Process Thread: Learn Copywriting

[leono]

@leono

Do you feel your copywriting skills improving?

To be honest, the skill of copywriting is not what's important. It's nice to have, but it's not important. No, what's important is how my mind has changed! It's totally on a different level; I'm on a different level. I see things that I never saw before. I could sell a paper bag right now because I realize it's not the bag that's important, it's the value it provides: it protects your food from rain, dust and dirty air, it carries your food and a host of other items (your clothes, your books, your cans!) all at once, it stores your most delicate items, so that they don't get crushed.

I've just learned so much! I've learned about persistence, dedication, and time (Dear lord, how we squander time!). I've listened to people's hopes, dreams, doubts, and fears...

But, yes, I do feel my copywriting skills have been improving!

 

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[Simon Ashari]

To be honest, the skill of copywriting is not what's important. It's nice to have, but it's not important. No, what's important is how my mind has changed! It's totally on a different level; I'm on a different level. I see things that I never saw before.

Interesting take on things. It will be interesting if at the end you can write a killer headlline or sales letter. Will be following this closely.

 

[leono]

Done with The Rosengarten Report!

Up next: "REAL" Artisanal Vinegar Club

And the big lesson I learned through this is to break it down! If I'm struggling to complete something, it's too large and needs to be further segmented. I breezed right through it in the end when I figured that out!

My new motto: "There are no large tasks, just a series of small ones..."

And I'm going to finish the next ad, tomorrow, May 6th, 2014.

 

[FionaS]

You're killing it, way to go!

 

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[leono]

The "REAL" Artisanal Vinegar Club and How To Launch Your Own Business are now both done! This marks the end of my Gary Bencivenga ads...! Now, I just have to read two "articles," -- Marketing Bullets(1) and An Interview with Gary Bencivenga(2) -- and I'll be finish with him.

Up next: Marketing Bullets

And my aim to is to read all the Marketing Bullets in one day, tomorrow, May 7th, 2014. Let's see what happens... Go!

 

[leono]

Done! Completed the Marketing Bullets and the interview with Gary Bencivenga by Clayton Makepeace!

And this marks the end of writing ads and reading information from Gary Bencivenga! Yes!

Up next: the copywriter Dan Rosenthal!

So, what I'll do, tomorrow, May 8th, 2014, is:

1. Look for ads by this guy.
2. Come up with a basic plan to get me going.
3. Get going!

After that I'll:

1. Keep going and tweak my plans as needed until I figure out a strategy that'll work for me.
2. Keep on going until I'm done!

 

[leono]

Right... Well, I allowed the "fuzziness" to come into my life again and I didn't start writing the ads yesterday. Instead, I just looked for 'em. And I couldn't find much, but I did find a few, so here they are...

Dan Rosenthal ads:

• Millions of Gold
• Natural Resource Hunter
• Natural Resource Hunter RD

The last ad you have to pay for ($100 a month), and I can't honestly say whether it's worth the price or not. It's too early to tell. So, use your own discretion, and I'll report back at a later date if I feel like it's worth it or not.

Anyway, I also found 2 more ads:

• 2 Reasons Why The Price of Silver May Rise Steeply (Eugene Register Version)
• 2 Reasons Why The Price of Silver May Rise Steeply (The Pittsburgh Press Version)

And I don't know if these 2 were even written by Dan Rosenthal. I looked them up on my own. So, use them at your own discretion. Also, they're pretty much the same word-wise, they just have different layouts. I thought it interesting to see how copywriters experiment and test things out.

Anywho, my plan is to complete these ads by Monday, May 12th, 2014. So, I gots to go!

Peace.

 

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[leono]

First two ads are done!

• Millions of Gold [May 9th, 2014]
  
• Natural Resource Hunter [May 9th, 2014]

Up next: Natural Resource Hunter DR

And I'll finish the Natural Resource Hunter DR today: May 10th, 2014.

