The 4 Best Ways to Multiply Your Copywriting Success

by David L. Deutsch

You can read all the best books ever written about flying. But that doesn’t mean you can pilot an airplane.

Similarly, if you want to soar to your fullest potential as a copywriter, it takes more than knowledge of copywriting. I have found four additional and extraordinarily powerful factors that can literally multiply your ability and success as a copywriter:

1. How much you apply what you know.
2. How well you focus and concentrate.
3. How much you can persist.
4. Whether you’re able to stay positive.

Let’s look at each of these in more detail…

1. Application is everything

Too many people (myself too often among them) fall into the trap of collecting knowledge without putting it to use. They know, for example, the importance of using the active voice, of writing the way people talk, and of using short words and sentences. Yet their writing betrays precious little evidence of such knowledge.

The reason, I think, is that for most people, their way of writing is a habit. And habits are extremely hard to break. What’s more, people tend to write while on a sort of “automatic pilot,” and the words often just appear on the page or screen with little or no conscious effort. Instead, here are the most effective ways I’ve found to shut down the bad habits and put that knowledge to work, instead of just letting it lie fallow:

1. One Thing at a Time – At any given moment, you can’t possibly keep in your mind and apply everything you know about copywriting. Instead, take a single thing you want to work on and resolve to apply it religiously as you’re writing that particular project, or during that particular day or week.
2. Make a List – Make a list of the most important things you need to keep in mind as you write – those dozen or so things you want to be sure will manifest themselves in your writing. Keep that list handy – on your wall, on your computer, or by your side as you write. Check it often.
3. Write First, Apply Later – Sometimes it helps to simply forget about everything and just write. Afterward, there’s plenty of time to go back and apply what you know about good copywriting that may not be readily evident in what you’ve produced. This is where checklists can come in particularly handy.

2. The Power of Concentrated Effort

The next way to multiply your copywriting power and results is through the use of concentrated effort and focus.

Solving a copywriting challenge takes a certain amount of concentrated energy. Just as the sun’s rays won’t burn through paper unless they’re focused by a lens, you must focus your energy and concentration if you want to burn through the problems and obstacles that keep mediocre copy from becoming great copy.

Some people are just born with this kind of focus and concentration. They can focus their attention on something, go at it, and not be distracted for hours. For most of us, however, it takes practice and discipline.

Here are some suggestions to develop focus and concentration:

1. Clear your mind – Before you begin to write (or before you begin any task, for that matter), clear your mind of other thoughts, problems, concerns or things you have to do. Envision your mind as a computer screen. Exit the document that’s in there now and go to a blank page. (Don’t worry—it’s saved for retrieval later.)
2. Practice – Practice things that take concentration. Watch the minute hand on an analog watch or watch the seconds change on a digital one. Practice concentrating on that task without being distracted. Try it for 3 minutes a day (it’s not as easy as it sounds). Try number exercises such as alternately counting down from 100 to 1 as you count up from 1 to 100: 100, 1, 99, 2 98, 3, etc. Get something ticking or blinking at one rate (such as a metronome or clock) and something ticking or blinking at a different rate. Listen to or watch one as you listen to or watch the other and try to determine their rates relative to each other. You can’t do this without a high degree of concentration.Then try to bring the same concentrated state of attention to your writing.
3. Discipline – Working in a concentrated, disciplined way brings about mental concentration. And fortunately, you can control what your body does much more easily than what your mind does. That’s why you should keep your body working as uninterruptedly as possible. You may not always be able to stop your mind from wandering, but you can stop yourself from checking your email for the 10th time today, and you can force yourself to sit in your chair and write for a set length of time.Interruptions hurt your writing because whenever you stop your writing and have to come back to it, there’s diminished continuity and cohesiveness. Watch and you’ll see that you have to spend 10 or 15 minutes getting back into the flow and trying to figure out where you were, what you were trying to say, and so on.
4.  Set Deadlines – Samuel Johnson, a famous writer of the 18th century, once said: “Nothing concentrates the mind of a man better than knowing he is going to be hanged in a fortnight.” No need to go to such breakneck extremes for good concentration, however. A good deadline will suffice. If you haven’t received one for the project from a client, boss or other higher power, set one yourself. And set mini-deadlines for parts of the project – give yourself two hours to write the lead, for example, or one to come up with a good headline. You’ll not only concentrate your mind, you’ll get things done quickly and on time.

3. Success Can’t Resist If You Persist

Two writers. Equally talented. Equally knowledgeable and able to apply that knowledge. Equally good at focusing and concentrating. Yet one consistently creates great copy and one consistently creates mediocre copy.

The reason could be as simple as one gives up after the second or third draft while the other is willing to persist through as many drafts as it takes it get it right. Sometimes a great idea or great copy lurks right behind the next effort. Yet so many writers never make that next effort.

Don’t make that mistake. Persist. Persist. And then persist again. For John Carlton’s first letter for the legendary Gary Halbert, he went through 18 drafts. The 16th was the worst. But the 17th was a masterpiece.

This, of course, takes stamina. If you don’t have it, develop it. Start with physical stamina, which supports mental stamina. If you can’t walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded, you can probably improve your writing ability with some aerobic exercise. (And it couldn’t hurt that you’d be getting more oxygen to that brain of yours.)

4. Think You Can

Yes, there is magic in positive thinking, for it often makes good things appear out of thin air.

It’s quite logical: If you think you can come up with a great idea (or write great copy, beat that control, or write words that will send sales soaring), you are far more likely to keep trying until you do. And you will be open to possibilities and ideas that a negative attitude would cause you not to see or to ignore.

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Just as the title promises, these four steps can multiply your copywriting success.

But why stop there?

Use them multiply your success in other areas of your business and personal life as well.

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