How to become a copywriter in Just 7 days.

If you want to know how to become a copywriter fast, you’re in the right place.

Here are my seven secrets to being a good copywriter.

Why listen to me?

I have 33 years of experience writing direct response sales copy.

But when I started out I had no experience.

I was hired to build a business from scratch.

Back then all I knew was cold calling.

I was selling home improvement products and knocking on doors to find interested people.

After a few slammed doors.

Two or three new (to me) swear words.

I made an painful discovery.

Business owners hate cold callers.

Even back then.

Out of desperation and wanting to keep my job I went to London.

On the train back home I rewrote the entire letter.

Next day I sent out 10 letters and got 6 replies.

These replies were invites to come and see them to help solve their problem.

Just after that I coined the phrase, “If at first you succeed – try to hide your astonishment.”

And that astonishment continued to grow because that letter made over $200,000 in the next 7 months.

It had only taken me 7 days from writing that letter to getting new clients.

Here are my “ 7 secrets” on how to become a copywriter in one week, even if you’ve never written a single word.

Becoming a copywriter starts with knowing who you want to influence.

The mind of your prospect.

All techniques for copywriting will fail if you don’t know what will make your reader buy.

Denny Hatch wrote a book called “Method Marketing.”

In this book he likened prospect research to method acting.

He also said that some of the biggest businesses were started by entrepreneurs and copywriters who understood and made a fortune out of mapping the minds of their prospects.

Companies like Agora and Boardroom, where started by solo entrepreneurs. They soon became multimillion dollar corporations on the strength of their persuasive writing ability.

One of the best stories I’ve ever heard about how to become a copywriter comes from the legendary copywriter Gary Halbert.

“What does my prospect lust after?”

If you want to know how to become a copywriter fast it’s this…

Do you know what it is your prospects long for?

What is the itch they need to scratch?

What is the most pressing problem they have right now?

Take the headline for a fly fishing magazine:

“Trout spoken here… also salmon and bonefish.”

Do you think this writer knew what his prospect lusts after?

Of course he did.

When John Carlton gives advice to those who want to become a copywriter he says…

“Become a Sales Detective.’

A detective who can follow all the clues that lead her to the answer to the question…

“What does my prospect want to become?”

Mastering this skill will separate you from just about anybody else writing to your market.

In fact, this skill will put you so far ahead of your competition that they’ll never catch up with you unless they know what you’re about to read next.

Do the exercises as they come up, and by the time you reach the end you will know exactly what moves your prospects to buy products like yours.

This will make your copywriting come alive in your prospects mind each and every time you write to them.

How to become a copywriter secret #1.

And here is your winning formula for how to become a copywriter in 7 days

Study it and apply it.

You’ll astound yourself with the results you’ll get in every sales promotion from now on.

Before we begin I’m going to ask you to leave the building.

Yes –  I want you to go down to your local newsagents or bookstore,

When you’re there, look at the magazine racks.

Each one of these magazines represents a specific marketplace.

No one knows more about their readers than these magazines do.

The magazines you see on the shelves live and die by how well they understand their prospects desires.

Especially if they have subscribers to their magazine.

The front covers of these magazines show many benefit statements to get you to want to buy the magazine.

These short benefit statements are known as “bullets” or “fascinations.”

These are mini instructions in how to become a copywriter.

You can clearly see all of these bullet points or fascinations are “talking” to a certain type of reader.

To say it differently, they appeal to a hidden desire the reader has.

And that’s what makes someone pick up the magazine and begin reading.

When you read these magazines, each article in the magazine is calling out a different niche within the main niche of the magazine.

For example: on the front cover of Marie Claire magazine you read “Boob-job Britain. Why more women are going under the knife.”

The only people who will read that are those who are considering having a special type of surgery.

This demonstrates how clearly each magazine understands their readers.

My next question to you is, “what magazine does your prospect read?”

Once you have the answer to this insightful question you will get a real understanding of who your prospect is and what their secret desires are.

Not only have these magazines worked out for you exactly what your prospects want, they’ve paid persuasive writers to write bullet points and fascinations on their front covers. 

The good news about these bullet points is you can steal them and use them as templates for your own products or services.

And you’ll be adding to your techniques for persuasive writing!

Here’s another insider tip for you.

Don’t buy any of these magazines.

Just get the phone number of the advertising department, ring them up and ask them to send you a media pack.

Also ask for three editions of their magazine.

