How to Improve Your Copywriting Skills for Free

This is Scott Hubbard again. Today I would like to talk with you about marketing, and in particular, copywriting. I don’t know if you are in a business or are maybe considering getting into one.

If you have effective copywriting skills, most likely you have a very successful business. If you have ineffective copywriting skills, chances are you have a business that is struggling.

Copywriting has to do with the words you use to attract a large number of people to your store, your website, or wherever you transact your business. These are the words you use to inspire people to have a powerful interest in your product or service. These are the words you use as you write your ads, flyers, emails, and sales letters.

Look all around you. You are being bombarded with words, with marketing. You sit down for a nice evening of watching television. Every 10 or 15 minutes, you are hit with at least 2-3 commercials.

There are more advertisements on the radio, in magazines and newspapers. You pick up a can of soup or a beauty product. The label tells you why you should buy this product.

If you market your product or service on the internet, you have a challenge but also a great opportunity to attract your prospective customer with the words you write. Since you don’t market your product face to face, it is extremely important to develop your copywriting skills – your ability to effectively write your sales material.

So how do you write your words in a way that attracts your prospect and inspires them to want what you offer? First of all, there are some good copywriting courses out there. Of course they do cost money, and you must be careful what you buy.

I suggest that you consider a couple of other ways to improve your copywriting skills. When I stand in a check-out line in a grocery store, my eyes are drawn to the racks of magazines next to the counter.

I look at the words on the magazine cover which try to encourage a person to buy the magazine. These words are telling the reader about the articles inside. These are nothing more than short ads and are crying out “see what exciting articles I have inside, please pick me up, and buy me.

Here’s a really neat thing about this. These short ads are being written by some of the best marketing minds in the industry. From now on, you need to look at these ads and see how they might apply to your business. What words do they use? How do they generate interest?

You might consider going to a book store and spend some time reviewing the magazine covers. If you spend a few minutes and come away with a few ideas for some short ads, it is probably well worth your time. You may find a unique ad that will make you thousands and thousands of dollars.

Another thing I suggest you do is to have a SWIPE file. You probably are like me. I get a lot of sales letters, both by mail and email. This may be junk or SPAM, but it can be very valuable to you.

I like to read through this mail. I don’t necessarily spend a lot of time doing it. But I look at any type of material that catches my attention.

When I see a good sales letter, I like to study it. What attracts me to it? What does it say that causes me to have an interest in the product or service they are selling? What types of words do they use? How is the letter formatted?

I think you get the idea. You can then mold the message to fit your target audience. The more you read these good sales letters, the more comfortable you are in writing one for yourself and your business.

Here is one very important thing! Your SWIPE file is to help guide you. The material is not to be copied. This is plagiarism and is illegal.

These two methods of improving your copywriting skills are totally FREE. I like that. And the whole process can be fun.