11-Step Copywriting Checklist For Emails, Ads, Landing Pages, VSLs, And Sales Pages To Make Sure Your Copy DOESN’T SUCK

(Listed In Descending Priority Level)

Yo, it’s Ning. 

I’ve seen, reviewed, and given feedback on tens of thousands of pieces of copy at this point - and I see the same mistakes over and over again. 

Whether you’re publishing your copy…

Submitting it for review…

Or getting coaching feedback…

Run through this checklist first. 

Your copy will look far better and your conversions will skyrocket.

These apply to ANY piece of copy (emails, ads, VSLs, landing pages, etc.)

1. Do you grab my attention in the first 10 seconds? Does the first line make me want to read the second line? Is this more interesting and attention grabbing than a cat meme? If not, rework your opening. This is the most important part of your copy - thus, it should be where you spend the majority of your time, focus, and energy working and reworking. 
   
2. Do you make a singular big, bold claim or promise HIGH up in the copy? If not, do so. 
   
3. Do you show me a NEW way to get the benefit that I haven’t seen before or that I haven’t tried before? If it’s old news, I’m not going to pay attention. Staple your big, powerful promise to a NEW vehicle for your reader to get what they want. 
   
4. Is it clear who I’m supposed to be and what problem of mine you are solving? Are you writing to one avatar, or multiple? Get clear on writing to ONE specific person with ONE specific problem. 
   
5. Do you show me powerful, undeniable PROOF that your thing works, and that it gives me the benefit I’m looking for?
   
6. Did you explain to me the root cause of my problem… and is this root cause something surprising and NEW that I haven’t heard of before?
   
7. Did you explain to me how your solution fixes this problem in a specific and visual way… and can a 3rd grader understand your explanation?
   
8. Did you make an edit pass to make your sentences more SPECIFIC?
   
9. Did you make an edit pass to make your sentences more VISUAL?
   
10. Did you make an edit pass to make your copy more DIGESTIBLE? (Make long, hard to understand sentences shorter, simpler, easier to understand, and more conversational?)
    
11. Have you made an edit pass to fix basic spelling and grammar errors? If you are NOT a native English speaker, have you put your copy through Grammarly or some other spell-checking app? Have you asked a native English speaker to proofread your copy to make sure it sounds like a native speaker’s copy?
    
    If you’re NOT a native English speaker, are you consistently working on your English to make it more native-sounding? (You can watch American movies and repeat what the characters say, read American books, read copy, handwrite copy, and work everyday on your English so it is as native-sounding as possible.)
    
    

And that’s it. 

Run through this checklist, and your copy will be better than 80% of the copy out there. 

Hope this helps. 

I'm putting together a copywriting mentorship group - and I will be launching as soon as my team and I can put it together, so click here if you want to be notified when it opens (it will only be open for a short period of time) 

-Ning