lost count.

I guess that might have been a factor in my work.

And, if they were just considering it, then I would point them in other directions.

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BobV

16 years ago

I agree with anderson56. Copywriting is a dynamic art that constantly changes through time. I cannot recommend a best copywriting course, but I believe that a good supplement to whatever course you will eventually take are some crash courses on advertising as well as Public Relations since embedded in these courses are the foundations of of copy writing.

Also, depending on your purpose, you might consider outsourcing your copywriting needs, this would save you a lot of time and effort to learn copywriting, except if you intend to have copywriting as a career.

Hope this helps.

Bob

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Rezbi

16 years ago

For the most part, the principles of copywriting are static and far from dynamic.

The only time anyone can get away with veering away from the tried and tested is when they've reached a level to allow them to do that.

Anyone who's a beginner, or even intermediate, who insists they don't need the rules - or can break them - needs to show me some proof of their controls.

Then I'll believe them.

There have been too many beginners coming on here lately and insisting on things they have no idea about.

Some examples were the criticisms of works by someone like John Carlton.

I even put up some headlines of pieces by him which were controls for 5+ years and people were still insisting they were rubbish.

The only thing that matters is results. And, unless you have them, you'll never make a believer out of me.

Considering I'm one of the guys who's always defending beginners, you have to wonder that maybe what you're saying is a little out of line.

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Juce

Banned 16 years ago

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AndrewCavanagh

16 years ago

The most important thing to do if you want to be a good direct response copywriter is simply to write a lot of sales letters, emails, optin pages, upsell pages etc etc.

The more you write the better you get.

Also start with the basics.

You don't need an expensive course so much as you need to simply use the information already available.

One of the better books I've read is The Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joe Sugarman.

You could also study the sales letters of the most successful copywriters in history by going to hardtofindads.com (its free).

And check out the free resources you can get at
thegaryhalbertletter.com and thetotalpackage.com

There is more than enough information between those resources to guide you towards being an exceptional copywriter.

But as I said at the start of this post writing a LOT is the real key to gaining basic mastery of this skill.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

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Rod Cortez

16 years ago

I've got a ton of copy writing courses, both on my hard drive an on my book shelf. In terms of pure value, it's hard to beat this one: Make Your Words Sell! (not an affiliate link).

Joe does a great job of explaining the basics and how to easily make your copywriting more powerful and compelling.

RoD

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Lance K

16 years ago

Originally Posted by Rod Cortez

I've got a ton of copy writing courses, both on my hard drive an on my book shelf. In terms of pure value, it's hard to beat this one: Make Your Words Sell! (not an affiliate link).

Joe does a great job of explaining the basics and how to easily make your copywriting more powerful and compelling.

RoD

So what?

I bought that one years ago. I see it's free now. Well worth a read.

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seoweb2000

16 years ago

Dan kennedy- his audio course is really good. Almost all of the big IM guru refers to him as the copy guy, some even quote him. I would recommend him for online and off line marketing

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victorezeakum

16 years ago

Dan kennedy is on of the best. But visit amazon and find more. There are many of them in the market

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Art Of War Marketing

16 years ago

The Copy Writter's Hand Book by Bob Bly

This is a book for everyone who writes or approves copy: copywriters, account executives, creative directors, freelance writers, advertising managers . . . specially entrepreneurs and brand managers. It reveals dozens of copywriting techniques that can help you write ads, commercials, and direct mail that are clear, persuasive, and get more attention and sell more products. It includes all new essential information for mastering copywriting in the Internet era, including advice on Web and e-mail based copywriting, multimedia presentations, and Internet research and source documentation, as well as updated resources. I've read it a number of times and highly recommend it

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Loren Woirhaye

16 years ago

You ultimately have to teach yourself how to write
copy.... and a lot of writing good copy is a result of
working on being a better writer.

Not that copywriting isn't specialized, but it's part
of the larger craft of writing, which most good writers
will tell you requires a lot of dedication.

Read. A lot. And widely.

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thriftgirl62 16 years ago

The RITZ (John Ritskowitz) The CopyWriters ToolKit

New version released last month - He answers his own emails too.

---Raydai You're Ray Edwards? I've heard of you or is there 2 of you?? Why am I picturing someone different? If you are the Rey Edwards I think you are --

then I'm adding "Ray Edwards" to my recommendation!

And you are right - accountability is what people are used to, trained to get a job and report to the boss and play when he's away. Doing the right thing when nobody is looking is tough to do unless it's a big thing.
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Raydal

16 years ago

Except you are a real motivated learner the problem I find with
most courses is that they lack personal feedback. Obviously
it takes a lot of time for an instructor to look at students
work and give suggestions on how to improve their copy.

Some people are good at teaching themselves and others
need some pressure to keep them disciplined. This is a
big question you must ask yourself before you choose
any course.

-Ray Edwards

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anions

16 years ago

I second John Carlton.

1. Get his kickass ebook

2. Get John's and Gary Halbert's swipe file. And really study them. And swipe from them.

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Webwriter777

16 years ago

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angiecolee

14 years ago

I second RayDal. It's important to know yourself and your style before you make a choice.

Are you great at teaching yourself things, or do you need an instructor to lead you step-by-step and critique your efforts in order to learn?

Do you need something that speaks subtlety and uses lots of explanations and rationale? Or do you need something that is in your face calling you a dumbass (not that I'm suggesting any of these books/courses do that!)?

Do you have a limited budget, or is the sky the limit?

For the people who have contacted me asking for recommendations, I've told them I enjoy Bob Bly and Peter Bowerman. I'm still working my way through other expert copywriters, but I enjoy both of their styles. Their words speak to me in a way I get. Other copywriters and their courses may not have the same effect.

In short, if you're interested in self-teaching, research some of the most influential and successful copywriters and then start reading their stuff - much of it you can find online for free at their websites. Once you find someone whose style makes sense to you and helps you "get it", go get their books/courses and start studying.

Good luck!

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What is the Best Copywriting Course?

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