As copywriters, we’ve all been there. For those among us who can’t write a word until we’ve penned the headline, it’s mental torture. Inspiration just won’t strike and we can’t move on with our lives, or even with our day, until we’ve created a headline that puts bread on the client’s table.
But here’s something that might shock you: many copywriters cheat their way to a great headline. How do they do this? They have a simple tool that they use. No, it’s not an online headline-generating tool. Yes, we’ve all seen those and they do at least have some comedy value.
No, I’m talking about something that works every time. Something that produces insanely good headlines. Something that cannot be underestimated. I’m talking about the swipe file.
What’s a swipe file?
Let’s be honest, a swipe file is copying. It’s a collection of ads, brochures, magazine cuttings and pages printed off the web that contain all the great copy we wish we’d written ourselves over the years, but that we kindly left to another copywriter.
I sense horror. Surely if the client’s paying you to produce 100% original work, then that’s what you should be delivering?
Well, no. The client doesn’t give a monkey’s whether you produce something original – he just wants something that works and doesn’t break any laws in the process.
And, let’s be honest, how often have you as a copywriter unconsciously taken inspiration from reading a newspaper article, from a poster you saw on a bus shelter or from a conversation on a TV programme?
Every copywriter gets their inspiration from somewhere – a swipe file is just taking it to another, more conscious, level.
Looked at another way – if you work entirely off the cuff and come up with something completely original, you have no idea if it’s going to work. You’re indulging in guesswork at the client’s expense, when what he wants you to do is come up with tried-and-tested certainty.
The adverts you see in the papers have probably themselves been lifted from previous ads. Over the years, they’ve made thousands and thousands of pounds or dollars for the client. Why change a winning formula?
But is using examples from a swipe file illegal? Is it plagiarism? No. Intellectual property exists only in the written form of the work, not in the concept. So unless you copy the wording 100% word for word (and it’s the same industry), you should stay out of trouble.