 

[leono]

The last 3 ads:

1. Natural Resource Hunter RD
2. 2 Reasons Why The Price of Silver May Rise Steeply (Eugene Guard)
3. 2 Reasons Why The Price of Silver May Rise Steeply (Pittsburgh Press)

are done!

This marks the end writing out by hand ads by Dan Rosenthal!

Up next: Joe E. Kennedy

And what I'll starting tomorrow is:

1. Look for any ads by him
2. Come up with a basic plan to get me going. And then...
3. GO!

2 copywriters done, 10 more to go!

 

[leono]

Now, I could be wrong but I didn't find much of anything for "Joe E. Kennedy." However, I did find information on a John E. Kennedy, so I'm assuming Gary Halbert meant John E. Kennedy. And as for John E. Kennedy, I've been researching him and found some leads ... some details and potential advertisements he may have wrote, but I want to be sure, so I bought 5 books:

• Selling the President
• Lasker Story
• The Man Who Sold America
• Taken at the Flood
• Intensive Advertising + Reason-Why Advertising

And most of these books are about another man, Albert Lasker, but that's where the leads are pointing to, so that's where I'm going. Incidentally, Lasker also worked with (hired) Claude Hopkins, so he may prove to be useful all on his own.

Anyway, so what I'm going to do is write out by hand some other ads I've found by Bencivenga and other well-known advertisers while I wait for these books to arrive. Then, I'll read the books, write down important dates and notes that relate to John E. Kennedy, and then look up ads for him. After that, I'll hand write the ads and continue with this journey of completing the Gary Halbert Challenge...

Alright, let's go... Go!

 

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[leono]

Right, so, I've read the books, learned a lot, and found some ads. Here's what I found (no money):

Let This Machine do your Washing Free. (image of the ad)
Let This Machine do your Washing Free. (the actual copy for the ad)
The Van Camp Tin Can

To Read:

The Book of Advertising Tests
Reason-Why Advertising

Also, I found over a hundred ads for Van Camp's Sterilized Milk (paid)*. So, what I'm thinking is I'll just go ahead and write out by hand all of 'em (excluding redundancies) and then again move on to the next copywriter... Pat Garrard!

Alright, so I have a plan. Now, let's go... Go!

*Keywords (newpapers.com):

Van Camp sterilized milk
1904 to 1906
Indiana
The Indianapolis News

 

[leono]

Completed:

• Let This Machine do your Washing Free. [June 16th, 2014]
• Let This Machine do your Washing Free. [June 16th, 2014]
• The Van Camp Tin Can [June 16th, 2014]

In-progress:

• 126 ads that relate to Van Camp's Sterilized Milk

To Go:

• The Book of Advertising Tests
• Reason-Why Advertising

Thoughts

I've gotten way behind. I've become so unfocused and distracted over the past few weeks that I honestly don't know how many ads I've done or how many ads I still have to go. So to combat this, I'm going to start posting in this thread more often to keep track of everything.

Also, I'm handwriting 3 ads a day. I originally wanted 5, but it caused my hand to hurt too much, so I reduced it down to 3. At 3 a day, it'll take me approximately 2 months to complete this (not taking into consideration all of the ads I've already done, so probably less than two months!).

Alright, so let's do this! 3 ads a day... Go!

Today, June 26th, 2014's Results:

1. 1 November 1905 -- Page 5: This Milk is Safe for Babes
2. 20 September 1906 -- Page 5: Easy to Always Have Rich Milk and Cream
3. 8 April 1905 -- Page 27 [Skipped! Redundant.]
4. 3 October 1905 -- Page 5: Van Camp Creamed Chipped Beef.

Oh, and the "3" ads only count for handwritten ads. Any redundant ads I skip don't go towards the count.

3 ads done! "123" ads to go.

 

[leono]

Today, June 27th, 2014's Progress

1. 20 July 1905 -- Page 5: What Van Camp Cream Will Do [1]
   
2. 2 March 1905 -- Page 5: Skipped! Had nothing to do with Van Camp Sterilized Milk.
3. 17 January 1905 -- Page 5: Skipped! Redundant.
4. 7 March 1905 -- Page 5: Skipped! Already done.
5. 8 March 1906 -- Page 5: Skipped! Already done.
6. 24 January 1905 -- Page 5: Skipped! Already done.
7. 5 July 1906 -- Page 5: Skipped! Already done.
8. 19 January 1905 -- Page 5: Skipped! Already done.
9. 18 April 1905 -- Page 5: Skipped! Already done.
10. 15 April 1905 -- Page 27: Skipped! Already done.
11. 4 October 1906 -- Page 5: Cream of Lima Beans. [2]
12. 27 September 1906 -- Page 5: Skipped! Already done.
13. 7 September 1905 -- Page 5: Van Camp Cream Boiled Custard. [3]

Another 3 ads complete! "109" ads to go.

 

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[leono]

Today, June 28th, 2014's Progress

1. 10 November 1906 -- Page 27: Skipped. Already done!
2. 8 June 1905 -- Page 5: The Cow in the Pantry. [1]
   
3. 19 September 1905 -- Page 5: Skipped! Already done.
4. 5 October 1905 -- Page 5: How Much is Your Milk Bill? [2]
   
5. 20 May 1905 -- Page 27: Skipped! Already done.
6. 22 June 1905 -- Page 5: Skipped! Already done.
7. 18 March 1905 -- Page 27: Van Camp "Cream Cakes" Chocolate-Filled. [3]

3 more ads done! "102" more to go!

 

[leono]

June 29th, 2014's Progress

1. 18 July 1905 - Page 5: Van Camp Chocolate Fudge. [1]
   
2. 13 July 1905 - Page 5: Van Camp Cream Potatoes. [2]
   
3. 5 August 1905 - Page 23: Skipped! Already done.
4. 28 March 1905 - Page 5: Van Camp "Cup" Custard. [3]

The end is in sight! Eyeballing it, I'd say I have about 75% of the ads handwritten.

3 more ads done! "98" more ads to go!

 

[leono]

June 30th, 2014's Progress

1. 25 May 1905 - Page 5: Skipped. Already did!
2. 7 December 1905 - Page 5: Van Camp Cake. [1]
   
3. 22 July 1905 - Page 23: Skipped. Already did.
4. 23 June 1906 - Page 27: Skipped. Already did.
5. 19 May 1906 - Page 27: Where Else Can You Get Such Milk? [2]
6. 28 August 1906 - Page 5: The Ever Ready Cow. [3]
7. 12 December 1905 - Page 5: Van Camp Cream Oyster Stew. [4]

4 ads done today! Only "91" more to go!

 

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[leono]

Progress Today (July 1st, 2014)

Wrote out by hand:

1. 25 July 1905 - Page 5: No. Already done!
   
2. 23 September 1905 - Page 27: Nope. Already did ad!
3. 16 June 1906 - Page 27: Nope. Already did ad!
4. 9 September 1905 - Page 26: No Waste with This Cream. [1]
5. 15 February 1906 - Page 5: The New Way to Milk. [2]
6. 2 October 1906 - Page 5: Nope. Already did ad!
7. 10 April 1906 - Page 9: Nope. Already did ad!
8. 9 May 1905 - Page 5: Nope. Already did ad!
9. 27 May 1905 - Page 27: Nope. Already did ad!
10. 9 December 1905 - Page 27: Nope. Already did ad!
11. 8 September 1906 - Page 22: Van Camp Chocolate Fudge. [3]
12. 16 February 1905 - Page 5: Nope. Already did ad!

Thoughts

I went ahead and counted the remaining ads I have left to do because I was curious and wanted to know. I counted 44 ads. So, I'll just go ahead and round that up to 50, in case if I miscounted anything.

So, at 3 ads a day, I have 17 more days until I complete these ads. That means I'll finish on July 18th, 2014.

So, my goal is to finish by Friday, July 18th, 2014.

