How to Use Swipe Files to Maintain Quality Copy - Copywriting 707
“Copywriting 707” Free Articles by Robert Plank
“…I've compiled free articles that Robert Plank is giving away through his site or from article directories. Long on content, short on sales, but he is hoping that you like his free stuff enough to someday buy something he's selling, of course, and if you do, I might or might not get a commission out of the deal. Regardless, you can learn a lot from reading the following articles, just like I do…”
Compiled by Syamsul Alam http://www.SyamsulAlam.com
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How to Use Swipe Files to Maintain Quality Copy - Copywriting 707 Table of Contents Copywriting Tips - What is a Swipe File? ............................................................................................. 3 Copywriting Tips - Maintain a "Made Me Buy" Swipe File .................................................................. 5 Why Read Good Ads to Get Better at Copywriting? ........................................................................... 6 What is Implicit and Explicit Copywriting? .......................................................................................... 7 Other Resources by Robert Plank ........................................................................................................ 9
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How to Use Swipe Files to Maintain Quality Copy - Copywriting 707
Copywriting Tips - What is a Swipe File? It is doubtful that you will ever find a successful copywriter who does not have their own swipe file. As a copywriter, a swipe file is a list of stuff that you like from other copywriters: pieces of ads, hot phrases, even entire sales letters or web sites. Your swipe file is your stockpile of ideas for your next copywriting job. Building up a swipe file is just as easy as it sounds. If you see something you like on a web site, save that phrase in a text file or even use the "File, Save As" feature in your browser to save it to a folder on your desktop. Because you want to avoid any kind of copyright infringement, you need to avoid using large chunks of someone else's copy as your own. Look at hot headlines or bullet points and replace keywords when you get stuck. An even better way to absorb swipe files is to rewrite the headline or bullet point in question. When you rewrite part of someone else's sales copy over and over, it eventually becomes intuitive and you understand the exact phraseology the original copywriter used. You can understand if the headline you just rewrote was a challenge, an outrageous claim, how they introduced emotion and urgency in just a few short words, and so on. The most important thing you need to know about swipe files is that you should not become a collector. A common saying with copywriters that the content your swipe file does not contain is more important than what it does contain. It is tempting to save every single sales letter you come across, but that will stifle your creativity because your idea file will become cluttered. I routinely write several sales letters in a row simply to exhaust my swipe file and make room for new entries. If you use a swipe phrase, delete it. If you see you have some cool phrases or headlines sitting in your swipe file that you never use, consider deleting those as well. I hope you learned enough to get started with swipe files. Maybe you already had one and never realized it. In any case, remember to save phrases and web pages that get your attention, or might inspire you to write your next world-class sales letter.
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How to Use Swipe Files to Maintain Quality Copy - Copywriting 707 Robert Plank, internet marketer, PHP programmer, and 23 year old homeowner, made an average of $10,000 per month every month in 2008. Check out his marketing ideas worth STEALING at: http://www.robertplank.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Plank
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How to Use Swipe Files to Maintain Quality Copy - Copywriting 707
Copywriting Tips - Maintain a "Made Me Buy" Swipe File As a copywriter, you probably maintain some kind of swipe file, which is an archive of headlines, phrases, and entire sales letters that contain sales materials that you like, so you can re-use the same strategies in your own sales letters and hopefully hit on some of the same hot buttons as the original copywriter did. But my question to you is, do you maintain the most important swipe file of all, which is the "Made Me Buy" swipe file? When you write a sales letter, it does not matter if you have the most attention-grabbing headlines and body text, and the most compelling offer in the world. If it never converts to a sale, it is no good! The simple fact is, if you only keep a swipe file of all the sales letters you never buy from, you are keeping a list of losers. You need to keep that list of winners, and so many people will think to save swipes of sales letters that almost get them to buy... they never think that, after purchasing a product, they should go back and dissect what made them buy. If you can figure out those one or two triggers that caused you to buy, chances are you can pass that on to your own prospects. Do yourself a favor and keep a swipe file of products you buy. Not just the sales letter, either! Capture the entire process: the e-mail follow-ups, surprise bonuses, support, and consulting. Keeping a "made me buy" swipe file will really help, especially those times you get writer's block while copywriting. Get the exact step by step formula to write a sales letter in five minutes or less, complete with easy to use worksheets and plug-n-play headlines, offers, stories, and guarantees... http://www.fiveminutecopywriting.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Plank
