At 4:20 on May 17, 2001 - a sunny afternoon in
Baltimore - I was sitting on the front stoop of our little
brick row home, my seven-week-old baby
on my lap, when my husband came home and told me
he'd just lost his job.

Instead of panicking, we went out for sushi.

Were we in denial? No. Just lucky enough to have a recession-proof contingency plan that will earn me
close to $100,000 this year, working from home.

Mine is not an extraordinary story. My colleagues and I are just everyday
folks like you - some with college degrees, some not. Yet we enjoy careers
with a level of job security and income most people only dream about.

I'd like to invite you to join us.

Thursday, 09 September 2010

Dear Travel Writer,

I don't know what my husband and I would have done if I had a garden-variety career. Over the past three years, I've watched so many friends lose jobs. Some like us with a brand-new baby, some with two or three little kids, some with college-bound teenagers. It's overwhelmingly stressful...

Yet when it happened in our house, I simply made a few phone calls to let people know I wasn't taking the year off, after all. Within two days, I'd lined up enough work to more than pay our bills.

We were able to turn what could well have been an absolutely horrible year into a fabulous one.

I worked "full time"... but I took a break every three hours to nurse my baby. And I knocked off when I felt like it to take the little guy out for a walk or to meet another mom at the park. We spent a month in Colorado and Nebraska visiting family. We went to the beach for a week. We got the baby a passport and took him to France, Belgium, and Germany for nearly a month...

With This Job, It Doesn't Matter If the Economy Tanks

I'm my own boss, so I never have to worry about being downsized. And the dismal economy? Well, I know all about the dot-com bust, my husband being one of its casualties.

I feel very lucky. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over the last twelve months 2 million people in the U.S. have lost their jobs. This past February alone, 357,000 people went to work in the morning... and came home unemployed.

Every time I see numbers like that I think to myself: Thank goodness I'm in charge of my own future.

A friend in New York who has been laid off twice in the last two years wrote me the other day to say: "Things here are the same: Bleak. Everyone I meet is either scared to death of losing his job or has been out of work for a year-and-a-half."

Chances are you know somebody in that same position... a friend, a relative... God forbid, you .

Maybe you're still lucky enough to have your job... you just aren't sure how long you can hang onto it. Another round of layoffs, and it won't matter what kind of model employee you are.

I'm not pessimistic by nature, but I do think it's true: Nobody but you is really going to look out for your best interests.

Do you ever feel like you're working hard... really hard... and somebody else is getting the payback? That in the end, all your effort isn't going to get you the life you envisioned? I know I felt that way.

I didn't always enjoy the job security, independence, and income I do now. I felt trapped in what was, by most accounts, a "perfectly good" job. But there I was, not yet thirty, and already I could feel this slow death-by-work creeping up on me.

How I Managed to Escape

Before I continue, let me introduce myself properly. My name is Jennifer Saxton, and the story I began at the front of this letter is true. (My husband will no doubt be horrified I'm telling it.)

I'd planned on taking a year off to watch my new baby full-time. But when we lost my husband's income... I went back to my desk on the third floor of our row house, and he took over the baby-sitting duties (sending out resumes when the little guy napped). I call it our recession-proof contingency plan.

Good thing we had one. Right now, the U.S. is in the midst of the longest continuous decline in jobs in half a century - a statistic that simply confirms what I see all around me.

I'm not worried, though... I'm turning work away.

What's more, I'll make close to $100,000 this year, working from home.

I make my own hours. I take every Friday off to spend with my little boy. I go on vacation when I feel like it... not when it's convenient for my boss.

But it wasn't always like this.

Five years ago, I worked for a publishing company. I diligently climbed the corporate ladder. But instead of writing (what I'd been hired to do) I supervised a staff, created budgets, and went to meetings...

I was seldom out of the office before 7:30 at night. And I earned, at best, $40,000 a year.

Then the publisher decided to move my division to Europe. I was invited to come along... but I knew it would just be more of the same. So I declined.

I could have gone hunting for another job then, but the idea of more long hours for mediocre pay wasn't much of a draw. Plus my friends were all losing jobs... what were the chances I'd actually find one?

Feel Like Trading in Your Job... for a Life?

So instead, I chose to pursue a quality of life I knew I'd never have in the ordinary workplace. It's the best decision I've ever made.

Did I take a huge risk? Not really.

You see, I had the good fortune at that publishing company of learning about a career that has got to be the best-kept secret in corporate America. And I had the privilege of learning the "tricks of the trade" by working shoulder-to-shoulder with one of the very top experts in the business. (I'll tell you who he is in a minute.)

So I already understood how this work would give me flexibility and job security. Plus unlike the corporate world I left, where each position had attached to it a set salary bracket, in this job there's no limit to the amount of money I might make: $50,000... $100,000... I have colleagues earning $250,000 and more a year.

