The Amazing Writing Secret of a Desperate Entrepreneur

You learn how to sell much faster if you study guys that made a lot of money doing this……

                On my last post, I wrote about how you can start to learn to write your own ad copy, and how the ability to write words that sell are so very important. I also talked about the importance of learning about this craft a bit before hiring a copywriter because when you need to hire one, you will know what to look for, why copywriters do what they do, what the different elements of ad copy are when you are conveying to them what you need, and so forth.

                I got mixed reactions from some people about this.  One or two people were foolish enough to believe that you could “easily” learn to do this for yourself.  Yes, you can learn it for yourself, however to be a really great copywriter, it takes years of intense practice and study, just like anything else.    

                In the words of Kevin Halbert, who is an excellent, highly paid ad copywriter and the son of the late Gary Halbert, possibly one of the best copywriter’s that ever lived states,

                “There’s is no such thing as a natural born ad copywriter!  It takes years of experience to become world class…If you’re new to ad copy, it’ll take you more in time and money to learn how to write good ad copy yourself…”

                Something like that.

                When I had an online embroidery company, I learned all of the nuts and bolts myself. I actually built my own e-commerce site and maintained it.  Sure, it saved me money (or so I thought) doing it myself, but it took time, perseverance, patience, trial and error and a host of other hassles that came out of Pandora’s entrepreneur box to keep things going.  Add up all of the other things I tried to do for the business and it all equaled BURNOUT. 

                So, if you are an entrepreneur and you are wearing a bunch of different hats in your business, I

One of Mr. Halbert's Greatest Ads

would suggest hiring someone that has some experience in writing ad copy first.  But, you may want to educate yourself in the area of copywriting before doing so.

                One of the books that you may want to take a look at is one that was written by the late Gary Halbert called “The Boron Letters”.  This is truly an interesting book and kind of fun to read because Gary is writing a series of letters to his son, Bond Halbert about the art of writing, and selling products using ad copy.  To make the spin of this book really unusual, he is writing these letters from prison!  (Don’t ask me why he is in there, I can only speculate it wasn't anything major.) 

                However, because he is not only an excellent copywriter, Gary Halbert is an excellent writer in general, making his stories and instruction as concise and clear as possible to his son.  The book is very interesting to read, and lays out all of the steps you will need to know to sell products using direct mail, and his son’s comments also update some of this information to selling products online and Internet marketing.

                If you want an excellent book on how to pick a product, and launch a marketing campaign using the written word to sell, the Boron letters is an outstanding resource that cuts through all of the junk and lays out exactly what you need to do, in very plain language.

Five stars, two thumbs up, bravo, and highly recommended.

               

                 

               

                

They All Laughed When I Said I Could Write My Own Ad Copy....

But Then I Sat Down At the Word Processor and They All Kept Laughing

If you want to get a good start on writing your own direct mail pieces then I have a few recommendations that I would like to make this week.  I'm sure you'll appreciate some insight into what makes decent copy.  It really isn't rocket science, but it does require practice to get good at it. 

You can learn about how to play a good round of golf without getting to be as good as Tiger Woods.  So, at any rate, this information will probably help your sales pages convert a little better.

Of course, there will be those of you that are thinking, “My gosh, he’s going to put himself out of business telling us about a resource like this.  After all, if we learn to write ad copy for ourselves what will we need him for?”

If you know anything about good ad copyists you will know that we're a finicky bunch; we don’t work for just anyone.  The entrepreneurs we most like to deal with are people that are educated in what we do.  So, our way of thinking is that if you understand some of what it takes to be an ad copy writer, then you will actually be a much better prospect or client than the average Joe Schmoe.   

Another angle to this view is that once you actually try your hand at writing your own copy, you will see that it isn't as easy as you thought. 

I’ll never forget the first (and actually the last) time I went golfing.  It always looked so easy on T.V.

and even though I just knew it always looks easier than it actually is, I learned something very profound about the sport.  Knocking the crap outta the ball down the fairway was easy and fun.  Getting that stupid ball to do what you want it to on the green was another story.

