I’ve built a Ghostwriting Agency to $50,000 per month.
Even if you have no intentions of running an agency, you’re going to need these copywriting skills to make money.
You need to learn how to write, use grammar, punctuation etc.
But more importantly you need to learn how to think.
Copywriting is about persuasion and psychology.
Whereas writing can be for assignments like homework and essays.
To become a good copywriter, you need to think about what your ideal prospect desires and write for them.
Great copywriting starts with great research.
Want to write copy which gets results?
Focus on learning everything you possibly can about your prospect.
Everything from what keeps them up at night to their sharpest pains to their ideal outcomes.
The more research you do on a target market, the better your changes are for converting them.
My favorite ways to conduct research are:
Here’s an example:
Learn how to create outlines.
You use them for scripts, social media posts and even emails.
Let’s say I’m writing a thread for Twitter (now X), every thread follows a structure:
Headline
The headline’s sole job is to get the attention of the reader.
At this stage in the process, we’re not trying to craft the perfect headline. Just write down the big idea of your thread.
The headline is the most important part, so save it for last. You can spend too much time trying to craft the perfect headline, only to find yourself changing it after the thread is written.
Lead
Now that you have the reader’s attention, we’ll use the lead to build your reader’s interest.
Why would someone care about your thread? What benefit will they get if they read or what consequence will they face if they don’t? Again, we're not making this perfect, just write down the idea.
Body
The main tweets of the thread make up the body.
In bullet point form, write down the main points to get from point A (problem) to point Z (solution/desire). Every step in between will be your body.
Summary
You take all the main points and place it at the end to tie things together.
See how giving structure to your copy makes it much easier to write?
This is a copywriting skill you need to develop for different types of copy.
Write first, edit later.
We’re terrible multitaskers.
Every time you stop writing to make an edit, you’re doing something called context switching.
In fact, 45% of people report content switching makes them less productive.
We all go through terrible writer's block and bad ideas.
It isn’t a hard and fast rule but what you want to do is just write.
Don’t worry about how horrible it comes out.
When you’re in editing mode, you need to be consciously thinking from the viewpoint of your prospect.
Fix the flow.
Go sentence by sentence and ask yourself, “why do they care?”.
If your sentences don’t add value or entertain, cut them.
Empathy is a skill.
In fact, marketing is empathy.
It's like a superpower which lets you get into your customers' heads, understand their perspective so you can give them EXACTLY what they want.
What are they hoping to feel?
What problems are they trying to solve?
How can you help them achieve this?
People buy with emotion and then justify with logic.
Buying decisions aren't just based on price or product features so empathy goes a long way.
Psychology and persuasion are the cornerstones of copywriting.
They are everywhere.
Here’s are some awesome examples:
Want to be a skilled writer?
Study psychology.
Want to be a wealthy investor?
Study psychology.
Want to be a charismatic person?
Study psychology.
You can't be great at any skill until you understand yourself.
Attention to detail, for copywriters, goes beyond just catching typos or fixing grammar.
You should write in your audience's language.
You wouldn’t write the same copy for a female corporate exec as you would a gym bro.
It's a skill that not every writer has, but it can help improve your work.
Next up is formatting.
Large chunks of text are no bueno.
This makes you viewer feel like it’ll take forever to read your content.
Higher effort = fewer readers.
Leave white space around your writing to give your reader a break.
Here’s an example:
Another formatting technique you should use is when to use bullet points.
Here’s an example from my Twitter (now X):
I think of creativity like a muscle you need to build over time.
The more you practice being creative, the more creative you become.
One thing about creativity is it requires curiosity.
It's not some sexy process.
It's an all out battle between you, distractions, and procrastination.
One everyone deals with everyday.
Like I mentioned you can build up this skill but you need to block notifications, and build the habit of showing up.
I like to hit coffee shops, wear noise canceling headphones and not leave until all my work gets done.
SEO is your ticket to getting your online content seen.
It's a digital marketing tool you can't ignore if you want to reach new customers on the web.
If you develop keyword research as a skill, you can use it in blog content and videos to get more traffic.
You need to get yourself in front of people and SEO can help you do that passively.
You want to learn these:
I show you how to build a high-paying creative business without doing work you hate.
