How Hard Is Copywriting

It’s not as easy as you might think

Website development was an extremely difficult task for some people. There are just so many things that can go wrong during the creation of your website, and it really makes you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing sometimes.

But then it all changed for some people when they took a web design course. You see, there’s plenty to learn, but once you have them under your belt, everything becomes much easier.

And while some may argue that learning how to use software is pretty useless, many disagree. Learning how to use software opens up a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to creating websites and writing articles.

You can achieve anything if you’re willing to put in the work. And since building relationships is at the core of copywriting, we also learned about networking and how important it is to getting somewhere in this business.

Learning how to write good content is only part of the battle; being able to connect with people is something most people struggle with. But by simply being aware of this fact, you’re already half way there.

The other half will come through training (we have several free resources to help you out) and networking. These two things alone have helped us acclimate ourselves into the community and make us more comfortable sharing our knowledge with others.

Create a short-answer test

Writing is an art form, but it’s not something you can adequately assess in an interview or via assessment tool. There are better methods to evaluate your writing skills.

Here are some ways to measure your write ability:

You can use content from your job file to see how well you do on written work. This could include receipts, business letters, documents you have drafted, etc.

You can also look at your recent social media posts and determine if you could put them up on paper.

Look at your existing work

When you’re doing copywriting, one of the most important things to do is look at your current work. You need to see what you’ve written already and how it can be improved.

If you’re not writing copy yourself, then someone in your organization probably is. The hardest part about improving your copywriting skills is realizing where to start.

Start with your best works and try to improve them. Copy is similar to code in that way – there are many better codes out there, just like there are many better copies.

Code isn’t easy to write perfect, but code is pretty easy to understand. Code is also slightly easier than text, which means there’s a learning curve for people who don’t know code well.

Text is something that we communicate through every day, so it needs special attention when you want to fix a problem.

There’s a reason why coding has two sets of letters and numbers and text has only one set. It’s because computers were faster at processing code than they were at reading words.

That makes sense, right? Try making your sentences mean more when you write them. If you wrote an article and no one else seemed to care much about it, ask yourselves if it was worth it to include graphics or other embellishments.

Read lots of articles

Readers start with an assumption that what they read is true, so you need to give them reasons to change their assumptions.

Assumptions are usually made without us knowing it, for example by Google when we search online. You can test how many assumptions you make by asking a question every day.

For example, ask yourself one day each week if you think there’s such a thing as “too much information”. Then try another day.

Before long you’ll understand what assumptions you make and why. This will only work though if you're willing to look at your thinking and consider changing some of your assumptions

There are hundreds of questions you can ask yourself to see which beliefs are running through your mind.

These include why/how did I come up with this idea? What evidence do I have for this belief? Why does it feel right to me?

Join a copywriting team

Even if you’re not already part of a writing team, you can write more content by joining a team or holding your own contest. Content marketing teams are busy people so be sure to let them know that you’re interested in helping out with their work.

You can ask anyone else on the team for help, but it is best to join as a small contribution to one project. Once you have written some material, you can start working on your next project.

The hardest part about being a writer is keeping track of your work. You will need to keep notes about where you wrote something good so you can find it again.

Also, you will need to save all your mailings and other correspondences so you can remember what you said and how to say it. It also helps to create a system you follow when organizing your paperwork.

Get a mentor

Even if you don’t learn to write by yourself, you should still have one or two other people who can help you get your work out into the world. This can be someone closer to you or even in another country.

There are many ways to find a writing mentor. You can look at other writers and see how they make them money so that you know where your skills match best.

You can ask previous authors what mistakes they made (so you don’t make these too). You can check online for blogs and forums about writing.

Finding a writerly friend is perhaps the most important thing you can do to improve your own skill set. A friend is someone with whom you can share experiences, ideas and methods.

He or she could also be a reader of your work! Finding friends is finding free marketing, there are hundreds of websites and apps designed to connect readers with each other.

Take a class

With all the technological advances we’ve made, people still write on computersized tablets.

You can improve your writing skills by taking a class from someone who is good at it. There are many free classes online or in classrooms for things like creative writing.

Some schools offer digital literacy courses where you can learn how to use technology more effectively. You may also be able to take a class related to what you’re writing about.

These days, getting yourself into a writing class is easier because you can sign up online. When you do this, you will meet other writers who want to network with you.

If you don’t know any writers, there are networks that you can join to connect with fellow authors. The most popular ones are Twitter and Facebook.

Follow others to listen to their feedback and banter. It’s fun to watch videos of top authors speaking about their best practices.

By interacting with them, you can find resources and tips that you didn’t know you needed. Others will help you improve your own work!

There are so many ways to get valuable advice and inspiration from other writers. You can ask questions and make comments on blogs, social media sites, and even chat rooms.

Try asking questions and making comments to see if anyone else thinks it needs improvement. They might just give you an idea for something new and awesome!

Practice making hard copies

Even if you’re a computer guy, it doesn’t hurt to learn how to make harder copes. It will give you more skills later when you start writing books or using paper documents.

Practice in a quiet place with some good reading material. If you don’t have anything else going on, that is. The last thing you want is to waste time doing something that should be easy (reading) because of bad handwriting.

It takes a lot of practice to get smooth handwriting again. There are many online resources for learning how to write by hand. You can also find free offline materials from various sources.

There is no excuse for bad handwriting! Once you understand the process, writing short letters and emails by hand goes way faster. Your handwriting will still show, so try to write as beautifully as possible.

The main goal here is speed. Nobody has ever called fast typing slow typing. Plus, text reads better than typed words.

Try to write your first letter or email without looking at the code or instructions. Just get down what you mean into the page.

If you do this enough times, you’ll end up with a habit of thinking ahead. This is a necessary skill for other types of work.

Focus on their service

Even if you are selling some kind of product, the focus of your copy should be on providing value to the people who buy your product.

If you do this well, they’ll come back; if you don’t, they’ll go away. It is that simple.

The best way to sell yourself or your product is to make it easy for customers to find reasons why they should choose you over the many other companies out there trying to get sales.

The more benefits you provide beyond a price tag (e.g., free products, quick delivery, expert advice), the easier it will be to convince new clients that you are the winner when it comes to marketing ideas and techniques.

Focus on how you can help them win against their competitors and they will return the favor by buying from you.