So, go ahead, give it a try.  Take a course, read a few books and break out the word processor. Writing ad copy is cheap to try and you will probably learn a few things about the craft.  

The first person that I heard about writing ad copy for direct mail pieces was a guy named Dan Kennedy.   (Of course, this was when I first became a student of marketing.)  Dan has a great starter book that has been on the market for at least two decades called “The Ultimate Sales Letter. “ 

Dan Kennedy is a master marketer who has the distinction of being called “The millionaire maker” because he has helped a lot of entrepreneurs become millionaires in their businesses.  He has a huge following of successful entrepreneurs that he even calls it Planet Dan from time to time.

At least, that’s the buzz.

Dan Kennedy's Awesome Book

If you listen Monsieur Kennedy’s advice for very long, you will hear him talk about the importance of this type off writing – which is the ability to sell using your own words on paper and it is the reason why he decided to write the book, of course.

The book is laid out in plain, easy to understand language that will take you step by step through the process of writing advertising copy.  Not only does it give you excellent instruction, but it also gives you great illustrated examples of brilliant copy in a variety of situations. 

Anyway, “The Ultimate Sales Letter “is an outstanding resource and it will definitely get your feet wet in learning how to write your first sales letter, web site, video sales script or any other use you can find for this type of writing. 

It doesn't cost much and you can get it used from Amazon.com HERE ---> The Ultimate Sales Letter.

In the Gutter, Down and Dirty Tactics to Get Your Direct Mail Pieces Noticed

Next to the Valley View Ferry

Richmond, Kentucky

I got a call yesterday from a company that started something like this: “This is your second and last notice about a credit card that we will make to you….”  Now, that caught my attention big time because for a second, I thought I hadn't paid a bill or something like that. 

However, the message went on: “…to get an outstanding interest rate on our new offer, please stay on the line for this important message…..”  Also, a week ago, I got a letter in the mail that had a window on the envelope and it had my name on it, except the paper inside the window looked exactly like it was a check.  I eagerly opened it up, salivating over the idea that I would be able to take my wife out to dinner only to find that it was an advertisement and not a meal ticket.

My students at school would say that I was “dominated” and “owned”.

Even though this type of marketing and direct mail assaults are killer and sure to get me to open the mail, it is a two edged sword.  On one hand. I could just shrug it off and think, no big deal, on the other, I could definitely get mad about being deceived. 

Actually, I got mad about the call rather than the mail, because the call interrupted something important.

However, despite my reaction to both of them, the direct mail piece actually accomplished more than the call did.   The call was a one-step introduction whereas the direct mail piece required me to do at least two things, look at the envelope and then open it.

 (You can easily see which was harder to do.)

Anyway, I wound up opening up the envelope hastily, and of course, it was an advertisement.  However, no matter how disappointed I was, I started thinking, “What if they did this marketing right?”  I mean, what if they put some information of real value in there about their product or if they offered me something like a free trial or even an irresistible offer that I’d have to be crazy to pass up?

I’m here to tell you that it can be done the right way, and it has been done over and over again.  You can use these types of tactics just to get the mail opened, much like the direct mail ideas that I have told you about like three dimensional objects or the Doodleopes I wrote about previously.

Picture 1

The deceptive envelope trick isn't new but it is very effective and used by some of the best marketers on the planet. (see picture 1)

However, as I said before, if you use this tactic, you better make darned sure that you have something of value to say or offer them, otherwise this tactic could backfire and you could suffer a bad reputation. 

I would only use this tactic on first time prospects because chances are you won’t be remembered, unlike if you are sending out an offer to someone who already knows, likes and has been already doing business with you.

Picture 2

Anyway, you can get these types of direct mail pieces from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.  They have all sorts of great direct mail envelopes that you can order to help you get your foot in the door with potential clients or customers.  (See picture 2)  This company has all sorts of great envelopes covering almost every type of deception or occasion.  Check them out at the link above.

