How I'd start learning any business skill

Last December, I wanted to improve my copywriting.

Copywriting is persuasive writing aimed at getting the reader to take action.

Since writing newsletters and posting organic content take up a lot of my time, I figured copywriting was the perfect skill to learn.

So, I decided to become a copywriter.

Over the next three months, I devoted 30 minutes every day to copywork.

Copywork is copying word-for-word the best sales letters and copywriting pieces to internalize and understand what makes great copywriting.

I did this every single day for three months. It wasn’t anything crazy.

But it worked. And my skills rapidly improved.

While learning skills like copywriting, video editing, and offer creation, I’ve figured out a clear and effective way to get good at any skill.

Here’s how to do it.

For me, this was 30 minutes of copywork.

Committing to one easy action increases the chances of you actually doing it, and more importantly, being consistent.

To me, actions are more effective than goals.

Actions say what you actually need to do instead of a goal that focuses on the result.

With actions, you measure your success based on if you did the work, not the result.

But how can I choose an action to take?

Look at what the experts do. For copywriting, all the pros recommend copywork as the best way to improve copywriting. So, I used 30 minutes of copywork as my action.

If you still can’t think of an action, I’d recommend practicing the skill every day for a specific time amount (15-60 minutes).

This isn’t revolutionary, but the growth happens in the consistency.

Most people expect to get good in a few weeks and then give up after little improvement.

Accepting that the time span will be longer, counterintuitively makes you improve faster.

Watch their YouTube videos, listen to their podcasts, and sign up for their email newsletters.

This keeps you up to date on the state of whatever skill you’re learning, and you might some valuable resources you can use.

Surround yourself with others learning the skill too. Join communities and talk to people who are one step ahead of you.

Learning happens in feedback loops.

Having someone (not just yourself) give feedback on your skill is huge.

You may be saying…

I can’t just pull a master ad creator out of thin air to review my ads.

Yes. I know.

But there are other (free) ways you can get feedback.

Here are some things you can do to get feedback.

I practiced copywriting by writing the down the main ideas of a piece of copy and tried to recreate it without referencing the original material. Then, I would compare my version to the original and see what I could have done better.

You can compare your work with almost anything.

Ask AI to act like an expert in [your desired skill] and to give feedback.

Simple, yet useful.

This may not work for all skills. AI was not good at giving copywriting feedback, but as AI gets more powerful, it can be a great mentor you can ask for feedback.

While learning copywriting, I asked my family, people on Reddit, and even sent DMs to successful copywriters (unfortunately, they never responded).

The thing I wish I did more was to ask more people.

Get over that fear of rejection or embarrassment and ask as many as you can.

- Warren

PS: Interested in learning a specific skill? Here is my private reading list of the 20 best business books I’ve read.

The books are sorted into general business, entrepreneurship, business strategy, marketing, psychology, and negotiation/leadership categories.

If you are interested in a skill in one of those categories, these books will be very valuable to you. They are also great reads regardless!

Get my private reading list of the 20 must-read business books.