The #1 Skill You’re Missing To Make Money Online Easier

There are a million skills you could develop to grow your business and make money online: creating content, building products, improving your site design, talking to customers, collaborating with other creators, and so on. 

But there is ONE skill that will make your efforts to earn an online income so much easier and that is copywriting.

When you get good at copywriting, you can have a sales page that sells for you 24/7, 365, that never takes time off, takes breaks, or asks for a raise. That’s the power of copywriting.

Today, I’m sharing with you 9 of the best copywriting tips I’ve learned from investing a ton of money and time into learning this skill. 

I’m not the best copywriter in the world but I’ve come a long way from when I first started

Knowing these 9 tips will help you shortcut your learning curve, develop this skill faster, and start making more money online easier.

Let’s dive in!

What is Copywriting?

Copywriting is persuasive writing, specifically for promoting or marketing a business.

Examples of copywriting are:

• Magazine Headlines
• Blog and YouTube Titles
• Paid Advertising
• Marketing Emails
• Sales Pages

Anytime you see one of these, it’s a business promoting its products or services with the power of writing (aka copy).

If the copy made you want to read the entire article, pick up the magazine, buy the product, book the call, or whatever action they wanted you to take, that was GOOD copy.

The Most Important Part of Copywriting

The overall goal of copywriting is to persuade your reader into taking an action (buying your product, booking a consultation, donating to a foundation, etc.).

Other than your ability to understand your audience, great copy starts with a great message.

Having a strong message that is worthwhile, and compelling, and being able to explain it in plain language is going to set you up for success and keep the rest of your copy focused.

As Ramit Sethi said, “If you’re saying the right thing, good copy will only supercharge it. But if your message is weak, no amount of fancy copy will make a difference. Don’t put lipstick on a pig.”

Before you start writing copy, ask yourself “What is the core idea, insight, or takeaway I want my reader to walk away with after reading this?”

9 Copywriting Tips To Boost Your Writing Skills

• Skimmable - People skim online. Give the page some breathing room with bigger fonts (18-21px) and short paragraphs (1-3 sentences)
• Keep It Simple - Write as if you’re telling this to a 3rd grader so they can understand by using simpler words and phrases.
• Every Word Counts - Does every word and sentence easily connect to the next so you WANT to keep reading?
• Concise & Specific - What words can you eliminate that will get your point across and still make sense? (i.e.“He said THAT he would get a reservation” vs, “He said he would get a reservation” getting rid of the word THAT is less wordy and still gets the point across.)
• Review & Edit - Always review what you wrote. There is always room to improve, words to cut out, and ways to make more sense of your writing.
• Write Like You Speak - Read what you wrote aloud and make sure it sounds like YOU! Add your personality to the mix.
• Metaphors, Examples, & Stories - These quickly put your concepts and ideas into perspective so people better understand what you’re saying. (Refer to my example about being concise & specific)
• Focus on Emotion - As you write, pause and ask yourself “How does this make me FEEL?” (Google “sensory words list” and “emotional words list” for examples)
• Read Great Copy - Pay attention to headlines, ads, and blog posts, that catch your attention and pull you in. Consider what made you want to click on it (Check out this LinkedIn article on 5 of the best copywriting newsletters to be on)

Is It Worth Hiring a Copywriter?

You might be thinking “James, that seems like a lot. Can’t I just hire someone to write copy for me?”.

Of course, you can hire a copywriter to write your copy for you, but it won’t be cheap.

On average, a good copywriter will charge you anywhere from $100-$1,000+ per page of copy.

If you have the money and don’t have the interest to learn the skill, go for it.

Personally, I’d say to invest the time to learn this skill yourself because you will be using it on a daily basis to grow your business and make money online.

And the best part is, when you develop a skill, no one can take that away from you. 

It will take time, you will fall flat (a lot), and all of that will result in you being a more persuasive writer. Then you just need to learn how to automate the process of making money online.

If you decide to hire a copywriter, I’d recommend practicing your writing skills (using these 9 tips), creating your emails or sales page, THEN hiring a copywriter to review your work.

You’ll learn a lot more this way and save some money.

BONUS TIP: Write More.

That’s it. Write more, follow the 9 tips I shared with you in this post every time you write, and you’ll get better at copywriting.

I had a coach who told me this so I started focusing more on my blog and sending out one extra email per week to my list.

Once a week, I’d share my weekly content, but then I started to share a second email for the week, a helpful tip, article, or idea with the intent of getting better at writing (and adding more value of course).

Conclusion

I hope by now you can see how valuable the skill of copywriting is.

Again, when you get good at this skill and create a sales page that can convert for you hands-off, you literally can make sales doing nothing. It doesn’t get easier than that.

At the time of writing this, I got a notification that I made $297 from one of my sales pages. If I can do it, you can too. You just need the right skill sets.

Take the time to develop your copywriting skills and you will be able to make money almost effortlessly while you hang out with friends, build your dream business, pursue your hobbies, or whatever else you want to do with your life.

Your business should be designed to serve your life, not the other way around.