Looking to improve the writing skills of our team for sales pages, email marketing, and blog content. Any recommendations?
Writing skills are best learned through practice, critique, and revision.
Curriculum is a waste, in my opinion – that is, listening to generalizations about how to write something other than the task at hand. Only the actual words on the page are worth discussing. Not rules.
Maybe courses would be worthwhile if they entail a lot of hands-on interaction with a brutally honest, pragmatic instructor.
What your team would really learn from, I suspect, is watching someone perform surgery on their copy, pausing to explain why the guts are being ripped out here, why the sutures are stitched up in such and such a manner there, etc.
Consider hiring someone to workshop in person with your team. No prearranged abstract curriculum. Just critique.
http://www.cultofcopy.com
You'll be taken to a Facebook group.
12000+ members.
Very active. Loads of expertise.
Pinned offer at the top by the founder.
I've been studying & writing copy for 20 years. Started with Dan Kennedy before he got really famous (good partnership with Bill Glazer, that one), Caples, Ogilvy. Learn the fundamentals.
Are you doing B2B, B2C or IM sales? Each requires a different voice; for example, use the ultra-hypey IM voice for B2B and they'll run away so fast it'll make your head spin.
To begin with let us first familiarize ourselves with the term copywrite. Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action. Copywriters help create billboards, brochures, catalogues, jingle lyrics, magazine and newspaper advertisements, sales letters and other direct mail, scripts for television or radio commercials, taglines, white papers, social media posts, and other marketing communications.
Now copywrite is anything but writing for advertising and it has its rules just like any other writing. Let us look at the overall rules that govern the writing world:
1. Know Your Audience: For any type of writing, from novels to business reports, the first thing you need to do is identify your audience; the people who will read your work. The audience for a sales letter from your company or client is much different from the audience for a company memo or a children’s story. The audience you are writing for will determine the tone, style, and even the subject matter of your material. Before you start to write, make a few notes about your intended audience. This will help you make sure that what you write will appeal to this audience and will fit their needs and wants. If you are writing for children, for example, knowing the age range for the children you are writing for will help you make sure your story or nonfiction piece is age-appropriate for your readers.
2. Know Your Purpose for Writing: Besides knowing the audience you are writing for, you should also identify your purpose for writing for this audience. If you identify your purpose upfront, you’ll be able to keep your writing tightly focused on that purpose. You will also be able to guide your readers to taking any action you might want them to take. If you are writing a sales letter, for example, your purpose is to persuade readers to buy a specific product or service. If you are writing a letter of complaint, you will want to do more than merely complain about poor service or a faulty product you have purchased. Your purpose will be to prompt the company you purchased from to remedy their mistake. Make a few notes as to the purpose of whatever it is you’re going to write. You will be more likely to fulfil this purpose if you take time to become very aware of it before you start writing.
3. Plan Before You Write: Planning is actually a separate step in the writing process. Yet many people try to do the planning and the writing all in one step. Then they tend to get frustrated because the writing takes too long or is too difficult to do. If you plan what you will write before you sit down to write it, the writing will be much faster and easier. Plus, your overall writing will be much better. Planning what you need to write can be an enjoyable step in the writing process.
4. Decide on Structure: As you are planning your writing project, decide on the best structure for it. That is, create a way to best organize the information you will be writing about. If you create a structure for your project as you are planning your writing, this structure will provide you with a blueprint for your project. With the blueprint in place, all you will need to do to complete the project when you sit down to write is follow the blueprint. Most novels are written in chapters. Each of the chapters consists of scenes. If you want to write a novel, then outline your novel by describing what should take place in each chapter. Next, break down the action in each chapter into scenes. When it is time to start writing, all you’ll need to do to complete your novel is write one scene at a time. Those scenes will turn into chapters, and those chapters will eventually become your book. A good nonfiction article usually starts with a catchy title, followed by a “hook” sentence (called the lead), which is part of an introductory paragraph that pulls in the reader. This paragraph is followed by the body of the article, which covers the main points of the piece, and the article ends with a concluding paragraph. If you are unsure as to how you should structure the material you need to write, study something similar. Make note of how it was structured. The same structure might work well for your material. Many writers find that once they have decided how they will structure or organize their article, story, report, etc., the material seems to write itself.
5. Write Simply: For the most part, the best writing is easy to read and easy to understand. Try to write simply. Avoid obscure vocabulary in most of your writing. Only use technical jargon when you have first identified your audience, so you know they will understand it without extensive explanations. Vary your sentence length. Use many short sentences with a few longer sentences mixed in each paragraph. Be sure your sentences “pull” the reader through the text in a logical order.
6. Use Online Resources to Get Started: The Internet is full of great resources. If you can’t seem to get started on a particular writing project, go online to locate a few samples to use as templates or patterns for your own writing. For example, if you need to write a resume, go to www.google.com and type in “resume templates” in the search engine window. Sites with a variety of resume templates will pop up. If you need to write a business letter but you aren’t quite sure how to organize it, then google “how to write a business letter” and you’ll find many articles that will include samples of business letters. Samples and templates are used by professional writers all the time, although they may change the templates somewhat to suit their needs. Eventually, you will be able to do that, too.
7. Use Active Voice: Active voice tends to make the writing more engaging and immediate for the reader. To give your material an active voice, stick to basic simple sentence structure for the most part. Start your sentences with a noun or pronoun, followed by a verb and then the object of that verb.
8. Use Precise Verbs: Precise verbs help readers create clearer mental images of the information you are trying to convey. For example, “he stomped over to the coffeepot” is much clearer and less clunky than saying, “he angrily walked over to the coffeepot.”