The reason you’re asking for three is so you can see who their regular advertisers are.

If there are companies in your marketplace that have advertised in all three magazines that you receive, then study their adverts because they are making money from them.

This is the very first thing you must do if you want to become good at copywriting.

Also in the media pack the magazine will tell you who they created their magazine for.

In other words, your ideal prospect.

Read the articles and pay particular attention to the sub niches that align with   your product or service.

Another good idea is to find out how many subscribers the magazine has, as this will give you an indication of how popular that magazine is.

You always want to pick a niche with a “high passion index.”

In other words, people who are irrationally passionate about a subject.

Think, golf, fishing, photography, beauty, anti-aging, health, bodybuilding, etc.

If you really want to put yourself in to the highest ranks of researchers then you’ll want to do either or both of the following strategies.

Go to Amazon and look up books on similar subjects to what you’re selling.

Collect the titles of these books and read their back covers.

These will give you even more indications of the desires your prospect has.

Another excellent thing to do would be to look at the comments of people who have read the books.

You’ll be looking for the buzzwords that customers are saying in the reviews, and you’ll be using them in your articles, blog posts, etc.

You’ll also be looking for the negative comments about the books you’re researching. These are great for picking up objections that you will encounter when selling your own products.

One of the key things to do when you’re learning to become a copywriter is to bring up the objection before the person thinks of it and then resolve it for them in a way that makes them want the product even more.

How to become a copywriter secret #2.

Go down to your local book shop and look at the titles of the books that are selling something similar to your product.

Here you have the advantage of looking inside the book.

What you’re looking for is in the introduction or the first chapter.

Here the author has just a few sentences of persuasive writing techniques to get you buy the book.

These few sentences are priceless for you because you can use them (but not word for word) to sell your product.

Take a notebook with you and make notes of the exact verbiage used in each of the books.

You can use all of this valuable information for creating great content for your website and sales messages.

But we’re not done yet.

Let’s keep going further into the mind of your prospect.

Remember “the deeper the foundation the higher the building.”

How to become a copywriter secret #3.

Write into the heart of their mind.

Get inside their head.

Think like the fish not like the fisherman.

To do that we’re going to start with Demographics.

That’s ‘jargon’ for the facts of a person’s life.

Like how old they are, whether they are male or female etc.

The great insight you got earlier was to send for a media pack for the magazine your target market reads.

In the media pack will be specific information that will help you answer the following questions.

(If you can’t find the answers to these questions, write down your best guess.)

How old is your prospect?

Are they male or female?

Are they married, divorced, widowed or single?

Do they have any kids?

Do they have aging parents and are their grandparents still alive?

What’s their educational level, high school, college, university, etc.?

What do they do for a living?

Do they have any pets?

Are they fit or are they a couch potato?

What are their physical attributes? Are they overweight, etc.?

Okay, if you’ve done that you’ve put yourself on the fast track to success.

Why?

A study once proved the one main difference between the successful and unsuccessful business owners came down to just three words.

Speed of implementation.

Now you’re in the rare two per cent of those who get things done and achieve more great things in life.

Now let’s look at another important component of the human mind.

Psycho-graphics. Knowing the behaviour patterns of your reader will give you a unique advantage when using these techniques for persuasive writing.

Do you know what TV shows they watch?

This may be a little harder to find out.

Here’s a clue…

What TV shows do you watch?

The chances are you’re similar to your prospects.

Most people are the best prospects for their products, that’s why they made them or were attracted to them in the first place.

So write out the TV shows you think they watch and include their favourite celebrities, actors, singers.

This makes the next part easier.

List the five people they most admire.

Do they have a favourite prime minister or president?

Next, are they the religious type or are they more spiritual?

In other words do they follow some organised religion, or do they mainly read books, take courses, or attend classes on spirituality?

Now if your prospect is religious it’s highly likely they will resent those outside of their chosen religion.

Same with politics.

Even if they aren’t there’s always a group or groups of people they hate, resent or fear.

Write these down here.

One of the most powerful concepts in becoming a copywriter is bonding with your prospect by throwing rocks at his enemy.

Yes, the theme of the common enemy or the “us versus them” mentality.

Everyone is prejudice about something or someone.

Now let’s take a look at their self-esteem.

Do they have any emotional issues going on?

Are there frustrations in their day to day life?

Do they have any neuroses?

Write down what you think.

Now answer this question: How do they feel about the hand they were dealt in life?

The last part of this section is all about their hopes, dreams, and future desires.

