Plagiarism is a nasty thing. It is theft.

With the ease of self-publishing via the web it is becoming more common than in times past. Some is deliberate. Other times it is done without forethought. Many so-called writers, often article marketers, don’t realize that they are plagiarists. Thieves.

Most would never think to lift whole sentences, paragraphs or chapters from a published print book and call it their own. No, they have honor. That would be theft. Yet some of these very same people think that anything published online is fair game. Many equate free-to-read with free-to-use.

Back in the dark ages of, say, twenty years ago and before cutting and pasting was easy writers invested time, effort and intellect in their work. Cutting and pasting, back then, was primarily the domain of compositors – not writers. It was not in and of itself a creative effort. It still isn’t for writers.

In recent weeks there have been several threads concerning this subject on the “Warrior Forum" target="_blank">Warrior Forum“, an online meeting place for marketers, writers, designers, artists and others involved in or interested in e-commerce. WF is fortunate to have, in its membership, a fair number of writers with longevity and real-world print and publishing experience. People whose livelihood and reputation was/is dependent on original “pass-the-smell-test” writing.

One such gentleman on WF brands himself “Patrick Pretty“. In real life, under his real name, he’s an award winning journalist, investigative reporter and syndicated columnist writing for national business publications. In one of the recent WF threads regarding plagiarism Patrick Pretty equated cut and paste “writing” thusly, “Some folks treat writing as though it were a chop-shop operation: Steal a part here, steal a part there, and pretty soon you emerge with a car to sell to the highest bidder.”

Pass-the-smell-test writing requires comprehension, thought and originality. These are traits possessed by real writers, not hacks. Writers will first spend the requisite time researching a subject, making notes and gaining insight. Seeds will be planted which will germinate. Only after they’ve, so to speak, broken ground will they actually begin writing. As they block out the article they’ll find a fresh perspective, a different viewpoint to generate the story.

Plagiarism is not a major problem in offline publishing. Offline publishers of any size usually have deeper pockets and more lawyers than online only operations. Most writers working offline come from an established tradition of original thought and rigorous compliance to legality – often reinforced with a battalion of in-house attorneys.

The bottom line: If you can’t write hire a writer. “Chop-Shops” are illegal. In the automotive trade and the writing business!

John Ritskowitz’s, The Copywriter’s Toolkit, is a filled unto overflowing with research resources for all web writers. Whether you’re a copywriter, a direct response copywriter or an article writer there’s something here for you.

The total purpose of a sales page is to provide sufficient information about the product offered to persuade you to purchase. Many start by making blanket statements. As does John Ritz’s (hey, if your name was “Ritskowitz” you might shorten it on occasion).

John’s sales page headline says, “New Web 2.0 Tactics Combined With ‘Stolen’ Salesletters Result In A 312% Increase In Sales…With The Same Traffic!” That’s quite a claim. He goes on to document the claim right in the sales page — and demonstrate several of the tools included in The Copywriter’s Toolkit on the sales page!

The included, exclusive, tools are a “tracking tool”, the Web 2.0 Dynamic Sales Letter tool, an instant headline generator and the really cool “Interactive Johnson Box” builder. Try it — you’ll like it!

Several other helpful little programs are a link cloaker (I personally use it) and a couple graphics generators. One of these enables you to put “handwritten text” on your pages – a technique which has proven effective in direct mail and web copy for years.

So much for the “bells and whistles.” Let’s talk about the serious stuff.

A dozen videos crammed full of information on such things as:

Where to find classic, proven, sales letters. (Some marketers sell access to these Classic Sales Letter Archives, alone, for five times as much as The Copywriter’s Toolkit) How to gain useful intelligence — from your competition! Links to hours upon hours upon hours of audio interviews with successful, respected marketers and writers. (One of my favorites is an interview of Joe Sugarman.) Once you master and begin applying the research techniques John teaches you’ll likely find your marketing results greatly improving. These information filled videos may be downloaded and saved on your computer. So can the 145 page Companion Guide which I’ll talk about in a minute.

Is The Copywriter’s Toolkit perfect? No. Nothing is. John Ritskowitz is a writer; not a speaker. The audio on the videos is, sometimes, well, variable. I found an empty Johnson Box in the, included PDF’d, printable 145 page Companion Guide. The Companion Guide in addition to complimenting the videos and expanding on them also includes a 60 page Appendix. The resources listed in it are priceless. There are a couple broken links to blogs referenced in the appendix. But with the volatility of blogs and bloggers that’s not surprising. Appendices A, C and D could very easily each be a “stand alone” eBook. They contain excellent information on researching a niche, copywriting and effective sales technique.

As I mentioned, John isn’t a dynamic speaker. But, that’s O.K. He’s one converting son-of-a-gun copywriter.

Read what Michel Fortin said about John Ritskowitz, ” …Well, John Ritskowitz is one such copywriter. His killer copy sells like gangbusters! For example, one project he helped me with, which was for a major client who successfully markets training events each year, has not only sold close to a quarter of a million dollars in the first 24 hours, but also sold more on launch day than all previous events in its history!”

Given a choice between listening to a dynamic speaker who knows diddley squat about copywriting and the low key, value packed, highly informative and potentially extremely profitable advice of a Ritskowitz — I’ll take the Ritz — every time!

When you begin to use your Copywriter’s Toolkit you’ll be well on your way to increasing your conversions and dramatically multiplying your success!

Bottom Line: Is The Copywriter’s Toolkit a good value? YES! At twice the price it would be cheap! You deserve this ultimate resource!