If you’re just starting to learn direct response copywriting, then this is what you should do.
I’ve worked with various 7 figure DTC brands, and this is how I started.
Week 1 just blabber.
Just try.
Try writing 50 Scripts.
Force your brain to come up with something. Eventually you will start to grow your own writing style.
Week 2, go on meta and rewrite VSL’s of brands you like.
Rewrite them word for word.
Eventually your brain will be accustomed to the script’s and will pickup on the certain structure used.
Week 3, look up on youtube: “How to write winning ads for E-Commerce Stores?”
Week 4, once you have done all of the above, start working with a brand.
Reach out.
Offer free work.
Join communities. (I started in Digital Launchpad, and then Rippy Club)
Work for cheap in exchange for training. (At my first job I was writing scripts for $2 a pop)
Stack up on experience.
Week 12, this is where you’ve seen some results.
Some creatives are converting. (get proof)
But you’re not there yet. You want to elevate.
This is where you want to offer more value in return for more money.
Start researching other ways.
Start by reading Breakthrough Advertising.
This is what I’m doing. For me it lasted a little longer than 12 Weeks.
No matter how many years of experience you have, if you don’t get down the basics, you’re gonna be writing ass creatives the entire time.
I‘m stacking up on knowledge.
Reading.
Writing other ads unrelated to who I’m working with.
As much as copywriting is a creative skill, it‘s not functional if the architecture and script writing principles are not used correctly.
Save this, and thank me later!
If you look at a few “hiring a copywriter” posts you'll understand the people doing the hiring have no idea how to sell their opportunity to good copywriters. Your incentives are mid.
Here are 5 things you don't understand about good copywriters:
1. Good copywriters are mercenaries. They aren't willing to give up their freedom unless you make an irresistible offer. And an offer they can't say no to is beyond most of y'alls ability and willingness to pay.
2. Good copywriters look like they're doing nothing most of the time. Creativity happens in spurts. Between these spurts of creativity is a lot of mulling, doodling, scrolling, exploring, and consumption.
3. Good copywriters have about 4 hours a day of honest creative work in them. If you expect them to work 996 you are a fool.
4. Good copywriters have trouble with authority. That's why they became copywriters in the first place. They don't like bosses. They are willing to tolerate you for short durations because that's how they earn their living.
5. You will never be able to do what good copywriters can do. With or without AI. Just because you have written words and people have read them doesn't mean you can write good copy. Just because you got Hermes to create a /david-ogilvy skill doesn't mean it can write good copy either. Your favourite AI shill/grifter is full of it. Sorry to break it to you.
“They can't do what we do. And they hate us for it.” – Don Draper
Source: I run a community of over 5,000 copywriters. I've been a working copywriter for nearly 10 years.
So I'm a direct response creative strategist and all that, whatever we like to call ourselves nowadays.
Right?
I've been writing an average of 15 concepts/week for the last 12 months.
One question I always get asked is, "Where do you find inspiration?"
F*ck inspiration. A lot of the time, I'm straight up ripping.
JK guys. Just kidding. Chill.
I'm gonna share with you my favorite brands to spy for TOF (unaware/problem) aware ads.
In 3rd place we have -
Toplux Nutrition's affiliates for AI Talking Heads. These guys are the first to do it. The first to have done it. Millions of dollars monthly simply on affiliate AI UGC. Great for creativity sparks.
In 2nd place we have -
Rosabella Moringa for Native Statics. Some of the best Native's I've seen. If not the best. Well, to be fair, the guys kinda only run natives, so they have to be the best at it atp.
And in 1st place. The best of the best. Le Crème de la Crème if you will.
By far the best unaware mini-VSLs on meta right now. And they are all done by Elare. Their creative strategist is a genius. How can you connect a wolf's hunting instinct to an Aged Garlic Supplement? Watch their ads, and you'll figure it out.
Damn, I gave this for free. Fuck I'm gonna be getting outbid now.
Chat, I’m in the middle of a dilemma.
I need your help to decide.
I currently live in a shared-flat with two people and one of them is moving out.
I’m really good friends with the other one.
I want to increase my productivity by having an at home office. I can do that in two ways.
Should I:
One: Move out and rent a 2 bed apartment alone, at €1k/month.
Two: Don’t move out, rent the free room in my apartment and turn that into a home office, and pay €900/month.
Three: Don’t do anything about it, stick to paying €500/month for my room.
Solid Dilemma you know.
Help a brotha out.
To all of the brand owners out there that have scaled to consistent $1M+ a month.
Drop in the comments your best tip to break the ceiling.
Our brand is growing consistently and at a very healthy ROAS.
How do we leverage that to hit $1M/month?
Ps. (We’re not that far from it)
Most ad creatives don't fail because of the creative.
It fails because of the message.
I've worked with multiple 6 and 7 figure DTC brands.
And I see the same thing over and over.
Brands pour money into:
- Better editing
- Flashier hooks
- Higher production
Then wonder why nothing converts.
Here's the truth.
A perfectly edited ad with the wrong angle is just a beautiful way to lose money.
The winners aren't "better made."
They're built on a real insight about the customer.
What keeps them up at night.
What they've already tried.
What they secretly believe.
Get the message right and average creative prints.
Get it wrong and the best editor on earth can't save you.
Researching painpoints, your audience's vocabulary and understanding customer psychology is key.
Most brands skip this. The good ones obsess over it.
If this hits 50 likes, I'll break down my exact customer research process. The one I use on every 7 figure brand.
Drop a 🃏 if you want it.
I'm a direct response creative strategist.
I've worked with multiple 6 and 7 figure brands.
Right now I'm helping a brand scale to 1M a month.
And there's one thing I see almost every strategist skip.
The feedback loop.
If your batch goes out with no hypothesis on why it shouldn't work, you're not doing creative strategy. You're just launching ads and hoping.
And when the ad dies and you blame the algorithm?
You just buried the answer.
Every ad that doesn't work is data. It's telling you exactly what angle needs to shift, what hook missed, what assumption was wrong.
But you have to be asking the question before the ad even goes live.
That's what separates the ones who scale from the ones who stay stuck.
Imagine this scenario…
Your Ads are performing like crazy. Your overall ROAS is 2.13x.
And imagine your store just shuts down.
Imagine Shopify fucking you over with a stick.
Yea. It sucks doesn’t it?
Couldn’t be us anyways.
The harsh truth is no creative strategist is going to spend hours obsessing over your ad account and doing deep customer research unless they are compensated for that level of obsession.
If they don't have a real stake in the outcome, they won’t keep pushing until they crack the code.
You always get what you pay for.
Invest in your Creative Strategist.
SIKE!
Data is the key to scaling. Through the data, I get an extra 5 concepts a week.
Data is the new Oil! FACTS!
And don’t come in here with none of that bs “the ad account will be there when you wake up”
It’s because I’m obsessed with it, that the numbers I get to see everyday are even there.
There’s a reason why my hit-rate is >= 60%.
Of course 70% of the success is my Genius of a Brain. The rest though. All the data.
Chat we have a problem.
I’m living in the Ads Manager, and I can’t get out of it.
I’m stuck analyzing the numbers. I’m obsessing over the data 24/7.
I’m cooked. Don’t you think?