Copywriting Learned In Five Steps

By Darrel Hawes

Whether you are a business owner looking to write better ads, or desire a freelance writing career, learning to write good advertising copy is a worthwhile endeavor. It is a skill that will help you in many aspects of your business.

Here are some ideas for you to consider as you are seeking to become better at copywriting.

1. Take a course. Many copywriting courses are available, both by mail order and the internet. Here are some programs to check out: programs by AWAI, Ray Edwards' Web Copywriting Explained, and Breakthrough Copywriting by Michel Fortin and David Garfinkel. There are many excellent courses, but just make sure those teaching actually know what they are talking about.

2. You can hire a mentor to teach and guide you. This is a major investment in time and money, but is a decision many copywriters make. However, this doesn't necessarily have to be the case if you don't want it to be, as many successful business owners have learned the skill of copy on their own.

3. It's a good idea to study good marketing and advertising. All good copywriters do this, and constantly. Check out advertisements that engage you emotionally, and figure out how they work.

4. Build your own swipe file. A swipe file is a collection of ads that copywriters use for inspiration and to model their own ads. You should save ads out of magazines, newspapers, web pages, direct mail, or anywhere else you find them. In addition, you can purchase books with hundreds of examples of effective ads and this can be a very quick and easy way to get access to these examples.

5. Learn by doing. That's the way people have always learned best. A successful advertisement is one people have responded favorably to, so look for way to inexpensively and efficiently test the waters. It is relatively easy to advertise on the internet. You can promote products as an affiliate and inform people of it through pay per click ads with Google, Yahoo, or MSN.

There's also Craigslist, eBay, and local classified newspapers.

Just be sure to keep at it every day. Read, write, and discover what works in the marketplace.

About the Author:

Are you are trying to get more traffic to your website? See Darrel Hawes' site for tips in getting more traffic, plus generating more leads.