Let me tell you about this dude I know who I call:
“the swiping man”
His case is really a pathetic one.
Like every copywriter, his ambition is to make a lot of money writing ads. Yet, all he really knows how to do is swipe & steal. In fact, every time he writes an ad, it’s a word-for-word swipe of something (or several somethings) someone else did — as he does what I once heard the great copywriter Peter Stone refer to as “frankenstein” his ads together:
Pull a headline from an ad here.
Copy a story he read from an email there.
Lift content from an article (“they’ll never know…”)
Grab a unique phrase he read from one of my emails over this way. (Lately, I’ve been seeing people copy my stuff so blatantly, you have to wonder if they have a brain of their own at all, or are just pathetic little “benbots”).
And the list goes on.
Anyway, he fancies himself a copywriter.
But he’s really just a copy.
Being an actual writer takes… writing.
Writing your own thoughts.
Your own ideas.
Your own ads.
Your own emails.
Not being a warmed over version of someone else’s leftovers.
The point?
You might get away with swiping for a while. Especially if you sell in a market where there’s simply not a lot of direct marketing going on.
But you’ll probably never make the big sales.
Never be respected by your peers.
And, always be seen as a phony.
So put away the swipe file.
Learn to think for yourself.
And, start writing.
Really writing — not yanking copy from other peoples’ ads, emails, sales letters, articles, and other content.
Otherwise you’ll always be just a copy.
And, never a writer.
And copies are never worth as much as originals, yo?
Anyway, if you want to learn how to write emails that come from your own brain… that produce far more sales than you ever can from swiping and stealing… and be seen as an original voice and thought leader, check out the “Email Players” newsletter.
It shows how to write emails people love too read and buy from.
Without swiping.
Without copying.
And, without looking like a fraud.
Subscription info here:
Ben Settle
