Contents
- Words do the selling — in this preview
- Know who you're talking to — in this preview
- One reader, one promise
- Headlines that get read
- Proof: making people believe you
- The shape of a sales page
- Emails people open and read
- Editing: the second draft is the real one
- Ten before-and-after rewrites
- The pre-publish checklist
- Formulas to start from
Words do the selling
When you sell online, nobody is standing next to the product explaining it. There's no shop assistant, no demo, no handshake. There's a page, and the words on it. If they're vague, the reader leaves. If they're specific and about the reader's problem, the reader keeps going.
That's all copywriting is: writing that gets a specific person to take a specific action. Not clever slogans, not "brand voice", not tricks. The best copy usually sounds like a smart friend explaining why something is worth your money.
Who this course is for
You make or sell something — a product, a service, a course — and you write your own pages and emails because nobody else is going to. You don't need to become a professional copywriter. You need to stop writing copy that sounds like everyone else's and start writing copy that sounds like it was written for one person: your buyer.
How the course works
Seven short lessons, each built around one skill. Every lesson ends with an exercise that takes 15–30 minutes, and you should do it on your own product, not a made-up one. By the end you'll have:
- a page of real customer language you can steal from forever
- a one-sentence promise for your product
- twenty headlines and a shortlist of three
- a full first draft of a sales page
- a welcome email and a launch email
- an edited, tightened version of all of the above
Appendix A has ten before-and-after rewrites so you can see each principle applied. Appendix B is a checklist to run on anything before you publish it.
Know who you're talking to
The most common mistake isn't bad writing. It's writing for nobody in particular. "Busy professionals", "small businesses" and "creators" are not people. You can't write to them, because you can't picture what they're worried about.
Pick one reader
Write a short paragraph describing one specific buyer. Not a demographic — a situation.
The second version tells you what to say. You know her fear (losing clients), her situation (fully booked, underpaid) and the outcome she wants (earn more without the risk). Every sentence you write can be tested against her: would she care about this?
Steal their words
The best copy is rarely invented. It's collected. Your customers have already described their problem, in words that resonate with other people like them, and those words are lying around in public.
Places to find them:
- Reviews of competing products, especially 3-star reviews. 5-star reviews tell you what people love; 1-star reviews are often angry and unspecific; 3-star reviews tell you exactly what was missing.
- Reddit, forums and Facebook groups in your niche. Search for the problem, not the product.
- Your own support emails, sales calls and DMs. Note the exact phrases people use before they buy.
- Amazon reviews of books on your topic. Readers describe their situation before and after in remarkable detail.
Copy phrases into a document word for word. Don't tidy them up. "I'm drowning in client emails" is better copy than anything you'd write about "communication overhead".
Know how aware they are
Readers arrive at different stages. Writing for the wrong stage is why so many pages feel off.
| Stage | What they know | What your copy should lead with |
|---|---|---|
| Unaware | Nothing — they don't see a problem | A story or observation they recognise |
| Problem-aware | They feel the pain but don't know solutions exist | The problem, described better than they could |
| Solution-aware | They know solutions exist, not yours | Why your approach is different |
| Product-aware | They know your product, haven't bought | Proof, specifics, the offer |
| Most aware | They want it, need a nudge | The deal and the button |
Someone who clicks from a Google search for "freelance rate calculator" is solution-aware: lead with what your calculator does that others don't. Someone who's been on your email list for six months is product-aware: lead with proof and the offer. Same product, different first paragraph.
This is a preview. You've read the introduction and Chapter 1 — about 700 of roughly 4,400 words. The full guide continues with six more chapters, an exercise at the end of every one, and three appendices.