Sticky Notes - Ogilvy's poetry

September 27, 2023 | Read Online

Ogilvy's poetry

How to write better copy in 252 words

Cole Schafer
September 27, 2023

I’ve made much of my living as a copywriter. I could give you the whole spiel. But, I’m goddamned tired of spieling. So, here’s just a small sip of the spiel…

I run a solo copywriting agency called Honey Copy where I write pretty words for brands that make their soon-to-be customers trip over themselves like it’s 1954 and Marilyn Monroe just stepped over a subway grate.

I say all that to now say this…

Copywriting is the art of persuading with the written word.

Being that the bulk of our communication happens through the written word these days, copywriting is a good skill for everybody to develop whether they have ambitions of working in advertising or not.

That being said, if you have any interest in learning copywriting, this very well may be the most valuable email you read all fucking year.

How to write better copy in 252 words

Write the way you speak. If you don’t know how, record yourself explaining something. Listen to the recording. Write down the lines that sing.

80% of copywriting is writing headlines. If you can write a solid headline consistently, you’ll know enough about copywriting to be dangerous. Keep your headlines under 10 words. Make sure they’re clear, concise and clever (in that order).

From there, challenge yourself to write good sentences. That’s all copywriting is, a collection of good sentences. A good sentence is easy to read. It uses widely understood words that are one to two syllables in length.

A good sentence doesn’t use wonky unnecessary adverbs. A good sentence would revise that previous sentence to: A good sentence doesn’t use adverbs.

A good sentence is generally written in the first person rather than the third person. A good sentence is not: Tesla’s Cybertruck looks like a Stealth Bomber with wheels. A good sentence is: Our Cybertruck (that could soon be your Cybertruck) looks like a Stealth Bomber with wheels.

A good sentence is active rather than passive. The girl was kissed by the man. That is a passive sentence. The man kissed the girl. That is an active sentence.

Finally, and this is the most important rule of them all, you have to ask for what you want! Readers aren’t mind-readers. If they were, they wouldn’t have to read. If you want the reader to subscribe, ask them to subscribe. If you want the reader to buy, ask them to buy.

Capeesh?

How to write great copy in 17,899 words

If you found any of this to be helpful, I’ve created a copywriting course called How to write words that sell like a Florida Snow Cone Vendor on the hottest day of the year.

I know I didn’t abide by my headline word count rule (but you’ve got to know the rules to break the rules).

The course has been purchased by 3,058 creatives, marketers, entrepreneurs, copywriters and snow cone vendors looking to write copy that’s as persuasive as an A/C technician in hell.

While it’s not free like the 252 words of copywriting advice I shared up above, it’s worth every penny.

I want a snow cone

By Cole Schafer

P.S. Did this newsletter leave you feeling inspired? Tell someone to subscribe.

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