How To Master The Art Of Copywriting
Today’s great ads and sales letters are almost completely modeled/swiped off of the classic ads of the past. Even if the wording or structures are not swiped, certainly the promises, claims, and appeals are the same. Why? Human nature remains unchanged since the beginning of time. That makes it much easier to master copywriting. What worked a hundred years ago will work today. Now, admittedly copy does need to be adapted in many ways to reflect where people are at today. Promises need to be bigger. Claims need more proof to be believable. There’s more clutter to cut through. Still, generally speaking what worked before works today.
***Why People Don’t Copy Ads By Hand***
So why don’t more people hand write old ads out? It takes a ton of time. We are in the age of instant gratification. I want the skill now. I don’t want to have to go through the process…the often painstaking and time-consuming process to get there. I personally disagree though that ads have to be copied by hand. In my other career, I am a jazz saxophonist: Probably a hundred times more difficult a skill than copywriting or marketing. I equate copywriting to jazz improvisation and marketing to composition. Sure you have to practice your scales and technical material over and over again. But to learn from the master jazz musicians, you MUST transcribe the masters first, before you can find your personal style.
***Why You Don’t Have To Copy Them By Hand***
Here’s what I’ve found though. Both music and copywriting are aural art forms. There is NO need to write anything down to learn from the masters. In fact I would argue, even less so with copywriting because it is much simpler than the complexity of music with it’s melody, harmony, and rhythm. When I first began in music I started in band class. My whole reference was from reading music. As opposed to say a rock guitarist who probably plays mostly by ear right from the start. I got great at sight-reading any piece of music fast: To play it perfectly the first time. Now, that was a valuable skill to have. But starting from the “written” perspective only really handicapped me when it came time to learn jazz. Other student’s who started from a more “aural” perspective from the start had a distinct advantage. I had to take 6 months off, after graduating with a music performance degree in order to really learn to use my ear to play music. My point is that copywriting, like music has both written and aural aspects. You can approach it through either one successfully. I’ve done it both ways for both fields. Hand wrote out classic jazz solos. And did many just by ear, playing along. I also hand wrote ads. And simply studied others just by reading them in my head.
***How To Easily Teach Your Brain The Structure Of Great Copy***
Obviously you can’t just read casually. And there are things you ONLY get by reading the copy out loud. Studying the copy and rereading it over and over…and seeing exactly what makes it “work” is key
***Why People Don’t Copy Ads By Hand***
So why don’t more people hand write old ads out? It takes a ton of time. We are in the age of instant gratification. I want the skill now. I don’t want to have to go through the process…the often painstaking and time-consuming process to get there. I personally disagree though that ads have to be copied by hand. In my other career, I am a jazz saxophonist: Probably a hundred times more difficult a skill than copywriting or marketing. I equate copywriting to jazz improvisation and marketing to composition. Sure you have to practice your scales and technical material over and over again. But to learn from the master jazz musicians, you MUST transcribe the masters first, before you can find your personal style.
***Why You Don’t Have To Copy Them By Hand***
Here’s what I’ve found though. Both music and copywriting are aural art forms. There is NO need to write anything down to learn from the masters. In fact I would argue, even less so with copywriting because it is much simpler than the complexity of music with it’s melody, harmony, and rhythm. When I first began in music I started in band class. My whole reference was from reading music. As opposed to say a rock guitarist who probably plays mostly by ear right from the start. I got great at sight-reading any piece of music fast: To play it perfectly the first time. Now, that was a valuable skill to have. But starting from the “written” perspective only really handicapped me when it came time to learn jazz. Other student’s who started from a more “aural” perspective from the start had a distinct advantage. I had to take 6 months off, after graduating with a music performance degree in order to really learn to use my ear to play music. My point is that copywriting, like music has both written and aural aspects. You can approach it through either one successfully. I’ve done it both ways for both fields. Hand wrote out classic jazz solos. And did many just by ear, playing along. I also hand wrote ads. And simply studied others just by reading them in my head.
***How To Easily Teach Your Brain The Structure Of Great Copy***
Obviously you can’t just read casually. And there are things you ONLY get by reading the copy out loud. Studying the copy and rereading it over and over…and seeing exactly what makes it “work” is key
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