Copywriters, or anyone involved in copy, I declare this universal law of copy: follow @BryanAGarner.

Don't just follow him, but inhale his work. Continually and constantly learn from him, and go to one of his seminars, preferably in person.

And if you want a little context...

I get asked a lot about the "psychology" of the ad. What makes things "persuasive." Then I see at best, cliched copyese trying to tell the customer what they deserve, but I generally see abysmal writing/pitching trying to sell. The psychology fails when the writing stinks.

An old trope is writing well doesn't matter when it comes to copy. Even if that copy is a verbal pitch. That advice freezes you into a struggling freelancer. You write emails like everyone else. You write sales pages like everyone else. You write VSL's like everyone else.

If you know me by now, you know I'm about to say, David Ogilvy. Well, I'll add in Gary Halbert. Both studied language. Halbert kept a copy of Strunk & White in his back pocket (so did John Carlton). Halbert loved commas, and how he could phrase something just right.

Halbert studied his favorite fiction novels, in particular John MacDonald. He studied the sentences. He fancied himself a great writer and he studied great writing.

Ogilvy's a behemoth. Any copywriting expert telling you "the writing doesn't matter when it comes to sales" ask him about one of Ogilvy's castles. Ogilvy was a stylist, a prose maestro, and he worked hard at it. He studied and revered Rudolf Flesch.

And Winston Churchill's main man, Ernest Gowers, shows clearly in Ogilvy's style. In fact, David Ogilvy, kept a prized book within reach anytime he wrote copy... Fowler's 2nd Edition Usage Guide, edited by Gowers. He used it even editing commercial scripts.

Today, Garner's Modern English Usage should be within any good copywriter's reach.

Why?

Psychology and persuasion is cool. But if you can't find the phrasing, the rhetorical devices, and how to make it clear, you'll never bake it into your copy.

Instead, you'll be like a guy who meets a poet and proceeds to tell that poet what their poetry is about. "You deserve to have status!" "You fear not having a job and you fear having a wife who hates you!" "But if you act now and buy, you'll get what you deserve. Isn't it time?"

Yes, I'm starting to see that kind of persuasion atrocity. It doesn't persuade, it doesn't do anything other than turn people off your product.

Stop studying so much psychology and tactics. Study good writing. Read good periodicals like The Economist or The National Review.

Read better books, not the generic and poorly written business books. Or buzzword soup like Start With Why.

Doing this will inject your copy with novel phrasing. You'll also be able to swipe better. You can take what worked elsewhere as a framework, and shape it how you want.

Also, you'll get better at phrasing things memorably. It's laughable how copy gurus say that's not needed. We remember Churchill's speeches. But we also remember Billy Mays, who, also, was a wordsmith. He wrote his pitches, and from I was told, loved good writing.

The quickest way to make your copy potent, be a professional. Master your craft, study good writing. Ogilvy's obsession with good writing, usage, and grammar: he bought a castle. So if you think it's not for converting copy, again, go see his castle.

Persuasive writing works best when the idea foments in the customer's mind. Also, when you write well, the customer may not get grammar, but subconsciously they know they're dealing with an expert. It builds trust. It builds rapport. It builds certainty.

Add fresh phrasing that doesn't sound like anyone else, you harness serious power. One, you soon set the tone competitors chase after, especially if it converts. Two, to a customer, again, you're an expert. You make sense. You're not Mr. Buzzwords, nor are you the Shamwow guy.

Today, I think Bryan Garner is the best writing teacher. I had the pleasure of meeting him in person, he's a wonderful man. Also, his Deep Issue technique is lethal for creating USP's, big ideas, and describing problems. Study him, study good writing, and your copy will convert.