Do you have some sales copy you need to write ASAP and have no idea where to start?
I’m here to help you turn what you think into ink in a blink!
Hey guys, it’s Alex!
In this video, I’m going to be sharing my 10-step writing process that I follow for
every single new piece of copy I write, from the first outline all the way to the final
draft.
Now, I very very briefly mentioned these steps as a sidebar in another video…
But I was inspired to do an entire copywriting tutorial on this topic after Jordan, one of
my subscribers, wrote me to say he secured a monthly retainer with a direct response
marketing agency he’d had been trying to work with after following this process – that
I literally only covered in like 10 seconds in another video.
So, yes, Jordan! Congratulations!!!
This is why I do these videos!
And I figured many of you too could benefit from me going a little deeper into this copywriting
process now that I know that it’s so helpful.
And, guys like Jordan, if you have any questions or anything you want to learn more about please
comment below and let me know!
I release a copywriting tutorial every single week so be sure to hit subscribe below so
you don’t miss a single video from me!
Hey who knows you might be the inspiration for my next video!
Okay, so as I’ve mentioned before, I hardly ever write a piece of sales copy in one sitting.
And that’s because the whole process takes both the left and the right sides of your
brain, the Einstein and Picasso!
And you have to go back and forth multiple times throughout these steps.
So as a quick overview, here is my 10-step copywriting process that I’ll be diving
deeper into in this video.
Step 1, Create An Outline. Yes, that is the left side of the noggin.
Step 2, Research & Brainstorm the Hook. That requires the right side.
Step 3, Write The Hook (which is usually the lead-in to your sales message).
Step 4, Finalize The Offer. Step 5, Write The First Draft.
Step 6, Copy Editing. Step 7, Write The Second Draft.
Step 8, Proofread. Step 9, Complete The Final Draft.
Step 10, Submit your final work To Your Team or Client.
Ahhhh.
Yeah.
So that is the exact sequence of steps that I follow every single time I write a sales
offer.
And you can’t really skip ahead or go back later.
The process is very, very important.
And I don’t know about you but for me, it’s freaking impossible to switch back and forth
between the two sides of my brain on demand.
Now, I tend to live in the more left side of my brain, that analytical, linear, editor
side that thinks in frameworks and processes.
So getting into create flow state where I’m accessing the right part of my brain takes
time and I often need to dedicate a whole day for each one of the more creative steps
in my process.
Whereas the left-brain tasks I can do within minutes and often clump them all together
and do them in one sitting.
So, it usually takes me at least 6-7 sittings to write a major sales piece from start to
finish - and some of the steps take me way longer than others.
To me there is nothing worse than trying to squeeze everything out in one day.
I cannot be creative at all if I feel pressured or stressed.
So give me a thumbs up below if you can relate!
Alright, so let’s dive deeper into my secret copywriting process!
With each step, I’ll share a time estimate of how long it should reasonably take.
That way you can block out writing time in your calendar for each copy project that lands
on your desk.
Now, your process might be different than mine, it all depends on what works for you!
But I’m hoping this gives you a good place to start...
Ok, so step number 1.
Create An Outline.
So this is essentially a skeleton of what you’ll be writing – or a simple list of
bullet points outlining the flow and sections of the sales offer, with sub-bullets of key
points you want to make under each one.
Your outline will be different depending on if you’re writing an ad, a landing page,
a sales page, a video script, a webinar or a social post, but normally it will start
with a headline and end with a Call-To-Action.
In future videos, I’ll share the exact outlines I use for each one of these sales messages.
So, comment below and let me know what one ya want first!
Ok moving on to step number 2…
Research & Brainstorm the Hook.
This is my favorite part of the process.
It involves chasing rabbits down a tonne of different holes to find stories or evidence
that support your hook.
So the first thing you’ll want to do, depending on the nature of the product or service you’re
selling, is determining the type of hook you want to use.
