Copy exercises for Sunday

There's no better time than this Sunday morning to start building up your copywriting muscle! ​ Let me show you a couple of "copywriting exercises" I've learned over the years to ramp up my skills: ​ ​Copywriting Exercise #1: Mental Ad Re-Writing This is mental exercise where you see ANY ad, and think to yourself: “How can I make this ad better?” So if you’re walking by a billboard, you think in your head what ways you can get people to crave that burger even more. ​ When I started getting really into copywriting, my favorite outlet to practice on was SkyMall (remember that magazine that used to be included on every flight)?? It would have all these funny inventions and gadgets, and then the most boring descriptions. I would frequently re-write them in my head, or directly into the SkyMall whilst sitting on a plane. Here's a video of my walking around town doing "Mental Ad Re-Writing" on outdoor signage: [ Â](=) ​ ​ ​Copywriting Exercise #2: Keep your own “Swipe File” A “[Swipe File](“ is just a folder you keep cool advertisements or cool pieces of copy in. Your Swipe File can be physical or digital. My "Physical" Swipe File: It’s a plain accordion folder I keep in my closet. My "Digital" Swipe File: It’s a folder I keep on my Mac desktop. Whenever I see something interesting, I do [COMMAND + SHIFT + 4] and do a crop-screenshot of the thing I’m trying to save. I then drag that screenshot into the Swipe File folder: ​ You should save all sorts of stuff in your swipe file that you think is awesome, or that made you take an action. An ad, a webpage layout, a specific choice of words…..anything to to that effect. Here’s a general rule of thumb for your own Swipe File: ​ The purpose of your Swipe File is to frequently flip through it for inspiration. For example, I’m thinking about pricing techniques for a client of mine right now……and a quick dip in my digital swipe file popped up this cool example of how it’s done: ​ I must’ve briefly seen this sales page and thought, “Hmmmm…..that’s a really nice pricing layout!” and done a quick [COMMAND + SHIFT + 4] and grabbed a screenshot of the layout. Thanks to this one addition to my swipe file, I can now implement a similar strategy on my clients site. That’s the benefit of having a solid swipe file laying around! Since mobile web browsing is fast becoming the norm, I also see a ton of stuff I want to save on my phone. For this reason I created a specific folder in my iPhone and made a Phone Swipe File too! ​ Do this on your own phone. It’ll be a nice place to store screenshots when mobile browsing and you see something that grabs your attention. So I would highly suggest you start creating your own swipe file, but if you don’t want the hassle of maintaining one, I’ve create a full Swipe File for any marketer to use right here: =​ ​ Copywriting Exercise #3: State Benefits, not Features Whenever people try to explain what their company does (especially engineers), they tend to brag about the FEATURES of a product. This sounds like: Feature:​ ​“Our software can handle multiple core structures of data at the same time which means during increased load times the server will be stable.” This is a FEATURE description. However customers are generally more interested in what the feature is AND it’s result. This would sound more like: Benefit:​ ​“Even if your site gets featured on the front page of CNN and brings in 300,000 visits per hour……your site won’t go down.” You need to show the feature, but also explain WHY it helps the customers (because sometimes it’s not so obvious to them). Here’s an example of Southwest Airlines promoting their membership program. If you signup to their mileage credit card, you get 50,000 points. That’s great….but what does 50,000 points TRANSLATE INTO? ​ ​ You see how the “Benefits” side also explains what the customer will actually get with those 50,000 points? That’s a good example of explaining the BENEFITS rather than features. Make sure to practice stating the benefits of what you’re selling, not just features. ​ ​ Copywriting Exercise #4: Trim Trim Trim to make everything shorter. Kind of like cramming in words to a Tweet. I show a 3-step formula for this in my [how to create a tagline article](. This is the art of making something long into something small. What is the shortest amount of space you can take to transfer a complete thought into someone else’s brain? It’s by Trim Trim