Also, my bias for Ready --> Fire --> Aim was reconfirmed today. What happened was as I was comparing the old ads --- the ones I had already written out by hand --- to the new ads I still needed to do, I realized that things would go so much faster if I just had a table of contents. Because then I wouldn't have to keep flipping back and forth to find the ads I needed to compare with the newer ones. All I'd have to do is look at the table of contents, find the page number, and go there! Bypassing a whole lotta work. And it's a "problem" (There are no problems, just opportunities for improvement!) I never even imagined. I only discovered it when I began handwriting the ads aka doing things.

Ready --> Fire --> Aim!

Another thing I realized is it would save me so much more time (I could just begin immediately!) if I sat down and figured out what I needed to do for each day, a day in advance because I waste a so much time doing this in the morning when I could be beginning. I could be handwriting these ads so much sooner if I just spent the time in advance preparing for them, instead of waiting until the next day and spending 30 minutes or longer figuring everything out! You know, scanning the old ads, seeing if they match up with the new ads, if so skip 'em until I find 3 ads I will write out by hand. Plus writing all those details down: which ads I skipped, which ones I'm doing, and so forth. So, it's something I need to start doing!

Opportunities for Improvement

1. Complete a Table of Contents to make scanning for ads easier.
2. Prepare a day in advance so all I have to do (the next day) is begin writing those 3 ads out by hand.

 

[FastlaneTiger]

I think I'm going to do the same thing as you do!

 

[Harti]

Thank you for this thread, I am going to join you.
Harti

 

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[leono]

@FastlaneTiger and @Harti

You should both have some form of accountability. Start a progress thread, talk to a friend, whatever! That way you make progress every day because it'd suck to have to report, "nothing done..."

 

[leono]

Progress Today (July 2nd, 2014)

1. 20 January 1906 - Page 23: Skipped! Already have.
2. 4 March 1905 - Page 27: Skipped! Already have.
3. 22 May 1906 - Page 5: Skipped! Already have.
4. 1 February 1906 - Page 5: Skipped! Already have.
5. 11 February 1905 - Page 5: Van Camp, with "Coffee Jelly." [1]
6. 6 March 1906 - Page 7: Van Camp Creamed Chicken in Chafing Dish. [2]
7. 23 March 1905 - Page 5: Nope! Already have.
8. 6 September 1906 - Page 14: Nope! Already have.
9. 6 February 1906 - Page 5: Nope! Already have.
10. 13 October 1906 - Page 27: Van Camp Graham Rolls. [3]

Thoughts

10 down, 40 to go! And I'm still on track to completing this on July 18th, 2014.

Also, I created that table of contents for myself and it really does help. I'm so much faster now because I don't have to keep flipping back and forth! All I have to do is look up the ad and then go to that page. Now, I just need to keep updating it every morning after I finish so that it stays accurate.

As for the second part: Do prep work a day in advance, I didn't do it. I'm going to need to pencil it in for the evenings because I honestly forgot about it.

Opportunities for Improvement

1. Complete a Table of Contents to make scanning for ads easier.
2. Prepare a day in advance so all I have to do (the next day) is begin writing those 3 ads out by hand.

 

[Harti]

@FastlaneTiger and @Harti

You should both have some form of accountability. Start a progress thread, talk to a friend, whatever! That way you make progress every day because it'd suck to have to report, "nothing done..."

Thanks for the tip, I use http://dontbreakthechain.com to track my progress.

 

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[leono]

Thanks for the tip, I use http://dontbreakthechain.com to track my progress.

Awesome! Now keep it up or don't break the chain!

 

[leono]

Today's Progress (July 3rd, 2014)

1. 30 September 1905 - Page 27: The Cow that Gives Rich Milk. [1]
2. 6 May 1905 - Page 27: Skipped! Already done.
3. 4 September 1906 - Page 5: Van Camp Creamed Finnan Haddie. [2]
4. 11 July 1905 - Page 5: Skipped! Already did.
5. 19 August 1905 - Page 22: Skipped! Already done.
6. 25 October 1906 - Page 5: Skipped. Already done!
7. 23 October 1906 - Page 5: Van Camp Fig or Plum Pudding. [3]

Thoughts

7 down, 33 to go!

