How to become a professional copywriter

How Not To Suck Part 2 [Copywriting Guides]

August 12, 2020
/ Copywriting
/ By Quentin Pain

In part 1 of this mini series on How Not To Suck I talked about bragging. To brag or not to brag, that is the question. The simple answer is to ask what purpose any bragging would serve. The only way to know that is to put yourself in the shoes of your prospect. Testimonials […]

How Not To Suck Part 1 [Copywriting Guides]

August 10, 2020
/ Copywriting
/ By Quentin Pain

There’s a fine line between winning and losing a prospect. I know because I’ve been over that line a hundred times. I’m still not convinced which side of the line is better, but I suspect it’s the ‘hardest’ side. Here’s a snippet of a conversation I had with a 7 figure consultant in 2015. “your […]

What’s An Offer? [Copywriting Knowhow]

August 8, 2020
/ Copywriting
/ By Quentin Pain

This week’s posts have been about communicating with prospects. We’re going to end with the offer (because every piece of copy ends with an offer or it has no right to be called copy – at least in the context of copywriting). So far, I’ve learned the hard lesson of how to avoid annoying prospects. […]

No Intent No Sale [Copywriting Tips]

August 7, 2020
/ Copywriting
/ By Quentin Pain

“Are you talking to ME?”. That’s something we never want to hear. Here’s another: “What?”. And a final one (because the best things happen in threes): “You’ve got to be kidding!”. So that’s a bunch of bad responses to any pitch (pretty much everything we say to each other is a pitch). What about good […]

No Context No Chance [Copywriting Tips]

August 5, 2020
/ Copywriting
/ By Quentin Pain

On Monday I talked about the real life experience of being rejected (or rather, having your copy completely fail). I suggest you read that first before continuing. Here’s the link: https://scienceofcopywriting.com/lead-generation/how-not-to-win-customers-copywriting-experiences/ If I wrote the following at the start of a piece of copy, what do you think the response would be? “You’re not alone, […]

The Problem Framework Part 4 [Copywriting Guides]

July 18, 2020
/ Copywriting
/ By Quentin Pain

This week we’ve been talking about The Problem Framework. If you missed any of it, go here for part 1 By looking at other people’s problems, we begin to understand the market. The world is driven by problems (if there’s no problem, there’s nothing to fix). But what about our problems, and specifically our problems […]

The Problem Framework Part 3 [Copywriting Guides]

July 17, 2020
/ Copywriting
/ By Quentin Pain
/ 1 COMMENT

In Part 2 of The Problem Framework, I mentioned exploiting prospects’ wants and needs by understanding the relationship between the two. I used an example of the racing bike I wanted as a kid to demonstrate it (not any old bike – a racing bike – this is important). Start with part 1 if you’ve […]

The Problem Framework Part 2 [Copywriting Guides]

July 16, 2020
/ Copywriting
/ By Quentin Pain

Needs and wants are at the heart of all copy. If your copy doesn’t provide a solution to a need or want, it provides nothing. So we first need to get clear on what a need is (everything starts with a need). On Monday you made a list of your problems and placed them in […]

The Problem Framework Part 1 [Copywriting Guides]

July 14, 2020
/ Copywriting
/ By Quentin Pain

There’s nothing on this planet that drives more sales than fixing a problem. We all have them, and they all differ in severity (severity is a combination of time, difficulty, and resources). Write down your own list of problems. Do it right now while you’re focusing on them. Set a timer for 5 minutes and […]

Build Desire Through Ownership [Copywriting Tips]

July 12, 2020
/ Copywriting
/ By Quentin Pain

On Monday we talked about vision, on Wednesday we moved to desire, yesterday we drove to the future in our roaring British Racing Green Jag, so let’s round this off with FEAR. Start here if you missed the earlier parts: https://scienceofcopywriting.com/copywriting/have-a-vision-sell-more-copywriting-tips/ The whole of life can be summed up in two words: Hope and Fear. […]

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