Book Review and Impressions

This will be the first of many reviews I will write on this blog and the format here is going to be simple. I will give my unabashed opinion and conclusions after having dissected the product or service. It might help you decide if you want to use said service or buy the product. It might not. 

Without further ado let’s dive into it. 

Having finished the first half of the book I’m going to structure this in two parts. 

I will cover 3 points here, the good, the bad, and the copy. 

The good: Copywriting Secrets has a simple formula: He drives the point in each chapter, which he calls by secrets.The are a total of 31 “Secrets” and These so far are my impressions on the first 15. When you notice it, you will have that  ah-ha moment. Jim Edwards talks about how headlines are important and are the backbone of great copy, and he consistently shows it to you by having killer headlines in every single chapter that will engage, make you reflect and set the expectation for that chapter. His storytelling is fantastic and each chapter ends with a summary of what was discussed. He will also give you a few examples of how to apply the knowledge you have just read about and some anecdotal evidence of it being utilized. He helps you have an understanding, and with a gentle hand guides you through his logical thought process, to some it can be revealing, to more experienced copywriters or marketers it will be a little bit more of the same. What felt to me like the most useful out of these chapters so far is how he teaches you to think as a copywriter or to identify copy properly in the text that you read on your day to day. He also briefly mentions the importance of a swipe file. Which is basically writing down and copying formulas that you have seen, that engaged you and that you think are great.

The bad: It feels like some chapters are redundant, as of now that I have crossed the half book mark, it takes me a while to digest the knowledge and the chapters. Some chapters start to get a little repetitive and some of the lessons are a tad obvious even for novices such as myself. He also mentions his other products, a website that will help you with headlines, email marketing and other things marketing related. It would be great if he dropped it from time to time, but after what felt like 5+ chapters of straight mentioning his website, the book kind of starts to feel like a whole sales letter about this product instead of the book itself. It made me a little unfocused about reading it because I started feeling like I was just being sold something, which is a feeling that I personally dislike. It’s hard to dislike this book because Jim really is about walking that walk, the language he uses and the concepts he explain are very easy to understand and straight to the point. When someone can take complex topics and explain with ease you can tell Jim knows his shit. I only wish that at times the book would have gotten a little bit more technical. When he is offering you formulas and templates of copy, he only offers you a brief description as to why it work, the geek in me would have wished him to go a bit further into the principles, he mentions Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and I found it fascinating, wished he got a bit deeper into it or even offered some source material as examples one could read.  

The copy: Jim’s formulas and copy are extremely simple and efficient, he understands the importance of talking to an audience and having niches. He also mentions F.R.E.D, which is your ideal customer. It’s his ingenuity that won me over, a man that has been in the trenches, tried it, tested it and stuck to what worked. Sometimes the copy is so simple that it’s hard for newcomers to understand the genius of it. At its core I believe great copy is about selling an emotion. Jim understands that and takes you towards this journey, half book in and I already have a clear direction on how to write copy, what to research and look for. How to think like a copywriter and templates I can follow and inspirations to create and look for my own. So far the book is accomplishing what it set out to do. 

Having said all that, I will finish the book in the upcoming week and write the 2nd part of the review with my conclusion. So far I believe it can be a useful learning tool for newbies and copywriters with less experience just to refresh or learn the basics, have that mindset shift and think like a copywriter. No promises of a miraculous formula and the end all be all solution, fundamentals and research. Repetition and hours of honing your craft, raw skill polishing and perfecting your craft, this is my journey and I hope to share it all with you.