Top 10 Non-Copywriting Resources For Copywriter

7 replies
The other day I was on the phone with a Big Name copywriter
and we started talking about copy writing books and such.

A funny thing that I've noticed is talking with him and many
other really good copy writers is the books that they often
recommend are not even copy writing books, but rather books
on persuasion, negotiating, and sales.

I've also noticed a big jump in my copy writing ability when
I started to read these other books, because I started to understand
the psychology of what was going on behind the the words.

So with that said...

Here's my top 10 favorite non-copywriting resources for copywriting

1. Influence: the psychology of persuasion by Robert Cialdini
(This is a must read in my opinion)

2. How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie

3. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (Why? Because great
copywriting is about great positioning)

4. Blair Warren's Forbidden Keys To Persuasion

5. Blair Warren's One Sentence Persuasion

6. Persuasion Engineering DVD's by Richard Bandler

7. Mind Control Marketing by Mark Joyner (Kind of forgotten about
but real good)

8. The Power of Persuasion DVD by Robert Cialdini

9. The Secret of Selling Anthing To Anyone by Harry Browne

10. How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success in Selling
by Frank Bettger

So there it is.

Most of these are relatively cheap and can be found on Amazon.

Reading any of the above will make you a better copywriter.

Best,
Mike Marin
#copywriter #noncopywriting #resources #top
  • Profile picture of the author Ken Hoffman
    There's another recent thread that lists the greatest copywriting books. These 10 plus a very long list of others are on there. Also "Positioning" is a better book than the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing book. (IMHO)
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    This one isn't well-known, but very useful. It's focus is
    management to workforce communication within large
    organizations, but it addresses the very big problems
    all "force communicators" (read Herschell Gordon Lewis)
    need to address: to to get your message read and
    understood.

    The book is "Your Attention Please: How to Appeal to Today's Distracted, Disinterested, Disengaged, Disenchanted, and Busy Consumer" by Brown and Davis
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  • Profile picture of the author WPBounce
    Influence is a good read but can get boring because of a lot of dry facts.
    My favorite part was about the law of reciprocity.
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  • Profile picture of the author Micah Medina
    How To Write A Damn Good Novel by James Frey.
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  • Here are a few books I bought about selling with a consulting approach:

    You Can't Teach A Kid To Ride a Bike At a Seminar/ David H. Sandler
    High Probability Selling/ Jacques Werth
    The Trusted Advisor/ David H. Maister

    I learned about these titles from this post:

    The Real Secret To “Closing” Over The Phone. – A money maker for copywriters… a game changer for marketers.

    Check out part 2 here:

    http://marketingclambake.com/2010/09...the-squeakuel/

    And this interview as well:

    http://marketingclambake.com/2010/09...-ross-bowring/
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    Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of perceptions.
    - Jack Trout
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  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    You make a very valid point. Some people think that to be a copywriter or anything, that they only have to focus on those skills. You actually need a broader range of skills to be the best copywriter or whatever it is that you want to be.

    I am a writer and I read books on all sorts of topics, some related and others not really related but that have info that can be useful.

    Thanks for sharing your tips.
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    Cheers, Laurence.
    Writer/Editor/Proofreader.

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  • Profile picture of the author The Copy Nazi
    Banned
    Amazon.com: Extraordinary Popular Delusions and...Amazon.com: Extraordinary Popular Delusions and...
    Charles Mackay's highly recommended Extraordinary Popular Delusions And The Madness Of Crowds was first published in 1841 and studies the psychology of crowds and mass mania throughout history. Mackay included accounts of classic scams, grand-scale madness, and deceptions. Some of these include The Mississippi Scheme that swept France in 1720, The South Sea Bubble that ruined thousands in England at the same time, and The Tulip Mania of Holland when fortunes were made and lost on single tulip bulbs. Other chapters deal with fads and delusions that often sprang from valid ideas and causes -- many of which still have their followers today: alchemy and the philosopher's stone, the prophecies of Nostradamus, the coming of comets and judgment day, the Rosicrucians, and astrology. Extraordinary Popular Delusions And The Madness Of Crowds is an important historical treatise that modern readers will find fascinating, engaging, and shrewd as they see how history repeats itself, but that disastrous pitfalls can be avoided by understanding the cycles and patterns of greed based ignorance plays in promoting and perpetuating group hysteria in the fields of business and finance, politics and superstitions.
    You can download it FREE from the Gutenberg Collection - Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Mackay - Project Gutenberg

    p.s. I sent this to Kern...so if his new "Mind Control" thingy references it you know who to thank.
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