Copywriting

If there is one skill that I can impress on you that you need to learn at least the basics of it is copywriting. Copywriting is the oil that smooths the flow of money from your customer to you. It is the wax that makes a credit card slide out of a pocket. It is the fuel that turns a spark of interest into an inferno of desire.

The basic principles of copywriting haven't changed over the years. But the coming of the Internet has changed the way some of those principles are applied - and reordered their importance. 

Never underestimate the power of copywriting. Well-chosen, well-crafted words quite literally change the world.

The best copywriters in the world can write a sales letter for the most unpromising product and still have you drooling to buy it. More than that, the words they write are so hypnotic that you'll read every single, one just to find out what happens next, even if you have no interest in what they are selling. And by the end, you just might be a lot more intersted that you thought you could be!

For Internet marketers, beginners and experienced alike, the ability to copywrite - to write words that make people want to buy, or to take any other action that we want them to, is absolutely crucial. It is as simple as this: if you can't write good copy you either have to get someone to write it for you (expensive) or you have to put up with having a website that doesn't makes sales (very expensive).

At the very top end, copywriting is something of an art. Those guys are magical with words and perfectly persuasive prose oozes from their pens and keyboards.

For the rest of us, there is really good news. Decent copywriting is skill that can be learned. It is a craft that is within reach of anyone who posesses basic literacy.

You see, good copywriting isn't all about perfect grammar, flowery language and ten-dollar words. In fact, the absolute opposite is almost always true. It is about effective communication in a style and language that your readers can relate to.

There are only a few recommended products in this copywriting section, but they are all ones that I have read, studied, refer to often and use in writing my own salesletters and web pages.

• Ted Nicholas' Turn Words Into Money. Ted Nicholas is the master and his book Turn Words Into Money is the best all-round primer for someone who wants to write selling copy by understanding the fundamentals of effective copywriting.
• Trevor Crook's Magic Words Sell
• David Watson's Website Headline Wizard
• Glyphius

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