Earn Six-Figures Copywriting? Why I Respectfully Disagree With AWAI and Michael Masterson.
Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2006
by alsharpe
Sharpe Copy Inc.
Aspiring copywriter, be warned.
Don't expect to "retire this year and still make more money than most doctors." Paul Hollingshead and The American Writers & Artists Institute say you can. According to their website, all that you need to do is take Michael Masterson’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting, which teaches you to write "simple letters."
I have been a copywriter for over 15 years and I made a six-figure income last year (2005). But I did not do it by working only "a few hours a day." I did not do it by writing "one, maybe two letters a month." If I worked that little I would starve. The bank would foreclose on my house.
Can you really "retire from the job you’re in now and earn more money than most doctors, lawyers, or other well-schooled professionals," as The American Writers & Artists Institute claims you can?
I doubt it.
Direct mail copywriting is a skill. It's not easy. There are no "simple secrets." You cannot learn the craft in a few months by email. I did not learn the trade by correspondence course and I know of not a single copywriter writing and earning at my level who did. They learned the hard way that writing sales letters is hard.
The best in the industry earn good money but they also work very, very hard. Consider the proof.
BOB BLY
Author: The Copywriter’s Handbook
Copywriter for 25 years.
Earns $500,000 a year.
Works 12 hours a day, five days a week.
STEVE SLAUNWHITE
Author: Start and Run a Copywriting Business
Copywriter for 16 years.
Earns six-figure income annually.
Works 40 hours a week.
IVAN LEVISON
Copywriter for 27 years.
Earns six-figure income annually.
Works 40 hours a week.
CLAIM #1
The American Writers & Artists Institute claims that "over the course of a year, you can easily earn anywhere from $30,000 to $240,000 in writing fees alone."
REALITY
I say earning a living as a copywriter is not easy. Why should anyone ever think it is? In what other career can you possibly make $240,000 a year "easily," unless you are robbing banks, dealing cocaine or running a prostitution ring?
CLAIM #2
The American Writers & Artists Institute claims that you can be just like the people that "have all the free time in the world to travel . . . to spend with their kids . . . to lower their golf scores . . . to really enjoy life."
REALITY
As a full-time, professional copywriter, you will not have all the free time you want. Your clients' deadlines will determine how much free time you have. No one is going to pay you to play with your kids or improve your golf score.
CLAIM #3
The American Writers & Artists Institute claims "You Don’t Need To Be A 'Writer' To Be Successful."
REALITY
The only people who make a lot of money as direct response copywriters are the ones who are excellent writers. You cannot reach their status "just by learning the few powerful secrets that make them successful."
CLAIM #4
Here's the promise that Paul Hollingshead, co-founder of The American Writers & Artists Institute, makes: "I’ll also show you how the very first letter you write can earn you $10,000 in cash — and launch you on your brand-new writing career faster than you ever thought possible!"
HERE'S YOUR REALITY CHECK
How many people actually start out as a "brand-new" direct response copywriter with no experience, no clients, no portfolio, zero visibility in the industry and no reputation and manage to persuade their first ever client to pay them $10,000 for their first letter? Not many. When you start, you are a novice. The clients who pay that kind of money for one letter won't even talk with a novice. And the clients who will talk with a novice won't pay that kind of money.
If you take Michael Masterson’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting course through AWAI, I wish you every success. I am sure that the course is excellent and that the people who run it are ethical. But the one big check you can plan on receiving when you graduate and start out on your own is a reality check.
That's because the folks who promote lucrative business opportunities like Michael Masterson’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting usually talk about gross income and never mention net income. They show you examples of individuals who earn $100,000 or $300,000 a year writing "simple letters." I am sure these people exist. But they are not the norm.
Starting a business costs money. Operating a successful business costs money. Every well-paid, self-employed copywriter has expenses. Here's the reality.
AVERAGE ANNUAL EXPENSES OF SHARPE COPY, INC.
