Every time your evil little finger pecks the keyboard is an opportunity to become a better copywriter.
Could be an email, Slack dm, blog article, poem, book, text message, dictionary, screenplay. Short-form, medium-form, long-form — doesn’t matter.
What matters is that, if your goal is to become better at copywriting — you must prioritize written communication over other forms of communication to give yourself more opportunities to get better.
Next time you have a Zoom call with someone, ask yourself:
“Did hopping on that call make me a better writer?”
“Could that call have been a well-communicated email thread?”
Now think back to your last 150 Zoom calls - would those have been 150 opportunities to become a more pro writer?
I almost always try to resolve issues over long-form email threads before defaulting to other forms of communication like Zooms or CloudApps (these may be necessary sometimes).
And the reason is because writing is by far my preferred way to communicate and I treat everything I write as a chance to up-skill (including this post).
With this subtle shift in mindset, you start to realize we have nearly infinite opportunities at our fingertips to become more pro writers.
In my niche (the B2B SaaS marketing universe), I’m constantly amazed at the marketers who tell me they want to become better copywriters — then half-ass almost 100% of their written communication via email, Slack dm, social media and the like.
Saying you want to go pro in baseball then skipping batting practice will only put you right back where you started.
They crap out some incomprehensible nonsense, then have opinions on what good copywriting is.
In the same way the hairy 56-year old football fan inhaling nachos in the stands thinks he can throw a better pass than Tom Brady, marketers who never write shouldn’t have any opinions on professional copy.
I must hammer this point home, my laser-eyed copy plebs:
The chances to flex your copywriting muscles are all around you if you simply pay attention and commit your brain to becoming a pro-level written communicator.
And I’ll be honest, some business people are way better off not trying to be a writer at all.
Not anyone can be a great writer, no matter how hard they practice. There is a certain degree of “talent” needed.
And that’s not to discourage anyone. Hard work absolutely matters. But the brutal truth of the jungle is that some are more natural and efficient at accumulating the necessary skills than others…
But in copywriting…
As much as we love to talk about research, strategy, positioning, and messaging; writing is a huge part of the job.
Weaving a chaotic and fragmented battery of customer data together into a story that sells is an advanced skill few possess.
But again, the right mindset will help you chip away at this skill every single day.
Remember that every word you write is copy.
Selling becomes a natural part of how you communicate via writing (and will probably bleed into how you talk in person).
Whether you’re selling an idea, a strategy, a proposal, your daughter on eating her dinner, a product or service — it’ll become second-nature.
Kind of like how you can tell in-person when someone is a naturally suave salesperson, with one exception…
Pro copywriters sell at scale.
Abe Lincoln famously said: “If I only had an hour to chop down a tree, I would spend the first 45 minutes sharpening my axe.”
Writing quality material all the time (even when you don’t have to) is keeping your axe sharp.
It’s why authors like James Patterson, Danielle Steel, Michael Lewis and Steven King make writing to a frothing-at-the-mouth audience of rabid fans look so easy.
They’ve mastered the science and art of selling through writing.
To wrap up, I’ll leave you with this:
Adopting this mindset around writing has been a boon to my career and business (and many before me).
Capitalize on every opportunity to get better.
I’m confident it will be one to yours too if you commit to doing the work.
Happy writing…