Gary Bencivenga, who is often called the greatest living copywriter, didn’t start out so great.
In various places, he’s admitted that he was quite mediocre for a good number of years.
So how did Gary rise to the very top, and make himself millions of dollars in royalties and fees in the process?
Well, he got better.
Much better.
Very slowly.
In fact, one inspiring piece of advice from Gary B. is to simply make yourself 1% better as a copywriter every single week.
How to do this? Here are a few ideas, all of which I personally practice:
First, read. About marketing, copywriting, or persuasion. (Right now, I’m reading E. Haldeman-Julius’s The First 100 Million.)
Second, write. For clients, and for yourself.
Third, spy. Each day, read one successful sales letter for a few minutes. Spend another few minutes hand-copying some other ad.
Do all this every day, and you can reasonably say you’re getting a 1% boost in your copywriting skills every week.
And here’s the thing:
1% a week compounds.
So at the end of the year, you aren’t just 52% better… you’re 68% better. At the end of 2 years, you’re 181% better. And at the end of 5 years, you become so valuable that the sun itself starts to melt and implode when it catches a glimpse of your skills.
Or not. But if you get 1% better each week, and you keep it up, you will eventually become one of the very best in this field.
But you do have to get started.
Because this compounding thing works best when you give it time. And every week you miss will cost you big a few years down the line.
And here’s one last tip:
If you’re fairly new to copywriting, it’s possible to get better much faster than 1% a week. I’d estimate about 1,000% in 60 days’ time.
Specifically, I’m thinking of CopyHour, a program which combines all 3 of the steps I’ve listed above.
In case this is something that interests you, better act fast. And not only because of compounding. Enrollment for CopyHour is currently open, but it will be closing at the end of this weekend. Here’s the link for more info: