Learn Copywriting in Five Steps

By Darrel Hawes

Whether you are a business owner looking to write better ads, or desire a freelance writing career, learning to write good advertising copy is a worthwhile endeavor. It is a skill that will help you in many aspects of your business.

Some ideas to for you to consider as you are working to become skilled at copywriting:

1. Take a course. Many copywriting courses are available, both by mail order and the internet. Here are some programs to check out: programs by AWAI, Ray Edwards' Web Copywriting Explained, and Breakthrough Copywriting by Michel Fortin and David Garfinkel. There are many excellent courses, but just make sure those teaching actually know what they are talking about.

2. Many have hired a mentor to teach and guide them. It's a major investment in time and money, but is a quite normal choice for someone pursuing a copywriting career. On the other hand, many successful business owners prefer to learn it themselves, and write their own copy.

3. Simply study good marketing and advertising and model successful ads. Any good copywriting does this all the time. Be on the lookout for advertising that emotionally engages you, and do your best to dissect the ad and figure out why it works.

4. Create your own swipe file. It is a collection of advertisements that copywriters study for inspiration and to model their own writing. It's a good idea to save ads out of magazines, newspapers, the web, mail, or anywhere you see them. You can also buy books with hundreds of examples of successful ads.

5. Learn by doing. As with anything in life, we learn best by doing. Ultimately, the only thing that matters in advertising is whether people respond favorably to what we have written. So, look for ways to quickly and inexpensively test the waters. It is relatively easy to test advertising on the internet. You can pick a product to promote as an affiliate and let people know about it via pay per click advertising with Google, MSN, or Yahoo.

There's also Craigslist, eBay, and local classified newspapers.

The most important thing is to keep at it every day. Read good copy, write, and be on the lookout for what works in the marketplace.

About the Author:

If you are looking to get more visitors to your web site, see Darrel Hawes' site for help in getting more visitors, plus generating more leads.