Last night I actually did my "prep work" for the first time. And it actually does make things go smoother. I don't need to go looking for ads, I can just start handwriting them. Something about that just makes things go faster and I'm more focused.

Anyway, now my task is to keep doing it. To keep using every evening before I go to bed to figure out (and write down) what I need to do for the next day, so that I don't have to waste resources: time, focus, and energy, on it tomorrow. I can just go.

Also, every morning after I finish handwriting these 3 ads, I need to update my table of contents so that it remains accurate.

So, that's my goal: "maintenance," for now.

Opportunities for Improvement

1. Complete a table of contents to make scanning for ads easier.
2. Prepare a day in advance so all I have to do the next day is begin writing the 3 ads.
3. Maintenance: Keep preparing a day in advance and updating my table of contents.

 

[leono]

Today's Progress (July 4th, 2014)

1. 13 March 1906 - Page 5: Nope! Already have.
2. 27 April 1905 - Page 5: Nope. Already have!
3. 28 November 1905 - Page 11: No. Already have.
4. 18 November 1905 - Page 27: Nope. Already have!
5. 13 February 1906 - Page 5: Nope. Already have!
6. 17 April 1906 - Page 5: Nope. Already have!
7. 28 June 1906 - Page 5: Nope. Already have!
8. 6 November 1906 - Page 5: Nein. Already did!
9. 13 April 1905 - Page 5: Skipped. Already did.
10. 12 January 1905 - Page 5: Negatory. Already completed.
11. 14 October 1905 - Page 27: Nope. Already done.
12. 25 January 1906 - Page 5: No. Already done.
13. 27 June 1905 - Page 5: No. Already have.
14. 6 April 1905 - Page 5: No. Already did.
15. 15 August 1905 - Page 5: Nope. Already have.
16. 3 March 1906 - Page 27: No. Already have.
17. 8 May 1906 - Page 5: Nope. Already have.
18. 2 February 1905 - Page 5: No. Already have.
19. 12 July 1906 - Page 5: The Cow in the Pantry. [1]
    
20. 18 May 1905 - Page 5: Skipped. Already did.
21. 24 August 1905 - Page 5: Skipped. Already did.
22. 5 April 1906 - Page 5: Skipped. Already did.
23. 24 February 1906 - Page 27: No. Already done.
24. 5 May 1906 - Page 31: Nope. Already done.
25. 14 December 1905 - Page 5: No. Already done.
26. 26 May 1906 - Page 27: Nope. Already done!
27. 16 March 1905 - Page 5: No. Already done!

Thoughts

I. Am. Done!

It took me a minute. Okay, a couple of weeks, several weeks, but I am done!

And there were a lot of redundancies throughout that page. But that just goes to show you when something works, it works! Gary Halbert did say good ads get used repeatedly, and I have to say that's just what I saw. I saw the same few ads --- The Cow in the Pantry, The Ever Ready Cow, Germ-Proof Milk, The Doctor says Milk! --- repeated over and over again. I saw them so much I almost thought my eyes were playing with me! I guess it's true: you'll grow bored of your own ads far sooner than the market does!

Also, I hand-wrote 1 ad today: The Cow in the Pantry. After that, I moved on to reading. And I stopped on page 73, Article 8 (Article VIII) of the Book of Advertising Tests.

So, my aim for reading is to complete 60 pages a day that way I can finish The Book of Advertising Tests up in a few days. On Sunday, July 6th, 2014 to be precise. After that I'll move on to reading Reason-Why Advertising. So, my goal for tomorrow is to read pages 73 through 133 of the Book of Advertising Tests!

Opportunities for Improvement

1. Complete a table of contents to make scanning for previous ads easier.
2. Prepare a day in advance so all I have to do the following day is begin handwriting the 3 ads.
3. Keep preparing a day in advance and updating my table of contents.

