He desires to be DR copywriter yet doesn’t feel good enough to be one

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eshoddyy
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He desires to be DR copywriter yet doesn’t feel good enough to be one

Post by eshoddyy »

Hi CF,

Thank you for this community of great minds. This is my first post here.

Quick question please.

What could make a person desire earnestly to be a direct response copywriter
yet doesn’t feel good enough to be one?

Have you ever felt that way in your journey as a direct response copywriter?

As far as I can remember…I have always loved persuasion,influence, psychology and direct response copy writing.

I feel like I am born to do this. But self doubt seems to stop me.

Is there any direct response copy writing mentor needing a protege?

I am willing to work with you and for you.

Thank you so much
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SARubin
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Re: He desires to be DR copywriter yet doesn’t feel good enough to be one

Post by SARubin »

eshoddyy wrote: May 7th, 2020, 10:38 am What could make a person desire earnestly to be a direct response copywriter
yet doesn’t feel good enough to be one?
I believe desire is the first step towards becoming good at anything, because without desire then we’d never even try. So just the fact that you have the desire tells me you have a chance to become good (or even great).

But desire alone does not equal ability.

Fortunately, copywriting is something you can learn. And with enough dedication you can become great at it.

You already write in a clear, and concise manner, Elijah. And that’s one skill that many new writers lack. So you’re already one step ahead of the crowd.
eshoddyy wrote: May 7th, 2020, 10:38 amHave you ever felt that way in your journey as a direct response copywriter?
At the beginning of my journey I felt insecure all the time. I was certain that everyone would think I was a fraud, because I wasn’t perfect.

Now, all these years later, I still feel anxious sometimes. Not nearly as much anymore because I have past experience to remind me “I do know a thing or two”.

The fear of failure is probably the biggest obstacle to most people’s success. (Oddly enough, the fear of success is a close second)
eshoddyy wrote: May 7th, 2020, 10:38 amAs far as I can remember…I have always loved persuasion,influence, psychology and direct response copy writing.

I feel like I am born to do this. But self doubt seems to stop me.
Do you have any direct sales experience, Elijah?

I only ask because at its core, good sales copy is basically just “salesmanship multiplied for the masses”. So if you have sales experience, you’re more than half way to being a copywriter.

One main difference is, in face-to-face sales we can ask customers questions and wait for an answer. We can also observe their body language. Then we can adjust our sales pitch (offer) based on how our customer is responding in real time.

But with sales copy we don’t have the ability to adjust our presentation in real time. Our audience holds all of the power to accept, or reject our offer without us ever knowing why.

That’s why we need to be able to anticipate what our reader is thinking as they follow our copy. And direct sales experience is the best way to learn these things.


If you don’t have any direct sales experience, you can still become good at copywriting, it’s just a slightly bigger learning curve.


The first thing I recommend is to ONLY read copywriting books written by the masters of copywriting.


95% of the books and courses being written today are just rehashed ideas that came from the masters. (some of the new stuff out there is flat out wrong, and counterproductive) So you may as well learn it from the original source, instead from someone who’s only repeating what they heard from someone else.

You can start with anything written by Claude Hopkins, Robert Collier, Victor O Schwab, Eugene Schwartz, Gary Bencivenga, or Gary Halbert. There are others old school masters too, but these guys should keep you busy learning for a long time.

And don’t be put off by the fact that most of these guys died before the internet existed.

The internet is a new medium, but the psychology of consumer behavior hasn’t changed for hundreds of years. And with a few tweaks for the modern era, the concepts of good salesmanship transcend any medium.


The second thing I recommend is to just start writing.

Find some good performing copy and re-write it, keeping the same structure but changing the words into your own writing voice.

These samples will be the beginning of your “experience”. And if you want to sound more professional you can refer to them as “spec” assignments (which, if we spin it right… basically means you wrote it for a product, but it never got used)

The copy you write probably won’t be great at first, but hey, we all gotta start somewhere.

These samples can also become part of your portfolio. And if anyone asks to see your portfolio you’ll have something to show them.


And of course, the best experience you can get in writing sales copy is to actually find something to sell (either your own product, or someone else’s affiliate product). This will give you true first hand experience in finding the right market to message match. Because the market won’t hesitate to let you know if your copy is any good.

If it sells… then it’s good…

If it doesn’t sell… then it’s the wrong message, the wrong audience, or the wrong timing (or any combination of the three)


We always need to remember, the biggest thing when it comes to direct response copywriting is our ability to understand the desires of the market we’re writing for. (The words come secondary).

Mediocre copy that offers people something they already want, will always outperform great copy that goes to people who have no interest in your offer.

So the “market” comes first… then “words” come second.

eshoddyy wrote: May 7th, 2020, 10:38 amIs there any direct response copy writing mentor needing a protege?

I am willing to work with you and for you.

Thank you so much
Unfortunately, I don’t have any open projects at the moment. But if you hang around here long enough something might come your way.
A good marketer knows how to think like a marketer - A great marketer learns how to think like the customer...
SARubin - Direct Response Copywriter / Conversion Flow Expert
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eshoddyy
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Re: He desires to be DR copywriter yet doesn’t feel good enough to be one

Post by eshoddyy »

SARubin,

Thank you so much for your detailed,explicit response.

Truth is…

I know it will be this detailed as you have often done here and over at WF.

You asked if I have any sales experience.

Yes I do…

I was sales personnel in a bank for few years.

I am taking the counsel you just shared and running with it.
  1. Read the Masters.
  2. Handwrite their copies.
I have always done No.1 but often I get lazy with No.2

Not anymore now though.

Another thing I will probably start doing is pick products on amazon,research the desires of the market, write copy on it and post it here for review.

This is after I have gotten good with handwriting copies.

Once again I appreciate you.

P.S I tried sending you a private message but it did not deliver.
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Re: He desires to be DR copywriter yet doesn’t feel good enough to be one

Post by SARubin »

Thanks for the heads up about the private message not working. (I'm still learning how this platform works in the backend :? ) I believe it's all fixed now.

I found your message and I think it's better if we take the rest of this conversation private. I'll PM you and we can pick it up from there...
A good marketer knows how to think like a marketer - A great marketer learns how to think like the customer...
SARubin - Direct Response Copywriter / Conversion Flow Expert
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