There may be affiliate links in this article on how to improve your copywriting skills, read the full disclaimer here.
Rare thinking people like you already know that you need to improve your copywriting skills if you are producing content online.
Most people will just keep staying busy and working hard rather than taking the time to improve these skills. I would like to tell you that if you just keep practising your writing you will get better in time. The truth is, it can actually just take a writing cheatsheet to see a huge improvement.
This blog post will show you different ways to improve your copywriting skills quickly.
#1 Imitate Writers you Admire
"Whoa! Are you saying that I should copy other people's work?
I'm all for unusual ways but that's just plagiarism!!"
No pumpkin! I'm just saying start looking out for great copy! If you read something and it makes you want to buy it then keep hold of it.
Better yet, if you notice a family member or friend that has bought something due to an advert... KEEP THAT COPY!
Start a Copywriting Collection.
Use a physical box for the stuff that you find physically (leaflets/ magazines/ newspapers etc.)
Use Evernote (your digital brain... and it's free) to "clip" or save articles you find online.
When you need some inspiration simply check out your collection and imitate your favourite copy. Books are a great way to learn more about copywriting and find some of the best copywriters that you would like to imitate.
#2 Write in the Morning
That heading was almost "write when you are most productive".
But do you know what? I am yet to hear someone say that they tried to be productive first thing in the morning but found that they couldn't!
Yes, it's hard to get out of bed earlier.
Yes, you want to listen to your procrastination monkey.
But speaking from experience (and other people that have tried this), I guarantee you will boost your productivity and write better. It may take a few days to get used to it if you like your lay-ins. However, these are the basic steps to write better and more efficiently:
Set your alarm 1 hour earlier
Go to bed 1 hour earlier
Write the template for your post the night before (if you've already written it then re-read the template before going to sleep)
Force yourself to wake up when the alarm goes off
Get some water (and a coffee if you must!)
Write!
Now, there is some sort of magic that goes on overnight. I can't explain the neuroscience behind it, but with practice, your brain will magically have formed what you want to write.
This is one of the simplest ways to improve your copywriting skills.
CHEESE! Yes, that's me writing this post early doors.
#3 Spend More Time Editing Than Writing
This is the author of Hypnotic Writing, Joe Vitale's, secret!
He spends much more time editing and rewriting his work than he does actually writing it.
There are 3 reasons for this:
He researches and plans his work before writing it.
When he writes he uses a blank page and lets his subconscious mind take over.
Only after he's finished writing does he go back through his work with his cheat sheet.
Note, he even admits that his cheat sheet is his secret weapon and crutch.
Let's see if we can write that sentence more hypnotically...
You don't realise it yet, but the best copywriters admit that a cheat sheet is their secret weapon and crutch.
Let's see if we can make it more active now...
You don't realise it yet, but Joe Vitale reveals, "my cheat sheet is my secret weapon and crutch."
Without this cheatsheet or some sort of swipe file, writing to persuade and influence people's decisions would be so much harder. When you have the cheat sheet you just look for places to add in hypnotic phrases.
You probably know this already but using the Grammarly extension (free) helps to correct spelling and grammar mistakes as you write online. It's a MUST HAVE!
You can find out some of the other resources that all digital marketers need to save time and make money.
This is the easiest way to improve your copywriting skills.
Have you ever read someone's work and been amazed at how easily it flows?
Did it make you wonder how you ended up scrolling through a super long web page for the past 10 minutes? Even though you knew it was clearly trying to sell you something!
Well, my amigo, that is hypnotic writing.
It occurs in books that you can't put down and it exists online.
Are you beginning to realise that there are words and phrases that are scientifically proven to grab your readers attention and persuade them to buy something?
Drift back to a time when you bought something online. What was it that made you make the purchase? Chances are that the copy you read used hypnotic words and phrases whether the writer realised it or not.
Now, wouldn't it be amazing if you could get a hypnotic cheatsheet for free right now?
#5 Entertain! Use an Analogy or Simile Book
Going overboard with humour when you are trying to sell something is as welcome as a french kiss at a family reunion.
But let's face it...
People want to be entertained.
Plus if you can make your point through a metaphor or analogy people can come to the conclusion themselves! This is much more powerful than spelling something out to them.
Which sentence do you think is more effective?...
Buy this course to get more traffic from Pinterest.
Imagine what you could do if you could double your traffic by spending 1 hour a month on your marketing...
#6 Tell Stories to Sell in Stealth Mode
Hey buddy! Why don't you buy this top of the range course that I'm about to sell to you in just a moment?
I'll tell you what it has...
How to drive traffic from SEO
Training that will smash other stuff out of the park
How to make a killing from Facebook ads
A ready-made website that will make you $3,789 a day for doing nothing!
Right, be honest now... How many times have you seen something like this before?
And what did you do after you read it?
Too right! You clicked that fat red cross in the top left and never went back to this spammy website!
NOBODY likes to be sold to! However, everyone likes to buy things ;)
This means it's your job as a copywriter to persuade someone to make a decision that will help them, without forcing a sale down their throat.
Three Feet From Gold
Let me tell you the story of Napolean Hill's "Three feet from gold"...
R.U. Darby was caught by the gold fever in the gold-rush days. He spent weeks digging and using his pickaxe plus machinery to discover a shining ore. His family and some of his neighbours helped him dig along the gold vein thinking they were sure to find gold at the end of it.
And then one day, they lost the vein.
Darby panicked. They drilled hopelessly trying to find the vein again, but it was gone.
Eventually, they quit.
They sold all the machinery they had bought to some junk man and set off back home.
However, this junk man had also heard of the gold rush. So he hired a mining engineer to do a bit of calculating. The engineer told the junk man that he thought the tunnel already created was only 3 feet away from the vein.
The junk man took millions of dollars in ore from the mine.
Well, let me tell you something else. Wouldn't it be great if you could get blogging experts knowledge, some of whom are making over $100,000 per month from their blog?
These experts courses have been condensed into 11 days worth of knowledge that can be dripped into your inbox, with simple actionable steps each day.
If you feel like you have been digging for gold for a long time, this may well be your engineer...
#7 Recommending Something Great... to the Right Person
This is a bit of a no brainer but you would be surprised how often this one gets overlooked!
Let me ask you this.
If you knew someone that loved football and you managed to get tickets to the World Cup final for £100 do you think they would be interested?
Well Duh!
Now, let me ask you this...
Do you think you could sell those tickets to an introverted music lover who can't stand being in big crowds?
I think you get the point... NEXT!
#8 Get Out of Your Ego
What you want doesn't matter. You must write to your readers wants.
Simply put:
Don't write what you want them to do... write what will benefit them!
Personally, I find it really time-consuming marketing and getting my blog posts in front of people. So I've spent a lot of time researching how to use Pinterest to make my blog marketing more automated. I've managed to double my traffic within one month of using these Pinterest strategies.
That previous paragraph is irrelevant!! You don't care!! Let's see if we can rewrite that paragraph by getting out of my ego...
Of course, you've heard that Pinterest is by far the best social media platform to drive traffic to your website. But do you know why?
People use Pinterest to find information in a similar way as to how they use Google. You can use keywords in your titles and descriptions of your pins. Plus, it's possible for people to find a pin from a couple of years ago, unlike a tweet. Other forms of social media are primarily to interact or see what other people are up to. Simply put:
Google = User to content
Pinterest = User to content
Facebook = User to user
Twitter = User to user
Are you beginning to see how Pinterest can help you to get a constant stream of traffic to your blog posts?
STOP and picture what you could do if you could automate this traffic from Pinterest.
#9 Use Short Sentences & Paragraphs
Why?
They are easier to read of course.
It helps to keep your readers attention.
The more they read, the more engaged they are in your writing!
Plus, it's a proven fact that people skim a lot more when reading things online...
So you want to make it easy to read... but don't overdo it! It can make the text look too choppy and even make it harder to get a sense of the flow of ideas.
If you want to see some excellent use of short paragraphs and sentences online then check out the book review of Kelvin Dorsey's book below.
You probably know that the title is more important than the post itself.
If you can't get people to start reading your copy then is there any point in writing it?! That is why you want your headline to grab attention and push peoples emotions so that they want to read your writing.
The one job of your headline is to get people reading the first line.
The only job of the first sentence is to make people read the second sentence. I think you see where this is going...
There are so many proven headline templates that you could use. It would be too much to write about in this post, but here are a few examples:
Promise a benefit i.e. Free from backache in 10 minutes!
Offer something free i.e. Free Book on Car Repairs
Use how-to headlines i.e. How to Win Friends and Influence People
You can find 13 headline templates plus the best emotional and eye-grabbing words to use within your headlines in the Hypnotic Cheatsheet freebie above.
Once you have thought of a few different headlines, run them through these 2 headline tools:
If you are writing copy online and you want it to be found on search engines then the keyword you use is so important. That's why using a keyword research tool can help to show you what keywords get the most searches per month and what keywords have the least competition (other websites using the keyword).
It's a great way to reach the low hanging fruit that exists!
Why does the word “secret” entice people in so much?
People are innately fat and lazy! "Secret" implies doing less work
People are curious creatures
Most people feel like everyone else is in on something that they aren’t
People are competitive (have you ever looked for a car park space in a full car park?…)
“Secret” implies you’ll gain an advantage over others
If you want to get more clicks on your work, then use this secret!
Improve Your Copywriting Skills Summary
So there you have it!
It doesn't have to be a really long and tedious task to learn how to improve your copywriting skills. Have you noticed yet that there are so many ways to see an improvement quickly?
Imagine what it would be like if you could help reach more people to live a life that they dream of.
Your copywriting skills may just be the one thing that will help you to be able to help them.
Keep changing for the better,
Mike
P.S. If you have any questions or thoughts please feel free to drop a comment below... or send me a message on WA here
About the Author
Mike Beatty has built a passive income online whilst working as a full-time PE teacher without any marketing or technical experience. Learn more about how he's done it here.
Best Affiliate Marketing Courses: The best, most popular, and highly effective affiliate marketing courses are reviewed here in deep detail, alongside their features, content, pros, cons, and more.
You probably know that many MLMs produce income disclosure statements. But these statements are often deceptive, misleading and even leave Sherlock Holmes confused. Chances are you’ve been looking for a legit way to make money from home for some time now. And there are new MLMs created every day. With the low barrier to
Find out how to make money from a blog quickly in this blog income reports study. 57 income reports reveal the most important way for you to make money is..