There are plenty of great books and programs out there on how to write great advertisements and  sales letters.

But one of the best ways I have found to learn the art of writing great ads is to have some advertising samples I could refer to and model.

But where do you go in order to get those samples?

Here are two of the best places I have found over the years:

http://www.infomarketingblog.com – created by Lawrence Bernstein, this is a handy little web site which is more valuable than many copywriting products out there because it walks you through both old and new advertisements and shows you what makes them work. You’ll find some great samples from Gary Halbert, Eugene Schwartz, Ogilvy & Mather and Mel Martin on this web site.

http://www.hardtofindads.com – this sites tagline is “world’s best collection of editorial style ads” and it doesn’t let you down with plenty of the older ads from the 50’s and 60’s as well as National Enquirer covers and samples from Maxwell Sackheim, Brian Keith Voiles, Ben Suarez and Claude Hopkins.

Both of these sites are brilliant. And you can access plenty of their advertisements for free.

Now if you really want to leverage off these samples and master the art of writing ads, here’s what you should do.

Set aside one hour every morning. Make it the first thing you do. Then simply print out all of the ads on these sites and write them out in your own handwriting.

Yes, don’t type them. Do it in your own handwriting.

Why? Because there is something which happens when you do this. It’s like you start to internalise and think like the writer. You start to see what he or she sees on a much deeper level. And you begin to model the way they write.

Nothing will develop your skills faster.

Of course, there are other ways to access great advertisement samples.

Keep an eye on your local newspaper and see if you notice any great ads which run week in and week out. Flick through your local phone directory and look for ads which catch your eye.

Also, you might like to purchase a product or newsletter from some of the best direct response marketing companies and get on their databases. Companies like…

Rodale – http://www.rodale.com

Nightingale Conant – http://www.nightingale.com

Bottom Line Secrets – http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com

Healthy Directions – http://www.healthydirections.com

Soundview – http://www.summary.com/

And then take the time to not only read everything they send you. But analyse it and ask yourself questions like “why did they do that?”… “what are they trying to achieve here?”… and “how could this be improved upon?”

So in summary, one of the best ways to learn to write great advertisements is to access the samples, rewrite them in your own handwriting and analyse them to find out why they are doing it. Then challenge yourself to think of ways you could improve on what they have already done.

Like to know more secrets about writing ads to magnetically attract more customers?

I have just completed my brand new guide “7 Ways to Get More Customers” where I outline everything so it’s as easy as 1, 2… 3. Download it for free by visiting Copywriting That Sells