The Fastest Way To Become a Better Copywriter
It takes years of practice to become world class at any skill.
I’ve spent 1,000s of hours learning and practicing copywriting since 2020 and still feel like a beginner.
Nothing you do can turn you into a pro copywriter overnight.
But you can make leaps and bounds of progress quickly.
Gary Halbert — one of the most successful copywriters ever — was asked how quickly someone could become a decent copywriter.
Gary replied: “I may not be able to make someone “world class” in 30-days, but I can almost certainly make such a person better than anyone he or she is likely to be able to hire.”
There are 3 things you can do to become a significantly better copywriter in the next 30 days.
Plenty of advice will waste your time. Focus on these and skip the other stuff.
1. Read the right books
The first thing you want to do is develop a good understanding of advertising, marketing, and copywriting. The best way to do that is by reading books.
You can get decades of experience from the top 1% copywriters in history through books.
It’s best to read books from a variety of authors, as they all have unique tips, techniques, and experiences.
Choose 3 or 4 of these books and read them. You can do that in 7–10 days reading for an hour or two every day.
- “Scientific Advertising” by Claude Hopkins (Free PDF)
- “The Robert Collier Letter Book” by Robert Collier (Buy on Amazon)
- “Tested Advertising Methods” by John Caples (Free PDF)
- “How To Write A Good Advertisement” by Vic Schwab (Buy on Amazon)
- “Ogilvy on Advertising” by David Ogilvy (Buy on Amazon)
- “Break-Through Advertising” by Eugene Schwartz (Buy here)
- “The Ultimate Sales Letter” by Dan Kennedy (Buy on Amazon)
You want to take your time reading, but also move through them quickly. Your goal isn’t to memorize everything in the books you read — you’re trying to understand the basics.
You have the rest of your life to read all the books you want. After reading the first few books of your choice, move on to the next step.
Practice copywork
Copywork has been used for decades to teach kids and adults how to write better. It’s not talked about as much today, but it’s still effective for different kinds of writing.
- Ben Franklin spent years using copywork to learn newspaper writing and letters to persuade people.
- Hunter S. Thompson said rewriting The Great Gatsby gave him the foundation of his writing voice.
- Judd Apatow (director, producer, and screenwriter) said using SNL scripts for copywork taught him what a good joke was.
- Gary Halbert recommended practicing copywork with classic advertisements.
So…what is copywork?
It’s simple:
You grab a pen and paper and hand copy a successful advertisement, email, sales page, or whatever else you want to write. You copy every word, including the smallest details.
Doing this can be quite tedious, but it’s simple and it really works.
When you learn to play an instrument, you play other people’s music before creating your own. It removes all of the guesswork because you know what you’re playing is good.
I’ll admit I’m a bit biased because I have a copywork course. But I created it because I know it helps you write better copy. The course also helps you analyze the ads and emails you’re copying.
Rewrite copy
The next step in your copywriting journey is to rewrite copy.
Sometimes this is referred to as a “spec ad”. It’s a piece of copy that you create without being hired as a copywriter.
You want to start with something simple — an email or social media ad. Open up your inbox and go to the Promotions tab. Pick your favorite company and find an email. Rewrite the email using a different headline, angle, highlight a different benefit or feature.
Here’s an email I got from Etsy today:
Let’s rewrite the email while keeping the same premise — shop for Christmas/holiday gifts. I think the subject line is fine, but the copy sounds like AI writing.
Original subject line: AMAZING gifts on time (or your money BACK!) ✨ New subject line: It’s never too early to start your holiday shopping 🎁
Original copy: Celebrate the Etsy way! Get well-crafted decor and gifts from talented sellers at every price — arrives on time or your money back. 🎁 New copy: Don’t wait til the last minute to start! Shop our top holiday picks from Etsy sellers and find something for everyone on your list. Your handcrafted gifts are guaranteed to arrive with time to spare.
Original CTA: Shop our faves New CTA: Start shopping
Rewriting copy like this gives you experience writing copy without doing everything on your own. You can use the original copy as inspiration and guidance.
You can spend 30 minutes and do this for 2–3 pieces of copy.
Lots of new copywriters will use this to get new clients.
They’ll rewrite a landing page or write variations of ad copy or emails, and then send them to the business owner. Of course, a huge company like Etsy probably won’t pay attention to you, but smaller companies or solopreneurs will. If they like what you’ve written and need a copywriter, your chances of getting some work are good.
Again, you won’t be an all-star six-figure copywriter by next month, but doing these 3 things will get you on the right track faster than anything else.
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