There’s a Chicken Foot Inside My Mail!!!!

Mark Ellis
Next to the Valley View Ferry

Richmond, Kentucky

   

How would you like to craft a direct mail piece that you knew for sure would get opened without a shadow of a doubt?   Not only would your prospect open the envelope, but they would read the cleverly crafted sales letter that you provided for them without question.  Would that interest you?  Would it, Bunky?   

   Well, this is where you can get creative with your direct mail pieces and actually get prospective clients to look at your stuff. (I am of course assuming that you have a specific target market, and that you know that your clients are hungry for what you have to offer them.  You don’t want to try selling shot guns to blind people or Dick Cheney.  Ha!)

   Anyway, in my last incredible blog post entitled “If You Don't Read This I'm Gonna Croak!!!” I talked about moving heaven and earth to get people to open your envelopes and some of the basic things you can do to move things along and get people to absolutely open your mail.  Today, I want to make you aware of a few more things that you can do to get people to really open your envelopes and read your incredibly researched, tested and retested message that you know will make them want to grab their credit cards, cell phones, or check book and buy whatever it is you are offering.  At least, that is the theory.  

   If you are old enough like me, you will remember back in the olden days, the wonderful snack, Cracker Jack had a dimension to their snacks that made kids go gaga.  As a matter of fact, many cereal companies picked up on the idea and before legal and economic reasons started to interfere, putting prizes into these packages was a big hit.  Anytime someone says “Free” you can bet there will be an immediate attraction to the item or event.  I can’t tell you the number of times my wife wanted to drive clear across town because she saw an ad in a newspaper that Joe’s Warehouse promised the first 100 people that came into their doors a free $5 gift card. (We probably forked over $4.99 in gas just to get there.)

OK, so let’s say that you have sent out your direct mail pieces and your prospect gets a regular, legal sized envelope and you have it addressed and prepared the direct mail piece just as we told you to in our last direct mail marketing blog post.  But, this time when your prospect gets the sales letter in the mail, the envelope feels like there is something inside of it!!!

   If you were your prospect, would you want to know what was inside of there???   So, placing an item like a magnetic calendar, a pen with your business name, address and phone number, or any three dimensional object, would get someone to open your mail.

Now, you may be thinking, yeah, but that is gonna hike up the cost of my direct mail pieces!  Yep, it sure will, but considering the usual cost of a direct mail campaign, the time or money it takes to craft the sales letter, the price of your list or acquiring it and all of the other expenses, YOU WANT TO MAKE DOUBLE DARNED SURE IT GETS AT LEAST LOOKED AT, RATHER THAN THROWN AWAY!!!!!

   So, consider the slim increase versus what you could easily lose, which is the attention of your prospect.

If You Don't Read This I'm Gonna Croak!!!

Next to the Valley View Ferry

Richmond, Kentucky

What would you do if you sent someone an envelope in  the mail, and you would die if they didn't open it?  Would you just send the letter in a plain envelope?  Would you disguise it as a piece of junk mail?  Would that be a good idea?

I think a good idea would be to disguise the envelope in such a way, that people would be so curious about what was inside that they would go crazy if they didn't open it!  That is the challenge that business people face everyday when they create direct mail letters.

What usually happens when you send an advertisement in the mail is that a person gets the mail out of the mail box, glances at the envelopes, and then starts chucking the envelopes that look like junk mail and advertisements right into the trash.  This happens a lot when you are selling to or courting a company that your company is trying to do business with. People in business get tons of junk mail, so it is imperative that an enterprise like yours gets the other guy to open your envelope and start reading about your opportunity or product.

How can you do this?  Well, you just have to get creative. The most important thing that you can do is to make sure that you use handwriting on all aspects of the envelope, including the return address.  If you make it look very personal, whoever you are prospecting with your letter will think it is personal correspondence and more than likely open it.  (Once it is opened, you will need to keep their interest in the letter you sent them, but more on that subject in another post.)

