I’m not just a fan of Susan Gunelius because she’s a terrific writer or that she replaced me when I gave up my gig with About.com Weblogs. I’m a fan of Susan because she knows her stuff and is generous when it comes to dispensing advice. I have a confession to make, however. I’ve been remiss in reviewing her awesome book Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps: Build the Buzz and Sell the Sizzle. It’s not that I didn’t want to review this book, only that I have stacks of books to review, and so little time to do so. Don’t do as I do, though. If there’s one book to buy for your writing resource arsenal this year, Kick-Ass Copywriting is it. Go ahead, order. I’ll wait. I even provided the link to save time.
Kick-Ass Copywriting had me at “hello”. The thoughtful foreward is written by none other than the CopyBlogger himself, Brian Clark. The rest of the book provides practical advice in a format that is easy to follow and not intimidating in the least.
Just a quick browse of the chapters is intriguing:
- Don’t Be Intimidated by Copywriting – Be Insipired!
- Get Organized with the Copywriting Outline
- Exploit Your Product’s Benefits
- Exploit Your Competition’s Weaknesses
- Know Your Audience
- Communicate W.I.I.F.M (What’s In It For Me?)
- Focus on the “You” not “Me”
And it goes on for 11 more chapters all offering the reader inspiration and an urge to go out and look into the copywriting thing. Susan’s book is probably the best book I’ve read on this topic thus far. She writes for you and me – and explains what we need to know in a pleasant, easy to read manner. Susan doesn’t talk down to us in the least, however. It’s like she’s giving a lesson over a cup of coffee.
Here’s the thing…at FWJ one of the questions that is asked the most often is, “how do I get out of this low paying rut?” Susan has your answer right here. There’s writing beyond web content. If you want to be paid handsomely for your efforts, you have to put in the time. Your writing has to dazzle. Kick-Ass Copywriting gives you the tools and motivation you need to succeed.
Now, Susan can’t hold your hand but her book gives insight into a form of writing most web writers don’t even think about. Read the book, then go out and do us proud.
