If there is one thing that will make you successful in Internet business, it is copywriting. There are many other skills that are helpful. But, how can you make money if you can't convince somebody to open their wallet and spend their hard earned money on your product or service?
It's a fact that average folksie folks make the best copywriters. They're not extraordinarily talented writers. They're not even extraordinarily smart! They just know people, and the fundamentals of writing a convincing letter. And they know them both inside and out.
Gary Halbert is my hero. He's my shining superman. Made of steel. Impervious to evil. He may never die. Years ago I started reading
his newsletter and took one piece of advice to heart. He instructed me to read books written by the copywriting legends. He instructed me to read ads written by the copywriting legends.
Then... comes the pain.
He instructed me to
reread all those advertising books and take notes.
"Write down every good idea, every important insight, and every nugget of wisdom that is contained in all that material. What this means, my friend, is that by the time you are finished, you should have
hundreds of notes."
He instructed me to copy the ads in their entirerty.
"I want you to sit down and copy them out word-for-word
in your own handwriting. "
"
Do this.
Do it.
Do it."
"If you really want to
know it you've really got to
do it. There are no shortcuts."
"You know, I'm sick to death of people who can't be bothered with the little nitty-gritty details of "hands on" experience. Of people who believe they can know a thing without doing it. Listen: It is possible to be "conversant" with something and not really have any kind of "gut understanding" of it at all. I'm sorry, but no matter what your Mommy and Daddy told you, men can never
really understand the pain of childbirth, priests cannot comprehend the joys of sex, "normies" can never understand alchoholics, and not one speck of true advertising wisdom has ever been written by a PhD."
Read the entire rant here.He further instructed me to keep a swipe file of all the headlines I found in all of these books and letters. He asked me to further extend my headline swipe file with every great headline I could get my hands on.
So, like a humble student of greatness, I didn't argue. I did it. I have copied, by hand, several complete books. Plus, many of the best direct mail pieces. Plus, hundreds and hundreds of headlines. All onto 3x5 cards, stored in boxes next to my desk.
And, it really works.
When I'm preparing to write a sales letter, I break out my notes and rifle through them. I am instantly inspired with the wisdom of the greats.
Anytime I write a headline I rip through my headline swipe file. I modify them to fit my needs and I instantly have 10's of perfect headlines for any application. (Then it's just a matter of narrowing them down to the one I want to use.)
One thing Gary Halbert knew is that great copywriting is not genius. It's hard work. It's burning the midnight oil and being a student of the great copywriters before him.
So, don't think that you can get rich on the Internet easily either. To make money on the net, you have to be good at several things. Copywriting is at the top of the list. And copywriting is not lazy man's work.
I'm going to (at the possible expense of copyright infringement) start posting the relevant snippets that I've copied from some of these books. It is a good exercise to keep it fresh in my mind, and maybe it will help to inspire somebody out there to follow the Halbert way.
Happy writing!
Travis
Labels: copywriting, halbert