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Copywriting
A practical, framework-driven course that teaches you to research, write, and test persuasive copy that sells — for ads, emails, landing pages, and sales collateral.
Beginners, marketers, founders, and freelancers who need to write copy that converts but have never been taught a reliable method.
Course content
Workbook & downloads
Put the course into practice — a printable workbook plus editable templates you can fill in and reuse.
Preview the workbook
This workbook turns the course into reps you can show. Each section mirrors one course module with hands-on exercises, fill-in worksheets, and checklists you run against real copy. Pick one product or service of your own and carry it through every section, and you will finish with a researched, structured, edited landing page plus a swipe file and a test plan.
What Copy Is and How Persuasion Works
Internalise the core principles — clarity over cleverness, benefits over features, and meeting the reader at their stage of awareness — before you write a line.
Exercise: The So-What Ladder
Pick three real features of your product. For each, climb the ladder by asking so what until you reach an emotional payoff a customer truly cares about. You will reuse these benefits throughout the workbook.
- Feature 1, then its functional benefit (so what?), then its emotional payoff (so what again?).
- Feature 2, laddered the same way to an emotional payoff.
- Feature 3, laddered the same way to an emotional payoff.
- Circle the single emotional payoff you would put in a headline.
Worksheet: Place Your Reader on the Awareness Scale
Using Eugene Schwartz's five stages, decide where your typical reader sits for one specific traffic source, then write the opening line that stage demands.
- The traffic source (e.g. cold Instagram ad, Google search for a problem keyword, abandoned-cart email)
- Reader's stage of awareness (unaware / problem-aware / solution-aware / product-aware / most-aware)
- What this reader already knows and does not know
- How hard I can sell at this stage (soft story vs. direct offer)
- My opening line written for this exact stage
Checklist: Clarity-First Gut Check
- A stranger could tell what I am selling and who it is for in five seconds.
- Every clever line also makes the offer clearer, not just wittier.
- I led with the reader's problem or benefit, not my brand or logo.
- I replaced at least three vague adjectives with a number or concrete detail.
- No sentence requires the reader to decode a pun or insider reference.
Research: Finding the Words That Sell
Mine your customers' own language and organise it into a brief you can write from fast.
Exercise: Voice-of-Customer Mining Sprint
Spend 45 focused minutes reading reviews, support tickets, and forum threads about your product and a competitor's. Copy vivid phrases verbatim — keep their spelling — and tag each by category. Aim for at least 20 phrases.
- Pain phrases: the emotional words customers use for the problem (overwhelmed, sick of, embarrassed).
- Outcome phrases: how customers describe the result they wanted (finally sleep through the night).
- Objection phrases: hesitations and worries (I thought it would be too complicated).
- Surprise phrases: benefits customers did not expect but loved.
Worksheet: Customer Interview Capture Sheet
Run one 20-minute interview (or fill this from a survey response) using the five research questions from the course. Record the answers in the customer's own words, not paraphrased.
- What were you struggling with before you found us?
- What finally made you decide to buy, after putting it off? (the trigger moment)
- What were you worried about before purchasing? (the objection)
- What is the single biggest benefit you have gotten?
- How would you describe us to a friend, in your own words? (candidate headline)
Worksheet: Build Your Message Map
Distil all your research onto this one page. Rank benefits and objections by how often customers actually mentioned them, not by what you find impressive.
- Core promise in one sentence, in customer language
- Target reader and their stage of awareness
- Top 3-5 benefits, ranked by frequency mentioned
- Top 3 objections and your one-line answer to each
- Proof available (numbers, testimonials, guarantee, credentials)
- The single call to action
Checklist: Swipe File Started
- I created a Swipe File folder or board (Notion, Milanote, or a simple folder).
- I saved at least five pieces of copy that made me stop or click.
- For each, I noted one line on why it worked.
- I subscribed to two brands known for great email to keep feeding it.
The Core Copywriting Frameworks
Drill headlines, AIDA, PAS, CTAs, and proof until structuring a persuasive piece becomes automatic.
Exercise: Write 25 Headlines, Score the Best
Using your message map, write 25 headline variations for one page or ad. Push past the obvious first five. Then score each on the 4 U's (1-4 per U) and pick your top two to test.
