I've been asked a few times, so I'll share...

I hand-copied sales letters daily for six years. Each day, without a day missed. I woke up, and for the first half-hour or hour and I hand-copied a sales letter. Pen and legal pad. Even when I was ill, even on holiday mornings...

Even after being out till the sun came up in Miami, with a stunning girl on the arm, probably well past a bottle deep in good tequila, managed my way to the hotel room, and continued hand-copying an ad.

It isn't about discipline, I felt it was what I had to do to compete. And I enjoyed it.

I hit a hiccup. When I hand-copied Brilliance Breakthrough by Eugene Schwartz, and his ads, my copy turned from converting to utter shit. Million-dollar ad spends, and I was the cause for...

Money being pissed away.

The saving grace? Hand copying David Ogilvy, Claude Hopkins, and Oren Klaff pitches. Then I switched predominately to the Benjamin Franklin writing exercise. I did that daily for about threeish years. I also did it during that six-year period.

That exercise helped me really think how the ad had to be framed, positioned, and also it naturally surfaced a way to think about an ad.

What also really cranked my copy, studying normal books on writing. I found out that Ogilvy inhaled things like Fowler's Usage Manual.

He was fascinated with words and reading. Going down that path, helped me a ton.

You don't need to be a grammar expert, but knowing how to write clearly and with style separates you from tactic dorks.

Who would I suggest you hand copy today? After almost ten years, here's who had the biggest impact for me when I did this exercise and I hand-copied the most:
- David Ogilvy
- Claude Hopkins
- Oren Klaff
- @craigclemens
- John Carlton

And I probably did some ads maybe ten times or more. I would also try to recite the pitch as if I was delivering it in person. I would read it. Then I would try to just say it.

If I had to go back with any advice to 30-year-old me?

- Start the Benjamin Franklin exercise sooner.
- Study general books on writing sooner, especially Ogilvy's heroes: Ernest Gowers, and Fowler's.
- Stick to Adler's reading advice.
- Get to an Oren Klaff event sooner.

There is no copy shortcut. I looked at this as a craft. I felt I had to do this each day. It made a huge difference. There was no hack. It was a matter of learning copy and ads and thinking in ads.

Oh, and another thing that helped, studying some Joe Navarro.

Navarro helped me on research. Like when I could spot negative body language at someone going into a gym, or a Yoga Studio. Then with the hand-copying, I could start hearing the pitch in my head. Where I could pour on the heat.

It all takes time. I had a sales background before. So I had a foot up in the game I think. But I hand-copying those greats, and really trying to know the ad, big difference. And no I didn't try to reverse engineer shit. That's masturbation. I aimed to KNOW it in my bones.

Oh and a big note. I must emphasize, I hand-copied the same ad countless times. This wasn’t one and done and race through. I came back to ads I copied previously and did it again countless times.