A simple way to start is to go with what I like to call one of the “S-Hooks”
You can tell a story (personal or fictional) that really builds rapport and allows the
reader to identify with you.
You can use science or statistics to build trust and create authority.
Or supposition which is making positive assumptions about the reader that lead them to believe
they will achieve the desired outcome.
I’ll go deeper into these types of hooks in a future video.
Okay, so once you’ve got an idea of the direction you plan to go, go to town on good
ol’ Google.
Find news stories, case studies, facts, legends, myths, quotes - anything that supports your
hook.
And at the end of this step you should have a document with a ton of random links and
resources and text pulled from loads of different places.
It’ll look like an unformatted hot mess of a document, and that’s when you know
you’re ready to move onto step number 3.
Write the Hook
So, open a new document and using the research you found in step 2, just start writing.
This is a total brain dump and requires the rightest of the right sides of your brain.
The goal here is to really tap into the feeling and the emotion of the reader.
Remember empathy is key in copywriting.
Now, before you start you might want to try even meditating a bit on the problems you’re
helping your ideal customers solve…
I like to think of the product first and then reverse engineer it from there.
So, ask yourself…
What are the features of this product or service?
What are the benefits of these features?
What are the problems these benefits help address?
What is the number one CORE pain point your ideal customer has?
And Why has this person NOT been able to solve it in the past?
This is where you should start.
Now, the #1 rule of this step is – No editing whatsoever!
Whatever you do, do not touch the backspace button.
Just keep writing….
And don’t give a rat’s butt about punctuation.
Just write down anything that comes to mind.
Sometimes I’ll write words that aren’t even words they just sound like the word I
want to use but can’t think of in the moment.
Whatever, I’ll use that word.
So, step completely out of judgement.
No one will see this but you I promise.
And, you can even try setting a timer at first, say 20 minutes, to get all your ideas out
of that brain for yours.
With a time limit, you likely won’t go into that over-analyzer mode and critique every
single thing that you write.
And just remember, the first 100 or so words will be garbage.
But I promise that garbage will turn to pure gold.
Ok, so once you have the hook roughly flushed out, set it aside, let it simmer.
And move onto step number 4.
Finalize Details of the Offer
Your offer is essentially the second half of your sales message, after the hook, and
after you transitioned into what it is that you’re going to be selling.
So, introduce the product or service, stack up the value, outline the bonuses, note the
regular price, announce the discount, play up the scarcity, explain the “Reason Why”
for the scarcity, provide access and order details and, of course, have a call-to-action.
After this step, you really should have a rough draft of the part of your sales message
that answers the WHAT, HOW, WHEN and WHY for your ideal customer.
What is it, how do they get it, when should they buy it and why should they buy it right
now?
Okay next, you’re ready to move onto step number 5…
Write The First Draft
By now you’ve already done a lot of the creative heavy lifting, but you’re not quite
done with that right side of the brain.
This step is about bringing it all together.
So you have a rough draft of the hook, you have a rough draft of the sales offer, now
you need to combine the two into one cohesive sales message.
And the trick here is to make the transition or “sales pivot” as seamless as possible.
It’s the classic “If this is you, I have something for you…”
During this step you’ll finesse the flow and pull out any key ideas or concepts that
could become headlines or introductions to new copy sections, if you’re writing a sales
page.
And once you have a rough draft of your complete sales message, you’re ready to move onto
step number 6, Copy Editing.
Now, copy editing is very different than simply proofreading.
Copy editing is about finding any obvious gaps and/or disconnects in the copy.
For example, maybe a loop is opened and never closed.
Or maybe there’s irrelevant information that doesn’t lend itself well to the overall
message and could create confusion.
Or maybe there’s important information that’s missing all together because you thought it
was obvious or self-explanatory and it isn’t.
At this step of the process, I really like to ask someone else to read my copy and leave
comments or notes on anything they find confusing, or misleading, or redundant or incomplete.
