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David Hunter
04-22-2015, 05:06 PM
Want to learn how to write copy? Start writing with a pen and paper!

Here's two great classic books you MUST get:

Billion Dollar Marketing by Maxwell Sackheim

and

The 100 Greatest Advertisements 1852-1958 by Julian Lewis Watkins

First read Billion Dollar Marketing where you'll learn concepts and applications.

Then I want you to go through The 100 Greatest Advertisements book. This has 100 of the greatest ads EVER and shares a little about them.

Now, this is an idea I got from reading The Gary Halbert Letter. What I want you to do is "hand-copy" each ad in The 100 Greatest Advertisements. Yes, get out a piece of paper and pen (or pencil if you prefer) and start writing out the ads. You don't have to do them all at once. One ad a day will do (well, that's what I'm doing).

By physically writing them out by hand, you'll start to engrave them into your brain so when it comes time to write your own copy you'll have the ideas all ready in your brain on how to write effective copy.

Also, here's a great Gary Halbert Letter where Gary gives a another copy writing exercise you can do just by thinking about your car: The Gary Halbert Letter (http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/newsletters/zgkl_best_copywriter.htm)

That's it. It's as simple as that!

So, get off the computer and start your copywriting exercises!

vangogh
04-27-2015, 10:24 AM
Thanks David. I haven't read either of those books. The second one with the history of ads so to speak sounds like something I'd really enjoy.

I'll echo the advice to hand write things. I don't do it all the time, but there's something about the act of writing with pen/pencil and paper that gets the brain going. I don't know that writing down ad in the book will suddenly make you a great copywriter, but I agree that the act of writing them down will help you remember and learn the principles behind the ads.

I'll also agree in general with the idea of learning about copywriting. Everyone likes to think they write well enough, but few people write well and fewer write well enough to sell things with their copy.

David Hunter
04-27-2015, 10:02 PM
The 100 Greatest Advertisements 1852-1958 is definitely great! They have the classic ads like "They Laughed When I Sat Down At the Piano, But When I started to Play!" and "At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock" and "Do You Make These Mistakes In English?"

You can get a new copy on Amazon for $20.

Billion Dollar Marketing is great, too! You can get it anywhere from $50-$100. Depends if you want new/used and where you buy it from.

Hand writing it definitely won't make you a great copywriter right away, but just like anything else... it's a skill anyone can acquire. And, if you don't use it you lose it! So, maybe that's where hand writing ads comes from too... keeps you sharp! :-)

Ola Rybacka
01-05-2016, 07:09 AM
Those seems really interesting. I have to read them to improve my copywriting skills.

Do you know if they're avaiable for Kindle?

David Hunter
01-05-2016, 12:57 PM
Those seems really interesting. I have to read them to improve my copywriting skills.

Do you know if they're avaiable for Kindle?

Doesn't look like it. And, Billion Dollar Marketing is harder to find, though you can get used copies, sometimes they're not cheap.

Margaret
06-16-2016, 04:34 AM
Do you have any advices on what to read to improve writing skills in texts for media in general? Structure, style etc

tom87
07-29-2016, 06:34 AM
In my opinion good example are blogs. If you like someone's style you should model on this ( but not copy !)