Monday, September 26, 2005
Are you "forcing" yourself to read sales letters?
Not long ago I saw a copywriter refer to
"forcing" themself to read sales
letters that came in the mail, in
connection with getting and studying
the AWAI basic course.
I have no wish to confront anyone directly
and he is not the issue -- this comment
DID make me wonder, however?
Is this common among student copywriters?
Is it common among highly successful
copywriters?
I don't know. I have seen copywriters
before make similar comments about
"junk mail" and reading sales letters
only because they wanted to learn how
to write them.
The one highly successful copywriter I
know personally does seem love good
copywriting for its own sake, as well as
for its role in helping him make around
1/2 million dollars. He says he reads one
good sales letter a day and advocates
student copywriters read and study good
sales letters.
He is but one example, however. I don't
know how many other student copywriters
"force" themselves to study good sales
letters or how many highly successful
ones no longer do so because they don't
like to read them.
I don't know of any fiction writer --
student or successful -- who does not
like to read good stories and novels.
It's inconceivable to me.
Personally, I often enjoyed reading good
sales letters, even before I realized I
too could make money from writing them.
I really only enjoy the ones about
things I'm interested in (health products,
financial information, self-improvement,
gambling and business opportunites), but
that's reasonable.
Does anybody really read credit card
solicitations at all?
I vividly remember being blow away by
Porter Stansberry's There's a New
Railroad Across America. I'm pretty
sure I read and enjoyed A Man's Right
to Wealth bookalog. I've really enjoyed
reading promotions for Sun Chlorella and
one on some type of olive supplement.
The only junk mail is advertising that's
not really targeted toward you, and that's
what I skip over also. Yes, I need to read
all I can, but I don't have time even to
read and study all the interesting ones,
so I do discard the low-budget gambling
and rip-off biz opp letters I get and the
high budget glossy travel brochures and,
yes the credit card solicitations.
But I do love to read the good financial,
self-help and nutritional packages.
Not to mention the many Internet marketing
sales letters I see online.
And if I ever run out, I can always go to
Clickbank and read 1000s of online sales
letters for a huge variety of products!
But do highly successful copywriters still
do this? Or are they burnt out and cynical?
Do they have to force themselves to go
through their swipe files?
I don't know. I'd love to find out but I
doubt it'd be easy -- and certainly
there can be different answers for different
copywriters.
copywriting swipe files
"forcing" themself to read sales
letters that came in the mail, in
connection with getting and studying
the AWAI basic course.
I have no wish to confront anyone directly
and he is not the issue -- this comment
DID make me wonder, however?
Is this common among student copywriters?
Is it common among highly successful
copywriters?
I don't know. I have seen copywriters
before make similar comments about
"junk mail" and reading sales letters
only because they wanted to learn how
to write them.
The one highly successful copywriter I
know personally does seem love good
copywriting for its own sake, as well as
for its role in helping him make around
1/2 million dollars. He says he reads one
good sales letter a day and advocates
student copywriters read and study good
sales letters.
He is but one example, however. I don't
know how many other student copywriters
"force" themselves to study good sales
letters or how many highly successful
ones no longer do so because they don't
like to read them.
I don't know of any fiction writer --
student or successful -- who does not
like to read good stories and novels.
It's inconceivable to me.
Personally, I often enjoyed reading good
sales letters, even before I realized I
too could make money from writing them.
I really only enjoy the ones about
things I'm interested in (health products,
financial information, self-improvement,
gambling and business opportunites), but
that's reasonable.
Does anybody really read credit card
solicitations at all?
I vividly remember being blow away by
Porter Stansberry's There's a New
Railroad Across America. I'm pretty
sure I read and enjoyed A Man's Right
to Wealth bookalog. I've really enjoyed
reading promotions for Sun Chlorella and
one on some type of olive supplement.
The only junk mail is advertising that's
not really targeted toward you, and that's
what I skip over also. Yes, I need to read
all I can, but I don't have time even to
read and study all the interesting ones,
so I do discard the low-budget gambling
and rip-off biz opp letters I get and the
high budget glossy travel brochures and,
yes the credit card solicitations.
But I do love to read the good financial,
self-help and nutritional packages.
Not to mention the many Internet marketing
sales letters I see online.
And if I ever run out, I can always go to
Clickbank and read 1000s of online sales
letters for a huge variety of products!
But do highly successful copywriters still
do this? Or are they burnt out and cynical?
Do they have to force themselves to go
through their swipe files?
I don't know. I'd love to find out but I
doubt it'd be easy -- and certainly
there can be different answers for different
copywriters.
copywriting swipe files
