Copy Writing Hints

Years ago, when I first started out as a copywriter, started rewriting the great sales letters in my own handwriting, spending every spare moment reading another piece of sales copy… I found that something strange occurred…

When I was working on a piece of copy, I’d start getting ideas while I was in the shower, lying in bed at night, and basically while I was focusing on things other than writing.

This happened intuitively. But since then, I’ve learned that dozens of other leading copywriters… from Gary Halbert to Joe Sugarman…do exactly the same thing.

They incubate.

What the heck is incubation? Basically, it’s the process of taking a break from your work and doing something pleasurable while your brain sorts the information around and comes up with a solution.

So let’s say you’re writing a sales letter for your business.
The first thing you should do is go over all the material about your subject, ask yourself a series of questions about your business to get your brain ticking.

Questions like: What are the benefits? What are the features?
What’s unique about my product or service?

Think about what you want to write. The angle. The ideas.
Jot down a few headlines and some of the main points you want to cover.

Jot it all down on paper. Visualise the end result you’re aiming for. And then…

Go To The Beach

Or take a shower. Or go and have a cup of coffee, a jog around the block, put on some music. Whatever.

Don’t think about writing copy.

It’s time for your subconscious mind to get busy and come up with a solution. You don’t need to do anything about it.

Of course, you could also switch to another project, and come back to the sales copy once your subconscious mind has had time to sort through the various solutions to your marketing problem.

The point is: get out of your own way and just allow it to happen.

Remember, your mind will take everything you know about your product or service, copywriting, advertising, marketing and psychology and come up with the appropriate solution.

One of the biggest challenges many people have in writing is getting started. So it helps when you’ve got a few sample templates and opening strategies which do the work for you. And that’s what I am going to give you today:

Opening Strategy # 1: The Problem / Aggravation / Solution Formula

This is probably one of the most common approaches used in advertising and it works so well because people are generally more motivated by avoiding pain than gaining pleasure.

In a nutshell, what you do is

a) identify the problem

b) aggravate the problem

c) explain why you can offer the perfect solution. Here’s an example:

Do you suffer from back pain? Do you find it hard to get out of bed in the morning? Are you concerned your back pain could deteriorate even more and you could end up with a permanent and worsening problem in your old age?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, then this could be the most important message you ever read.

Here’s why: My name is Jim Anderson – and in the next few minutes, I’m going to show you a revolutionary new back care service that is going to show you how almost anyone can say goodbye to back pain for good.

Opening Strategy # 2: The Shameless bribe

This strategy works wonders in holding your prospects attention through your entire ad or sales letter. It basically involves “telling them what you’re going to tell them.” Here’s an example:

In the next few minutes, I’m going to show you how to sell your property for 20% more than other homeowners.

Specifically, I’m going to reveal 7 little-known strategies which add thousands of dollars to the value of your home with very little outlay on your part.

Furthermore, I’m going to reveal a simple strategy for selling your home fast… no matter what the state of the economy.

My clients have paid me hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to get access to these secrets. But now you, too, can use them – FREE!

Opening Strategy # 3: The crossroads opening

This is the ulimate pain vs pleasure opening, offering a contrast of what will happen if your reader listens to what you have to say compared to the consequences of ignoring your message. Here’s a sample:

TWO YEARS from now you could be enjoying the sort of lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of. Or you could be running around the rat race… struggling to get by… and wondering why you haven’t had a holiday in years.

The choice is yours.

Ok. So there you have it. There’s no longer an excuse for not putting pen to paper. I have given you three ways to get started right here. So start using them right away.

One of the hardest things many people find about writing an advertisement or sales letter is how to get started…

… when your mind freezes up
… when you simply can’t think properly
… when you just sit there staring into the computer wondering how long it’s gonna take to get the ‘big idea’

So what’s the solution?

One word – write.

That’s right, don’t worry about whether it makes sense. Don’t worry about what other people will think when they read it. Just write.

Start out with…

blah… blah… blah… blah

And go from there. I’m not kidding.

That’s the best way to get the creating juices flowing. You can always come back and edit your copy later.

But the fatal mistake many people make when they write copy is they try and edit and write at the same time.

Don’t do it.

I’ll tell you why. They are two different thought processes. If you work for yourself, you’ll be familiar with the feeling of doing your accounts every month or quarter.

Personally, I hate doing it. I’m a marketing guy, but that’s beside the point.

I want you to imagine how quickly you’d get things done if you spent 5 minutes doing your accounts, and then 5 minutes doing your sales and marketing. Then back for 5 minutes to your accounts. And so on…

It wouldn’t work, would it? Why? Because you’re rotating from one headspace to another and back. Much better to focus on the writing until it’s done and then go back and edit.

So the 2 take away’s from this message are:

1. Just do it. Jump in and let the writing flow.
2. Finish writing first. Then edit.

And when you’re writing…

Don’t worry about whether it makes sense or not
Don’t worry about grammar or spelling
Don’t worry about compliance

Just get those words out on paper.

And certainly don’t wait for a magic bullet of inspiration. If I waited for inspiration every time I wrote, I’d never meet any of my deadlines.

Instead, sit down and follow a little secret I learnt from Eugene Schwartz (one of the greatest copywriters of all time).

Get a timer and set it for 33 minutes and 33 seconds. Focus for that entire period. Then stop writing and take a break.

I believe Eugene recommended this because that’s how long the mind can focus on one thing. It works for me. Test it out for yourself and see if it works for you.

Ok, that’s about it. I’ll leave you one final tip in what has turned out to be an issue about the psychology of writing: play light classical music in the background when you write. Try something like Beethoven, Bach or Vivaldi.

It certainly helps me to get into the swing of things.