Another way is to use some outrageous advertising techniques. Here is an envelope from  a company called "Doodleopes" As you can see in the picture, Doodleopes have unique designs on them that makes the envelopes look like they were "doodled" on with a blue pen.


These envelopes are designed so that they look like someone scribbled all over the envelope and is designed to pic the receiver's curiosity so much, that they will definitely want to open them.   This way you don't have to draw on the envelopes yourself and they will definitely get opened.

There are tons of other techniques like this that you can try at your business and you can see more of them right here tomorrow!

-Mark "Elmo" Ellis

Fear of Failure Will Kill Your Opportunities!

"Don't worry my dear, it is only a rat."
He said, beginning to run in fear,
"A stinking, slimy rat!!!!!"

- Baron Von Frankensteen
Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein

Fear.  Four letters that can really scare the crap outta ya.  Worse that having to deal with a Zombie apocalypse,unless you really are afraid of zombies, that is.  Zig Zigglar used to say that FEAR stood for False Evidence Appearing Real. I agree.

I used to be a professional trombonist. I can remember the very first time I had to play a solo in front of a group of people, I was scared to death.  I was so scared I almost knocked over a table.  The judge I was playing in  front of tried to keep from laughing when that happened, but he couldn't help himself.  However, on the evaluation sheet he sent back to my band director, he noted that I should persevere.

I did persevere and I got better and better at playing in front of people until I became energized by performing in front of a crowd.  Like I said, I did it professionally for the better part of 15 years and play in front of an audience whenever I get the opportunity to.

Now I'm an extrovert.  I love to speak in front of audiences, and look forward to doing that as much as I can.  I find it hilarious that it is the number one fear that people have, as a survey recently showed.  So, one day it dawned on me that the reason I don't have a fear of getting in front of people is that I have done it thousands of times.

That is the key to losing your fear.  Do it a million times over and over and you'll get used to it.  If there is some aspect to your business that you are afraid of (like selling face to face) I would suggest that you do it a lot.

Now, if I could just get over my fear of heights....

Happy Halloween

Mark "Elmo" Ellis

It's Frightening When You Can't Explain What You Do!

Next to the Valley View Ferry

Richmond, Kentucky

You know, it's a scary thing when people ask you what you do and you can't really explain it to them.

I often get asked what an ad copy writer does, and the problem is I really don't know exactly what to say to people when they ask me that.  The best thing that I can tell most people is that a good ad copy writer is a person that can sell using words. So, to make it really clear to you exactly how this works I'm going to offer you an illustration.

Let's say there's a salesman and he selling silver bracelets. He's going to go up and down the street selling door-to-door and he's going to be lugging his wares with him as he goes. These are beautiful silver bracelets with some nickel plating and other beautiful features that he is going to sell. Ladies will just love them.  He goes to the first house and he knocks on the door and a bachelor answers the door. He doesn't have a girlfriend he doesn't have the time for one and he's never been married, so, there is no sale there.  He goes to the next house and knocks on the door and there's a little old lady who was trying to get rid of her jewelry and she had the giving it away to all of her granddaughters great-granddaughter's. So, she's not a buyer and that means no sale. He goes to another house where there is a married couple, however, the wife is allergic to nickel plating silver so no sale again. One of the houses he knocks on the door and there is a family with four daughters that just love bracelets and jewelry, however their father just lost his job, so therefore they cannot afford to buy any bracelets at this time. No sale. He spends an entire day and evening going up and down the street trying sell his races and by the third day he sells two bracelets to two different families.

