I have a confession. Throughout my copywriting career.. heck, in my whole life, I’ve never had one single original idea. Everything I write, everything I teach and every advice I’ve ever given to my friends and fellow copywriters, are all… stolen!
They are all re-hashed stuff that you can get on the internet for free… That’s right. You heard me. I charged as much as $297 in other niche markets for information people can get free!
Before you exclaim “You bastard!”, let me explain.
Unless you’re a researcher, and/or someone with a PHd or something, you too have been stealing stuff and rehashing information. That’s how we all learn.
Heck, even Frank Kern, a big time online marketer who charged at least $2000 for his courses admitted that everything in it, you can find free on the internet… and everything in it, is stolen.
Look at that photograph of the couple. Do you think the photographer is the first guy who came up with the idea of photographing a couple walking down the road with a misty mountain as backdrop? Heck, no.
He probably stole the idea. That photo he saw somewhere, inspired him for this shot.
The point I want to make is this: There’s no short of information in this day and age… in fact, there’s an overflow of it. What people lack… is the capacity to find what they want. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. And even when they found everything they need, they lack the structure to implement it.
Have you ever stared at a blank screen and wonder what to write?
It’s called a writer’s block. If you’ve been writing long enough, I’m sure you have had one too.
You see, if inspiration has been avoiding you in this day and age, it’s not because you lack it… it’s just because you didn’t structure it. Here’s what I mean.
Have you ever had one of those “AHA” moment? Did you think of something new? Or was it kind of “Hey, why didn’t I think of that” kind of moment?
I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.
Why? Because that inspiration you’re looking for is already in you.
So if you own a system to structure all those information (Google is trying to do that right now. They are the best at it so far, and that’s why they make so damn much money.)… wouldn’t you be cured of the writer’s block?
Wouldn’t you be inspired all the time?
Heck, yeah!
The methods I use to give structure
As a copywriter, I get my inspiration from other copywriter’s sales copy. It’s a practice called swiping. I structure all those information by building a swipe file.
I print out all the sales letters I come across and put them in that file. Then I use little post-it notes and I write down what ideas I get and the lessons from that particular sales copy.
So far, I have 3 binder full of swipes (not including the 1.4GB digital swipe file). And every time I stared at a blank screen, wondering what to write, be it for a sales copy, blog posts like this one or an article, I refer to those swipe files to look for inspiration.
But that’s not the only I do. I also take a small notebook with me everywhere I go because you never know when a great idea hits you.
Ever stumble upon an great idea, only to have forgotten about it when you want to write? That’s just the thing you can avoid by carrying a notebook. Write everything that comes to your mind to add some structure to it.
How well does these methods work?
Let’s just say I have no problem cranking out 5 articles and 2 blog posts everyday. And that’s not even counting the sales copies I’m working on and the e-course I’m producing.
Of course, they’re all stolen and rehashed.
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