I’ve always been a big fan of swipe files. It’s taken me over 10 years to develop a reasonable collection of swipe files to help me with my copywriting. For years I’ve collected direct marketing pieces, online sales letters, autoresponder messages, etc. that I thought were particularly effective. I have dozens of file folders full of hundreds of pieces… and I drag it all out and spread it all over the living room and my office when I need to get a little copywriting inspiration.
It’s a huge mess!
You see, whenever I see a direct marketing piece that has a great headline, awesome bullets, a really terrific closing, etc., I keep the entire direct marketing piece so that the part I want to swipe stays in context. I try to keep them organized, but it’s nearly impossible! The real problem is that I can rarely find what I want when I want it.
How frustrating!!! Read the rest of this entry