Swipe Files – Making Copy-Writing Quick & Simple
If you're not creating your own swipe file you're missing a trick!
You're probably wondering why I'm holding this big, boring grey-looking file in my hand. In just a couple of minutes, we're going to tell you exactly why this is probably one of the most important bits of documentation I keep in my business, and why I encourage you to start one yourself very, very shortly.
So what is this mysterious dull-looking document?
Well, this very dull folder is literally a collection of direct mail swipe files I keep. Whenever I get something of interest in the post, I put it in here. I refer back to it later, if I'm doing any direct mail pieces.
It's so much easier to, actually, let me put that down… to start doing direct mail or any sort of copy, once you've got a reference point. And I'm not saying you copy these files or folders or other people's work, but it gives you some ideas to get started.
Start Creating Your Own Swipe File
I'm not just expecting you to keep a direct mail one. You should keep one for emails. You should keep one for Facebook ads, for Google ads, anything you can use for copy in your business going forward. Some of the greatest copywriters, in fact, most of the greatest copywriters always refer to their own swipe files. It's extremely, extremely important and very, very powerful that you start one today.
If you like Facebook ads, what I do on my computer is I take a screenshot of it, and I save them to Dropbox. You could do whatever. Put them in a folder on your computer. Then whenever I'm creating a Facebook, it gives me some inspiration of what works because chances are if something caught your eye, then if you're doing something similar, it's going to catch someone else's eye. So it's a really, really simple, important thing you should start doing immediately.
Just, as I say, this is quite old school. Probably in here, there are, I don't know, probably 150 to 200 direct mail pieces from postcards to letters to even hand-written cards. You can see here, probably, that I've had… It really caught my eye, and I wanted to keep for reference in the future to use to help me when I'm writing my own copy.
So as I say, start your own swipe file today. It's a very, powerful tool to help you write your next winning piece of copy.!
