How to Write Better Copy In 5 Minutes Flat

My biggest realisation this year? Copywriting sells products.

My first launch, whilst it felt like a huge success, was actually perhaps 50% of what I could have achieved if I knew the power of good copy writing.

Don't be like me, learn the basics. Here are my six faves:

1. Lesson 1: The ‘oooo’ factor

In a noisy marketplace, there is no room for boring. You must go for remarkability. Ask yourself, what is it about your product that makes you go (and therefore other people go): ‘oooo’?

‘H.P. Crowell, of ‘The Quaker Oats Company’ was struggling to sell a couple of his products, ‘Puffed Rice’ and ‘Wheatberries’. Every expert advised him to drop the products from his catalogue as selling them would be infeasible. Crowell finally approached Claude C. Hopkins.

Hopkins did a detailed research. He was looking for some remarkability that could be used to promote the product…

During research, Hopkins learnt how Professor Anderson accidentally discovered ‘puffed’ grains…He was ‘astonished’ to see grains being shot from the guns while making puffed grains. And then… the ‘light’ blinked in his mind — The Remarkability — Shot from the gun! — He coined the phrase “Food shot from the gun”. — Shah Mohammed​

Lesson 2: Enter the Customer’s Mind

Wear the shoes of the customer. Step into their mind. Dan Kennedy suggests asking these questions to enter the customer’s mind:

1. ‘What keeps them awake at night, indigestion boiling up their esophagus, eyes open, staring at the ceiling?0
2. What are they afraid of?
3. What are they angry about? Who are they angry at?
4. What are their top three daily frustrations?
5. What trends are occurring and will occur in their business or lives?
6. What do they secretly, ardently desire most?
7. Is there a built-in bias to the way they make decisions? (Example: engineers = exceptionally analytical.)
8. Do they have their own language?
9. Who else is selling something similar to them, and how?
10. Who else has tried selling them something similar, and how has that effort failed?’ — Breakthroughmarketingsecrets​

Lesson 3: The Hero’s Journey

You must take your reader on a journey. Your wins and losses, your hopes and fears. Get vulnerable, be honest, and be real.

Gary Halbert teaches us a masterclass with one of his world-famous sales letters, I wrote an in-depth breakdown here.

Lesson 4: Write quickly

Joseph Sugarman famously says it’s not about draft 1, it’s about the ‘polishing’. It means you should give yourself permission to write quickly, to then edit slowly.

“…The real skill in copywriting is taking that rough draft and polishing it…I often pointed out to my students that if everybody in the class were given the assignment of writing a draft of an ad for a product, the first draft of my ad would quite likely be terrible compared to everybody else’s. It is what I do with the copy after my first draft that really makes the difference.” (p. 24) — Neil Patel​

Lesson 5: Know the Awareness Level

Not all readers are created equal. They are all starting out at different points in their journey. The key? To make sure you understand at what point your reader is so you can address them properly…

‘Schwartz outlines five different stages:

1. Unaware: The prospect doesn’t even know they have a desire or problem.
2. Problem Aware: The prospect realizes that there is something they need fixing.
3. Solution Aware: The prospect learns how they can overcome their problem.
4. Product Aware: The prospect acquaints themselves with the products that offer the solution.
5. Most Aware: The prospect is knowledgeable about the products offered and understands exactly how much it will cost.

By choosing the right stage, it’s much easier to give your reader’s the right amount of information they need to make a buying decision.’ — Nick Waghorn​

Lesson 6: Use the 4 U’s rule

‘The ‘4 U’s Formula.’ This copywriting formula stands for ‘Urgent,’ ‘Unique,’ ‘Ultra-specific,’ and ‘Useful.’ ' — Freelance Files​

I also wrote a couple more threads this week about interesting sales letters here and here.