Long copy doesn’t always come easy…
I still remember when I was getting started as a copywriter. I’d written one long-form promo that did a really good job of telling a client’s story.
It was good enough that it got the attention of the ORIGINAL internet marketing expert, Ken McCarthy, himself an avid and experienced direct marketer.
But then, I went on to attempt a string of promos that were not nearly as good.
I could write short copy. I was writing product descriptions and emails and short-form landing pages all day long.
But whenever I tried to write long copy sales letters, it just didn’t come together.
Then I got a great opportunity.
I did a spec assignment for AWAI, to try to write a sales letter for one of their programs.
I considered it a huge opportunity.
And I BOMBED.
Yes, what I wrote was coherent. It was full of good information. But it wasn’t really copy. It didn’t resonate. And it definitely didn’t get the reader in a frenzy to whip out their wallet and buy.
And that promo never even launched. Because Katie and the team helping me with my copy knew better.
I was confused…
How was it that I could occasionally write long copy that would sing — and then turn around and write long copy that was totally off-key?
Importantly, what could I do to turn around my copywriting to write more consistent winners?
Then, the epiphany…
I realized that when I had a great story already in place for me, it was easy to write winners.
(This is the power of Story Selling.)
But what about when I didn’t have a great story? When I had to come up with the hook and Big Idea on my own?
I realized that in those situations, I had ZERO concept of how to structure my copy to create a big winner.
Because when you don’t have a clear underlying narrative, it’s your job to create one.
And even if you have a decent narrative, it’s your job to make sure that maps onto a compelling sales letter structure.
And when you do that job well — when you structure your copy just right — not only do you write better copy, but you write it faster and easier, with way less struggle.
It was around that time that I got Clayton Makepeace’s outline for writing long copy.
And that’s when everything changed.
Suddenly I was able to write clear, tight, and stimulating long copy!
It was crazy.
It felt like practically overnight, I was writing long-form copy that brought in much bigger paydays. For the clients, and for myself.
I was writing winner after winner. And even breaking client sales records.
Not only that, it was at this time that I grew 100% confident that I could write copy for a living, as a freelancer.
I quit my full-time marketing job, and have never looked back.
And since early 2010, this is largely how I’ve made my living.
Writing long copy promotions.
Why am I writing about this TODAY?
In short, because I needed to take my own advice!
(That’s where the ideas for about half of these articles come from…)
I’ve been working on a promo for a while now.
It’s for a big client, and an important campaign to them.
I wrote a first draft, and it kind of worked.
But it really had a ton of room for improvement.
It wasn’t tight. It wasn’t that exciting. And prospects wouldn’t finish reading it — much less whip out their credit cards and buy.
Now, this promo is a prediction promo.
And, in fact, it’s making a prediction that doesn’t feel all that unique.
And so I’ve struggled with it.
It was back to 2009 all over again. Writing copy that is fundamentally good as far as communicating its points — but that isn’t really COPY in the sense that it will do a great job selling.
I’d even rewritten the lead, and that kind of worked, but then I was feeling lost.
I was feeling like I should just give up!
Then, I did something I should’ve done a long time ago.
I grabbed the Imminent Prediction template from my High-Velocity Copywriting program.
And I created a brand new mind map. I copied all the elements from that template, into my mind map.
And I started reworking all the ideas from the promo to fit in MY OWN DANG TEMPLATE!
Listen — I know this stuff. I’ve internalized it. I’ve even taught it, in this program.
But still I was running into a wall, because I wasn’t using my own dang teaching to my own advantage.
But thanks to the outline from High-Velocity Copywriting, I was able to get back on track.
I know what to write, in what order, to give this promo the best chance of being a big winner.
And because it’s based on a proven formula for writing long-form sales copy, it is suddenly much easier to write copy that feels more compelling to me — and will be to my audience as well.
Even I can use a taste of my own medicine, from time to time.
Likewise, I hear about copywriters who’ve gone through the training, getting the same benefit. Writing more powerful copy, faster and easier than ever before.
Plus there’s a bonus webinar where I walk through that original Clayton Makepeace outline, all included with the program.
This could be your big breakthrough.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
