After two years of studying copywriting
(including AWAI's "6-Figure" Copywriting Course)
I headed out to see if you really can earn
a yearly six-figure income as a wordsmith

Along the way I interviewed other copywriters,
students and marketers,
sharing with you their successes and failures

Even if you just started your first
copywriting course, my site, RealityCopywriting.com
offers you inspiration, raw case studies and
real-world guidance (plus some good laughs)...

Stratford, Ontario, Canada

Plenty of controversy out there… You’ve heard it. You may be living it! Do copywriters really make good money — or is it all just a con?

When I got started three years ago with AWAI's Six-Figure Copywriting Course, I didn't know what to believe. There seemed to be a big difference between what people selling me copywriting information were claiming and what most students were really living.....

• $50 Per Page? Copywriters making $500 for a 10-page sales letter — hardly the “doctor’s fee" AWAI talks about. Especially when it took them 40-80 hours to write it!

• Worse — Writing for Nothing: Students spending 40-80 hours writing spec assignments for big companies... only to have them turned down immediately upon submission...

• Lies, Lies and More Lies? “Spokespersons” heralding that you’ve been told lies, lies and more lies. They proclaim that the big copywriting schools are only interested in selling you their courses, not helping you actually stand-up in “financial gravity.”

Then you hear the other side of the six-figure bill...

• Overnight Clients: Students who simply setup a one-page website, buy $25 in Google Adwords and “miraculously” have more clients than they can handle. PLUS it pays well too.

• ATM Websites: Entrepreneurs who skip seeking clients and start up their own internet or direct mail businesses. Next thing you know they’re making $40K-120K a year doing nothing more then checking their merchant account stats.

Through REALITYcopywriting.com watch me LIVE
fulltime as a copywriter and see for yourself, in detail,
what really happens to a regular guy
who got started with copywriting books
out of the library

You’ve heard of reality TV? Maybe you’ve even been subjected to watching it. Well, welcome to the internet/blog version of it…

As of January 2nd, 2006 I’ll went fulltime as freelance copywriter (after 2 years of part-time). I ran across an ad for AWAI in Writer's Digest magazine. The rest is history. To help others on the copywriting path I put together a email column (which now doubles as a blog)....

Hear true stories of mine and other copywriters' successes, costly mistakes and "from-the-trenches" tips. Plus, listen to audio interviews and participate in live teleconferences — all for FREE. Just enter your name and email below to receive your free subscription to the Reality Copywriting ecolumn... Just enter your name and email below... Email: Name: Your privacy is guaranteed. You can unsubscribe at any time. You're personal information will never be sold, rented or traded.

I’m going to give you the day-by-day successes and struggles:

• Paycheque by PayPal Receipt: Yes, I’m going to share with you exactly what I’m making… What I’m spending (how much does it really cost to run this business?)… And what's left over. Find out whether the six-figure copywriting claim adds up.

• Real-World Results: The success of each of my projects, and their failures. It’s one thing studying copywriting courses; it’s another putting it into practice. I’ll be open with you about what I’m writing and what the exact results are.

• The Truth About Copywriting Client: The happy clients, the elusive clients, the clients who cause me more trouble than an $8,000 paycheque can compensate. Find out the truth… Are clients really the headache some copywriters testify? Or are there a few nice ones out there?

• A Daily Detailed Log. Via my Twitter feed you’ll see exactly what I am up to each day.

Sometimes the only the way
to learn how to hit the target
is by firing again, and again.

I was not in the most ideal circumstance to begin a fulltime career as a freelance copywriter.

I, however, had little choice.

“Ready. Fire. Then Aim.” Most likely you’ve heard this potent and true saying — oft quoted by AWAI's Michael Masterson.. I’ve seen it in practice by many successful people. I’ve been forced to use it repeatedly in my own life.

It sums up my entire self-employed adventure...

Hear true stories of mine and other copywriters' successes, costly mistakes and "from-the-trenches" tips. Plus, listen to audio interviews and participate in live teleconferences — all for FREE. Just enter your name and email below to receive your free subscription to the Reality Copywriting ecolumn... Just enter your name and email below... Email: Name: Your privacy is guaranteed. You can unsubscribe at any time. You're personal information will never be sold, rented or traded.

From Toronto To California To Italy…
Back To Canada Again

Long before I ever even heard of copywriting...

I graduated from high school a year early. I spent the next four years volunteering on yoga retreat, 1,400 feet up in the Nevada Mountains. Southern California is far, far away from my birthplace of Toronto, Canada.

By 2000, I ended up in Florence, Italy, at the classical art studio of Master Michael John A. Angel. He’s a skilled marketer and first sparked my interest in sales writing.

I returned to Toronto in 2002. I discovered that being half-blind proved more of an obstacle to becoming a freelance artist than I had expected. I could produce good results — it just took me twice as long as my competition (thus half the pay).

