I hand-copied sales letters daily for six years. Each day, without a day missed. I woke up, and for the first half-hour or hour and I hand-copied a sales letter. Pen and legal pad. Even when I was ill, even on holiday mornings...
I hit a hiccup. When I hand-copied Brilliance Breakthrough by Eugene Schwartz, and his ads, my copy turned from converting to utter shit. Million-dollar ad spends, and I was the cause for...
The saving grace? Hand copying David Ogilvy, Claude Hopkins, and Oren Klaff pitches. Then I switched predominately to the Benjamin Franklin writing exercise. I did that daily for about threeish years. I also did it during that six-year period.
What also really cranked my copy, studying normal books on writing. I found out that Ogilvy inhaled things like Fowler's Usage Manual.
You don't need to be a grammar expert, but knowing how to write clearly and with style separates you from tactic dorks.
- David Ogilvy
- Claude Hopkins
- Oren Klaff
- @craigclemens
- John Carlton
- Start the Benjamin Franklin exercise sooner.
- Study general books on writing sooner, especially Ogilvy's heroes: Ernest Gowers, and Fowler's.
- Stick to Adler's reading advice.
- Get to an Oren Klaff event sooner.
Oh, and another thing that helped, studying some Joe Navarro.