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How to Use Swipe Files to Maintain Quality Copy - Copywriting 707
Why Read Good Ads to Get Better at Copywriting? You will never meet a copywriter who hates to read ads. Copywriters love to read junk mail ads, and many of them have boxes and boxes of them that they have collected over the years. But why read good ads to improve your copywriting? What we are talking about here is standing on the shoulders of giants. The ads you see every minute, from television commercials to posters and billboard ads, to junk you receive in the mail, were written by professional salesmen who were paid thousands if not millions of dollars to produce those ads. You can take advantage of them. You can reproduce these ads by changing just a few words, or even better read and write the ad several times to find the hook. It is like hiring a professional copywriter, for free. Another great reason to read good ads is that no textbook will teach you any skill as well as real world experience. It is one thing to read about how a particular ad is great, and for a stuffy author to explain what makes it a great ad, but it is quite another experience for you to identify what sells and why it hooked you. That leads us to the final reason to read good ads. You are your own customer. When you write your own copy, you are getting into the mind of your readers and usually, you are knowledgeable on the subject you are selling. If you are a jet ski enthusiast and you want to appeal to other jet ski fans, just write in the way you want to be sold, and you will produce fairly decently converting sales copy. Skip the long learning curve and apply my brilliant, plug and play formula to write a sales letter in just five minutes... http://www.fiveminutecopywriting.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Plank
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How to Use Swipe Files to Maintain Quality Copy - Copywriting 707
What is Implicit and Explicit Copywriting? If you are a copywriter and have analyzed several sales letters to find out what sells and what does not sell, you might have noticed two basic types of selling taking place: implicit and explicit selling. Implicit copywriting means the selling is low-key... the problem, proof, and scarcity elements are implied based on the information you provide. On the other hand, explicit selling is when the selling elements are cheesy, annoying, and in your face. Different methods work in different niches and demographics, so you need to decide which is right for you. Explaining a problem implicitly means you must apply gradualization to your copywriting. Start your pitch by explaining a result or side effect of an actual problem to get people to believe your claims before you actually state them. If you wanted to sell an infoproduct explaining how to avoid losing your home in a recession, you might start off by telling a story about how the supermarket seems less busy and you see more and more "for sale" signs around your neighborhood. You continue by giving proof about a declining Gross Domestic Product, growing unemployment rates and declining home value, before explaining the coming recession and offering your solution. As you can see, the implicit strategy takes a lot of time and patience and depends on you "hooking" your prospects with your story. If you can't hook them, the sales pitch fails. So if you want to start the sales letter off with a bang, flat out state that there is a bank-centered conspiracy going on and there are things you can do to avoid it. Implicit and explicit copywriting apply to your proof elements as well. Do you want to merely give your credentials, or do you want to flat out say that only 2000 copies will be sold? Personally, even though I prefer implicit problems and proof, I very rarely choose implicit scarcity. Explicit scarcity is powerful because you use it right at the end of your sales message. Do not limit yourself in thinking that there is only one way to apply proof, scarcity, and a problemsolution package. You have a choice between implicit and explicit copywriting, and anything in between.
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How to Use Swipe Files to Maintain Quality Copy - Copywriting 707 Get the exact step by step formula to write a sales letter in five minutes or less, complete with easy to use worksheets and plug-n-play headlines, offers, stories, and guarantees... http://www.fiveminutecopywriting.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Plank
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How to Use Swipe Files to Maintain Quality Copy - Copywriting 707
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