Picasso told a woman he’d charge $10,000 for a napkin drawing. “But it only took 30 seconds to make,” she said. “No, 40 years and 30 seconds,” he said.

For readers who only skim your web copy, make sure you paragraph intros (the first five words of a paragraph) are compelling. Use action words, bold font, bullet points.

Charles Schulz once said: “Cartooning will destroy you:  it will break your heart.”

So will copywriting.

Step away from the computer, clients and copywriting books as often as possible.

On days when you’re working on a project, only check email, Twitter, Google Reader, Facebook, etc. 3-4 times per day.

This will lessen distractions and boost your productivity

Roger Ebert says:

“Just write, get better, keep writing, keep getting better. It’s the only thing you can control.”

Or to phrase it another way, put in 10,000 hours.

It’s hard to step up to the plate when business is slow.

Yet your biggest opportunities can be found in the silences. Learn to look hard at the silences.

Sometimes I include a “Frankly, I’m Puzzled” email at the end of a series of emails to prospects.  It provides good closure.  Here’s one I wrote for a client.

A “click here to read more” link in an email or blog post interrupts flow.

Disrupting the flow slows your profits down. Say it all in the email instead.

After you complete a copywriting project for a client, send a thank you note. The best thank you note is handwritten.

It’s good manners and leads to future business.

A copywriter should learn from everyone but seek approval from no one.  Not even from a goo-roo or mentor.

Why?

Approval is a drug – one hit is never enough.