Accounting/legal fees: $2,000
Advertising: 2,912
Banking fees: 762
Membership fees: 1,000
Office supplies: 5,244
Reference materials: 500
Subcontractors: 20,000
Telephone, cell: 600
Telephone, office: 1,460
Travel: 800
Website: 4,160
TOTAL: $39,438
I earn six figures a year as a direct mail copywriter but I spend almost $40,000 a year to generate that kind of income. That's my reality. Knowing this, should you believe that you can take a correspondence course, retire to a quaint village in Vermont, and then earn more than a doctor makes working only a few hours a day writing simple letters? If you manage to pull it off, let me know.
© 2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the Author" message). -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR Alan Sharpe is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter and lead generation specialist who helps business owners and marketing managers attract new clients using direct mail marketing. Sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.sharpecopy.com/newsletter
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More commentsLet's see you make $100,000 dollars a year writing sales letters in 2008. Not your own business, but from clients. I'll bet you don't make it in 3 years. But the AWAI ad has said "Retire This Year." Talk is cheap. To become highly skilled and make that kind of money will take years. You must work for AWAI, or know someone who does. Why do they offer more than one course? It's called back end products. Because that's where they make money. Good luck, you'll need it.
For those who are seriously thinking about enrolling in this course, that's up to you. It's your money. Just remember if it sounds too good to be true, it is. It takes time to develop this skill. Lots of time. When you have no clients, and no business, what will you do? Prospecting. Cold calling on the phone. It's the only way to have a steady income. I'm a copywriter. That's how I started six years ago. I don't care what these people tell you, it's tough earning a living when you start. If you like prospecting on the phone, you'll make it. If rejection doesn't bother you, you'll have a chance to make it. Because you'll make about 300 calls a week. You have to prove how good you are. I don't care what this lady or AWAI tells you. All I can tell you: try it and see. People here don't always tell the truth about copywriting. Some have their own agenda. You are not going to be an over night success. Just look at all the copywriters on the Internet, looking for work. So keep that in mind before spending your hard earned money. Just take a look.
Comments from a Happy Customer and Business Owner of ElizabethAdamsDirect
Well, Dear Reader, it seems there are couple of issues running through all this.
One is the question of whether or not "copywriting" is a good choice of career for you. And the other is whether or not AWAI's "Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting" is a good choice of tuition for you.As to the first, if you're choosing it just for the money, then it probably isn't a good choice. Your heart won't really be in it and, according to the testimony of Anonymous, here, you'll probably have trouble finding enough work to keep you in rice and beans. But if you love to express yourself through writing — and especially if you also love to turn your hand to helping someone solve a problem — then the probability is very high that this is the perfect career for you.
Before you let all the Negative Nellies in this thread tarnish your dream, why not go where there are people who are doing today what you want to be doing tomorrow? One place I can personally recommend is Clayton Makepeace's "Interviews with America's Top Direct Marketing Copywriters" (MakepeaceTotalPackage). There you can listen to audio interviews with top copywriters, several of whom got their start with Clayton as "cubs" like you're going to be once you learn the basics.
Notice, as you listen, how different their attitudes are from that of Anonymous, here, and draw your own conclusions.
As to the second question of whether or not AWAI's "Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting" is a good choice of tuition for you, here is a copy of a post about it that I found on the "Work-At-Home-Forum" (under AWAI):
# Posted: 22 Aug 2006 16:45
"I actually took the course, and it was a fantastic entry into the world of direct marketing. And, not only do they grade you and really boost your skills, but they have a job board, community newsletter, and very good customer rep. AWAI offers several different courses, including a travel writing course. Many companies will hire copywriters who have taken their courses, that's how respected AWAI is.
The copywriting course was the first step I took in my quest for an online job, work-at-home lifestyle. And I believe the skills I gained have helped me - in terms of writing for adwords, webpages, newspaper ads etc. Sometimes, it's better to pay a little bit of money to learn from the masters, instead of spending years learning the stuff on your own.PS - I'm not getting paid to write this!"