Now let's compare this to somebody who knows how to write ad copy. A good ad copy writer will understand how to craft a sales letter that is dynamic and powerful and will lead a prospect through a series of logical and seamless messages that will lead to a sale. He will also understand exactly what hot buttons to push in order to get a person that is interested in silver bracelets to buy from him.   A good ad copywriter will also understand what it takes to get a person to open an envelope or a magazine or navigate to a website where there is dynamic content that people are interested in reading. A good ad copywriter will also understand how to network with list sellers so that they can find people who are very interested in buying silver bracelets. He will know that a good list broker can sell him a list that is highly targeted people on that are very interested in buying silver bracelets and has bought them recently. A really good ad copywriter will also understand that the absolute best list is a list of people that have already bought from him and like him. He knows that he can sell them more bracelets, more bracelets trees to hang the bracelet on, or jewelry boxes and other back end products and that these people will buy from him over and over again, not just bracelets also other products but are very similar.

The most powerful part about this type of sewing, using words instead of going door-to-door is that you can sell to thousands of people just by sending out a pile of letters, or writing a great advertisement for a targeted magazine or create a dynamic and powerful website with great ad copy on it which leads to a sale. That is what a really good ad copy person can do and it beats going door-to-door day in and day out.

It is this ability to duplicate your sales that makes an ad copywriter very powerful in the world of marketing.

You Need to Be a Failure in Order to Be a Success

Next to the Valley View Ferry

Richmond, Kentucky

When you look at many of the great entrepreneurs that made America such a wonderful place to live in you can't help but think about Thomas Edison. If you didn't hear the story about how Edison invented the light bulb, you must be living in a cave. Edison spent years and years and lots of money trying to figure out how to create a light bulb that would work.  Finally, after working on the project which would've made most people pull their hair out,  and run in absolute frustration Edison was successful. “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”

 Success Is Built on Failure

Many successful entrepreneurs will chuckle when they hear somebody call them an "overnight success". The reason they laugh that the statement is because they spent years and years trying to successfully achieve a goal that they have been pursuing, and then all of a sudden,in one day they achieve their goal. It would appear to everybody else that was an overnight success process, but in reality it was probably a long string of failures in which a person finally achieves the greatness that they were looking for.  One of the main ingredients for all of this of course is perseverance. If you give up pursuing your dream you will have put the final nail in the coffin of what you were trying to do and in that sense, you will be a failure.  You have to keep your ultimate goal in mind as you work toward the success you dream about.

Knowledge Is Power

One of the ways that you can move quickly towards your objective is to constantly feed your mind with the knowledge that you need to move toward your goal. If you are a business owner and you want to be successful with your venture, you have to constantly read up on marketing strategies and any process that will bring you closer to bringing money into your door.  You have to find out what other people are doing that are successful and then model though strategies and behaviors which will be conducive to achieving your goals.  The reason that this is so important for you to do is because these people have the experience of failing. They have been through many diverse situations and their knowledge and experience can help you. So, it is vital for you to gain valuable knowledge from people who've already been there.

Action, Action, Action

The other thing you must do that is very important is to take action. Not just a little action here and there but a massive amount of action. You need to put everything you can into making your life or business work and it can only be achieved by actually doing the work that you need to do.  I think it would be very difficult to think of a successful person that was not moving and gaining momentum in their business or life.

I was watching an episode of the ABC TV show Shark Tank several weeks ago.  Some lady came in with a business idea and she pitched it at the millionaire and billionaire people in the hope of getting them to become a partner with her financially and entrepreneurially. Everything was going fine for her as she presented her product and business idea until she told one of the Sharks (the nickname given to the millionaire and billionaire entrepreneurs they were pitching to) that they might not be good enough for her since she worked on her business 8 to 12 hours a day. One of the sharks looked at her and said, "I don't work my business 8 to 12 hours a day, I work my business 16 to 20 hours a day so that I can sit here and tell people like you that I'm not going to do business with you."  The woman stood there in complete, stunned silence. I have to admit, I thought she was being really stupid with a statement like that, but it gives people like me opportunity to see just how hard a real entrepreneur works.

