It’s easy to think that if you want to earn a living as an online writer, then all you have to do is write a few things and you’ll earn money. It’s especially easy to think this when you see so many bloggers writing a few things online and earning a fortune.
So if they can do it anyone can do it. Right? Wrong.
Let me explain it to you by telling you a story about a well-known copywriter, who, sadly, is no longer with us, but he left behind a legacy.
Have you ever heard of Eugene Schwartz?
He was a famous copywriter and one of the best there’s ever been.
I’ve read a lot about how he worked.
He wrote ads for a living that earned him millions. He could sit down and write out a long sales letter in 4 hours or less, and that ad would make millions of sales.
So how did he do it?
The answer is simple yet so few people do it, but if they did, their online writing business would be far more profitable.
This is what he did.
Eugene Schwartz always had just 3 words of advice for any successful copy writer:
- Prepare
- Prepare
- Prepare
If you’re working online then you’re a copy writer whether you know it or not.
Copy writing is salesmanship in print. It’s selling with written words. And if you want to have a profitable online writing business, or any online business, you MUST be able to sell with your written words.
Eugene Schwartz advocates preparation. By this he means “research much”. He says he spends a whole day researching before he writes a sales letter.
He says he researches the product he’s writing about and the person/company that produced it and he looks at competitors’ products to see what sets them apart.
He says that if he’s selling a book, he goes over and over the book and highlights lots of different paragraphs and writes copious notes. Sometimes he’ll write 40 pages of notes.
He then goes over his notes and decides what’s most relevant and what can help the product to sell.
He then sits down and writes his sales page once he feels adequately prepared.
And this is what you must do too.
- Prepare
- Prepare
- Prepare
Know why you’re doing something before you start.
If you’re writing an article, what are you trying to say?
What are you asking the reader to do?
Make sure you’re fully prepared before you embark on any project.
Research much, make copious notes and know what your desired outcome is.
And if you’ve never heard of Eugene Schwartz before, finding out more about him and his work can really help you in your business, and help you to be a better and more persuasive writer.
Immobilienmakler Heidelberg Makler HeidelbergSource by Ruth Barringham