My last email about being meticulous prompted a question.
Specifically, the part about writing ads out by hand.
Does doing that really work?
And if so, whose stuff do you copy out?
First off, yes, it DOES work.
After a while, you get a feel for the copywriter’s sense of style, pacing (you can only learn pacing by doing it), and methods of structuring a sales pitch.
Yes, it’s tedious.
And yes, your hand WILL likely cramp up.
But it’s well worth it.
As for the second question, whose stuff do you write out?
At first, I partook of them all.
I copied out all the ads I could get my hands on by Gary Halbert, John Carlton, Gary Bencivenga, Scott Haines, Dan Kennedy and others at the top of their game. I also tried my hand (pun) with some of the “vintage” copywriters’ ads too — like Robert Collier, Maxwell Sackheim, Eugene Schwartz and some others I found in a book called, “The 100 Greatest Advertisements.”
Eventually, I focused on studying just one copywriter.
I made that person my “virtual mentor.”
And I did that because his ads were especially appealing to my personality, and they weren’t really a chore to copy out because I enjoyed reading his ads so much anyway.
What’s that?
You want to know whose stuff I focused on studying?
It doesn’t matter.
In fact, I’d rather not even say.
Read all their stuff and pick the copywriter(s) whose style and work resonate with your unique peculiarities.
And then, get ye to work.
Oh, and one more thing:
I do NOT suggest copying us Internet copywriters.
Do this with the old school direct mail copywriters whose ads compete in the Octagon each day against stiff competition where real money (paying for postage and printing and competing for royalties) is on the line.
That’s what separates the men from the boyz.
And you can’t go wrong with them.
Ben Settle
P.S. Time’s running out to get my next Crypto Marketing Newsletter issue, which is all about how to write bullets — one of the single most profitable skillz you can ever possess.
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