The walkman of copywriting ??

“Ugh?—?it stopped working,”?Harper?said as she handed me her new Walkman.?

I’m no tech whiz, but…??

After taking one glance at my daughter’s new cassette player (<-- her b-day present),?I knew the solution.

“Hey, Harps?—?try flipping the cassette tape OVER after it’s finished playing.

You can play the other side of the tape and never run out of music. Pretty cool, right?”?

Now, my 10-yr-old is a child of the digital age—

So, of course, she’d NEVER actually touched a cassette player until this special day. And she had NO IDEA "running out of tape" was even a thing.

As a Gen Z'r,?Harper?can school me in just about anything digital—?

Which is why watching her try to figure out her Walkman for the first time was more delightful than indulging in the funfetti birthday cake.?

Even better?

Despite all the digital wizardry we have today, my daughter fell in??looooove?with her cassette player within minutes. She couldn't put it down.

Score one point for the 80s!?

I mean, I fell?back?in love?with the cassette player after watching her view it with beginner’s eyes.?

Why did I ditch my Walkman years ago for the Discman??What a jerk!

Why did I let go of the past, and all its vintage glory, only to cling to the next shiny new thing – like the newest iPhone??

Alternatively, how could I?not?be mesmerized by the sleek new look and feel of the iPhone 14, let alone the life-saving safety features like “emergency SOS via satellite”???

As a safety-adjacent mom myself, I applaud the new ways technology can improve (and possibly even save) our lives.?

Despite my awe of the new iPhone…

There’s also something magical about traveling back in time and not only celebrating the relics of our past?—?aka the Walkman cassette player?—?but also exploring how these tools can help us today.?

The tension between our past and present reminds me of how we progress as copywriters, as well.?

We focus on the newest writing courses, tactics & tools, but we often forget about the BEST resource, hidden beneath it all…?

The Swipe File.

Often, we don’t actually need the shiny “next thing” to evolve as a copywriter, even though we've convinced ourselves it's the "secret to success" we're missing.

We might simply need to travel back in time to study the craft of copywriting from the best direct response copywriters that EVER existed.

Of course, it’s nearly impossible to hit “pause," travel back in time, and reflect if we’re too busy keeping up with the next shiny, new iPhone (again, I’m sooo guilty of this) …?

We could easily miss the opportunity to explore the vast terrain of?writing wisdom?from our past.?The marketing principles and lessons that don’t fade over time.?The classics.?

I suppose I’m talking about?“The Walkman of Copywriting”?—?the swipe file of all swipe files.

It's a swipe file that captures the history of copywriting and 4,000+ pages of marketing genius MOST copywriters will NEVER see…

With writers like Dan Kennedy, Jay Abraham, Frank Kern, Robert Kiyosaki, and so many more…

You’ll?find their best copy?— everything they paid big money to send.?

And this type of swipe file is unlike any swipe file ever assembled because:?

1) It’s analog (again, I’m all about analog).

2) You’ll see copy and promos which were?never?put online. Only used via direct mail.

3) This swipe file's curated by one of the best marketers living, breathing, and working today (and one of my mentors),?Todd Brown.

If you view yourself as a serious student of copywriting…

You might devour this, like I did.

Better yet? You could apply it next time you sit down to work on your next copy.

Interested in grabbing this swipe file for yourself?

Go here and get your name on this list to learn more.

Gotta go?—?time to order a new cassette for my Walkman.

Analog, always,

Kira Hug