I plagiarized for 10 days straight and my website visits went up +441%.

As someone who likes pretty things, I thought websites needed to be one thing, and one thing only: 

Aesthetically pleasing. 

Turns out, aesthetics are absolutely worthless, without good copywriting.

By no means am I a good copywriter. Actually on a grade scale, I give myself a D. 

(But hey, I'm learning).

You see, copywriting hides in plain sight. It’s everywhere. 

It’s here in this blog post, in the newsletters we read - it’s even whispering sweet nothings to us from instagram captions and product descriptions. 

So why the sudden fixation? Well, I just finished a 10 day supplemental course on copywriting. 

And now I’m obsessed. 

Seriously. After the course, I feverishly gutted and rewrote Athru’s entire wholesaling page, using my new found insight.

Then I started rewriting my old articles…

Next it was my about pages…

Hell, I even draft emails differently now. 

Everything I write is now designed to be a ‘slippery slope.’

Where one sentence leads you to the next. 

When you reach the end? Maybe there’s a sales pitch - or a cost layout?

Or maybe it’s a simple call to action, encouraging you to: “come to my run club”. 

…and it’s working!

Since I’ve started focusing on my writing, I’ve had more people reach out about running with me, than ever before.

And it’s often from people who don't run. Or workout. Ever.

I love that!

Plus…

Page views and new visitors on my website are in the green everyday. 

Time spent on page? Green. 

New email subscribers? Green.

…you name it - it's green. 

That’s the power of good copywriting! 

So, here’s the secret to learning this stuff (which I learned from Sam Parr).

You copy great writers.

I don’t mean, take inspiration from them. I mean, you make a practice of copying what they write, word for word.

It sounds insane! But it works. Think of it like this:

Did you ever take a class in music or art?

(Even if it was way back in the 5th grade).

I minored in Studio Art in college, and each week we’d learn a new style, by copying other artists.

For example: we would learn color theory, and then copy a famous piece that displayed the lesson.

Seated Figure, by Leonardo Di Vinci is a famous oil painting that most students copy. 

I copied that thing THREE DAMN TIMES over four semesters. 

(I spent so many hours with it, that I started seeing it in my sleep).

And it didn’t end there - I copied figure drawings, line drawings, still lifes – Monet vs. Renoir vs. Matisse…

For 3 years, I copied paintings and learned the techniques behind them.

Then, at the end of it all, I was told to mix all of the methods together, and make them my own. 

…it felt like cheating.

That’s allowed?? I can just take what I learned from these famous artists, mix them together, and make my own style?

Yup. 

In fact, that’s what all artists do.

And that's Copy Work.

For the last 10 days, I’ve started my morning by copying someone else’s writing.

I read a phenomenal ad, or sales letter, dissect it and then just re-write it on paper. That's all. 

You learn the rhythm of writing conversationally. Efficiently. How to execute AIDA (a copywriting formula that grabs the reader’s Attention, captures their Interest, stokes their Desire, and encourages them to take Action). 

And you slowly start to realize:

Copywriting is everything. 

To do well in business you need to be a decent writer (I am 110% sold on that). 

Now from experience, I can assure you that even being a mediocre writer has its benefits. 

If you want to join me down the rabbit hole, check out CopyThat.