- Headlines 1-10 using the formulas: How to [outcome] without [pain]; the number list; the direct benefit.
- Headlines 11-20 using: the question that names the pain; the them-and-so-can-you angle.
- Headlines 21-25: your most surprising, ownable angles.
- Your two highest-scoring headlines and their 4 U's scores (Useful, Urgent, Unique, Ultra-specific).
Worksheet: Draft One PAS Sequence
Write a short Problem-Agitate-Solution sequence for your product aimed at a cold or problem-aware reader. Do not skip the agitate step — that is where beginners go soft.
- Problem: name the pain the reader feels right now
- Agitate: twist the knife — the consequences, emotions, and what it is costing them
- Solution: introduce your product as the relief, with one proof point
- The single call to action that follows
Worksheet: CTA and Objection Planner
Write a specific, value-led call to action and pre-empt the hesitations that kill the sale.
- Primary CTA button text (name the action and the payoff, 2-5 words)
- Risk reducer to place beside the button (e.g. No card required, 30-day guarantee)
- Objection 1 and its one-line answer plus proof
- Objection 2 and its one-line answer plus proof
- Objection 3 and its one-line answer plus proof
Checklist: Proof and Persuasion Audit
- Every claim is backed by a number, testimonial, logo, or guarantee.
- Testimonials are specific and outcome-focused, with full names where possible.
- I addressed the biggest objection in the body copy, not just the FAQ.
- There is exactly one primary call to action, repeated at decision points.
- I matched the framework to the reader: PAS for cold, AIDA for ready-to-evaluate.
Writing for the Channel, Then Editing and Testing
Apply the frameworks to a real email, ad, and landing page, then sharpen with editing passes and prove the winner with a test.
Worksheet: Channel Draft: Email, Ad, and Page Hero
Draft the three highest-leverage pieces for your product. Keep the email to one idea and one CTA; lead the ad with the hook before the See more cut; make the page hero pass the five-second test.
- Email subject line (under 50 characters) and preview text that extends it
- Email body: hook first line, one idea, one CTA
- Ad: hook first line (under ~125 characters), one benefit or PAS, one CTA
- Landing page hero: benefit headline, specific subhead, primary CTA
Exercise: Run the Five Editing Passes
Take one finished draft and edit it in five separate passes, each looking for one thing only. Note what you changed in each pass so you can see the draft improve.
- Clarity pass: what jargon or ambiguity did you cut so a 12-year-old would understand it?
- Specificity pass: which vague claims did you replace with numbers, names, or proof?
- Cut pass: paste your before and after word counts — did you cut at least 20%?
- Rhythm pass: read it aloud — which sentences did you reshape, and did you vary length?
Worksheet: Plan One A/B Test
Design a single clean test of your highest-leverage element. Decide the one change, the metric, and the stopping rule before you launch so you do not fool yourself with noise.
- The one element under test (headline / CTA / offer)
- Version A (control) and Version B (challenger)
- The conversion metric that matters (click, signup, purchase)
- Sample-size or conversions-per-variation target before calling it
- Significance threshold (aim ~95%) and the tool you will use to check
Checklist: Pre-Publish Final Check
- I ran the draft through Hemingway and landed around grade 6-8 reading level.
- I read the whole piece aloud and fixed every spot I stumbled over.
- Every link and button works and points to the right place.
- The ad promise and the landing page headline match word for word.
- Only one thing changes between A and B, and my stopping rule is written down.
Your Action Plan
- Choose one product or service of your own to carry through the whole plan.
- Read 30-50 reviews and tickets and capture at least 20 voice-of-customer phrases, tagged by category.
- Run one customer interview or collect 20-30 survey responses using the five research questions.
- Fill in your one-page message map, ranking benefits and objections by frequency mentioned.
- Write 25 headline variations and score them on the 4 U's; pick your top two.
- Draft a PAS sequence and an AIDA outline, choosing the framework by your reader's awareness stage.
- Write your CTA with a risk reducer and pre-empt your top three objections with proof.
- Draft the email, the ad, and the landing page hero, keeping message match tight.
- Run all five editing passes on each draft and cut at least 20% of the words.
- Set up one A/B test on your highest-leverage element and let it reach significance before you decide.
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