Copywriting Learned In Five Steps

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.

Here are some ideas for you to consider as you are seeking to become better 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. It's a good idea to study good marketing and advertising. All good copywriters do this, and constantly. Check out advertisements that engage you emotionally, and figure out how they work.

4. Make yourself a swipe file. A swipe file is a selection of ads that copywriters can examine for inspiration and modeling their copy. You should save ads you see in magazines, newspapers, the internet, mail, or anywhere. There are also books available with hundreds of examples of effective advertising.

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.

Just be sure to keep at it every day. Read, write, and discover what works in the marketplace.

About the Author

If you are trying to increase visitors to your website, see Darrel Hawes' site for help in getting more visitors, and generating more leads.