Hope is a powerful emotional trigger especially when selling health products or longevity plans.

Write down what you think is on their mind when it comes to their future.

Do they own their own home, or do they rent?   

Do they own more than one home. For example a holiday home or places they let out.

What kind of car or cars do they own?

Where do they go on holiday, where do they stay, do they even take holidays?

Do they have hobbies… spend time hanging out with a group of friends, etc?

What (if any) are their professional activities?

Do they belong to any organisation?

Are they fitness or health fanatics? 

Does your prospect have any world views? In other words do they voice their opinions about economic issues, political issues, or society and the way it’s going or how good the old days were?

What section of the newspaper do they read first?

Sports, business, finance, health, women’s interests, political, world news, etc.

How to become a copywriter secret #4.

Brilliant… you now have the foundational understanding of your prospect. Chances are you know more about your prospect than any of your competitors.

And that puts you light years ahead when it comes to the question of how to become a copywriter.

Now let’s go to the place where your writing will give you the highest responses possible.

Remember what Gary Bencivenga said about copywriting. It’s 40% research, 40% writing and 20% polishing.

The problem I see with most people who teach copywriting is they focus mainly on the writing itself.

And that’s because it’s the glamorous side of copywriting.

But that’s not where the big money is.

That’s only available to those who do an amazing job of research.

So let’s go the extra mile now with this next section that begins with these questions:

(By the way, these next questions will give you far more accurate and insightful answers if you ask three or four of your prospects directly.)

What is the big urgent problem that you solve?

If your prospect could wave a magic wand, what would he want more than anything else in this area?

This question will help you understand the ultimate result your prospect is looking for so you can design and position your product or service promotion accordingly.

Knowing what your prospect clearly and intensely wants gives you a huge edge when you’re putting together any e-mails, blog posts, articles, landing pages, sales pages, videos or just about any other promotion you are doing.

When you can figure out the dream outcome to your prospect and promise it in an honest way you will appeal to these deep drives they have.

Next question:

What does he most want to avoid?

Some people are more motivated by pain than they are by pleasure. Often times people go through their lives running away from the things they’re afraid of.

While most people pile on benefit after benefit and just paint a wonderful picture of the future their prospects can have, it’s even more powerful to talk about the pain and frustration these people already have in their lives.

Next question:

What does he believe in his heart about the issue or problem?

This question will help you write in a way that shows your prospect that what you have will work for them. You’re taking them from what’s possible in the mind to what is actually probable in the real world.

Next question:

What does he believe about your type of product or service?

Does he believe your product or service can work?

One of the biggest objections people have is they think the product they are looking to buy won’t work for them.

Next question:

What does he believe about other promoters in this industry?

What does he believe about other promoters in this industry?

Does he believe that your type of company or product is trustworthy?

Next question:

How does your prospect feel when he looks for the type of product you’re selling?

Is he intimidated and dreading the process? Or is he excited and looking forward to owning your product?

Next question:

How does he feel when he reads what you’ve written?

Are you getting him excited, full of anticipation? Or if he is avoiding a problem are you “backing the ambulance up to the door?” In other words, are you making him really feel his pain?

How does he feel about what you’re offering?

Does he see it as incredibly generous?

That he’d be a fool not to take you up on your offer?

Or does he think there’s a catch somewhere?

Is he questioning why it’s such a low price?

Or why it’s such a high price?

How to become a copywriter secret #5.

Imagine I’m going down on one knees, red box opens slowly, ring revealed.

Okay panic over. I’m not about to propose.

But I wanted to make a point.

Let’s “marry” features with benefits.

A feature is what something is.

A benefit is what something does.

For example, a feature of a saucepan is its handle.

The benefit is you can move the saucepan using the handle and not get burned.

Of a handle on a coffee cup can be classed as a feature.

Being able to drink your coffee at the temperature you like is classed as the benefit.

Now think of a feature of your product or service.

Remember, a feature is what something is.

Now ask yourself this question.

“Why does this feature exist?”

You just want a basic reason.

Nothing elaborate is needed.

Here’s an example.

The light and sound machine is used by hypnotists and advanced learners.

The reason why I should include it in a learning course is because it speeds up learning.

So using the diagram below I would put “light and sound machine” under the ‘features’ heading and “speeds up learning” in the ‘why it exists’ heading.

Okay now it’s your turn.

Now you’re going to translate this reason why answer into a functional benefit.

