I recently purchased Copywriting Secrets by Jim Edwards (Kindle version) and in this review will be giving you a summary as well as my thoughts on the content of this book and what I think of it.
Here is some basic info on Copywriting Secrets:
Who is the author of Copywriting Secrets?
Jim Edwards.
How much does this book cost?
For me it was $9.99.
How long is the Copywriting Secrets book?
The Kindle version for me is 308 pages.
My rating for Copywriting Secrets: 4 out of 5 stars
Here is my short review of Jim Edwards Copywriting Secrets:
This is a good book overall and for anyone interested in getting involved in copywriting, it is a good entry into the business.
I do have some mixed opinions of this industry but overall, Jim delivers good content on the subject, but nothing I would say is amazing, and this is because I’ve been involved in the copywriting game for a long time and have seen/read different material on it, so I can compare this book to other sources I’ve checked out before (and my own case studies).
I do believe there are better books on copywriting out there which I will share in this post as well, but I don’t want to jump too far ahead yet in this review because I first want to give more context to the book so you understand my positions. So here we go:
Here is a summary of Copywriting Secrets by Jim Edwards:
There are well over 30 chapters in the book, but 31 of them are known as “Secrets” which basically dissect the most important elements of copywriting.
I’m not going to cover all 31 “secrets”, but here are the most important notes (at least for me):
1) Jim gives his history on what he was involved in before he got into copywriting (real estate).
2) He became good at this business, but moved into the online space writing sales copy.
3) His book shares the most important takeaways from his experiences writing sales copy.
4) A major thesis in his book is that the copy is what truly sells vs whatever is being sold (the product/service).
5) Jim mentions that headlines are what can make or break a sales copy.
6) He gives a number of strategies to capture people’s attention in headlines to get them to read into the sales copy afterwards.
7) He provides a list of 10 things to keep in every copywriting project you do to include (as a checklist) to help it’s conversion rate rise.
8) He notes the importance of knowing your niche audience and knowing that you’re selling to people, not a “niche” which is actually not a bad distinction.
9) Jim also notes the importance of researching your audience and knowing their “fears and emotions” to use that in your sales copy to get them.
10) Emotions are truly the most important thing to engage for the sales copy to convert (this is something Jim notes and I know is also mostly true in my experience.
11) Jim also provides important “no-no” tips such as to never attack the person you’re trying to sell to through negative types of sales copies and to instead state the problem, give them the solution and present your product or whatever you sell as the answer.
12) Jim also provides references and product reviews like Clickfunnels and also a program I reviewed called Funnel Scripts which is a program that produces pre written sales copies for any type of online sales funnel you are making, from webinars to one page websites, in any niche (I’m not a huge fan of either product just so you know).
13) There are also parts of the book which cover outsourcing copywriters and how to carefully navigate this as few people really understand how to make a good sales copy work.
And finally, since Jim Edwards is associated with Russell Brunson, I thought it would be fair to also share some of the book reviews I’ve done on Russell’s stuff:
Both are good reads.
My detailed thoughts on Copywriting Secrets:
So first, I want to say that I have my own case study post on my personal copywriting experiences and I share specific examples of sales copies I’ve made with good results in the past (and today).
That being said, I come to this subject from a more ethical point of view in that I believe that there’s too many fake people in this industry who just write good crap, to sell bad stuff and this is not to jump on Jim or anything. I’m just saying that a lot of fake stuff surrounds copywriting.
To me, it’s important to keep things as ethical as possible and while I do dress up my words and think about selling when I promote something, where I come from in this subject is as follows:
1) I like to think of a niche audience I can connect with (because I have the same experiences and problems that they do).
2) Whatever I sell the niche audience then, it’s easier for me to naturally produce a good sales copy with natural copywriting techniques included in that sales page which don’t really have to be made up (being authentic basically).
3) This makes the selling process a lot easier in my opinion (and good for ethics too). And while I won’t call myself the “most” ethical online marketer out there, I do try to hold myself to high standards when I engage in this practice as it’s something that in my opinion that can easily corrupt you.
One of the only programs I know which teaches this natural way of copywriting is Wealthy Affiliate.
Because I’ve been an affiliate marketer for long and have seen/done many different things to sell stuff online, I can spot a fake copywriter very quickly when I read sales pages today and perhaps this is one of the reasons why when I began reading Copywriting Secrets, I tended to skim through certain parts, because my previous experiences with this stuff just left a bad taste for me.
Here’s a book I think is better than Copywriting Secrets:
It’s called How to Write Copy That Sells, and ironically, it’s by a man named Ray Edwards (Not sure if he’s related to Jim). But that was the first book I ever read on this matter and I think it provides better, clear cut examples on good copywriting methods you can use in your promotions.
But besides that, the core thing I want to get across is the importance of authenticity.
Even if you become a good copywriter, if you’re not being authentic with what you are writing, I think that’s highly unethical and eventually you may develop a bad reputation for that.
It’s hard to be a good and ethical copywriter in my opinion, but in my experience, if you can build your online business in something you have an authentic passion in, it’s much easier to be an authentic copywriter in the process and that’s really what I believe to be the most important thing for success that won’t keep you up at night wondering if you’re a sleazy marketer or a legit person helping people (while making money).
That’s why programs like Wealthy Affiliate in my opinion are some of the rare ones which help you get that outcome.