Whenever I find myself in a social situation of some sort, there is always someone who ask me what is copywriting. This in fact, is not a ridiculous question. It is a very smart one. Many people think they know what is copywriting by thinking that is writing things. I have found people looking for copywriting for their blog, when in reality they wanted someone to post articles for them.

The best definition that I believe would do justice to the question of what is copywriting, is this. Copywriting is salesmanship in print. No it’s not about putting content in your blog. It’s not about writing articles, even search engine optimized articles. It is not about writing information on your web page. None of it. It is about selling.

Understanding what is copywriting

Just like you need someone to either go out there and sell your product or get on the phone and do cold calling. The answer of what is copywriting turns out to be selling on print. The copywriter uses words in a certain fashion to persuade a prospect to own the product that he’s presenting. It is important to understand that copywriting is not advertisement.

What is copywriting is not about writing clever or witty stuff in the hope that your prospect might buy the product. First, a copywriter addresses himself to a very specific audience. Meaning he has to know his market. Who is he selling to? He needs to be familiar with the product. This is indeed true also of the salesman who goes out to prospect.

When you find out what is copywriting, the next question would be, how do you learn it? There is no universities, no colleges, no schools that exist that will or can teach you copywriting. Just like there is no universities or colleges, etc. who will teach you or train you to be a salesman. In fact, copywriting is a trade that is learn at the feet of the masters.