1) Write with your eraser

You get 100 bucks for every word you rub out from your title:

ctt1

2) Don’t exaggerate

An honest line always feels warmer:

ctt2

3) No one cares what you can do

Everyone cares what you can do for them.

ctt3

4) Avoid the passive voice

It’s indirect and awkward:

ctt4

5) Don’t kill your personality

The best brands feel “real”:

ctt11a

6) Avoid “landing page words”

Unlock, unleash, enhance, exceed, empower, supercharge, etc.

Real people don’t use them.

ctt13

7) Find the tension

“Pleasant” gets forgotten. Conflict creates interest:

ctt12d

8) Write how you talk

Casual. Colloquial. Full of pronouns:

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9) Avoid “contained” titles

Write something that pulls your reader down your page:

ctt14

10) Write scannable copy

Formatting matters:

ctt6

11) Stories make you memorable

I couldn’t list The Ten Commandments. I could tell you what happened to Adam and Eve:

ctt8

12) More periods, fewer commas.

Periods mean short sentences. We like short sentences.

Commas mean long, painful sentences, like this one, which New Yorker writers think are clever, but real people find torturous, because they wind on and on without actually saying anything.

13) Kill adverbs. Kill adjectives.

They’re flowery. They’re vague. They try too hard:

ctt9

14) Think slippery slide

Every line of copy should lead to the next.

Watch this ad. You won’t be able to stop:

15) Fence-sitters don’t buy

Go to the edge:

ctt7

16) Your first line is crucial

If people don’t read it, they’re not going to read your second line either.

Keep it short:

ctt10

17) Copywriting is selling

Don’t romanticize it. The goal isn’t to be clever or cute.

The goal is to inspire action:

ctt16

Conclusion

Be brief. But also tell everything you need to tell. Simply. Avoid commas. Highlight the important stuff but don’t exaggerate.

Profit.

17 tips for great copywriting


PS.
 The first sentence is the most important but the last one (like this PS) too. Many people read only the beginning and the end. Capitalize on it.