My mentor and teacher, Ray Edwards, gave me this cool testimonial:

Thanks, Ray!

One method of learning and practicing your copywriting skills is affiliate marketing.What’s affiliate marketing?

It’s simply the process of selling products for someone else, and taking a share of the sales price.

You can see this in action by typing a popular search term, like “guitar lesson” into Google. When you do this, you will see ads on the right side of the screen. Someone has paid the the placement of each of those ads, and while many use this method to sell their own products, some use it as affiliates.

There are many ways to sell as an affiliate; here’s how a typical setup would work for the products you see advertised on the right side of Google.

If you click on an ad link, the seller is charged for that click. The seller will typically do one of two different things. First, they may send you to a web page where they will sell you on a product they are promoting for someone else, and try to get you to click on a link to a checkout page. Second, the smart ones will send you to a page and try and persuade you to sign up for an email list, and THEN they will sell you on the product via email.

If someone buys through your link, you get paid! You can therefore learn by doing. Just make sure that you understand enough about Google Adwords that you don’t spend too much for the clicks.

Are you a beginning copywriter?

After you start getting copywriting clients, you will eventually be approached by someone who asks you to get creative with the truth in order to sell more “widgets”.

Or maybe you will face the temptation yourself without any outside pressure.

What will you do?

Copywriting is like the accounting field in this respect: if we don’t have integrity, we don’t have anything. You should decide for yourself which lines you will never cross, and then resolve to never cross them.

Many copywriters are upfront about not writing for certain fields or types of products and services. You should do the same. Make sure that when your head hits the pillow, you can be proud of the work you did. You don’t want to regret taking on certain clients later.

The other aspect is a little more slippery. Once copywriters improve their skills, naturally their persuasive skills are finely honed. It goes with the territory. You will find it easier and easier to creatively manipulate the facts in ways that people hardly notice but which have an effect: increased sales or conversions.

Make up your mind that you will never use your skills to take advantage of anyone. Your job is to persuade the prospect to say yes and take action, not to manipulate the facts.

You can write it down and believe it. And your conscience will thank you later.

Copywriters maintain lists of “power words” and “power phrases”.

Certain words and phrases are almost universally known to get attention.

Words like:

FREE

EASY

PRIVATE

SECRETS

You get the idea.

Think about it: what words move YOU to take action, even if that action is merely continuing to read a salesletter or other media? If it works for you, it’s a good chance that they will have the same impact on others.

Power phrases are another essential tool in the copywriter’s toolbox.

Phrases such as:

LISTEN CLOSELY…

NOW, I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING…

LET ME EXPLAIN

Put power phrases in the context of a really good speaker. It could be a motivational speaker or a salesman. Pay attention fo the words they use. If they’re good, they use the right words, either intentionally or because they just instinctively have learned what works.

Newbie copywriters often struggle remembering that advertising and promotion is not about you, or even for the client for whom you are writing copy. It’s ALL about the prospect and customer, their wants, needs and desires. They are not going to buy from you because you need the business, or because you are the “best”, or for any reason other than their own selfish purposes.

So, therefore, focus on what’s in it for them.

Put yourself in the shoes of your target market. What are their hopes, their dreams, their aspirations?

What do they want to accomplish?

What hidden need will be addressed or fulfilled if they purchase your product or service?

Figure that out, and figure out how to communicate that to your prospect, and you will make sales.

WAYY back in the mid-1990’s, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) was all about driving traffic to your site and NOT really about making sales/conversions. Duh! This kind of bad thinking led up to the dot-bomb. Hey, we’re actually supposed to generate a profit!

SEO copywriting is a blend of writing for the search engines AND for your human prospects.

Here’s an analogy from the Yellow Pages.

There are techniques that you can use to increase the chances that a prospect sees your ad first when searching the Yellow Pages for the answer to their problem. Many companies have chosen a company name beginning with “A” for this reason. Or you may have a catchy headline or graphics. That’s the equivalent of SEO, getting eyeballs to view your copy.

Once you have “hooked” your prospect though, your copy must do it’s job of converting. It doesn’t necessarily mean an immediate sale, though in some industries it will (think tooth pain). It may mean a phone call for more information. If you can get your prospect to take some definite step, that’s copywriting in action.

It seems obvious: you can’t expect anyone else to promote your services…you must take the initiative yourself.

Here are tips to get you started:

Insert your website address at the bottom of every email you send, if appropriate.

Post regularly in relevant internet forums, and always put a link to your website in your signature.

Start your own blog, post often, and include a link in your blog back to your regular website.

Offer to do presentations to your local chamber of commerce (or other similar organization) on the topic of business writing or marketing. When talking with local business people, it may be better to talk about yourself as a “marketer” rather than a “copywriter”. Or say what you do: “I help businesses maximize the effectiveness of their advertising investment”.

When appropriate, hand out business cards with your website and/or phone number.

Set up a Google Adwords account and create pay-per-click (PPC) ads to drive traffic to your site. Make sure that you drive the traffic to a page that makes it easy for the prospect to contact you.

Find another professional copywriter or a person in a similar market who is good at self-promotion, and adapt and revise what they do to your individual situation.

If you write copy, either for yourself or for clients, education is a continual process.

You will always be looking for something new, to help you improve your skills.

Most copywriters are continually on the lookout for books and materials to improve their proficiency.

One book that is universally regarded as a “must read” by expert copywriters is:

Breakthrough Advertising, by Eugene Schwartz.
It’s available here:

https://store.bottomlinesecrets.com/blpnet/offers/order_ba.html?sid=hp

Another book mentioned by most copywriters is:

Scientific Advertising, by Claude Hopkins.

His book can be downloaded for free from many different websites. If you buy a print version, as I did, you will most often find an edition that includes another of his books, My Life in Advertising.

One story that Jay Abraham tells about Hopkins is this:

In the 1920’s, Hopkins accepted Schlitz Beer as a client. Schlitz wanted to increase their market share. Hopkins was given a tour of the facility and the multitude of processes the company performed to ensure consistency of taste and cleanliness.

He was floored. He asked the company why they didn’t tell the public about all of the steps taken to ensure quality and purity in their beer. Their reply: “Our processes are similar to every other beer maker.” They felt that they were not unique.

Hopkins let them know that the market would give them “credit” if Schlitz told the story first.

They (Schlitz) did, and they (the market) did.

Just one example of Hopkin’s genius perspective, and there are many.

David Ogilvy, who was one of the most successful and celebrated copywriters of the previous century, is widely quoted as saying that no one should have anything at all to do with writing advertising unless and until they read Scientific Advertising at least seven times.