Its Time To Start That Swipe File

Just as great fiction is an art, so is great copywriting. Beneath the art, however, there's a foundation of basic knowledge and skills. The craft that goes into your writing.

Craft comes first. Art follows.

You learn the craft of writing by educating yourself, by the actual process of writing (the doing), and by reading incessantly. Every successful writer will tell you that reading has been and still is the cornerstone of developing his craft.

Reading presents you with a written illustration of what works and what doesn't, of what you like as a writer and what you don't. It helps you understand the possibilities, and offers practical instruction of how the rules of your craft are used.

Most writers, when they start out, mimic their favorite authors. I have a friend who became incredibly adept at writing like Stephen King. For several years, everything I wrote had a Ray Bradbury flavor.

Eventually, we developed our own styles, which were richer for having first gone through this mimic stage.

The point is this: part of any effective learning process is to mimic what has been successful before you.

This is true of copywriting, too. And it's the reason you need to start a "swipe" file if you want to become a successful copywriter.

What is a "swipe" file? It's exactly what it sounds like ... a file of great copywriting examples that you've collected, studied, and can access whenever you're in need of a little inspiration. These are not examples meant to be plagiarized. You aren't copying work here; you're adapting it to your own copywriting needs.

For example ... suppose you're writing a sales letter for an Internet site that sells an expensive men's wristwatch and you're in need of a great headline. You search through your "swipe" file and find a sales letter for The Oxford Club (actually taken from my own "swipe" file) with the headline: A Man's Right To Wealth. How To Master Every Situation And Prosper On A Grand Scale.

You toy around with it and come up with this: A Man's Right To Elegance. How To Impress In Every Situation With A Watch That Does Far More Than Keep Accurate Time.

See how a good "swipe" file can help?

You can use it to adapt opening sentences. Or the layout of a sales letter. Or the guarantee you or your client offers. Even the pace or the emotional "tug" of a piece.

By using your "swipe" file, your creative juices are instantly flowing. There's no blank page. You already have something to work with. And as any good writer will tell you, it's easier to edit than it is to write.

So where do you get the material for your "swipe" file?

The quickest and easiest source is the Internet. Start checking out website sales letters. Print them out. Good or bad (even the bad ones can inspire your work). Study them. And keep them close by in a handy file.

The other great source is from mailing lists. If you're already on a few lists, then start filing those pitches away when they arrive instead of tossing them out. If you're not on a list, try purchasing a product or asking for a catalog. It won't be long before you're on a number of lists and your "swipe" file is growing exponentially.

Two good places to get started are: Publisher's Clearing House, 101 Channel Drive, Port Washington, NY 11050; and Nightingale-Conant, 7300 N. Leigh Avenue, Chicago, IL 60648.

Try them both. Try any others that come to mind, as well. Just start building your "swipe" today!

David B. Silva
The Successful Writer
http://thesuccessfulwriter.com/copywriting/

---

Kick-Start Your Juices

Listen, consider this scenario.You have a deadline to honour. Time... Read More

How To Really Connect With Your Customer In Your Copywriting

One of the least talked-about areas in copywriting education is... Read More

The Secret to Drilling Down Deep in Your Target Market

Here's another drill ripped out of the Field Guide for... Read More

Advice for Copywriters: How to Win the Freelance Bidding War

Are you a freelance copywriter working from home? If so,... Read More

A Free Lesson On How To Easily Write Ads That Are Guaranteed To Make You Money

COPYWRITINGAfter determining what we are going to sell, the next... Read More

42 Deadly Ad Copy Sins That Ive Made

I have read thousands of ad copies online and offline... Read More

How To Find A Copywriting School

Have you heard the good things about the field of... Read More

Content is King

IntroductionA pencil. Yes, a pencil. In my opinion, every great... Read More

When Panic Attacks Writers

If you write for a living, you deal with deadlines.... Read More

Website Advertising: 10 Tactics To Make Your Ad Copy More Impactful

If your ad is not generating a lot of sales,... Read More

9 Tips for Great Design of Your Marketing Materials

1) Don't just hire a good designer. Hire someone who... Read More

Are You Asking the Right Questions in Your Copy?

It's a common approach to writing copy. You begin by... Read More

Progressive Headlines Guide Customers To Buy

Headlines are, without a doubt, one of the most important... Read More

The Secret to Web Copywriting Gurudom

Have you seen those copywriting gurus, working it on the... Read More

How To Test The Body Of Your Sales Copy For Weaknesses

Your sales copy is the life source of your business.... Read More

Yale University Researchers Reveal The 12 Most Powerful Words In The Human Language...

In this article, I am going to reveal a dozen... Read More

Help, Help, Help, Sell

Here's a fundamental difference between copywriting offline and copywriting for... Read More

Dont Be Satisfied With Your First Draft

Sometimes it's a struggle to figure out what's the best... Read More

Freelance Writers: Double Your Income

Freelance writers are a strange group of people when it... Read More

Do You Make These 5 Mistakes When Writing Sales Copy?

Writing copy has sometimes been compared to an "art." While... Read More

Designing for a Non-English Audience

Having worked as a digital publishing specialist at a large... Read More

12 Copywriting Tips to Make Your Advertising More Profitable

Year after year people make the same mistakes in direct-response... Read More

Why You Should Write To Inform And Not To Sell

Advertising is key! Unfortunately most people waste their money on... Read More

Touching the Prospect?s Emotions in Your Sales Letter

Your prospect has emotions? and you MUST touch these emotions... Read More

Can 97% of Netpreneurs be Wrong?

Why Some People's Ads Almost Always Make MoneyDiscover the Master... Read More

5 Rules for Effective Written Sales Communications

Most salespeople have great ideas, but when it comes to... Read More

Stop Chasing Away Customers! Bad Copy is Your Worst Enemy

Every day, more and more of us begin new online... Read More

How To Write Powerful Headlines

I want to tell you how I go about writing... Read More

A Quick Free n Easy Content Writing Course

I do not pretend that a one-stop shop solution to... Read More

Copywriting: Engage Prospects By Involving Their Senses

Imagine a bland, colorless existence. Where food had no taste,... Read More

How to Write Carrot-Wielding Copy!

A significant reason behind websites that fail is the lack... Read More

Writing Suitable Copy for the Press

Summer is finally here and school is out, but learning... Read More

Sell Anything To Anyone On The Internet With Hypnotic Writing

I imagine you are the type of person who really... Read More