What methods do you use to...

I need to practice more patience, because my method probably takes a hell of a lot longer. Yet somehow I convince myself it takes less time...

At any rate, I collect the ads and read them. That's it in a nutshell. I read them again and again. I stop and think about it. Did it speak to me? Did it not? Is that due to me not being the market? Or am I the market and it still doesn't connect? Why is that? What about it worked for others, even if it didn't work for me?

I'd probably be better served by highlighting and writing things out, keeping notes. I'd probably forget a lot less than I do LOL. But for everything I forget, I also manage to remember pretty awesome stuff too.

In short, my method's not really a method. I just read and reread.

I don't really have any recommendations that haven't been hashed out here time and again. I personally gravitate more toward videos or short, snappy copy with an intriguing story moreso than long form.

For those encouraging writing it out for yourselves, does this include typing it?

I'm curious because writing by hand is something I personally couldn't do for any real length of time (old broken bones in my hand).

A lot of the top copywriters will post ads that they think are great or just plain suck. They then go on and give points to each. I study them.

Then, I take all the mail I receive and go over it to see what made me read the sales letter or postcard... what caught my eye, what they can do to improve, etc.

I have a two part question.

1. What method(s) do you use to evaluate and learn from a piece of copy that you consider to be great? (Do you re-write it out or do you just read it and take notes?)

I need to know the details. Was it successful, where it ran, what elements were tested. Most of us have read copy we "considered" to be great, even some of our stuff. But the market said otherwise.

Try to learn from a piece of copy which has/is worked/working. The Denny Hatch stuff is a good start.


2. What pieces of adcopy do you recommend studying and evaluating?

I recommend you study and evaluate copy that is relevant to your goals, your plans and what you want to write on.

Again, my opinion, most of us are not qualified to evaluate copy we THINK is great, so it might be best to study those pieces which worked and have the results to back it up.

When you come across one of the books and the author has put in case studies, then you might want to start with those.

gjabiz

To consider something great it must have made a good Return on Investment. Find winning pieces you like the "voice" of and then copy every word and punctuation mark long hand over and over (at least three times per piece).

Really, you should copy one winning piece long hand a day for the rest of your career.

Anything by John Carlton, Gary Halbert, Gary Bencivenga, Dan Kennedy, Joe Sugarman, David Ogilvy, Robert Collier and Claude Hopkins

P.S. I have a swipe file of winning ads from the top 5 copywriters of all time. If you're interested, I'll give it to you, just send me a PM.

I regularly read the NY Times and while staying on top of current events -- I'm also actively reading for interesting turns of phrase and unique metaphors. I trust that I'm reading good copy because its The Paper of Record, duh.