I was completely unable
to endure the slavery
of 9-5 ,minimum wage

Have you ever worked in a restaurant? I did. For a few months after taking down my fine art shingle… I soonbecame ill from the sheer slavery of the situation. I finally got fired (which was a relief).

I ended up finding various self-employed activiies: selling some art I had completed, shovelling snow, selling my personal belongings, cleaning houses, mowing lawns, helping people move…

In the process I couldn't afford an accountant, so I became my own bookkeeper. Eventually, I became other people’s bookkeeper, too.

While this was all going on, I married my wife Nicole, a reflexologist and counsellor. We soon moved out of the big city to rural Southwestern Ontario (well within the snow belt). Took our Burmese cat and three-legged tabby with us.

Around this time, I had a “brilliant” idea: I loved to write. I knew I had some knack for it. What about magazines?

Kept that up for about a year. Even made some money at it. You’d be surprised how far you can stretch 6 cents/word.

Hear true stories of mine and other copywriters' successes, costly mistakes and "from-the-trenches" tips. Plus, listen to audio interviews and participate in live teleconferences — all for FREE. Just enter your name and email below to receive your free subscription to the Reality Copywriting ecolumn... Just enter your name and email below... Email: Name: Your privacy is guaranteed. You can unsubscribe at any time. You're personal information will never be sold, rented or traded.

No money. Baby on the way.
Copywriting seemed like
the only answer

Finally in December of 2004 I came across a ad for the American Writers and Artists Institute's (AWAI) copywriting course...a day before my wife found out she was two months pregnant! We’d need more money, no question. AWAI's Six-Figure Copywriting Course seemed like the answer — a high-paying writing career with flexible hours.

I signed up for the course. It never came. I called. I emailed. Nothing showed up. My credit card was never billed.

In the meantime, I was reading everything on copywriting I could find on the Net and through inter-library loans.

By February, I had a paying job: $500 for writing AND designing a website for a consultation business. It took me 80 hours to write a letter that never turned a good conversion rate. It took another 40 hours to learn how to handle the HTML design, forms and auto-responder.

Let’s Do Some Math Here…
$500 divided 120 hours = $4.17/hour.

Still better than writing poetry… I was happy. I was literally getting paid to learn copywriting and I hadn't even paid a penny.

April comes around. Our daughter, two months early, is born and dies all on the same day. A devastating experience that lead to me dropping copywriting.

Well, that was only part of the reason I left copywriting...

I had been turned off by the emphasis on hype and making things “bigger-than-life” in direct-response marketing. It didn't feel like a ethical way to communicate.

Didn't even think of going back until August. Waited until our finances were in worse shape. Our savings disappearing.

So I signed up for the AWAI Six-Figure Copywriting course again. This time it actually came.

I immediately began seeking out clients. Landed a job with a local business that provided quite a bit of work. Also did some consulting for an online alternative health business.

Big difference this time, though: I started writing copy the way I wanted to be sold to. It was the only way I could pursue this career. I couldn't do the "standard thing" — though I took a lot of the basic principles and techniques from their material.

For the first few months the pay hadn't been anything to boast about though. Not enough to live off. Certainly not enough to “retire this year.”

My wife has had serious medical problems. Since she lost the baby, she never went back to work. She needs extra attention (more than Canada’s health insurance policy covers).

Hear true stories of mine and other copywriters' successes, costly mistakes and "from-the-trenches" tips. Plus, listen to audio interviews and participate in live teleconferences — all for FREE. Just enter your name and email below to receive your free subscription to the Reality Copywriting ecolumn... Just enter your name and email below... Email: Name: Your privacy is guaranteed. You can unsubscribe at any time. You're personal information will never be sold, rented or traded.

Fast Forward to Today...

Now, I'll be quite honest with you and tell you I have yet to make the six-figure mark.

But ti's not because the industry is a hoax. It's not because I'm not a highly skilled copywriter (I actually won the 2006 Copywriter's Showdown).

It's because of personal issues that stopped from me being able to work as much as I needed to. My wife's been in and out of the hospital several times for long periods of time. We did finally have a son, Jonah Aaron. He's healthy, full of energy, but almost totally blind. He participates in the REALITYcopywriting e-column — you'll get to know him soon enough.

When he was first born he was quite sick from medical treatment my wife received during her long and risky pregnancy. The first 10 months with baby Jonah in the house were some of the most difficult months of my life. Often walking him down snow-covered streets, tucked warmly into a sling, at 2am in the morning. Walking and fresh air seemed to be the only thing that would calm him down.

So, I think it's impressive enough, that we still have plenty of (organic) food on the plate, a roof over our head and a happy life. I recently moved from writing for clients (the deadlines weren't comptabile with my crazy domestic life) and began creating my own ebooks and guides (about natural health), writing my own copy and setting up websites to sell them.

I'm building assets every day. Sites I've written and products I've created that make me money whether I work on them or not. I just came in this morning to see I had new orders over the weekend, while I was playing with my son.

