Swiping ideas?

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I've just come across a really neat salespage, that I think is really good for my product. I worry that my replicating of this is a bad idea?

Although I don't want to replicate it all, just the top half..

Is this good or bad?
#copywriting #ideas #swiping
  • If it's for a similar product or service... or if the letter is going to the same market... it's a bad idea.

    If it's from a totally different market... with totally different eyeballs seeing it... and you don't get a copywriter who knows the proper (legal) way to swipe it...

    Then it's a VERY BAD idea.

    Swiping (while not in my genes) is a very good way to write good copy... if you know what the hell you're doing.

    If you don't know what you're doing you'll be wasting your time... or worse, getting sued.
    • [1] reply
    • Can you elaborate please.

      I don't plan on swiping any of the words, I will use all of my own words but the same concept..

      I dont know if thats counted as illegal?
      • [1] reply
  • John Anghelache sells a very good product on swiping.

    In it, he shows how to ethically swipe ...

    The Copywriting Crash Course

    Alex
    • [1] reply
    • In theory, not a problem. However, it's usually an advanced copywriting technique to pull off in practice.

      What happens is the letter doesn't pull as well as the swiper thinks it should. And then the inevitable happens. "What would be the problem if I just made it a bit more like the swiped letter." And then a sentence gets lifted. ....

      Fairly soon after, it's a copy & paste fest. And denial it could ever happen in this or that case is fairly common.
  • The problem I see here is that, unless you're already a good copywriter, you probably won't understand the subtleties of why certain things are used the way they are... which is a big part of what we do.

    Just changing a word in a sentence can give a completely different "feel" or "impact".

    Swiping a certain technique, such as the use of scarcity, or the way a story is used, or the general "layout" of the copy might work... after all, that's how we learn; copying others and testing it.

    It's also obvious English is your second language... so if I were you, I wouldn't tackle it (unless the letter you're swiping is in your native tongue and the letter you're WRITING is in your native tongue).

    -Dan

    P.S. This is separate to the legal/ethical issues that others have raised above... I support those posts, just didn't want to repeat them.
    • [1] reply
    • Whatever gives you that idea?

      I speak perfectly fluent English and write perfectly as well, it's just not American English, it's Ireland English hehe

      Although I do see I may be missing flow in some of my posts, but when I'm writing long articles and such, the flow is always there, in fact I aced my English exams, so to say my first language is not that of good english is far from right.
      • [1] reply
  • Haha! I was at a copywriting seminar a while back and people were amazed at how well my English was - I have a Scottish accent... Ye gawd dang crazy yanks!

    My ma told me the best spoken English can be found around the outskirts of Dublin where there's a nice mix of the English and Irish accent. My ma is Irish though, so she probably knows nout

    Colm

    P.S. On a side note, Daniel; re-check your headline at Turbocharge Your Website's Sales With Copy That is Guaranteed to Get Results! Bold impact is really hard to read. I reckon it's putting your conversion on a downer.
    • [1] reply
    • hey!
      Don't want to sidetrack this topic..but seems as i've recently heard the term swiping around here..I've had a question thats bugging me.

      Of many salespages i've come across the design in above link I like the most-many seem to use it.
      Are IM"ers just viewing source copy paste the html css and adding their own copy into it..
      Or is it a template that is purchased somewhere?
      I really like the clean design.

      Does swiping include the salespage design ?
      Maybe i'm worried about nothing.
  • Hey Colm,

    Thanks for the tip! Must have missed that one when I went over everything.

    Appreciated!

    -Dan
  • Hey Design,

    It's a pretty basic template, so I'm sure you could easily make one yourself... even if your HTML skills weren't up to par.

    Personally, a while ago someone wrote some copy for me. The copy wasn't great, but I did like the template.

    As to whether or not people will object to you stealing their designs, I guess it depends on the person. In such a simple page there's crap all to steal, really... but if you want the template, feel free to just file - save page as (Firefox works great as it copies the images, too) and then just delete the text and put your own stuff in.

    Having said that, just because it's okay with ME doesn't mean it's okay with EVERYONE. The best bet is just to email and ask... I'd bet most people would say yes for a basic design like this one. If it's a little more specialized/branded, then they might not be so happy.

    -Dan
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    Swiping ideas?

    I've just come across a really neat salespage, that I think is really good for my product. I worry that my replicating of this is a bad idea? Although I don't want to replicate it all, just the top half..