Yesterday I had a conversation with the CEO of a major player in the internet marketing space.
We were chatting about copy….and it occurred to me…
How you get started writing good copy—and how you hone your skills as a copywriter—follows the same framework that’s been written into me since age 3.
Perfect Practice Predicts Perfect Performance
That was my grandmother’s spin on “Practice Makes Perfect.” Because we all know just “doing the things” doesn’t magically result in success.
This approach to practice is the disciplined execution of doing the right thing at the right time to the best of your ability. And it leads to fantastic results.
That means the framework of three-dimensional practice that my friend Chad Jeffers and I created applies to becoming a great copywriter just as it does working to become a world-class musician or a celebrated dancer.
What is three-dimensional practice?
Three-Dimensional Practice
- Repetition: Repeat exactly your foundations. A musician might focus this phase of practice on running scales or fingering exercises. A copywriter will find a great sales piece or ad and copy it by hand. Copy it? That’s right. Take a classic Gary Halbert sales letter or a Russell Brunson perfect webinar and copy that piece LONG FORM (by hand) word for word.
- Refinement: Refine your work to make it better. In the copy world, just as in the music world, you polish a piece. You go from a rough pass to a polished performance. It’s an iterative process where each go at it makes that work better.
- Resonance: This is where the magic happens. This phase of practice is where the science of proper technique and the art of personal style elevates your copy beyond the proper placement of words on the page. A resonant piece of copy is structurally sound and uniquely you. Just like a beautiful performance, it stirs something visceral and triggers a response from your audience.
What an interesting breakthrough to look at core skills we might learn in one vertical and see how that framework directly cross applies to so many areas of life.
