What thought process/es go through your minds when you start writing copy? Does your mind just explode with so many ideas that you can feel the thoughs back up as you write? And as you frantically type, the only sound in the room is the keyboard? Is this 'The Zone' of writing or what? Do you list them all down as they come to mind then restructure afterwards? What have you found to be the most efficient way to write?

I found what works for me is pouring everything onto the page then piecing it together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Thoughts?

Ditto. My process exactly.

I get all the best parts I can onto paper, and then I sew 'em together.

I usually start with the bullets.

Then I move on to the headlines and the subhead.

Then I write lots and lots of the stuff in between.

If I can find a story, to tie it all together, I do that.

Then I put it away for a few days... and when I look at it again, it seems a little foreign to me. All the mistakes seem to "pop" out at me. I fix them, I smooth it out.

I let someone else read it, and mark it up with a red pen, pointing out any misspellings, grammar errors (sometimes those were on purpose, other times they were not), and especially anything that seems confusing. I fix all that.

Finally, I read it out loud, and I find a whole bunch of new mistakes or better ways to say things, so I fix it again.

And sometimes... I do it differently that what I just described. But usually not. Because I am a well-adjusted writer. Heh heh heh...

Yes. If I'm having a good day.

I do the jigsaw thing too. I just get all my ideas down, paragraphs all over the darn place... and then I PUT THE PIECE AWAY. I come back that night or the next day and look at it with a fresh set of eyes.

I never write a piece in one sitting and call it done. Never, ever. It's always a process, like sculpting a piece of art. From a big chunk of butter.

Sorry, it's 4am and I'm having a bout of insomnia.

Yes, I find after letting the 'finished' piece sit for a week or so, I run through it with a polisher (thesarus) and can usually replace between 4-10 words with much better ones that make the piece flow that much better.

When I write copy for my products on my site (which are typically books and/or tapes), I painstakenly go through them page by page.

When I come across a potential benefit, I write it down on an index card.
When I'm done going through the book, I usually have A LOT of index cards.

Right now, I'm making benefit cards for a horse training book written in 1909. It's an odd sized book in that the page sizes are only about 5" X 7". There are 132 pages in this little book.

You wouldn't think a book this small would create a lot of index cards but I'm about halfway through the book and I've amassed a two-inch thick pile of index cards.

Then I go through them to see what I think the most powerful, most desired, most "grab 'em by the eyeballs" thing that is THE crux of the thing and make that the theme.

Then everything else is typically based off and around that.

Then I take every index card and make a bullet out them. I usually make it double punch bullet. Like John Carlton says, "give 'em the first benefit to 'soften 'em up' like a boxer 'jabbing' an opponet...then knock 'em hard with an uppercut...aka: another benefit.

Then I put the bullets in order according to the "most important and most persuasive". These aren't always mutually exclusive.

Next, I try to come up with reasons why someone wouldn't buy and I address them in the copy.

If, for example, a reason is "too expensive" (which is always a reason) then I explain why it's NOT too expensive by comparing apples to oranges. The important thing is that is has to make sense and be believable.

Then I start writing once I've done all that. I write and write. Although hard at times, I try hard not to edit myself because it slows me down and kind of cuts of the creative juices. I know I'll be editing later anyway.

As I write, I try to ask myself at EVERY sentence..."Is this believable?"..."Would the prospect be sitting their, shaking his head saying 'Yeah..right!" If so, then I address that.

So if I think the customer is reading and thinking to himself, "Yeah right" then I may say something like "I'll bet you think I'm pulling your leg don't you? Well, I thought it seemed too good to be true too but here's what I discovered....."

Once I'm done (or spent) I put it away for a few days.

When I come back to it that's when I edit. (I'll edit and edit until I feel confident what I said is crystal clear, understandable, and believable. Editing takes place several times...not just once)

I look for boring words and sentences and try to keep the reader's mind active and engaged.

For instance, if I wrote a sentence that said "You will like this!" I may change it to "When you read this on page 37 you will be shocked at how easy it is."

I try to use few, if any, adjectives. Replace them with action verbs.

The copy should be conversational like you're talking with a few friends in a bar some night telling them the answers to some nagging questions they've had - only now, because you're writing this copy, you edit what you say with your trusty thesaurus.

Replace boring words like "I have" with words like "I possess" and so on.

The most important thing I do, which I haven't divulged here yet, is creating headlines.

90% of your work IS the headline.

I made a nearly instant $10,000.00 in one month by changing headlines of one of my sales letters. All I did was change words of the headline.

Just the simple power of words can make you major bucks.

I will create a minimum of 150 headlines before I decide on any - and then I test them. The funny thing is, the ones I think that are the winning headlines are rarely the winners. You never know what's gonna trigger people to buy. Sure, you may have an idea...but until you test and confirm it's all conjecture.

That's my basic process. I'm sure I've left out stuff but if I was on my deathbed and had a few minutes to tell someone how to do it,...this is what I would have said.

Whew...that made me tired. I think I'll take a nap now.

What an amazing CRASH COURSE in copywriting... Thanks Andy!

Hey Andy,

I visited your site -- and also completely read the letter at http://www.horsetrainingandtips.com/BuyingAHorse.htm

I have a question for you...

What percentage of your sales opt to "Call In" their order VS use the order link? (BTW: I've heard that using a POTs line -- non-toll-free can outpull using a toll free in this particular situation. Have you tested that?)

Just curious...

JP,

I'll answer your questions if you email me at:
grizzlymarketing@yahoo.com

As for the sales letter on the "buying a horse"...that's one of the first I ever did...and, quite frankly, warrants me going back and redoing...even though I've sold a pretty fair amount of them.

It's kind of like making cookies but the batch didn't taste as good as you like. It was still quite edible but could be even more tasty.

By the way, I have not tested a toll-free order line against a "non toll-free" order line. I decided I wanted to remove any and all barriers to the order process once Mr. Customer is persuaded to buy. But, it would be worth testing, no doubt.