This Technique Will Supercharge Your Stories on Medium
All the best writers do it.
All publishers look for it.
All editors use it.
There has never been a modern book or article written that did not use this method.
So what is it?
Copy Writing
Words that sell.
Don’t get confused by definitions.
Copywriting is not just a job.
It’s a way of writing.
In essence, it goes like this.
Every word must flow to the next, easily, like silk. Word after word, into a sentence and then a paragraph.
The reader should be floating down the page effortlessly, bit by bit until they reach the end.
The goal of the copywriter is usually to sell something. Or get the reader to take some kind of action. And copywriters earn fantastic sums of money. But this is not what I want to show you today.
Copywriters are just people who are great at copywriting and they use it to earn income.
Copywriters are the special forces of the writing world. Navy Seals.
They are the hired guns trained to kill.
And just like how regular civilians can develop some of the same sets of skills that our friends in the special forces use, like developing similar fitness, leadership, or mental toughness skills, so too can you learn the skills that copywriters use to get people to read all the way through to end of their projects.
You see, your job as a writer is to get people to read your stuff.
There is no better skill that you can develop and use in your writing to do this. None.
I discovered copywriting many years ago when I was trying to sell an online ebook that taught video gamers how to monetize their gaming and get paid for it. I called it Pro Gamer Secrets.
Over the years I read many books on copywriting and have taken a bunch of courses too. In fact, I think that the content in my copywriting folder is worth tens of thousands of dollars.
In saying that. I’m no expert on copywriting. I’m just a loyal adherent.
Here are the 5 most important things you will learn about copywriting should you choose to continue to develop these killer skills.
1. Write for one person.
You have to write as if you’re talking to one person instead of many. Picture that one person in your mind's eye.
What do they look like? What do they sound like? Where do they live? How much money do they make? So on.
Use words like you, me, and I to develop a personal relationship with the reader.
You ever notice when you get marketing emails the sender will use your real name if they have it? This is the same thing. They’re developing a personal relationship with you.
It’s not ‘Dear everyone reading this’, instead, it's ‘Hey Mike’.
2. Keep it simple.
The average reader depending on where they are in the world has a much lower reading level than you think.
In the US it's equivalent to a 7th or 8th grader.
The more complex words and jargon that you use, the more opportunity you are giving your reader to leave.
Use simple words and easy-to-understand language so that all your readers get the message.
Make it easy for them.
3. Write how you talk.
As humans, we speak more than we write, speaking is natural. We all do it, and even us writers probably speak more words per day than we write.
The point is that as humans, we’re designed to communicate with one another through the words and sounds that come out of our mouths and go into our ears.
When your writing can emulate the way that you talk, you're going to increase your readership. Guaranteed. But if your writing sounds like a textbook or a French recipe, you’re going to lose the reader because it’s unnatural and it adds a layer of difficulty.
4. Grammar and spelling can be wrong.
Don’t confuse this though.
I didn’t say that grammar and spelling don’t matter.
I said it can be wrong, meaning, on purpose.
If you need to spell something differently to get your point across or you need to forget about grammar for a second because it aids the flow of your copy and makes your message come across similar to how you would talk, do it.
5. The goal is for the reader to reach the end.
In order for your reader to reach the end, they need to read the title first.
The title needs to grab their attention. It needs to pull them in and make them click.
The title should also make them want to read the subtitle.
The subtitle should maintain their interest and have their eyes moving onto the first sentence and so on all the way to the end.
That's it.
If you made it here, to the end, I just did my job.
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