Thinking about becoming a copywriter in 2024?
Copywriting CAN be a great career IF you can provide supreme value for your clients.
However, before you can provide them value, you must master a few basic copywriting skills.
If you master these skills…
You will always be in red-hot demand and can realistically earn “10k/month” while writing from anywhere in the world.
In this blog post…
I’m going to reveal what copywriting is, the 5 must-have copywriting skills and how to quickly master these copywriter skills so you can kick major bootay in 2024 and beyond!
What is Copywriting?
It’s VERY simple.
Copywriting is salesmanship in print.
Meaning:
Instead of selling face-to-face, using your mouth, you are selling to hundreds, thousands, even millions at a time through your writing.
This is the power of copywriting.
It’s sales on steroids.
Copywriting will always be in hot demand because companies will always need to convert more customers and sell more products.
Your main job as a copywriter is to help companies sell more products and grow their businesses.
What are Copywriting Skills?
Copywriting skills go beyond just stringing words together.
It involves understanding consumer psychology, creating a connection with your audience, and using language to evoke emotions and trigger desired responses.
A successful copywriter needs to be versatile and adapt their writing style to suit different mediums, from social media and emails to websites and print materials.
However, the core copywriting skills needed to craft a persuasive message remain the same on ANY media you write for.
Speaking of core copywriting skills…
The 5 Main Copywriting Skills You Must Have to Succeed
1. Storytelling
Telling stories is one of the easiest and most effective ways to write sizzling hot copy that sells.
When you tell a story in your copy, you're not just selling a product or service; you're selling an experience, a solution to a problem, or a vision of a better future.
This emotional resonance is what makes your message memorable and persuasive.
In a world inundated with information, stories stand out.
They slice through the noise like a katana blade and engage readers in a way that straightforward, facts, features and benefits simply cannot.
Stories cover all the bases over creating powerful copy - solves problems, paints vision, educates, entertains, taps into emotions, and so on.
Tell learn more about how to master the art of storytelling in copy, read this blog post:
How to Use Storytelling in Copywriting to Multiply Your Income (With 5 Examples from Real Ads)
2. Clarity
In the wise words of the greatest copywriter who’s ever lived…
“No man ever went broke overestimating the ignorance of the American public.”
Good copywriting is stupidly simple, clear and easy to understand (at a glance).
It’s not that your readers aren’t intelligent, but their attention runs cracker thin.
Nowadays, we are bombarded by ads on a daily basis.
We have a million different ads, messages, notifications, fighting for our attention at once.
So, to cut through the noise and increase the chances of getting read, make your ad extremely clear, and simple to read and understand.
2 ways to achieve this…
- Write at a 5th grade level
- Use simple everyday language. Write how you would talk to a close friend.
3. Grab Attention
If you don’t grab your reader’s attention, they will never read a word you write.
And, more importantly, they will never buy from you.
So, you must become a MASTER at grabbing attention.
This is the job of your headline.
I’ve written over 2,000 words explaining how to write attention-grabbing headlines. This is a VERY DETAILED crash course giving you everything you need to grab your audience’s attention. You can read it here.
However, if you understand this, you will be a-okay:
Every headline you write should flag down your ideal reader’s attention. Like a giant red stop sign with their name on it.
4. Turning Features to Benefits
One of the top copywriting skills to have is the ability to turn boring features into exciting benefits.
Benefits are what the features will DO for the reader.
Your readers only care about what’s in it for them.
They will only read your copy and buy from you if they WANT to.
So, to get them to want to buy from you, make sure you load up your copy with heaps of irresistible benefits.
How do you turn features into benefits?
How do you make these benefits irresistible?
Click here.
5. Persuasive Call to Actions
The purpose of your call to action is to get your readers to take a specified action (usually to purchase a product or join an email newsletter.)
You can have the best writing in the world, but if you don’t tell your readers EXACTLY what to do next (buy), your hard work will be for nothing.
And, to get readers to buy from you, you must give them crystal clear, step-by-step instructions on what to do.
Plus, you must add urgency and scarcity to light a fire under their booties and get them to click “buy now”.
To learn how to write killer CTAs go here:
The Ultimate CTA Copywriting Guide for Copywriters Who Want to Boost Sales
How to QUICKLY Improve Your Copywriting Skills
The best way to quickly improve your copywriting skills is to learn, practice and WRITE.
Read these 10 copywriting books:
- The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert
- The Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugarman
- How to Write a Good Advertisement by Victor O. Schwab
- Scientific Advertising By Claude Hopkins
- The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy
- Ogilvy on Advertising By David Ogilvy
- Tested Advertising Methods By John Caples
- Cashvertising By Drew Eric Whitman
- The Copywriter’s Handbook By Bob Bly
- Kick-Ass Copywriting Secrets of a Marketing Rebel By John Carlton
To learn more about these books and their authors (all great copywriters), click on this blog post.
While you read, practice these 5 copywriting exercises.
And write, write, write.
Conclusion
Copywriting is just like any other skill.
To improve your copywriting skills, you must practice.
The more you learn, practice and write, the better you’ll become.
The day you stop improving is the day you die.
So, get to writing! And never stop.
Want daily copywriting tips from a “been there, done that” copywriter? Enter your email below: