How to Become a Pro Copywriter in 3 Short Months (Even if You Have ZERO Experience)

 

Are you an aspiring copywriter desperately trying to learn the ropes & break into copywriting?

If so, this blog post will show you how.

Everything you’re about to learn is from my own journey of breaking into copywriting.

In 2020, I was a complete beginner.

I had no experience or “natural” writing abilities.

But, despite this, I was able to learn the basics and feel confident in my skills within a few short months. And then, I secured 50+ paying clients within the next 3 months. My momentum only skyrocketed from there.

However…

This blog post will focus on helping you build your copywriting skills to the point where you can feel confident enough to get clients and provide them with REAL value.

Read on to discover the exact step-by-step blueprint I followed to become a pro copywriter VERY FAST.

 

The 3 Major Steps Every Aspiring Copywriter MUST TAKE to Quickly Become a Pro Copywriter

1. Learn the Basics

In 2019, I tried getting into copywriting.

I failed MISERABLY.

The main reason:

I was paralyzed by information overload.

My education was more scattered than a squirrel-brained TikTok fiend.

I’d read dozens of blog posts, watch hours of YouTube videos, browse oodles of copywriting groups & forums, buy expensive courses and read a few books here and there, but was still confused as a grandma on Instagram.

I had no clue what I was doing.

But in 2020, I decided to give copywriting another shot. This time I did things MUCH differently.

I was VERY picky with what I learned and who I learned from.

Instead of learning from every teenage guru claiming to be a “6-figure” online copywriting expert, I only learned from a select few copywriters who have decades of experience and have proven their success time and time again through products sold and blockbuster ads.

This is the most important step for a raw beginner.

You want to learn from the top copywriters who have paved the way in this industry.

If you learn the rock-solid principles and fundamentals of direct response copywriting (the stuff that sells), you will start your career off on the right foot.

This crucial 1^st step will act as your silver compass. Steering you in the right direction along your exciting (and profitable) copywriting journey.

So, what exactly did I learn?

I read these 10 copywriting books from these top copywriters…

1. The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert
2. The Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugarman
3. How to Write a Good Advertisement by Victor O. Schwab
4. Scientific Advertising By Claude Hopkins
5. The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy
6. Ogilvy on Advertising By David Ogilvy
7. Tested Advertising Methods By John Caples
8. Cashvertising By Drew Eric Whitman
9. The Copywriter’s Handbook By Bob Bly
10. Kick-Ass Copywriting Secrets of a Marketing Rebel By John Carlton

To learn more about these books and their authors (all great copywriters), click on this blog post.

Read each book 2 times.

The first time, read it for fun.

Then, read them again. This time, take detailed notes (I scribbled +20-page summaries per book when taking notes).

Gameplan:

Read 20-50 pages per day.

 

2. Practice

If you want to become a pro copywriter in a few months, passive learning from books ain’t gonna cut it, bucko.

You also need hands-on experience.

You can achieve this by doing copywriting practice exercises.

Here is what I personally did to quickly improve my copywriting skills without writing for clients.

Each day, I would plow through these 3 copywriting practice exercises…

1. Read, analyze and handwrite successful ads

This exercise is the most important of the 3.

Because it will help you gain a very deep understanding of what goes into writing engaging & persuasive copy.

It’s easy to do:

I start by reading a successful ad out loud, then write it out by hand, and then break it down to find out WHY it worked so well.

Reading an ad out loud helps you pick up the “flow” and “rhythm” of good copy.

Writing ads out by hand helps you internally imprint successful copy (as Gary Halbert liked to put it).

Analyzing top ads helps you gain a very deep understanding of what it takes to write killer copy. You will pick up on the core elements at play, like – emotional hot buttons, biggest benefits, human behavior, storytelling, handling objections, bullets, etc.

Start with these 10 ads:

10 Best Ad Copy Examples that will Make YOU a Better Copywriter

Gameplan:

Practice this exercise for 1 ad each day (can break into multiple days if ad is exceptionally long).

2. Turn features into benefits

One of the most important aspects of writing copy is turning boring features into irresistible benefits.

This exercise will turn you into a benefit machine.

It’s simple…

Here’s what you do:

Find products on Amazon.

Then, copy and paste 3-5 of the product’s features into an Excel spreadsheet or Word document.

Then, write the benefits of each feature.

After you write a benefit, write another benefit.

I call this the “ultimate so what benefit”.

The first benefit is a direct benefit.

For example:

A direct benefit of jumping rope is to lose weight.

But the ultimate benefit is what this new loss in weight will DO for the person, like: feel confident in their new skin, be more attractive to the opposite sex, find true love, live a longer, healthier life, etc.

For each direct benefit, ask “so what”, until you uncover the REAL (emotional) benefit.

Gameplan:

Do this for 3-5 features of a product, each day. This should not take you longer than 5-10 minutes.

3. 4 Us Headline Practice

Your headline is probably the most important aspect of your writing.

After all, if you don’t grab your IDEAL reader’s attention, they will never read all the great copy you wrote.

Don’t worry.

I’m going to show you how to write attention-grabbing headlines with ease.

Here’s what ya wanna do:

Simply improve already-existing headlines you find online.

I like to improve headlines from online articles displayed on Firefox’s home page.

Like this:

Then…

After you find a headline you want to improve…

Write 4 new headlines using the 4 U’s headline technique.

Write a headline that is:

Ultra-specific – specifics are more believable and interesting.

Unique – what’s unique grabs our attention (think clickbait articles – although never clickbait your readers. “Pay off” your headline right away)

Urgent – urgency makes us ACT NOW (and read more).

Useful – the biggest benefits of your client’s product or service.

The reason why you want to improve existing headlines using the 4 U’s technique is because each “U” makes your headlines more attention-grabbing and persuasive.

Here’s a quick example:

Original headline - "Book a free trip with our new card"

Unique

BREAKING: For the first time ever… New “mystery” card allows you to travel anywhere in the world - for FREE

Useful

Spice up your love life by taking your spouse to a sexy tropical getaway – without spending a single dime! Here’s how….

Ultra-specific

10 vacation spots you can travel to for FREE this summer

Urgent

Use this card to book your next trip for FREE – only good until the 30^th

Gameplan:

Do this for 1 headline each day (4 separate headlines per U). This should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.

 

3. Write Daily

 

The last step you want to take to become a pro copywriter is to WRITE.

The more you write, the better a writer you’ll become.

This ain’t rocket science.

And the great thing is…

You don’t have to have copywriting clients to start writing.

Simply find ads, websites, sales pages, headlines, etc. from brands you enjoy. Then, re-write them. Improve upon them using the new-found knowledge you gain from reading the 10 books described above.

I spent around 1 hour per day (sometimes a LOT more) re-writing existing copy – mainly from websites and ads.

Gameplan:

Re-write 1 piece of copy each day.

 

Conclusion

If you follow these 3 big steps, I can almost guarantee you will go from a clueless beginner to a pro copywriter in just a few short months.

Remember, this is exactly what I did to feel confident as a lion in my copywriting skills. It gave me the starting point I desperately needed to launch my copywriting career (very quickly).

You too can experience similar results IF you put in the work.

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