The secret advantage dirt broke copywriters have

An admission: When I got started in the zany world of direct response marketing & copywriting in early 2002, I was so broke I didn’t have a pot to wiz in or a window to throw it out. I specifically remember how it was even kind of a stretch to buy Dan Kennedy’s excellent “Ultimate Sales Letter” book at the time, if that gives you an idea of how broke I was. All of which turned out to be a good thing. How? Because I simply didn’t have even a penny to waste, and took what copywriting education I could get a heckuva lot more seriously than practically any copywriting newbie I know or have dealt with ever will. When all you have are a few dollars to spend, you don’t just casually invest it. Or, worse, fall for a bunchy of goo-roo nonsense. Another advantage: It was the early 2000’s, and there wasn’t anywhere near the glut of copywriting training circulating around there is now. Today you are inundated with so-called copywriting experts pounding their chests on Facebook or Twitter about how great they think they are, but have not only never learned the fundamentals of the craft, they only have ever sold to their own lists of sycophants who buy just because they are told to, then set themselves up as authorities on the subject. I remember one guy telling me he could sell better than any of the A-list copywriters out there. When I asked how, he said: “I’ve sold thousands of dollars worth of my courses in my Facebook group.” This is the mentality of these mopes. They have a little success selling to their warm markets… and have deluded themselves into thinking they have anywhere the skill of an A-list copywriter who has worked for the big mailers, constantly split tested against other great copywriters for controls, selling brand new products to ice cold leads who have no idea who they are and didn’t even know those products existed 5 minutes earlier… all while competing in an environment that is a thousand times more competitive and harsh than spanking out half-arsed offers to pre-sold leads on the internet. It’s why I have so much respect for the actual A-listers. The ones who do the above day in, and day out. Anyway, here’s why I bring all this up: Early on, when dirt broke, there were very specific copywriting resources I not only patiently saved up to buy (with the profits of whatever fees I got paid to write copy)… but studied them a minimum of 10 times. No exaggeration. In fact, in some cases, it was as many as 30 times. Some of them I still go through annually and probably have hit them 50 times by now. I lost track years ago. But I can say I’d go through them over and over and over… taking notes, applying, taking notes, applying, taking notes, applying… until the information started to click, make sense… and, over time, compound on itself, and became second nature, where I don’t even have to consciously think about writing copy anymore. Admittedly, learning copywriting this way is a lot of hard work. And it certainly takes a fair amount of patience. Thus, most people will never do it. And it never ends — as I’m still getting schooled by these same copywriters daily. Do what you will with this info. But there you have it. If you’re interested in my Email Players newsletter go here: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( Ben Settle This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2021 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this email may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Settle, LLC. Click here to [unsubscribe]( Settle, LLC PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA