Up until a few years ago, the word "swipe" had a negative connotation. It either meant to take a swing at something or to steal.
Nowadays, you
"swipe" your finger across your smartphone screen or tablet to make it do stuff.
Oh, and merchants swiped our credit cards...
But generally speaking, to swipe is to do something that's not good.
That's why I've always kind of chuckled when people who "write copy" (aka "copy writers") boasted of their "swipe file."
It sounds so...dirty. "I swiped that headline from Halbert."
Or, "I swiped those bullets from
Sugarman."
Or, "I put that sales letter in my swipe file."
But good copywriters don't steal. They file away especially compelling sales copy that they didn't write.
They may use it for
inspiration. Or as a model.
But they don't steal stuff verbatim. They don't replace words and then hit "publish."
That would be both foolish and wrong.
A pretty good copywriter, Ray
Edwards, just told me a story about "The $2 BILLION Sales Letter You've Never Heard Of." Basically, it was the catalyst for a couple really successful sales letters back in the early 1900s.
It's a neat story. I'll let you read it. You can put it and the examples contained in it in your own "swipe
file."
It's good stuff.