9. Use Precise Nouns: It may take a bit longer to come up with a noun that tells your reader precisely what you are describing. But just like precise verbs, precise nouns make your writing stronger and they enable the reader to get a clearer, more accurate mental image of what you are trying to convey. For example, a brown ball could mean any number of things, but a meatball gives an extremely specific image to the reader.
10. Watch for Words You Tend to Overuse: Most writers have a few key phrases or words they tend to overuse. When you have finished writing a chapter of a novel, or a nonfiction article, etc., go back over your work, looking for the specific words you tend to overuse. Consult a thesaurus and change some of these words to other words that have the same meaning.
11. Write Tight: Writing tight means making every word count. To write tight, eliminate any unnecessary words. Why say, “he nodded his head”, for example, when all you need to say is, “he nodded”, (because what else would he nod but his head?).
12. Proof Your Work: Before you send your work out to your intended readers, proof it one last time. Check for spelling mistakes, punctuation and grammatical errors, and general typos.
These rules will be the pivot around any course you opt for in copywrite. Let us look at the courses:
a. AWAI’s “Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting Course”: This web copywriting course comes from some of the world’s top copywriters and connects you with a community of successful writers and marketers. It also includes the largest copywriting training catalogue, which will help you specialize in top industries and quickly become a great copywriter. The program comes with six different levels and goes up to the “Master’s Program for Six-Figure Copywriting.” So, even if you already consider yourself to be a qualified copywriter, you can still learn from AWAI’s immensely popular course. This course has no fixed time limit. It totally depends on your speed. Cost is $495.
b. Success Works’ “SEO Copywriting Certification Program”: Although this copywriting certification program does not come for cheap, many consider its price tag to be inconsequential compared to the immense value it provides. This is the only industry-endorsed online training that certifies copywriters in the best SEO copywriting practices – and people come out on the other side feeling like real experts. In this course, you will learn how to optimize web pages with copy for search engines and attract the attention right users. Although the program teaches heavy-duty copywriting skills, it does so in a supportive environment where you can have fun. Duration is 3 months and cost are $995
c. Eduonix’s “Become a Copywriter Pro from Ground Up”: Without paying anything, you’ll receive 16 lectures from this free copywriting course that compiles some of the most vital knowledge from expert writers in the copywriting industry. The Eudonix course only takes about four hours to complete, but it will give you an amazing introduction to the world of copywriting. The course starts by explaining what copywriting is and how it works effectively. It then delves into what it takes to be a good writer – as well as a good copywriter. You will learn how to understand an audience and write for them in a clear, straightforward manner. Duration is 4 hours and cost are free.
d. Wishpond’s Email Marketing Master Class for Beginners: Taught by instructor Victoria Taylor, a marketing generalist at Wishpond, this course contains a mixture of videos, surveys, texts, and discussions. It is geared toward helping people build better email campaigns – while avoiding some of the most common email copywriting mistakes. By enrolling for free in this popular course, you can learn everything you need to take your email writing skills to the next level. It only takes 40 minutes to complete, but you’ll find it leaves a lasting impression on your copywriting skills and habits. You will certainly notice this when writing important emails to customers and clients. Duration is 40 minutes and the costs are free.
e. How to Write a Good Email Newsletter Workshop by Wylie Communications: Feeling like you do not have what it takes to get people to open your emails? There is a lot of competition out there – but this course teaches you how to compete at the highest level. From learning how to craft a subject line to encouraging clearer copywriting, the Wylie Comm program covers everything you need to polish your email communication skills. Although this is predominantly covered in an L.A. in-person workshop, you can also book in-house email writing courses with Ann Wylie to do from anywhere. Duration depends upon the course and cost varies depending on the case.
f. How to Write Emails That Sell by HubSpot: HubSpot copywriting expert, Joanna Wiebe, created a sales email copywriting course that is sure to help you seal more deals. It is a five-day email course that sends you time-tested techniques for writing persuasive, powerful emails. From sales formulas to language lessons, this HubSpot course gives you everything you need to write better emails to customers – and it is entirely free. Considering that poor emails can cost you thousands of dollars, there is no sense in skipping this worthwhile course.
g. Peep Laja’s Conversion Coaching Program: Peep Laja, an expert copywriter and marketer, is now offering an 8-week program that provides in-depth coaching. It teaches novices all the way to advanced writers about how to attract higher-paying clients and grow their businesses. Rather than talking about the latest fads in conversions, Laja’s program focuses on fostering actual e-commerce copywriting skills that persuade. With the help of the course, you can become a “top one percent” optimizer that knows conversion copywriting like the back of their hand. Keep in mind that this is an active coaching program – you will not just be watching videos. You will need to attend live webinars, complete assignments, and put theory in practice immediately. Duration is 3 months and Cost is $78.
h. Professional Copywriting Training by Udemy: Within just five hours, Udemy’s course teaches writers how to use better persuasion methods, write sales letters, and generally write strong copy. As an e-commerce writer, your number one goal is to convert eager visitors into customers. This course works to teach you straightforward copywriting methods and techniques to get you to that end goal. Duration is 6 hours and cost are $14.
i. Kopywriting Kourse by Neville Medhora: At first glance, this copywriting course might look a little childish, but trust us – it’ll revolutionize the way you sell products and services with your content. The course is geared toward increasing conversions on marketing pieces, as well as web content. You’ll watch videos in the course that teach you how to better communicate with clients and shoppers, and therefore, create more sales. Any e-commerce copywriter can benefit from learning how to get messaging across more concisely and waste less time during the buying process. Cost is free.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
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