I've learned that other people are VERY good at finding the disconnects that we, as copywriters,
have a hard time doing with our own writing.
Either because ego gets in the way or we’re just so deep in it that we can’t see the
forest for the trees.
I’ll often use incorrect grammar, or unintentionally switch up tenses between past and present,
or include a mix of pronouns like “I” and “we” or use cultural references or
figures of speech that just don’t translate well to other countries- even between Canada
and America.
Eh?
Listen, copywriters are sometimes the worst WRITERS if you’re gauging us using an academic
linguistics meter stick!
So don’t expect me to know how to spell, ok?.
Now, moving on to step number 7 - Write The Second Draft
Ok so, after the copy editor has completely massacred your first draft, you can move on
to writing the second draft.
This is where you finesse your sales message.
A thesaurus will be your BEST friend during this step.
Without getting too fancy or complex, look to use more interesting or descriptive words
throughout your copy.
And I like to read my copy OUT LOUD.
Because most people actually read by subvocalizing.
so make sure sentences are succinct and transitions are seamless, and re-write any sentences that
don’t roll off the tongue nicely.
Also, break up any paragraphs that are too long as walls of text will cause overwhelm
and can actually cause the reader to disengage… and use ellipses for the continuation of an
idea between paragraphs rather than full stops.
During this step is when you’ll also finalize the headlines.
Now notice even though the headline is the very first thing you’ll read in a sales
message it’s not the first thing you write.
I always write my headlines last, once the sales message is almost 100% complete.
And lastly, during this step, make sure the copy works in context.
So if it’s a video script, you won’t want to tell the viewer to “keep reading”.
Or if this message appears after an opt-in, you’ll want to address that and thank them
for signing up.
You get the idea.
By the end of this step, you should have a nearly completed sales messages and you can
move on to step Number 8, proofreading!
I NEVER proofread my own copy.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve proofread my own copy and I miss a million things.
When we write in our own voice, our mind will effortlessly fill in the gaps because we know
what we MEANT to say.
So send your copy to a VA or someone with a really high attention to detail.
Even though a lot of copywriters, ironically, are horrible spellers, nothing makes you look
worse than sending a sales page to your client that has typos in it.
So please, do yourself a favour, it takes no time at all do not skip this step.
Next up is step number 9, Completing The Final Draft.
Give your sales message one last run through and make sure it includes all the components
of a Hot Offer, like testimonials, and a guarantee.
If you don’t know what all the components are, You can get my Hot Offer Checklist by
clicking the link in the description below.
And during this step, make sure you also include all the micro bits of copy that are really
easy to forget, like button copy, or the page title that appears in the browser tab.
If you leave them out, your client or team will use whatever their default is and it
might not work well with your copy.
And lastly, include comments about the specific ways you envision your copy being DISPLAYED
on the page, like any design elements or imagery that will really help bring your words to
life.
Even though all we do as copywriters is write words in black and white, we are creative
beings and almost always VISUALIZE the messages we are trying to convey.
Nothing is worse than seeing your copy on a page that looks like crap or has images
that compete with your message, so take the time to really offer your input.
And if you feel the need, after all this, you can send your copy back to a proofreader
to read it one last time before you move onto step number 10, Submitting Your Final Work.
So this is when you send the final copy over to your team or client to implement.
And I highly recommend you do this in Google Docs – but in a separate document than your
original.
And this allows your team or client to add comments and offer feedback, and any revisions
made by them are tracked so you can see their changes and learn for next time.
Whew!
Alright there you have it.
My super secret 10-step writing process.
Please give me a thumbs up below if you found this video helpful
And, next up, be sure to check out my video on the 5 biggest copywriting mistakes and
the 9 components of a hot offer.
You can watch those videos here and here.
Of course be sure to subscribe…
And I’ll see you next week with a brand new video.
Till then, I’m Alex. Ciao for now!