This person is obviously happy with his course and, even though I haven't had it very long, I'm certainly happy with mine. Plus, I agree with him when he says, "Sometimes, it's better to pay a little bit of money to learn from the masters, instead of spending years learning the stuff on your own." My sentiments exactly!
And I'm not getting paid to write this, either!
Anyway, Dear Reader and Budding Copywriter, it's pretty clear that I'm a lone voice in the wilderness, here, so I'm going to make my bow and take my exit and leave the field to the Negative Nellies. In closing, I just want to say that I wish you well on your journey toward your goal, whether it's with or without the assistance of the good folks over at AWAI.
Elizabeth Adams
P.S.
"May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand."
— Irish Blessing:)
.
The above is nothing more than self promotion. I thought this was not allowed here on this website. The reason for this page is why people disgree with claims of AWAI. We give our reasons, and let people make their own minds. I must appeal to the owners of this website. If AWAI can promote their business here, why can't the rest of us do the same?
Here we see comments of website address, phone and fax numbers. I clearly remember this is not a allowed. If I give a web address for opposite opinons will it not be deleted?
"Here we see comments of website address, phone and fax numbers. I clearly remember this is not a allowed. If I give a web address for opposite opinons will it not be deleted?"
Yes.. and the above comment was deleted...
I think that just about everything which can be said about this has been said. Comments are now closed.
If you read the sleazy pitch letter sent by Pat McCord to new Writer's Digest registrants (thanks for the spam, WD), you wonder how this guy/company makes any money. Looking at Elizabeth's poorly written rants, it further makes you wonder (if she's an example of their "graduates"). I studied advertising and communications in college, and the profs weren't able to train us in one week or with one workbook.
I'm sure this course has helpful tips for untrained writers who want to do brochures and ads for local businesses . . . but promising you that you can complete your retirement fund in one year? Telling non-pros they can make $100,000 working part-time their first year? That pretty much tells you the company doesn't have the confidence to sell what it's really offering. Buy it if you want some helpful tips, but look for other sources first. Plenty of free articles and websites available.
It seems to me that the author of this article is trying to protect his career options. He's a copywriter and AWAI’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting wants to create more copywriters, thus more competition for the author of this article. Of couse he's going to tell you it isn't easy and try to keep the competition out, just makes sense. But he is probabaly extremely biased and not a valid resource to determine the course in question is worth considering. And this is not an ad for the course, this is my own opinion.
In my search to find out what exactly is going on at AWAI because, thanks to WD I got an affiliate email leading me to AWAI, I thought perhaps I would check into taking a course from the site. Then I started reading all the literature that they gave away for free. You know the kind of information that's supposed to give us an idea what we would be learning and what I find is just more of the same "make me read for 20 minutes before you tell me to click a link that takes me to another page of lengthy discourse before you reveal your price". To me, this is unadulterated scamming. They've take hard selling tactics and turned it into a "feel good" bit of sales writing that makes me want to scream.
I don't want to take all day just to find out that you'll bilk me every chance you get of my hard earned dollars, I'd just had you the money and save myself the grief.
I'm a copywriter and let me tell you, it only takes about 30 minutes of examining one of their emails or reading ONE issue of their monthly publication to sort out how they teach sales writing.
For me, I'd rather not hack off my clients with such disingenuous tactics. If I can't be engaging without trickery, I'm in the wrong business.
And to Mattwm from Kansas, the author doesn't have to keep the competition out. There's plenty of work for good copywriters. If you want to know what AWAI does, just sign up for the membership fee. That's what I did. They promise you can have your money back if you aren't satisfied. I didn't sign up to read ad copy after ad copy so you can bet I'm asking for my money back.
Is the Library of Congress associated to the writers who wants to be copywriters through AWAI or just the founders of AWAI?
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