It's not a "boat load" of money. I have yet to "laugh all the way to the bank." But, it's growing every day. I only work in the office about 20 hours a week. I was doing 40 at the beginning of the year, when we hired a nanny. A combination of circumstances forced us to let the nanny go, and we haven't yet found a replacement.

Creating a winning mindset, setting goals and
working smart will lead to success…

Maybe more than you expect!

REALITYcopywriting.com is here to motivate and inspire. To share with you what is working and not working as I strive for success as a freelance copywriter (and internet marketer).

One of the most reassuring things I want to share with you (since returning to copywriting in 2006) was finding Shaune Clarke. I didn't like the type of copy I was writing at the beginning. As a result, I was seeking, experimenting and striving for copy that connected to people in a more natural way.

Shuane's Clarke's approach, based on tapping into the deeper reasons people buy through interviews and then expressing that in copy through empathy, resonates with me strongly.

I know many clients I have worked with in the past would have preferred this type of copy. They wanted some thing more than editorial copy…but they knew the “snake-oil” style letters turn their customers off.

You'll hear more about Shaune Clarke's no-hype approach to copywriting once you become a subscriber.

The moral here is, if it doesn't feel “right,” find a way that does…

Hear true stories of mine and other copywriters' successes, costly mistakes and "from-the-trenches" tips. Plus, listen to audio interviews and participate in live teleconferences — all for FREE. Just enter your name and email below to receive your free subscription to the Reality Copywriting ecolumn... Just enter your name and email below... Email: Name: Your privacy is guaranteed. You can unsubscribe at any time. You're personal information will never be sold, rented or traded.

I often hear new copywriters who’ve been given
"Six-Figure" promises complain that
they aren't making any money...

I usually ask them, “What's your website address?” They tell me they don't have one. Or if they do, it's just a "coming soon" message.

So, I ask, “Who have you mailed your self-promo letters to?” They tell me they’re still working on that.

“Okay, so what have you done?”

All too often, they’ve done nothing more than scouted about on one of the web-based jobs boards. And even then, they haven't submitted a proposal.

So I really wonder how much blame should be directed at these “malicious” copywriting schools… They may be guilty of exaggeration, but the claims are real enough, if you're willing to put in the time and concentration necessary.

Create a success mindset. Set goals. And get started. You can fine-tune things later. That's what I did when I started this site. I made myself an example.

Many time i fell on my face before the entire worldwide web. I don't care. If I can do this with everybody watching, then you can start working as a freelance copywriter, too (without the risk of virtual humiliation).

Do you want to know how you can find out if you’re good enough without risking a client a single cent?

(And no I don't mean working on spec!)

Set your fees high. Don't skimp on yourself. If you are able to sell yourself for $1,000 or 4,000 then you’ll know you’re a good copywriter…a copywriter who can write copy that sells. Because you’ve sold yourself first.

Give a guarantee. Promise you’ll hit a certain conversion rate. Trust me, if your skills aren't up to that yet, you’ll figure it out. It may take you 80 hours like it took me on my first project. But even 80 hours into $4,000 is still $50/hour. Can you live with that for starters? Don't forget the royalties!

(Truly, even if you were not able to make your client's copy convert, you could give a cut to another experienced copywriter to give you a hand… So don't worry.)

Hear true stories of mine and other copywriters' successes, costly mistakes and "from-the-trenches" tips. Plus, listen to audio interviews and participate in live teleconferences — all for FREE. Just enter your name and email below to receive your free subscription to the Reality Copywriting ecolumn... Just enter your name and email below... Email: Name: Your privacy is guaranteed. You can unsubscribe at any time. You're personal information will never be sold, rented or traded.

I sincerely hope this site proves valuable to you. Please sign up below, if you haven't already…

P.S. Just to be clear: A subscription to mail REALITYcopywriting email column is completed free. I'll never rent, trade or sell your personal information. You can unsubscribe with the click of a mouse at anytime (there are unsubscribe buttons at the end of each email for your convenience). I doubt, however, that you'll want to unsubscribe...

Hear true stories of mine and other copywriters' successes, costly mistakes and "from-the-trenches" tips. Plus, listen to audio interviews and participate in live teleconferences — all for FREE. Just enter your name and email below to receive your free subscription to the Reality Copywriting ecolumn... Just enter your name and email below... Email: Name: Your privacy is guaranteed. You can unsubscribe at any time. You're personal information will never be sold, rented or traded.

____________________________

John C. A. Manley
www.REALITYcopywriting.com
228 Kemp Crescent, Suite 7
Stratford, Ontario
CANADA N5A 5C6

Support: help@realitycopywriting.com | (519) 273-7969

Copyright © 2008 John C. A. Manley

Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to accurately represent our product and its potential. Any claims made of actual earnings or examples of actual results can be verified upon request. The testimonials and examples used are exceptional results, don't apply to the average purchaser and are not intended to represent or guarantee that anyone will achieve the same or similar results. Each individual's success depends on his or her background, dedication, desire and motivation. As with any business endeavor, there is an inherent risk of loss of capital and there is no guarantee that you will earn any money.