A Few Links

[Randy Salars]

Hi all;

I'm brand-spanking new to the copywriting area, but have already found a few sites I like.

A wealth of marketing information can be found at Michael Senoff's Hard To Find Audio and a great place to start a swipe file is at his Hard To Find Ads site.

While not free, the Who's Mailing What Archive is also filled with ideas on direct marketing pieces.

Not an online resource per se, I find the Freemind Mind-Mapping software invaluable for all of my work. Great for brainstorming, outlining, bookmarking and more.

I recently picked up a copy of Michael Masterson's Accelerated and Masters Courses in copywriting at a yard sale and these really got me interested in the whole field.

I just started going through them (along with reading some of the late Gary Halbert Letters) and my mind is overflowing with ideas on how to find something to sell and write copy.

And Googles Docs and Spreadsheets seems like a great way to share copy with our clients.

Sure do wish I would have looked into this field before.

[jackforde]

These are great resources... I hope others will add to this list. I'm actually working on an article about all the great online resources for copywriters for next week's "Copywriter's Roundtable" issue. So maybe I'll find something here I could also share, with credit to you guys of course.

Just as an aside, Randy had also asked me what I thought about an often recommended exercise for copywriters-in-training, especially in the AWAI/Masterson course, where you take successful promos and literally copy them out by hand, start to finish.

I think two things:

1) It's gonna make your elbow hurt.

2) It's essential that you do it, no question.

re: #2, here's why...

You can learn plenty about copy by reading up on theory. You can also learn a lot by simply doing it. The more copy you write, the better you'll get. But in between, there are things you can absorb just by having contact with skilled copywriters and great copy.

Now, a lot of us are not -- either by choice or circumstance -- working in close proximity to other copywriters, much less with a personal mentor. So studying the copy is the next best solution. And there's no better way to study it, I'm convinced, to go through it several times, writing it out.

Think about it.

For instance, I play the guitar. The single best way there is to learn a complicated riff? Play it back slowly, note for note, on your own fretboard. And, surprise, not only do you end up knowing the riff but you also learn the little trills, the combinations, the patterns... and start using them yourself, adapted so much that they take on your own signature and eventually become your own.

I also dabble in cartooning, illustration, and painting. I've done it all my life. What's the best way to develop your own style, how to mix colors or crosshatch, or how to make a line "interesting" by varying thickness at just the right places? Take other art you admire and copy it exactly, until you absorb what it is the other person was aiming for.

There's no shame in this. You're not passing it off as your own. You're simply participating in the passing along of knowledge in the same children learn to speak (by imitation) and the rest of us learn just about everything else we do.

All that said, I can sympathize with wondering about the benefits. The things you learn, you don't realize you've learned immediately. It comes back to you later, when you're wondering how to paint yourself out of a copywriting corner of your own creation somewhere down the road.

This might help: If you've been copying out dozens of different promos, narrow the field. Just pick two or three letters you admire (that persuaded you rather than seemed "copy-esque"). Even one letter. And then increase the number of times you copy out that one piece instead of doing a lot of different pieces.

If you REALLY can't stand it, then at least focus on copying the parts that matter most -- the headline and lead (first couple pages), plus the close (the last page or so). And then, at least go through the piece and construct an outline of how it's put together. Compare this to the outlines of the other couple letters you'll look at so you can see the pattern. Just make sure you're using proven strong letters for all your comparisons.

[Randy Salars]

Thanks for the encouragement and advice!

I guess I just have to consider it as the basics and keep at it daily. I do notice something different each time I go through a letter and it helps if I read them aloud about ten times before I start copying. Seems like I am able to pick up a sort of rhythm to the piece.

Sometimes it's like I have the same thoughts or insights the original author of the ad might have had - kind of a weird feeling.

I do understand the purpose of modeling excellence and I guess this is what we are doing when we copy the ads out by hand - even though I might not see immediate results, I could probably become a pretty good copywriter just by copying great ads.

Makes me wonder if the same method would work for some of the great classics, like Plato or Socrates, etc. Would I actually be able to get into their mindsets if I did this? Think I'll give it a try and see what happens.

You've got me hooked :)

[Clay Cotton]

My 2cents for starters:

1. The Authority Black Book - Download this awesome Web2.0 / Power-Blogging / Social-Net resource FREE at http://onward.authoritysiteprofits.com

2. http://www.LindkedIn.com - Connect and use for new-client acquisition - Who knows what possibities will emerge thru LI? (TIP: Connect with brother Clay Cotton first !! ) Also, ask CWN member Frank Girard about "Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn"

3. I'm bulding a little biz-promo-resource-laden, authority site that I'll post here ASAP - Stay tuned, sisters and brothers...

Luv,

/clay cotton
http://onward.authoritysiteprofits.com
http://claycotton.com
"The secret to becoming a millionaire is simply using the right words!" - Ted Nicholas

[Janet M. Atwell]

And Googles Docs and Spreadsheets seems like a great way to share copy with our clients.

It is also a good way to create and not worry about losing your work in the event of a computer crash. I lost an entire book that was all but done and two that were almost complete recently. I use Google Docs a lot now.