Let’s Talk Conversational Copy

About 30 years ago, I saw my first Gary Halbert newsletter. It was printed, on paper. I was blown away. I didn’t know what I was reading. But I couldn’t stop reading it. In fact, I must have read it 20 times. I had been writing professionally myself for almost 20 years. But I knew I didn’t know how to write like Gary was writing. And for a good long while, I couldn’t figure out what he was doing. Now, I know. What Gary did, the way he wrote, was unique and is still beyond my powers of description today. I wouldn’t ever pretend that I could write the way he could – I can’t. Who can? But I did figure out a couple of key things, that launched my copywriting career and led to millions of dollars in sales. The first thing was that he knew how to sell with the written word. Which is something we’ve talked about a lot on this podcast. The second thing was that he wrote in a totally conversational way, at the same time he was selling. And that’s something we’ve never really dug into before today on this podcast. But today we do. Look – It should be the easiest thing in the world, but for most copywriters, it’s one of the hardest things to do. I’m talking about writing like you talk. Or, to use the technical term, “conversational copywriting.” But face it. The more your copy comes across like you talking to your prospect, the less likely your prospects are going to think to themselves, “Oh, this is an ad” — and put up their defenses. The worst thing about this is, as far as I can tell, no one else has thought that this is a skill that can be taught. Most copywriters and copy chiefs grudgingly admit that the better copywriters can do this and the lesser copywriters can’t, but that’s about as far as they go. I think different. I think most people can learn this, but it’s not a matter of wishing it and having it so. It’s a skill. It doesn’t come naturally and it doesn’t just sort of seep into your writing by itself over time. I think it’s a skill you can learn, piece by piece. And I’ve broken it down into pieces and steps to learn it. Today, we’ll look at • Why it’s so hard • Why it’s so important to write in a conversational way • What gets in the way for most people • And four comprehensive action steps you can take to get better at it.Download.