If you want to learn how to write copy, here are some tips on copywriting that I learned from watching a bunch of how-to-write videos on YouTube.
I’ve watched a lot of YouTube videos.
Some were productive and some were definitely not.
But one of the productive ones talked about the importance of keeping notes of things that you find educational or valuable or interesting (similar to keeping a commonplace book).
I thought this was interesting because I was constantly forgetting valuable things I heard in videos and had to continually go back to re-watch them and it was a big waste of time.
So, I took the advice and started to write things down. And, over many years of doing this, I have amassed a lot of notes.
And since I found value in them, I think they can be valuable for you too and I want to share some of them with you.
So, for the first edition of this (maybe series), I am going to share my notes on copywriting:
Headline Writing Formula -from Location Rebel
Headlines are one of the most important parts of an article or blog post because it gets readers to click.
That’s why you want it to be persuasive and engaging. You want it to capture a potential reader’s attention. You want it to stick out to the reader as they surf in a sea of other web articles.
And one of the easiest ways to make your headline shine is to use this headline copywriting formula I learned from Sean Ogle from Location Rebel:
Headline Formula: Something that the user wants + A time frame + An objection handled
Here’s a quick example of what it could look like: Be more disciplined + in 5 weeks + (even if you are the laziest of the lazy)
How to Improve Your Writing -from Income School
Learning how to write well is a long and tedious task.
You have to put in a lot of work and you never actually master it.
It’s one of those things where getting from 0 to about 70 percent proficiency is hard. But getting from 70 percent to 99 percent is nearly impossible. 100 percent -don’t even think about it.
However, the good thing is most people don’t need to get up to that upper tier. That’s for the greats, like Stephen King or Margaret Atwood or Malcolm Gladwell.
The majority of people -people like you and me- only need to get past 50. Though, it’s still not an easy task.
But it could be expedited. And the way to slightly speed it up (and make it slightly easier) is by studying the works of the greats.
This is something I learned from Income School, where they said that the best way to improve blog writing is by learning how to write by reading really good content and studying its style and format.
So, if you want to write better copy, find good copy and analyze it. Try to figure out why it works. Look at its structure and word use and see why it evokes certain emotions.
Why You Should Start With the End in Mind -from Cole Schafer on Marie Forleo Podcast
What’s the purpose of copy?
It’s to get people to take action, such as buying something or doing something, right?
So, when writing copy, shouldn’t we put more importance on that?
This was a realization I got after I heard Cole Schafer on the Marie Forleo podcast.
He said that before he writes, he asks himself, “what is it that I want this person to do after reading this?”
This is a good tip because by writing with the end in mind, it’s easier to set up the rest of the article (or copy) to guide the reader to the call to action portion of the article, which is the goal of the piece of content.
Give it a try and see how much better your copy flows.
How to Learn to Write Great Hooks -from Cole Schafer
Hooks are super important to copy.
Similar to what I said about headlines, hooks capture attention and get people to continue reading.
And one of the easiest ways to learn how to write great hooks is by reading novels.
Schafer says that novels are great tools for this because the novelist wants you to read to the end of the book. And they do this by placing hook sentences at the beginning of each chapter.
However, the best hooks are normally the first sentence in the first chapter. So, you really only have to analyze that one, then you can read the rest leisurely.
Copywriting Formulas -from Neville Medhora
This is probably the most important advice you’ll get from this article.
And it’s that the AIDA copywriting formula is king.
AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action and these are all of the points you want to hit in your copy to get results.
This structure is also great because it guides the reader through the buying process.
Additionally, the PAS formula is good, too. It stands for Problem, Agitate, and Solution.
However, I like AIDA more because it gives me more room to be creative and to write longer copy.
Just Start -from Ryan Holiday
Okay, I lied.
THIS is the most important advice you’ll get from this article.
The reason why is that there’s no point in learning formulas or how to write persuasive hooks if you don’t actually start writing.
Thus, if you have trouble starting or have writer’s block, take this medicine from Ryan Holiday:
“You’re better off starting imperfectly than being paralyzed by the hope or delusion of perfection.”
Or: Just write something crappy so that you have something written and edit it later.
Final Thoughts
I hope you found my notes on copywriting useful and that you’ll use them to improve your writing.
And if you did (and do), share this article so that more people can benefit from these tips.
(See what I did there?)