Tomorrow

• Read pages 73 to 133 of The Book of Advertising Tests.

 

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[leono]

Today's Progress

• Finished The Book of Advertising Tests!

Thought

So, I'm done with The Book of Advertising Tests and now need to move on to reading Reason-Why Advertising. And since it worked before, I'll continue my pace of reading (at least) 60 pages a day. At that pace, it'll take me two days to complete Reason-Why Advertising because it's 76 pages long.

Hmmm...

I know I can finish it tomorrow because it's only an additional 16 pages. So that's what I'll do, I'll finish it tomorrow!

Tomorrow

July 6th, 2014: Read all 76 pages of Reason-Why Advertising.

 

[leono]

Today's Progress (July 6th, 2014)

Started and finished Reason-Why Advertising.

Thoughts

It's kind of bizarre but this marks the end handwriting ads plus reading books by John E. Kennedy. And it's weird because I really don't feel anything; I just feel "normal." Truth be told I didn't know I was finished until I went over what I still needed to do and discovered that there was nothing left!

So, I've completed:

• Let This Machine do your Washing Free. [June 16th, 2014]
• The Van Camp Tin Can [June 17th, 2014]
• 126 Van Camp's Sterilized Milk Ads [June 18th,2014 to July 4th, 2014]
• The Book of Advertising Tests [July 4th, 2014 to July 5th, 2014]
• Reason-Why Advertising [July 6th,2014]

Anywho, up next is Pat Garrard.

And because it worked before, I'll once again:

1. Spend a day looking up and for anything written or otherwise created by him, Pat Garrard.
   
2. Come up a basic strategy to get me started.
3. Go! Get started on handwriting his ads or reading his books.

Tomorrow

July 7th, 2014: Look for information* about Pat Garrard.

* This information can include books, wikipedia articles, ads, cds, dvds... Basically, anything I can use to learn more about him: his style of writing, the lessons he's learned in and from copywriting, etc.

 

[leono]

Today's Progress (July 7th, 2014)

Right, well, my mind is kind of scrambled and all over the place right now because of all the information I found. I learned he was born in Vancouver in 1937 (?). And that he published several magazines including The Capitalist Report and Free Enterprise. Plus, I found his website and several ads that he wrote or at least mention him in some way. Plus, I found books that briefly talk about him here and here. So my mind is just trying to process it all right now, and I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed.

Anyway, so the order I'm going to do this is:

1. How I Helped To Raise $6.3 Million In 7 Weeks -- By Doing Something Almost Everyone Overlooks
2. How Much Would You Risk To Make A TON Of Money?
3. How To Win The Iraq War
4. His Website [14 Results]
5. And Newspaper.com:

• Real Estate Ads Stir Hassle (1)
  
• How To Become Rich With A Simple Idea (2)
• Slightly Starboard (3)
• Opportunity Is All Around You (4)
• Everything Else (The remaining ads I still need to sort through)

Tomorrow

Tomorrow (July 8th, 2014), I'll begin by writing the first ad: How I Helped to Raise $6.3 Million in 7 Weeks.

 

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[leono]

Today's Progress

Completed How I Helped to Raise $6.3 Million in 7 Weeks.

Thoughts

I found another two ads I'm going to write. And I actually found them both on the page. The first one (The Gun Range) was literally in the ad while the second one was in the comments. So, I have added two more ads to my list. And I'm actually going to do the "comment ad" first then The Gun Range one.

Here are the two ads I found:

1. The Comment Ad (Note: It's the tenth comment, of course, by Pat Garrard.)
   
2. The Gun Range

Tomorrow

July 9th, 2014: Write out by hand the Comment Ad. (Remember: It's the tenth comment.)

 

[leono]

Today's Progress (July 9th, 2014)

Completed the "Comment Ad" I found yesterday.

Tomorrow

July 10th, 2014: Write The Gun Range. (The first two pages.)

Since it's 8 pages what I'll do is break it down to 2 pages a day. That way I'll finish it in 4 days or on July 13th, 2014.