Trimming…… ​ Good copywriting is about sending information from one brain to another in the most efficient manner! Sometimes that’s going to be text, sometimes it’ll be audio, sometimes it’ll be video. But we always want to make sure the copywriting is CONCISE. That means giving the most amount of information in the least amount of words. ​ A lot of people hear things like, “Long copy sells better!!!!” Well it’s true to a degree. The rule of thumb is: Long copy is ok. Longwinded copy is NOT ok. Taking longwinded copy and making it more concise is a GREAT copywriting exercise! For example: Longwinded version: We have higher expectations for ourselves and would like to introduce you to our offering which contain a variety of tools and service for the aviation industry. Our primary purpose is to use computer solutions to make aviation more comfortable and safe for the commanding pilots of aviation vehicles. ​ Trimmed down version: Our primary purpose is to use computer solutions to make flying safer and more comfortable for every passenger of an airplane. ​ Trimmed down and concise version: We make software that automatically flies planes. ​ ​ ​Copywriting Exercise #5: Hand-copying famous pieces of copy To get a “feel” of what it’s like to write good copy, you can just COPY good pieces of copy!! ​ ​ This exercise is called "CopyWork." Here's a [CopyWork Generator]( you can practice with. I would also encourage you to write out ads that YOU think are good. Perhaps even from products you’ve bought in the past. This is an important lesson to learn, so I made a video with more about "Doing CopyWork" for you: [ Â](=) ​ ​ ​ ​Copywriting Exercise #6: Read your copy out loud ​ Step 1: Read your copy out loud to make sure it sounds conversational. Step 2: Realize how ridiculous what you wrote just sounds….then change it up. This is the most shockingly simple AND shockingly most effective way to kill long-winded copy.Great copywriting often sounds extremely conversation, as if the person is reading a personal message from you. You’ll frequently hear someone say, “I can describe it over the phone really easily…..but when I write it doesn’t sound the same.” That’s because they’re not writing conversationally! The practice here is to read your copy out loud to yourself or others. You can even record your voice on your phone, then play it back for yourself to ensure it’s conversational and doesn’t sound like a boring robot wrote it. ​ ​ ​ ​Copywriting Exercise #7: Wear ear plugs I know this sounds a little silly, but wearing ear plugs when writing is one of my most-used tricks for writing great copy! It’s literally like having a superpower, because I can put ear plugs in, and instantly “be in my own little world.” ​ I would highly suggest you try buying a $5 pack of earplugs (I like these [“Hearos” ear plugs](=)) and write with them on. They definitely have been a game changer for me! ​ ​ ​ ​Copywriting Exercise #8: Become a "Triple Threat" ​ Now that we’ve gone over all these copywriting exercises, I want to talk about something even more important…..becoming dangerous at MULTIPLE THINGS in copywriting. For example, if you know only one thing, you’re “single threat” person. Your value is relatively low in the world because you only know one thing, and are confined to the knowledge of that specific industry. Single Threat = Knows a skill. Value = $ Double Threat = Knows a skill + another useful skill. Value = $$ Triple Threat = Knows a skill+ another useful skill + ANOTHER useful skill. Value = $$$$$$ For example, let’s say someone selling a high-priced product in the financial industry is trying to find a copywriter. Which one do you think would be the most in demand? ​ Obviously the [Triple Threat]() is going to have a greater advantage….ESPECIALLY if the client is trying to sell financial products. Triple Threat guy will be able to bring a variety of experience (client work, psychology, financial industry) into his writing. Our poor Single Threat Guy only has one trick up his sleeve, and is therefore inherently less valuable than the Triple Threat Guy. And those are my 8 favorite Copywriting Exercises! Hope you take away just ONE of these and practice it this Sunday :-) ​ ​ ​ P.S. [Inside Copywriting Course](=) we have copywriting exercises you can do, and then professional writers give you feedback on how to improve ✏️ ​ [Unsubscribe]( | [Update your profile]( | 801 W 5th St. , Austin, TX 78703