With a bit of hard work and determination, even beginning copywriters can be crafting sales letters that convert quite well in a short period of time. Here are a few tips to help you learn the art of good copywriting quickly.
Read Sales Letters for Fun
Make it an obsession and get absorbed in copywriting. Read everything you can about great copy. Read record-breaking ads for fun. Just as an art collector admires art, so a great copywriter admires copy. Read good copy over and over, and absorb all the nuances of what really made it convert.
Why did the writer choose this word instead of that? Why did the headline work? What kind of emotions did the piece of copy invoke? How did the copywriter structure the call to action?
Read both the classic ads (i.e., “They laughed when I sat down at the piano, but when I started to play …”) and high-converting modern ads. Then, take it a step further. Write out winning ads by hand. You will absorb a lot more of what the author was thinking by penning a letter by hand than by just reading it with your eyes.
It may seem to be unnecessary hard work, but almost every world class copywriter today started their career by handwriting past successful ads. If you truly want to become a great copywriter, this kind of training is really required.
Build Your Power Words Vocabulary
Start paying more attention to words and phrases that paint pictures and invoke emotions. These words and phrases are the bread and butter of any good copywriter. Anytime you come across a word, phrase or technique that you might want to use in your own writing, write it down. Keep a file of these words. As the list grows over weeks and months, you will soon have a powerful library of words at your disposal.
Start Writing and Ask for Reviews
As much as you can learn by studying others, the only way you can really learn to write copy is to just start writing. Write your first piece of copy. If you are working at a small company or website, see if you can get them to split test your piece. If you are a freelancer, see if you can find a free client or two to start with.
Ask for reviews from other copywriters. Sign up to different copywriting and marketing forums to meet other copywriters to compare notes with. Finally, look at your actual results from live sales letters. Were they what you would have expected? Why or why not?
Learning to Write Great Copy
Learning to be a great copywriter isn’t easy, but it is incredibly rewarding. Start studying successful past letters, build your vocabulary and get writing. You will have both successes and failures; study both. Figure out what is working and what is not in your writing and move forward from there.
