Best Copywriting Resource

[livebig]

Hello,

I'm looking for the best resource for learning copywriting skills. If you had to pick just one resource (a book, a course, a DVD, etc.), what would it be?

Time is money, as MJ says, so I want to make sure I'm using my time wisely. Anyone have any advice for resources to send my way? Thanks in advance.

Michael

 

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[NewsletterScott]

Hi Michael,

There is only one free resource that you can access that I recommend to people.

Resource #1: CopyBlogger.com

What are you planning on writing copy for?
-Ads?
-Sales Letters?
-Solo Ads?
-Autoresponder Messages?
-Capture Pages?
-Newspaper Ads? (Lead generators or Long Form Letters?)

As a copywriter myself, I learned how to do it studying the autoresponder messages of many of the guru marketers, and creating a big swipe file of ads that catch my attention.

One thing to keep in mind is that...

When writing copy, how you write what you choose to write, will depend on how you plan to use the copy in the specific medium. You will either write copy for generating leads, or for selling a product. While both of them are similar, you approach each type differently.

One of the best ways to learn how to write copy (The guru's say this all the time) is by taking the big marketing guru's sales letters...and taking the time to write out their sales letters by hand so you get used to writing like that.

I have gone through a couple copywriting courses myself...but nothing has really been that good enough to recommend personally.

I have really learned by testing, seeing what the marketers do, and continually testing and improving what I am doing for myself and my clients.

If you want to talk more about this feel free to send me a direct message.

Scott

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Depends on the product but I found Maria Veloso's Web Copy the Sells

Amazon.com: Web Copy That Sells: The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy That Grabs Their Attention and Compels Them to Buy (9780814413043): Maria Veloso: Books

very useful.

 

[Rick]

For general and very elaborated advice on advertising and copywriting check out David Ogilvy on Amazon.

David Ogilvy was one of the world's most famous copywriters, has invented slogans and campaigns for a lot of big companies/brands (Schweppes, Guiness, Dove etc.) and has inspired many copywriters worldwide.

One of his great ad-titles and my favorite is this: "At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock"

I own and love his book "Confessions of an Advertising Man", but "Ogilvy on Advertising" looks very good, too. (See inside on Amazon)

Cheers.
Rick

 

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[NewsletterScott]

Michael,

As I was looking at my bookshelf yesterday, I noticed a book I also wanted to recommend to you.

The Copywriters Handbook
By: Robert W. Bly

This book is full of helpful information and is a great way to help fine tune your copywriting skills. You will also learn specific things you need to keep in mind as you write copy for yourself or clients.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Best,
Scott

 

[livebig]

Thanks to everyone for the great resources. I am planning on doing some web copy for now, Scott, but I'm really not sure to the full extent of my writing needs at this point. I've got the product basically created now. It's just a matter of selling it.

Michael

 

[NewsletterScott]

Thanks to everyone for the great resources. I am planning on doing some web copy for now, Scott, but I'm really not sure to the full extent of my writing needs at this point. I've got the product basically created now. It's just a matter of selling it.

Michael

Michael,

Before you start "selling it" do you have a specific marketing funnel process in place to automate you selling it where you only have to focus on creating free "front end traffic driving content on the web and in social media" to drive continual automated targeted traffic through the website?

For example, a process that includes
1) Front end free giveaway that builds rapport and trust with the market (you focus on driving all traffic there from all the free videos you make in youtube, the content you write on your blog...etc)
2) A high-converting rapport building autoresponder sequence (this is what they get after downloading the goody)
3) A sales letter that converts when the autoresponder traffic will be sent to it (this is where they are sent after they start receiving the high-value autoresponder messages)

I would recommend that you have this specific marketing funnel process in place from the get go, so you can build a highly targeted e-mail list that may not buy from you the first time you expose them to the product. Once you build rapport and trust with them through the autoresonder messages, then they will be more open to buying your product from the sales letter that you write.

There is always the way to just write a sales letter, and drive traffic to it, but expect to pay more than you make, unless the product is really expensive...because you should only expect a 1-3% conversion rate when sending direct traffic to the sales letter directly to sell the product.

When you build a targeted opt-in list giving away a free goody that adds value to their life, and helps them whether they do business with you or not, you will then be able to sell your product easier because since you have already provided them a good amount of value in their mind they think "So they helped me for free, I can only imagine how good their paid stuff is."

Once they get to that point in their head, it allows you to then position the product you made in a way that helps them solve their problem even more through the autoresponder messages...increasing the conversion rate of your sales letter.

In a sense, the autoresponder messages paired with the giveaway that you create for the market, primes your list to get to know you and trust you before you ever give them a direct offer to buy from you.

I love building systems like this for clients, and have successfully built systems that have a good conversion rate to justify the expense of the marketing they do to drive traffic to download the free goody.

Let me know if you have any questions, or have any copy you would like me to look over before you start driving your traffic. I would be happy to help

-Scott

 

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