So if you are thinking of becoming an entrepreneur or you want to increase the bottom line in your business you may just want to take a look at a couple of these success principles. No, they are not easy and they are not what most people want to hear, but it is the reality of the business world.

Mark "Elmo" Ellis

Only the Big Boys Can Pull This Off!

Next to the Valley View Ferry

Richmond, Kentucky

Today I'm going to make a big, fat, ugly statement about the way business owners view marketing. I have been a business owner before and spent a lot of time trying to learn how to sell my wares on the Internet and in the local market. One of the things that I have learned is that a small business or even a medium to large business cannot rely on the same marketing tactics as a brand-name Corporation. Of course, I'm talking

about the superstars of the corporate world like IBM, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, etc. These companies have a brand that everybody recognizes so they can afford to just rely on funny commercials that don't really tell you much about the product. For anything smaller than these big corporations, it is almost a disaster to try to market yourself that way.  I have seen a lot of local car businesses advertise their wares by trying to be funny and quirky in this local economy and I cannot believe that they are selling anything by having dorky commercials that don't really tell you anything.

A business of this nature really needs to know how to tell their clients about what their product will do for them.  We really don't need to know about the family of the business, and we really don't need to know how long you would've been in business, but what we needed to know is how the product or service that you are pumping at us is going to benefit us or our needs.

I recently saw an ad online for a diet program that some bodybuilder was trying to promote.  Despite the entire page of ad copy he had down his webpage, the first half of it only talked about himself and what our muscles and body needed. The copy on the page merely talked about how our bodies supposedly worked and how this individual uncovered his almost secret method of making you lose weight.  I decided to list the benefits of what was being sold on the web advertisement and at the end of the entire page there was only about 5 to 7 benefits that I could list after analyzing it.  I took the liberty of getting some old ad copy on similar products that were done in the 50s and 60s and started listing the benefits in those ads, and by golly, there were 20 to 30 benefits at least on a single advertisement.

The point I'd like to make is that most people that sell products or services don't even know the benefits of what their product can do for the public. I'm not talking about features such as the color or shape of something, but I am talking about what it can actually do for that consumer that is considering purchasing it.  If you cannot identify all of the benefits that a person could get from using your product or service then you are missing the boat, and by the way, you need to find the main benefit that would drive a person to purchase your product.  You need to find the main hot button and other hot buttons that will push a person to want to use your product or service.

The only way that you will be able to do that is by telling while you are selling.  The more you tell the more you sell; you cannot do that with a short commercial that shows a couple of guys dressed in clown suits goofing around in front of a bunch of cars that you are trying to sell.

It just doesn't work that way.

Mark "Elmo" Ellis

A Big Mistake by Most Businesses!

Next to the Valleyview Ferry
Richmond, Kentucky

I like marketing. Sometimes I think the reason I started some of the businesses that I did was because I really enjoyed marketing and connecting to people.  I learned a lot of things about marketing especially in the area of writing words that will grab a person's attention and then selling a product. I can remember the first time I started reading a book about marketing was quite some time ago, when I picked up a copy of Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson. For some reason, I really enjoyed all of the creative ways that a person could use to sell product, so much so that I actually started a small business and started selling a product that my wife and I made to the military. Then, years ago, I was running an online embroidery business from my basement and I saw an interesting e-book by a man called Dan Kennedy. I remember staying up until two o'clock in the morning to read that book and that is when I became aware of the wonderful world of ad copy writing. Even though I haven't studied it until recently, I have used some of Mr. Kennedy's books to sell some of my wares, especially his magnetic marketing course which is become an industry standard.

A Big Mistake Even I Noticed !!!

