3 Easy Steps To Becoming An Expert Copywriter
The 3 easy steps to becoming an expert copywriter are simpler than you might think. It is a tried-and-true writing practice that anyone can do and they have been used by advertising agencies and marketing experts in all forms of business for years.
Before I get to what the 3 steps are though, let me briefly explain what copywriting means. Simply put, copywriting is the act of writing copy…and copy, is anything that is a written verbal message to market or advertise a product or service. So to summarize in one sentance, copywriting is the act of writing sales or promotional materials to get consumers to buy goods or services.
Copywriting is important for one straight-forward reason, to make sales.
Expert copywriters spend less time copywriting than novices and amateurs do and get higher sales conversion rates for people who see their sales letters or advertisements. In other words, they make more money. It pays to know how to write good copy.
So how do they do it?
It’s really quite simple, many of the experts and good copywriters never went to school for writing copy or have PhDs in psychology and consumer spending. They’ve simply followed the 3 easy steps to becoming an expert copywriter I’ve outlined below:
1. Start reading copy - the first and most crucial step is to get an understanding of what copy is and the best way to do that is to read copy. You can find copy in newspapers, magazines and all over the internet. But be careful though, remember that copy is sales writing, don’t spend your time looking over picture ads or coupons because those are not the right kind of copy. For a good example go to www.reversefunnelexperts.com and look over the page. That’s the kind of copy you need to be looking at.
2. Create a SWIPE file - A swipe file for our purposes is a word document or text file where you start to copy (literally) and paste the headlines, sub-heads, introductions, special offers, closing statements, etc… of copy pages you come across on the internet. This is best done by creating a separate file for each part of a page’s copy…for example, create one file exclusively for storing headlines, one for sub-heads, one for introductions and so on…
The point is to make a database for every part of a copy letter. You then use the database you create as a reference for your own ideas and copywriting. Let me be clear though, that you do not just copy and paste other peoples words and use them as your own! That is not what a swipe files is for. Once you do create a swipe file and use it ethically, you save yourself tons of time creating copy and learn to recognize what good copy is all about.
3. Practice writing copy-So far you haven’t had to do much work except browse the internet, read a little, and copy and paste what you find…see its easy! Now for the hard part that you’ve made simple already by creating a swipe file. You’ve taken advantage of the fact that people have already done the work for you, this is what I call leverage.
No need to re-invent the wheel, your just following in the footsteps of what expert copywriters have been doing for years! Now just piece together a sales letter using your swipe file as a reference and…wala! You’re on your way to becoming and expert copywriter the same way the experts started.
Don’t be nervous about your letter being perfect, no letters ever are! Just start practicing and makes lots of them, follow the 3 easy steps to becoming an expert copywriter and you will be in no time!
Tags: copywriting, expert copywriter, MLM, Network Marketing, sales, swipe file