This will bring the feature to life in the mind of your prospect.

So to continue with my example, the light and sound machine speeds up learning.

When you speed up your learning you master your subject faster and begin enjoying the rewards sooner.

Let’s go a little deeper here to give you a better understanding.

I’m going to expand on my example.

I’m using the light and sound machine to help web-based entrepreneurs learn the techniques of persuasive writing.

They need to learn it and it’s a difficult subject which typically takes years to learn.

I’m going to break this down step by step.

1. The light and sound machine speeds up their learning.
2. They can master persuasive writing faster
3. and begin enjoying getting higher response rates sooner
4. and making more money than they are today.

By explaining what the feature DOES for my prospect I bring it to life.

I’ve deliberately used action verbs like ‘master’ and ‘faster,’ plus “higher response rates sooner” and lastly ‘make more money.’

Note also that the end result of this little exercise is something my prospect is willing to pay money for.

Now, take the time to write out the functional benefit of one of your features.

Remember to use action verbs.

Also it must be something your prospect is willing to pay for.

If you get stuck with this at any point, go back to your “reason why” explanation and ask yourself the question, “so what?”

Then answer that and ask the “so what?” question again until you get a functional answer people will pay for.

AND if you get stuck with any of the other features you wrote out, ask this question, “Which means that?”

Now this may seem a little like overkill, but you’ll be surprised how many people can’t get the benefit out of the feature because they are what I call, feature creatures. That is they are too logical. And people buy on emotion.

Just for the fun of it I’ll give you a couple of examples about the light and sound machine so you can see how it fits in with these persuasive writing techniques.

It speeds up learning.

So what?

You learn faster so you can implement sooner.

So what?

When you implement sooner you’ll get more responses than you’re getting now.

So what?

You’ll get more new paying customers.

So what?

You’ll make more money than you are right now.

Okay, there is more to come but I’ll tell you that in a moment.

You can already see the question, “which means that…” is similar to the “so what?” question in that you get almost the same answers.

So what?

Just kidding…

How to become a copywriter secret #6.

You want to create pleasing pictures in the mind of your prospects.

The more real and vivid it is the better.

You want them to see themselves owning and using your product.

Car salesmen do this by letting you test drive the car before buying.

Demonstration is one of the best ways to persuade people.

I’ll give you an example.

Imagine it’s one month from today and you’ve been using the light and sound machine for thirty minutes a day while you were relaxing listening to ways to write more persuasively.

It’s almost like you did nothing but relax. But all this time your subconscious mind was absorbing the material I created for you.

Not only did your subconscious mind absorb it, but it also remembered it as well.

The word information means new knowledge forming inside of you waiting for the right time to be put into action.

So here you are a month from today and you’re writing to promote one of your products. And for some unknown reason you feel inspired.

As you start writing you’re feeling excited about what you’re doing. The words are flowing from your mind onto the screen in front of you.

And it feels effortless.

You post your words up on your website and the next thing you know you’re getting emails showing lots more people opting into your email list.

Double or even treble what you’re getting now.

And you know from past experience how many of these new opt-ins will buy from you.

You realise that a few days from now your profits will double. You’ll be able to get that new “toy” you’ve been promising yourself. Or that holiday.

If you did the exercises in the last chapter you’ll know your prospect well enough to know what they lust after. You’ll also know which ‘driver’ words to pepper your copy with.

In fact you’ll know how to outline your entire sales message.

How to become a copywriter secret #7.

There’s one more strategy you can use.

Well two actually.

The first is to build in some anticipation BEFORE giving your benefit.

The second is using the “little to big” technique.

Like this.

You wake up one morning and start writing. You notice it’s easier than before. The words just come naturally for you.

You finish up half an hour later and you post your work online.

A couple of hours go by and a few orders trickle in.

Then you begin to notice something strange just around 3pm.

There’s a spike in responses. And for the next few hours your orders skyrocket.

You’re making more in an hour than you used to in a month. Suddenly you’re getting really excited because you realise it’s the American market that’s seeing your promotion and loving it.

Okay, I hope you can see the value in this.

When you use what you have here you’ll see big changes in your writing.

And you’ll notice there’s no need to use hype or slick salesmanship.

These techniques on how to become a copywriterare always used honestly and ethically and are based around the real motivations of your readers.

Once you really understand your readers your responses will reach new highs.

Now you know how to become a copywriter it’s time to put into practice what you’ve just read.

My way of saying thank you for reading this article to the end.