Picture this: It’s time to write your sales page for your latest offer. Or maybe it’s an email sequence to nurture subscribers into buying your products. Or maybe it’s your web copy.

Whatever it is, you’re staring at the computer screen, and that blank page is definitely mocking you. 

You want so badly to write words that are clever, clear, and designed to convert. But all you get for your effort is a few loose words on a page — and a desire to run away.

You get so hung up on trying to write a crafty sentence that all of your creative energy gets depleted. You keep putting off the entire thing until the last hour because you can’t keep trying to edit the same sentence over and over again!

If this sounds a bit too familiar — don’t worry friend. I’ve got ya covered. 

As a conversion copywriter, I’ve had my fair share of writer’s block when it comes to writing things that sell. But one thing that helps me beat it is sticking to a system, one that helps me write clear AND clever copy. 

In this post, you’ll find my process for writing copy that converts, from ideation to the moment you hit “Publish,” so you can keep your audience engaged. 

Let’s get into it!

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Phase 1: Mindset

Before you start writing, you’ve got to get focused. 

Put yourself in the mindset of your audience. What do they want to hear from you?

You also have to think beyond this single piece of copy. How does it play into your overall business strategy and goals? 

Does it help drive people through your sales funnels, or direct your audience to a specific action?

Your reader wants to know what’s in it for them. You need to give them a reason to keep going, an action to take. The easiest way to do that is to put yourself in their shoes and see what the logical next step is!

If you’re writing copy and decide that the “logical next step” isn’t, in fact, the action you want them to take… it’s back to the drawing board!

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Phase 2: The First Draft

There’s a reason why they call it a rough draft. Your first go at your copy won’t be perfect. Embrace the sloppy copy, my friend! 

The first draft is a judgment-free zone. You’re going to go back and edit anyways. This first draft will be ugly. 

Don’t worry about edits or trying to find the wittiest phrase. The point of this first go-round is to just write. Get the meat and potatoes of your thoughts onto paper. 

I like to knock out my first draft whenever I’m feeling the most creative, which is usually first thing in the morning. 

For you, it might be during that mid-morning nap for your toddler, or even in the evening with a glass of wine!

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Phase 3: Revision

This is the fun part!

Think of your first draft as clay: Now you are the potter, waiting to shape that clay into something amazing! 

I think of revision as that first pass after you have a loose piece of copy. You don’t want to get too in the weeds, but you do want to catch glaring issues!

You’re = free to add your personality, some emojis, and a witty phrase or two. Just don’t forget to:

• Nix “to-be” verbs: say what you need to say with confidence and swap the passive voice for active voice. It makes for much more impactful and memorable writing. 
• Be specific: confusing copy doesn’t convert, but specific copy does. It makes your writing snappier and more engaging, and that includes descriptive words and phrases. Don’t say “drink,” say “Pineapple Spindrift.” Don’t say “goo,” say, “melted Kraft single.”
• Stack in the subject first: say the main idea of the sentence FIRST to be more descriptive. 

Worried about length? Don’t be

Yes, some platforms like Twitter or Instagram have character count limits, so you do have to be mindful about how long your writing is. But even then, your copy will be as long as it needs to be. 

Short copy isn’t always a good copy. Clear copy isn’t always a product of length. Use as many words as you need to clearly communicate the concept. No more and no less. 

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Phase 4: Editing

Feel free to be as ruthless as Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada here. 

Be critical so your writing can be concise. Cut unnecessary words, industry jargon your reader won’t understand, and lofty phrases that just make your writing sound more pretentious than cunning. 

Then, add it to Grammarly to check for any typos you may have missed! Grammarly is free to use, but there is also a paid version that allows you to check for passive voice and offers suggestions to make your writing more impactful. 

Cutting unnecessary words

You probably know (in theory) that simple copy is the best copy. But I cannot stress enough how important cutting the fluff is. 

It sounds easy, but it can be tough because our vocabulary is inundated with phrases that sound like they make sense but don’t transfer well into the copy. 

Like that last sentence. Read it out loud. See what I mean??

You don’t write like you talk. You don’t have the luxury of word vomiting on the fly. Your copy has to be well-thought-out and understandable. 

Some common but meh phrases I see many a writer use are:

• In order to 
• First and foremost
• When it comes down to it
• In today’s world (what other world are you talking about??)
• I believe that
• According to
• It’s my opinion that (just say your opinion! I give you permission.)
• The purpose of this is…
• At which time

These just add words to your sentence — not power!

The goal of sales copy is to, y’know, bring in sales, so you want to be extra intentional with what you use. If you need help finding power words, I have 96 of them here that you can use in your copy!

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Why start from scratch if you don’t have to? 

Do you ever feel like you’ve repeated yourself and used the same phrases in your copy?

That’s probably because you have! That’s why I save those nuggets in a copy bank.

Copy-banking is my secret sauce for cranking out copy that converts — no matter what I’m working on. For every blog, social caption, and sales page, I have a system backing me up and making sure I have a way to produce great copy. 

It’s kind of like having a copy ATM at your fingertips — just grab a quick withdrawal before you type it on your keyboard. 

My copy-banking system helps me stay true to my brand voice while fueling creativity for client copywriting projects with an endless vault of wordsmith ideas.

And now you can have access to it, too!

Enter The Copy Bank: a template kit to get your marketing words organized in Trello, Asana, or Google Sheets, so they’re at your fingertips when it’s time to write.

Inside you’ll find everything you need to start housing and start using an easy-to-use system for copy swipes, words, phrases, quotes, and more!

If you’re tired of writer’s block, and you want to use copy that CONVERTS without having to find the words all over again… You’ll want to grab your own Copy Bank.

Grab The Copy Bank here!