How To Write Copy Fast and DEEP
Want to learn how to write copy faster than any copywriter alive?
There is a trick to it… and it involves you going into some deep work.
Back when I was whirring out promo after promo in just the short span of weeks…
Someone of course said, “how do you get them out so fast?”
I started, “Well, ya know ‘diet,’ and ‘exercise,’…”
He cut in, “Yeah man, you gotta take care of your body. Eat right. Get sleep…”
“NO!” I said. “No you don’t. You do that after the work is done.”
I told him, “I ignored my body. I ate like shit. And I slept enough.”
There is no trick to writing a well-researched 30-page promo in two weeks.
It will take a brand new dude, let’s say, 50 hours at the desk to do it (totally made up number).
So will you cram your 50 hours into a single week?
Or will you opt for a more “balanced” approach and do a couple hours each day?
Balance is a myth.
Because some things require a lot of your undivided attention. Writing is one of them.
Copywriting Requires a Ton of Deep Work
In his book, Deep Work, Cal Newport goes over the different styles of approaching deep work.
Off the top of my head, I think they are…
1. Monastic
2. Ritualistic
3. Journalistic
Monastic – you go monk-like. You disappear for days, even weeks, and you don’t come out until the job is done.
This is the style of deep work where I enjoyed the most success in the shortest period of time.
I highly recommend this for anyone starting out in copywriting.
The learning curve is steep. It’s like learning a new language.
You need immersion to succeed.
Deep Work is the kind of book that can unlock a secret level of productivity you never knew you had…
Ritualistic – you have a schedule or “ritual” that you do not break. Every day at 9am sharp you write for one hour. Then you read for one hour… etc…
Then at 5 or 6pm you shut it all down, and you go resume the other parts of your life until 9am again the next day.
This is the most common of styles I think among professionals now. It is the fabeled life of “balance.”
I am trying this version. And to be honest… I dunno if it’s going to work for me. Not yet.
Just writing to you right now means I am not working on a new sales letter…
I’m not doing deep research…
Those are the activities I feel are necessary to become a great copywriter.
You would need a very rigid and distraction free schedule to succeed with this early on, and may work for more experienced folk.
The last style, journalistic, almost sounds like baloney to me.
Newport describes this style as basically “you just go into deep work the moment you have time.”
And says this is for the true deep work professionals.
They just go into the zone.
What does this any of this matter?
Well, they are tiers, of sorts.
If you want to experience rapid success and you are new to copywriting, I say go monastic…
Ignore all distractions. Get the job done. Then “ship” as Seth Godin says.
Get a few projects under your belt, and maybe you will have a process in place where you can become more “ritualistic.”
But it would take YEARS (at least 5+ in my opinion) of mastering your technique, craft, and process before you could go “journalistic” with your deep work.
So for a moment, take stock of how exactly you manage your time.
Are just starting out, but doing a journalistic approach to your deep work?
I think you will fail.
I think if you are “newish” and want to be great…
I would ask you to accept that balance is a myth.
To get good at something you must practice, practice, practice.
There is no substitute.
Want to learn how to play violin? An hour a day “whenever you can squeeze it in” only guarantees you will be a shitty violinist forever.
If you haven’t already, click here now and check out Cal Newport’s book Deep Work.
And Beware Becoming a Generalist Copywriter
Imagine you are hosting a big party and need music entertainment.
The theme of your party is “honky tonk…”
A friend says he knows just the guy and refers you to a dude named Marshall.
So you reach out and you say, “Are you Marshall Mathers?”
And the guy says, “That’s me. My stage name is Eminem”
“My friend says you can help me with music. Can you do country?”
Eminem says, “Yeah. I mostly do rap but I can pretty much do whatever music you need.”
Do you think that is how this conversation would really go down?
Hell no. Eminem is ungodly wealthy for one reason…
If you follow my YouTube channel, you’ll notice the only promos I have studied recently have all been…
- Financial
- Back ends costing $2,000+
- System-driven
- Released recently (timely)
- And have made at least a million dollars.
I’m not reading ALL the great copywriting ads of all time…
Because nobody is paying me to be a “greatest copywriter of all time.”
They are paying me to write a financial, system-driven, back end product, sales letter.
They are paying me to solve a problem that exists now, in real life.
Nobody cares about my “well-roundedness…”
They want the best back end on the market that makes the most money NOW!
In his book The Dip, Seth Godin illustrates this point by saying something like…
If you have a tooth ache, do you really care if your dentist is also a safe driver and has a great golf swing?
No, you don’t. You want the best person at the one thing you need done.
“The Dip” can help you push through the sticking points of your career. Highly recommend.
This is echoed in Deep Work… Cal Newport says there are three winners in today’s connected society.
- Those who can work with intelligent machines
- Those who are the best
- Those with capital to invest
Meaning today you can succeed if you either…
- Program AI
- Are the best
- Or you are already so rich you can just invest your money and grow it.
That’s because we live in a world where the local market doesn’t need to exist anymore for our problems to be solved.
I can get help from anywhere in the world.
In the age of the internet, an expert’s help is just a click away.
If you want to succeed, you must specialize.
“Copywriting” is not a specialization.
I might even argue that “direct response” is not specialized enough.
For instance, even though I’ve written several million-dollar direct response sales letters…
If you asked me to write a sales letter for your health product, I would begin the conversation with, “I’m not sure how that would go. All of my experience has been in the financial niche.”
But I might give it a go if you paid me enough… 😉
So when you are out there marketing yourself, remember:
Saying you are good at copywriting is like saying you are good at “music.”
I know it’s cliche advice but it merits repeating: Specialize!
Click here to check out The Dip by Seth Godin if you haven’t already.
P.S. “Content writing” like educational or informative blog posts… NOT copywriting. Pet peeve of mine.