In the previous session, we looked at three habits of successful copywriters. To summarize, 1) Successful Copywriters read a lot of copy; just like how we learn French by reading French, we also learn the lucrative craft of copywriting by reading the language of copywriting - through salesletters and ads; 2) Successful Copywriters write a lot of copy; through correct practice, you practice correctly; 3) Successful Copywriters understand and connect to their audience; you can almost pitch anything in the world to sound attractive, but does the audience NEED it, and how can you convince them that what you OFFER them corresponds to what the NEED? Three tips reiterated here. Two more today. 4. The Successful Copywriter writes quickly. (Speed = QUALITY) Recently, I was doing a bit of research on speed reading. I like reading books. But I don't have a lot of time to read them. So, the only way around that is to boost my reading speed. Then, the obvious question lies, 'don't you retain less of what you read when you read faster?' It's actually the opposite. I'm sure you'll have experience with this. When learning a foreign language, at first, when we read, we obsess, and thus, obfuscate ourselves over every single grammatical combination and vocabulary mishap we read. But can you read the story, then? Speed infers fluency. When you increase the speed of your reading, so your comprehension goes up. The same's true for writing. How does this work? I won't bother you with the complex neurological mechanisms that takes place in our brain. 1) It's too complex. 2) I don't know myself. But, I'm sure you'll be able to resonate with the experience of writing slowly. The slower you write, the less fluent your phrases become, and it comes out in chunks. There's no coherence, and it just doesn't make a lot of sense. Just don't worry about it! Your job isn't to impress your audience with how many words you know...it's to persuade them to buy (within ethical considerations, of course)! It's not the aureate grandiloquence nor the sesquipedalian verbosity you employ, because oftentimes, you'll find out that most people wouldn't know what you're talking about. The more specialized your vocabulary, the less global its appeal. It's ALL about them, your audience, and how you'd typically relate to them. Think about it for a second. You speak in sentences, n-o-t i-n w-o-r-d-s, right? 5. The Successful Copywriter spends a lot time editing. Leave it up to me, I'd actually call this copy-EDITING, not copywriting. After all, as a master wordsmith yourself, you'd know the number of hours you put into refining your copy into a compelling salesperson. It's 100% true! It's like high school all over again. Remember the times when we had to write the first draft, then a second one, before submitting the final version? Well, ladies and gents, copywriting is very similar. (Yes, though rare, situations do arise when you can allude to old school grammar.) If you think that you can get off writing an awe-inspiring copy on your first go, then editing it for grammatical accuracy, and leave it at that, you're in for a huge mistake. It's like doing a portrait. You know, artists first measure the proportions of who they're drawing, and first sketches a preliminary outline. These are very rough lines, and form a kind of vague, fuzzy shape of the exterior. The second draft is like refinement. Making the lines more bold, adding curves whenever needed, shading the undersides, all the usual regiment to really bring focus and clarity to the shape. Then, after you make sure all the technical bits are okay, you'd move on to decorating the cake with icing, adding patterns to the cake with cream, writing words on it with a contrasting color, adding fruits as decoration...and everything is final. In other words, what's done is done, and that's the end of that. To be frank, it's not just a simple 1-2-3 simple process. You might have to look over it a couple of times, have your friends read it, and write different versions of it with different ideas of the target customer in mind, before choosing one that you deem appropriate for the occasion. And other times, you might hit a streak and write something that's so Outrageously Good that it's ready on its first edit. But it's not about the number of times we write it. It's not about how many mistakes or how many refinements we make along the way. After all, we're writing, not counting. And that wraps it up for this time. In the next round, we're going to have a look at two final habits in the making of a Truly Successful Copywriter. Till then!
Audrey Wyman extends an invitation to fellow wordsmiths to join a 14-day mini course '101 Copywriting Tips' here at www.iMapToRiches.com/Copywriting-Course/. Get a full dose of down to earth, no fluff writing training in its bare essence Try out a tip or two and see what a difference it makes!
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