Most people jump straight into writing a bunch of headlines.

Worse yet?

A lot of them just roll with the first idea that comes to mind.

Here’s Dan Nelken’s process for generating hundreds of ideas for your next copywriting project.

Step 1: Create your idea buckets

Instead of jumping into finished headlines, start extremely high level. Create at least 20 idea buckets. As Dan says, you’re on the right track if they're too obvious.

List benefits, attributes, insights, and general truths for whatever you’re selling.

Here’s what this might look like for Udemy:

1. You can learn from home
2. You can learn from the comfort of home (slight word change)
3. You don’t have to go to school
4. You don’t have to commute
5. Classes start whenever you want them to
6. Add new skills to your resume
7. They offer free courses
8. Countless 5-star reviews
9. Students can rate teachers.
10. Over 40,000 courses to choose from.

And so on.

Notice how high-level and obvious these are. They are just simple truths about the product and the company.

Some tips:

• Just jot them down.
• Make slight wording changes to previous ideas.
• Get more specific with ideas.
• Look at the opposites. "Not slow" may give interesting ideas versus "fast."
• Research product pages, competition, FAQs, socials, and reviews.

Step 2: Fill your buckets with ideas

Let’s dive a little deeper. We’ll jot down ten first-thought ideas for each bucket.

For example, for the bucket “You can learn from home:”

Some tips:

• This is a painful process. You’re flushing all the bad ideas out to find gems.
• Resist the urge to write headlines. Just jot down the ideas.
• Look out for relatable truths. Ones that make you say, “That’s so damn true!”
• What’s the benefit of the benefit? Or phrased differently, what are you really selling? Trampolines are fun for kids but also give parents a break.

Step 3: Craft the ideas into headlines/ads

This is the trickiest step. This gets into the entire field of copywriting, which I can’t teach in a 100-ish word section of a newsletter.

You want to take your collection of ideas and turn them into clear (or clever) and compelling headlines.

Here is a collection of copywriting/ad creation techniques I’ve either created or collected in my time:

• The 10 ways to hook people: Our free 12-day email course on the different ways to write hooks.
• 3 fundamental rules of good copy: Brilliant advice from one of the best copywriters, Harry Dry.
• Twisted visual. Straight line: A simple framework to create compelling ads.
• Be candid with your flaws: How to win their loyalty with candor.
• X vs. Y: Control the narrative with clever framing.
• Re-using a familiar interface: Leverage the familiar to your advantage.
• “Ugly ads”: Purposely ugly. Delightfully charming.
• The Mullet: A simple way to write a headline that leaves them smiling.

I’ll keep sharing various frameworks in the future, ultimately culminating into a big resource for all the various ways to do it.

Stay tuned ✌️