I have learned a lot from many of the marketers and ad copywriters out there over the last couple of years

and I have always enjoyed reading their thoughts and ideas on how to market businesses and gather a tribe of people that will follow you and your business in a way that attracts them back to you over and over again.  One of the things that I have learned  is that a business cannot afford to skimp on customer service. Since I read an awful lot about marketing and enjoy it so much, I can't help but notice when businesses do really stupid things. Just recently my wife and I purchased a refrigerator from a well-known vendor. The vendor offered a gift card in the marketing and when my wife and I went to claim the gift card there really wasn't one to claim. Actually, we were told to go to an online website and fill out a form which didn't exist. I actually had to write the CEO of the corporation and let him know in no uncertain terms that his website had absolutely no way to redeem my free gift card, which was just like a rebate. The Corporation made good on the card since I had to go all way to chief executive officer to make sure that I got my card. I won't go into tons of details as to how much muck I had to actually sit through to get these guys to follow up on their offer, but I can tell you that the damage has been done in the minds of my wife and I.

Add This to Your Business for Big Gains!

So, I hope that you can get some real value from reading my blog and that it is not just a lot of rambling and promise making.  If you are a business owner, I can tell you one key piece of advice that seems like many businesses are missing and that is to add the personal touch to your business. I cannot tell you how many times I do business with people and they act like once they are finished with you that is all you are worth to them. Big mistake! The easiest people for you to do business with are people that you have already done business with, especially if they really like you.  I personally cannot believe how many businesses ignore customers that they have already done business with, much less not try to market back to them in some way, shape, or form.

Anyway, stay tuned for more brilliant insights from a guy that's trying to learn how to write ad copy.  God bless!

Mark "Elmo" Ellis

Getting Started - Welcome to My Brand New Blog!

October 23, 2013
Next to the Valleyview Ferry
Richmond, Kentucky

This is my first journal entry as I take up the task of learning how to write ad copy.  I have been an entrepreneur off and on for the last several years, but mostly I have been a teacher in a private school. Over the years, I've learned a lot about marketing and how to run a business and how to deal with people.  I've had the opportunity to live all over the world and learn about how people work and what makes them tick. The reason for this journal so that I can chronicle the processes that I have taken in my journey to become an ad copy writer. Learning how to write ad copy is not easy, nor will it be an easy business once I get it started. Even though I have taken several courses in ad copywriting from two or three very fine writers in this field, as well as reading as many books as I can on the subject, there is still much for me to learn by way of experience and practice. One of the best ways that I could motivate myself as well as check on my own progress is to write down my thoughts and ideas on the subject.

After I finished taking a course or two on ad copy writing, I decided to join an online network called the "Warrior Forum" which has several fine writers that are well tuned to this trade for some advice and guidance. Believe it or not, there were quite a few people that were willing to help me learn as much as they could in their spare time on the art of writing advertisements. To these people, I am very grateful and wish to extend my thanks for all the help that they have given me so far.

Much of the education that I have received in this area so far has been merely a preparation for what must come next, which is the constant practice of writing this type of material and all of the blood, sweat, and tears that goes along with it.  One of the first things that I learned from people working in this field was that in order to be successful at it you had to write, write, write and then write some more. Just like any other kind of writing that you would have to learn through experience, ad copy writing is not nearly as easy as it would seem while you're taking some of these courses. As a matter fact, whatever amount of time that you put into taking a course from a brilliant ad copy person you to multiply that by about 1000 times and you would probably still not have practiced your craft enough.

Fortunately in the land of advertisement writing, there are a lot of people that have preceded me that have done enough groundwork that I can learn from. As I go through my Journal writing over the next several years, I will be bringing up in writing about many of these individuals; marketers, writers, entrepreneurs and others that have become very successful in their fields and how I have learned from them.

If you are a person that is interested in being an entrepreneur of any kind, this journal may help you. It may be a guide to different resources and people that can help your business out, or you can actually learn from my failures and achievements themselves, because as we all know, it is the experience of others in which we can build our education about any particular subject we want to know, whether it is good or bad.  So, I hope that if you find this journal over time you can go back and look at some of the early writings I have done as well as some the other lessons that I have produced in this chronicle of my own quest to learn how to write ad copy.

-- Mark "Elmo" Ellis