The basic campaign structure that any good online copywriting course should teach
I’ve structured and timed this program so that in 4 months you’ll have learned about, written, and completed the fundamental sales “funnel” that produces first-time customers for nearly any small online business. It looks like this:
opt-in page → email sequence → sales page
It is actually better to think of this less like a direct sequence, and more like a logical structure. You will notice, for instance, that this is fundamentally the logic I use to sell Copywriting Night School, even though it is hosted on Substack, so there is no one opt-in page, no automated sales sequence, and no single sales page either. But the logic is the same: do most of the selling via email, with the conversion points being on the web.
(I have previously sold this course using a more classic opt-in page, email sequence, and sales page; this Substack is an experiment to see whether the same logic will work well in a more content-oriented environment, where traffic-generation is taken care of without so much involvement from me.)
For just about any online businesses (with exceptions that I will list later), a web → email → web campaign logic is the ideal sales engine.
This is why Copywriting Night School focuses on converting visitors into email subscribers, and then converting those email subscribers into first-time buyers.
The same logic is also “recursive,” in that it can be re-purposed to convert first-time buyers into repeat buyers (aka customers) — if that’s what you want. This makes it very high-leverage: a small hinge that swings big doors.
A lot of solopreneurs are somewhat familiar with this concept, but they’ve either been putting off implementing it, or they’ve tried but aren’t getting the results they hoped for. And that’s not surprising considering how much conflicting advice — much of it terrible — can be found online...along with how the enormity of the project scares the heck out of your lizard brain.
So the key is to break it into small, actionable, and most importantly achievable tasks. That way, Mr. Lizard stays dormant, dozing through each small step without getting alarmed that they are quickly adding up to a big “scary” system.
This is exactly how I structure Copywriting Night School. I divide your sales funnel into specific, small, short-term tasks, rather than the vague, huge long-term goal of “building your sales funnel.” Each small step builds inexorably into a system that has been road-tested and proven — not just by my students, but by he millions of small online businesses who are all using variations on the same idea.
Because Copywriting Night School is entirely built around your sales funnel, the lesson structure reflects this basic sequence.
I teach you all the major principles and techniques, starting with the call to action on your sales page, working back to the headline, then through your email sequence, and finally to your opt-in page. (By the time you get there, writing a page like that only takes a couple of hours — at most.)
Because the funnel forms the backbone of the Copywriting Night School lesson structure, you’ll work through the strategic-level implementation at the same time as you’re learning the details of actually writing the copy. And because you’re learning by working backwards from your money-making business objective, you’ll find you have a lot more clarity than you previously did.
I divide things roughly into week-long modules, arranged in 4-week blocks which correspond to each of the 4 months of the program. Yes, I realize a month is slightly more than 4 weeks, but it works out well enough. Here’s how I time things — although, of course, you can go as fast or as slow as you want:
Month 1: Landing page, basic planning, fundamental principles
The first month we work on the sales/landing page that will directly lead to a sale, or a sales call. We don’t spend a lot of time planning at this point because the focus is on rapid implementation (see my comments about learning psychology).
But don’t you fret — we don’t go in blind; and there is plenty of more detailed planning in month 2.
The first week we start with framing your offer and writing the CTA (call to action). This includes not just the button, but the immediately preceding copy. I’ve found that learning to write this copy is relatively easy and stress-free, but sets you up to write headlines with only a few small tweaks to your mindset and knowledge. Writing CTA copy is also ideal for learning the first of the 4C principles that tie everything together. And by starting with the offer, we ensure you have the right mindset about what your objective should be from the very start.
The second week we develop a guarantee, which is not only useful for boosting sales, but is especially helpful for teaching a couple of key psychological techniques in copywriting — as well as the second of the 4 Cs.
The third week we start working with curiosity — which means fascinations. (You’ll see several dozen examples of what I mean in the bullets in my next post.) Writing bullets teaches you the third of the 4 Cs (no, it’s not curiosity — but don’t worry, I explain exactly what it is and how it works with fascinations).
The fourth week we focus on articulating exactly what your prospect gets, and how. Benefits and features, in other words. This actually reiterates the first of the 4 Cs which you learned in week 1. Remember that repetition is key to internalizing new skills and knowledge.
