Conclusion to the 30 Day Copywriting Challenge
As regular readers will know, I decided to undertake Gary Halbert’s 30 Day Copywriting Challenge in January. (2017 for all the people who are reading this in the distant future.)
In this article, I’ll talk about whether I succeeded, whether I think success is possible, what I learned and what you will gain from undertaking a copywriting challenge like I did.
Let’s get the personal bit out of the way.
Did I Complete The Challenge?
Not exactly.
I managed to read the books through all the way once as opposed to twice. I then didn’t write out 100 headlines – I’ve hand-copied enough headlines to last a life-time. I did hand-copy the sales letters he suggested, though I think I’d already done most of them before when I was enrolled on the Copyhour Course.
I then brainstormed lots of ideas for sales letters I had to write – not on index cards but on post-it notes. That was a terrible idea because now they litter my living space and I’m going to have to clear them up at some point.
Essentially, I did almost all of the Challenge.
This took me nearly the whole of January – and whilst I wasn’t working from dawn until dusk on the copywriting challenge, it did take several hours a day.
One thing you’ll find if you do this – at least if you’re a weakling like me – is that you’re going to suffer from burnout doing this challenge. Your brain will sing at you, “Please don’t open another god-damned copywriting book” and you’ll have to reply, “No. We must read more!”
By the end of January, I was writing the best sales letters I’ve ever written and I also hated sales letters. The feeling of burnout passes, but the skill you gain doesn’t. That’s the upside.
The Links
Because a lot of you guys don’t have time to do the challenge, I helpfully recorded some of my thoughts on the various texts throughout January. You can read them in the list below:
- Why You Should Copy Ads By Hand
- Lessons From The Gary Halbert Newsletter
- Lessons From Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples
- Breakthrough Advertising By Eugene Schwartz: My Biggest Lesson
- How To Write A Good Advertisement by Victor Schwab: Some Useful Lessons
- Six Lessons From “The Lazy Man’s Way To Riches” by Joe Karbo
- Three Key Lessons From The Robert Collier Letter Book
- Lessons From Claude Hopkins Scientific Advertising
- 4 Lessons From The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert
- The Gary Halbert 30 Day Copywriting Challenge
Bear in mind I’ve stayed away from “How to Write a Headline” and other basic information, because that sort of insight is available anywhere. I’ve tried to pick some weirder lessons to write about for these articles.
Could You Complete The Challenge As Gary Halbert Suggested?
I managed to read all of the books in just over fifteen days. Then I hand-copied the ads suggested. I then didn’t write the headlines out but instead jumped through into writing sales letters. You’ve read all of this above though.
Essentially, I completed a bare-bones version of the program. Could you do the whole thing?
Possibly… but you’ll need a massive amount of determination to get through the inevitable burnout that’ll occur; or you’ll have to spread it over more than thirty days.
It’s my opinion that you could do a pared down version of the Copywriting Challenge and get most of the benefits simply by eradicating one thing:
Don’t plan to read the books twice. Instead, read them once and make notes. I understand why Halbert wanted you to read them twice – first to get it at a subconscious level and then again at a conscious level… but the amount of repetition across the books does that anyway. If you don’t pick up something in book one then you’ll probably pick it up in book two.
That said, I could have read all the books and done the whole thing in thirty days if I’d started reading the books again as soon as I’d put the last one down and ignored Halbert’s suggestion to take a couple of days off. I think that in the Challenge he recommends six days off or something… that gives you twenty four days total to do the copywriting challenge.
It’s really tough to figure whether that’s possible. I guess trying is the way to do it!
What Will You Gain From A Copywriting Challenge Like This?
The great thing about doing something this extreme is that you can almost feel your brain rewiring itself. In silent moments, you’ll find your brain creating sales copy or reviewing what you’ve learned.
Having done the hand-copying and reading the books above, I can sit and write a sales letter and include many elements without even thinking about them. Instead of thinking, “I need to introduce scarcity,” it just comes naturally as my brain has memorised the structure of a sales letter.
Also, there are a lot more opportunities that come to mind and the simplicity of direct marketing will give you a massive jolt of confidence for any project. Whatever it is you want to do, if you’ve studied copywriting, you’ll feel like you can do it. Create product > Find Audience > Create Copy > Get Sales.
Obviously there’s more to it than that, but it feels like that’s all there is to it. With the Copywriting Challenge, you also internalise a lot of business lessons outside of copywriting; things like supply chains, audience profiling and how to invest money in ventures.
Also, a key element that runs through the stuff you study on this course is the importance of testing everything and by extension developing a “scientific mind.” In fact, now I think about it, the biggest lesson I’ve learned from this whole copywriting challenge is that you should test everything – and be distrustful of people who don’t.
Following the “test everything” principle for the last month has made me able to instantly recognise that there are people giving advice everywhere despite having no direct knowledge of what it is they’re talking about. Be prepared for this, because it’s shocking to realise that the places you’ve gone to for advice are actually just selling you non-factual nonsense.
Final Thoughts
I can’t say, “This Copywriting Challenge Is Possible!” in the way that I hoped I’d be able to by the end of January.
However, I can tell you if you study the books intensively, you’ll have an incredible knowledge and a subconscious understanding of how to put together words that sell things.
One thing you’ll need to supplement this with is an understanding of how modern copywriting works: these books are all old and refer to sending out physical mail. In the world of high-definition internet streaming and digital products, it works a bit differently.
But the psychology of selling is exactly the same.
In a way, the old salesmen are pretty amazing. They said in their books, “these principles are universal.” Despite the world going through a second industrial revolution due to the internet age, most of the sales principles they teach you still apply.
Sure, your sales letter might now be a Youtube video, but you’re still writing the same sort of thing. The language might have changed, but the psychology remains the same.
Is it worth learning copywriting for a short, intensive period? Absolutely.
The Copywriting Challenge is very difficult, and possibly impossible. However, do as much as you can and you will reap rewards from it.