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Most copywriters keep one swipe file…

But copywriting great, Eric Betuel, keeps two.

One is his physical file, full of classic controls from masters like Gary Halbert.

The other is entirely mental, full of observations from people watching.

“You need to observe people,” said Betuel, a medical copywriter. “When you sit in a restaurant and look out the window and see an old woman getting out of the car, and her daughter getting out of the car: You look at the face of the daughter — and you see she’s tired. You look at the granddaughter — and you see she’s impatient. You look at the old woman — and you see she’s grateful.”

(Can you see it?)

“You see these people and you can imagine what they’re feeling,” he said. “And that’s a swipe file, too.”

Every copywriter should keep this “other” swipe file, adding to it daily, a scene here, a face there. It’s good practice. Storytelling practice, empathy practice.

Because fact is, we’re all at the center of our own universe, consumed by our own work and relationships, our own happiness and sadness, our successes, our failures. 

But this is a way to break away from our own worldview, if only for a moment — long enough to see life through someone else’s perspective.

And this, ultimately, is a copywriter’s true work.

LEARN TO PERSUADE

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Hey there, thanks for reading. :)

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Enjoy!

Eddie Shleyner
VeryGoodCopy, founder

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