Consult Mallowe

The first goal of copywriting is to sell a product or service. It can be anything from solar panels to soap. But in the end, your copy will sell the product. Only through writing down and developing your product or service through words will you learn the true essence of what it is you’re selling and develop a powerful copywriting strategy.

At the heart of every ad, there are only words. Words tell the webmaster what to upload. Words tell the director what to film. Words tell the musician what notes to play. Without words, there is no communication. And copywriting is the persuasive use of words.

The second goal of copywriting is to inform. If the copywriter has done his or her job correctly, there will be clues and concepts that best reflect the compelling selling points. With these clues and concepts, any medium will benefit from good copywriting.

The third goal of copywriting is to communicate. The copywriter has an impossible task. That is to sell a product without sound, pictures or the moving images of TV and video. Using only words, the copywriter must make a product or service jump off of the page and turn the reader into a customer.

Expect to fail at copywriting. This isn’t what you want to read, but it’s true. Only with a balanced portfolio of failures and successes can a copywriter acknowledge and learn from experiences.

A top copywriter is someone who is curious about the world around them, engage themselves in various hobbies and activities, travel to exotic locations, master many skills, get bored and move onto something else. Copywriting doesn’t come from seminars or academia. It comes from a voracious individual.

Whether we want to or not, we have all had failures. Maybe the car wouldn’t start, the presentation didn’t impress the higher-ups, or the copy we wrote didn’t sell a single product. We have all failed one way or the other and copywriting is no exception.

But the great thing about failing is learning. Learning is valuable. And to learn is to live. The more experiences and knowledge we have, the easier it is to come up with dynamic copy and phenomenal marketing concepts. Copywriting is the culmination of both success and failure.

And the more you know… really goes a long way. Check out the Wikipedia entry on Edward de Bono. He coined the term lateral thinking. Lateral thinking breaks a problem down to black and white by thinking in shades of grey. Copywriting is presenting the black and white in shades of grey.

Copywriting is a skill. It is a muscle you can workout and improve. Just like working out the arms or abs, don’t expect immediate results overnight. It takes time to find your voice and recognize your strengths and weaknesses. But don’t worry, there’s no rush. And there will be plenty more articles to help your copywriting. If you have any questions, contact us at support@consultmallowe.com.