Do Big Dogs Write Their Copy?

19 replies
Hey Warriors.

Do most big time marketers still write their own copy? This is something really expensive and hard to outsource yet the most important part.

Do guys like Mike Filsaime write their copy?
#big #copy #dogs #write
  • Profile picture of the author Dan Ambrose
    I highly doubt it?

    Why bother when you can afford to pay someone better at it than you to do it for you?
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    • Profile picture of the author Jason Fenty
      No. Far too time consuming + there are people that are SPECIALIZED in Copy. Well known marketers just hire them.
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      • Profile picture of the author myob
        Oh hell no! I have a 3 copywriters that do all my advertising in house. Advertising is something you should never do yourself. Either outsource it to the pros or hire some good copywriters to work for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
    Sometimes even the well-known copywriting experts outsource it into other capable hands. (Though they won't make that known publicly.)

    Just go to some of the bigger copywriter's sites (like Michel Fortin) and look at their portfolios. There you'll see plenty of "big dog's" names you'll recognize. Or follow the copywriter's forums, and you'll see discussions about who's writing whose copy.

    Cheers,
    Becky
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Ambrose
    Originally Posted by honestbizpro View Post

    I think what you need to do is Spill your guts out from the heart into sales copy....then let a Pro take over from there.
    I agree - you need to make some sort of effort and allow the experts to tweak it.

    You will end up saving money on the copy and you will still give the experts a better example of what you're looking for.

    Daniel
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
    I have two dogs, and neither of them write very well at all. In fact, the bigger of the two dogs consistently ends many of his sentences with a preposition.
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    • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
      Originally Posted by faxinator View Post

      In fact, the bigger of the two dogs consistently ends many of his sentences with a preposition.
      I wonder why he does that for? The next time you go to a copywriting workshop, tell him to come with.
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    • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
      Originally Posted by faxinator View Post

      I have two dogs, and neither of them write very well at all. In fact, the bigger of the two dogs consistently ends many of his sentences with a preposition.
      Whereas the marketing big dogs usually end their sentences with a proposition



      Frank
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Originally Posted by faxinator View Post

      I have two dogs, and neither of them write very well at all. In fact, the bigger of the two dogs consistently ends many of his sentences with a preposition.
      So, do sleeping big dogs lie? Or is it just hype throughout?
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  • Profile picture of the author J. Barry Mandel
    Sure some of them do write their own copy.

    But, by and large it is sent out to be worked on by a pro.

    Why risk losing sales by doing it oneself if you are not highly proficient in writing copy anyway?
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeHumphreys
    Originally Posted by Brian McElroy View Post

    You would be surprised how involved big-name marketers are
    in their sales copy.

    Most hire a copywriter, both to save time and also to have a
    specialist working on it.

    But NO ONE knows your market better than the list owner/
    product creator.

    When it comes to the most important aspect of copy, the
    the emotional impact that a great sales letter has on its
    target market, great marketers take an active role.

    -Brian
    Brian hit it dead-on. Having written copy for a number of high six-figure or 7 figure marketers, each one of them was pretty active in the process. I never had an issue getting my questions answered and any additional information I asked for was delivered promptly.

    Some of them are fairly good at writing their own copy... but not at the level of a professional copywriter.

    99% of them were quite enjoyable to work with.

    To answer an earlier question, yes, John Reese likes to write his own copy. He wrote the sales letters for Traffic Secrets 2 and his latest Reese Report offering. They are okay... I could point out a number of holes or issues with them but that would be going off on a tangent.

    In the case of TS2, he had a killer offer to a highly frenzied group of previous buyers and targeted prospects... it's a great example why nailing the right offer, to the right prospects will trump the quality of the sales copy most times.

    That said, John's emails -- especially his affiilate promoting ones -- are some of the best ones you could subscribe to. True swipe file gold.

    Hope that helps,

    Mike
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  • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
    John Reese talked a bit about how important it was to him to learn
    to do it himself. It has been a few years since I've subscribed to
    any emails but I do remember a couple of his where it was obvious
    how important he thought it was to learn copy writing.

    In one of them he mentioned an important step for him. (Just
    approximately, from memory.) Go through the copy and eliminate
    every word you can, and pay particular attention to the word 'that.'

    I really appreciated that approach, the fluff gets buried and the art
    survives. Good man!

    He did have someone else do some of the sales page for some of his
    launches, so he didn't do it all himself.
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    • Profile picture of the author zapseo
      Filsaime has done both.

      He talks about writing the copy, I believe, for Butterfly Marketing.

      But he's also had copywriters on staff.

      Brunson has a fulltime copywriter on staff (or at least he did) -- but I'm sure Russell can write out some fine copy.

      Most of the big marketers I know of have definitely spent some time studying and writing copy, even if they hire it out at this point.

      Live JoyFully!

      Judy Kettenhofen, Profit Strategist/Copywriter
      NextDay Copy
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  • Profile picture of the author Desmon G
    I think most of them hire a pro, because the big dogs are busy planning the launch part.
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  • Profile picture of the author Christie Love
    Originally Posted by JJOrana View Post

    Hey Warriors.

    Do most big time marketers still write their own copy? This is something really expensive and hard to outsource yet the most important part.

    Do guys like Mike Filsaime write their copy?
    Simply... no big time marketers don't write their own copy. They hire someone like me to do it for them.
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  • Profile picture of the author OMI
    You don't have to be a "Big Time" marketer either. I'm not a guru or a millionaire (yet), but I outsource my sales copy and feel it's a great investment. I save time so I can concentrate on my product. All I need is a "base" to start. I normally edit the sales copy my copywriter sends me since I know my product and the market I'm selling to.

    Bottom line...if you suck at something, you should outsource it.
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