Month 2: Headlines, planning & reviewing, basic marketing psychology
The second month we complete your landing page and start developing the plan for your email sequence. We also take this time to review what you’ve learned so far, particularly as a tool for learning the final of the 4 Cs, while delving into a simple three-point system for understanding your prospect’s psychological needs.
The fifth week we work on the headline and deck copy for your sales/landing page, bringing it to a complete draft. This teaches you the final of the 4 Cs. All four are critical to writing headlines, but the final one is particularly well-fitted to learning here.
The sixth week we work through the sales page to polish it, and you learn my top techniques for quickly spotting and sanding down rough edges. We use this as an opportunity to not only revise and improve, but also examine the proper definition of copywriting itself, so we can assess how well the page performs against it.
The seventh week we introduce some fundamental principles of email marketing and campaign writing, and plan out your lead-generation offer at the strategic level. This section often surprises people as there are a lot of “best practices” out there which I overturn, and a lot of recommendations I make which take getting used to (they are all tried and true).
The eighth week we start developing some concrete ideas for emails to fill your sequence, now that the strategic-level plan is complete. You’ll learn what you should be writing, what you should avoid — and you’ll get templates and swipes to review to get your creative juices churning.
Month 3: Email campaign writing, 3 types of copy, ingredients of storytelling
The third month we really get stuck into email writing. There is probably no better way to practice all the fundamental skills and principles of copywriting. Especially those 4 Cs...
The ninth week we learn about the three fundamental types of online copy, and start writing our first emails. The aim is to get you quicker and quicker at writing emails as the month progresses, so we have at least 14 written by the end.
The tenth week we develop our storytelling skills, discovering what is (and is not) critical to keeping your reader’s eyes glued to the screen. There are some surprising lessons in here around what constitutes the “essence” of story — lessons your English and drama teachers would squirm at.
The eleventh week we continue to write emails, focusing on diversity of content while maintaining unity with the 4C principles. We also use this time to re-assess the definition of copywriting, along with the objectives you’re aiming for. This sounds kind of pedantic and technical, but it is of great psychological benefit to you, because your instinctive tendency when writing copy is to aim at a wrong (and unachievable) objective. Slipping back into this will quickly lead to frustration and lost sales, so we need to make sure that instinct is properly retrained.
The twelfth week is an email marathon, interspersed with learning an advanced set of psychological principles that are very powerful for finding angles to use in both headlines and offers — something that will be important in week 13.
Month 4: Opt-in page creation, aesthetic principles & go-live
The fourth and final month we work on creating your opt-in page, and getting the whole system up and running so you can make sales.
The thirteenth week is really a test of how well everything you’ve learned so far is cemented in your mind. We try to write the opt-in page copy sequentially from the CTA, getting it all done in the week. This helps us spot where there are still weaknesses, while also giving you an encouraging view of your strengths.
The fourteenth week we tackle the practical issues of how you’re going to get your landing page, opt-in page, and email sequence up and running. I give you some advice on hosting platforms and recommend the two email providers which, in my testing, come out on top without breaking the bank. Of course, if you’re already comfortable with a particular setup, that’s no problem — you’re welcome to use whatever works for you.
The fifteenth week we implement. This includes giving you some direction on design, which is a troublesome aspect of online marketing that most copywriters aren’t equipped to address. Since I am a web designer and conversion optimization expert, I can help you here with simple guidelines for color, proportion, and layout — plus a straightforward framework for understanding your prospect’s thought sequence when he arrives on your page.
The sixteenth week we take stock. Usually by this point any issues have become clear, and we can spend this time dealing with them. We start testing what you’ve implemented, and looking for ways to improve it.
That’s a lot to take in, so here’s the upshot: If you can commit to 4 hours per week, in 4 months I can teach you to write copy better than most copywriters.
A caveat on who should NOT take this training
Copywriting Night School is for regular folks of all kinds with small online businesses. But you learn by doing — which means you need:
A website and some traffic. Or at least a method for driving traffic. There’s no point writing copy for non-existent leads!
Something to sell. It can be a product or a service — Copywriting Night School works with either. I recommend an entry-level price because the program is aimed at making first-time buyers.
If you don’t have these two things, you can’t learn by doing, so I’d advise you not to waste your money.
Next up: A few dozen key things you’ll learn in this program.