It's all up to me. And that's a good feeling. I actually get up in the morning eager to go to work.

Can You Write a Letter Like This One?

What business am I talking about? It's writing.

But not novels or poems or magazine articles or screenplays. Not the kind of writing you learn in school. It's something different altogether... something easier, really.

It's writing sales letters-like the one you're reading now.

If you can write a letter like this one... learn a few simple rules... and apply yourself... then you, too, could be on your way to enjoying a quality of life most people only dream about.

You could work from wherever in the world you choose... the hours you prefer... and earn the kind of income doctors and lawyers earn - without the expensive degrees or the stress. Plus you could be confident you'd have lucrative work... no matter what the economy does.

A Legitimate, Lucrative Business...

I assure you: This is not one of those get-rich-quick schemes you see advertised on late-night TV or in those work-from-home classified ads.

This is altogether different... a legitimate profession you've probably never even thought about. But it turns out, there's a tremendous demand for people who write letters like this one, and it pays well... very well.

Millions Are Spent on Writers Each Year

Take a closer look at your mail. Chances are, every day you'll find at least one or two letters selling you something: a magazine, a credit card, a museum membership... or asking you for a donation: to a political campaign, a charity event, the local food bank...

Copywriters write those letters... and they get their work from direct marketers .

The direct marketing industry is enormous... and growing. According to the Direct Marketing Association, in 2002 American marketers spent just over $206 billion on direct-response advertising.

That number is expected to increase by 6.5% annually through 2006, which is good news for copywriters. After all, somebody is going to have to write all those letters.

And why not you ! The direct-mail companies that send out letters about their products are constantly on the lookout for top-notch copywriters (even when the economy is bad). And they are willing to pay thousands of dollars for letters that really work. Let me explain...

An Insider's Look at the Best-Kept Secret in Corporate America

I was lucky enough to learn about this business from up close. The publishing company I used to work for is called Agora Publishing, which is one of the most successful newsletter publishers in the world. It produces books, newsletters, reports, and on-line publications... all in several languages... and from offices around the globe.

Agora sets aside more than $1 million a year to pay copywriters to write simple sales letters like this one.

I managed two of Agora's publications. And in the years I was at my desk there, I saw firsthand how a proven copywriter could earn between $50,000 and $250,000 a year. (The top stars in this business take home $500,000 or more.)

You're probably familiar with the editorial side of publishing-the "starving writer" side. That's where I started out. Writers on that side of the fence typically earn a few hundred dollars for articles published in monthly issues. At the high end, one might earn $2,500 or $3,500 to write a 100-page report... a project requiring extensive research and weeks of writing.

But on the marketing side, it's a whole different story. There a copywriter can earn $2,500 and often more-$5,000, $7,500, even $10,000-by producing a simple sales letter.

Sure, that letter probably requires some research, but come on: 8, 12, maybe 16 pages of easy-going sales text on the one hand... compared to 100 pages of formal reporting on the other? How would you rather make your $2,500?

I'd toil at the office 10 hours a day for what worked out to about $15 an hour... and every time I wrote out a check-request to pay a copywriter I'd think to myself, "I'm on the wrong side of this transaction." Here's what I mean...

How to Take Your Six-Figure Cut of a $206 Billion Industry

Let's say a typical working copywriter who has a good track record earns $5,000 a letter. If he writes two letters a month, that adds up to $120,000 a year. Not bad, eh?

But it gets even better.

When a letter is successful-in other words, lots of people respond to it, and it makes money-it becomes what's called a control . Naturally, the marketing department is thrilled to have this cash cow of a letter in hand. So they mail it again... and again... and again...

The copywriter who wrote that letter is also thrilled. Because for every control that's mailed to a household, the writer gets a cut of the action-a royalty .

That's where a copywriter's income starts to add up.

You see, that royalty is typically 2 cents for each piece mailed. And the thing is, large consumer-marketing firms will mail 1, 2, even 3 million letters a year if a control is really successful.

At Agora, where I worked, marketing managers would regularly send out 250,000 copies of a control... every six weeks. That comes to more than 2 million copies mailed over the course of a year. If the copywriter keeps the control that whole time and earns 2 cents for each piece mailed, that adds up to an extra $40,000- on one letter alone .

Companies Are Constantly in Need of Good Copywriters

That might sound like a pie-in-the-sky number... but I'm not making this up. That's really how it works. In fact, Agora paid one copywriter $250,000 in fees and royalties for a single letter. And as much money as that is, the guy who wrote the check said it was a bargain. That one letter generated over $10 million in sales.

And the thing is, there are hundreds of direct-marketing companies with even bigger budgets than Agora's... and thousands with budgets the same size or smaller.

Some industry reports estimate there are more than a thousand new sales letters written every day. With more and more companies selling their products on-line and through e-mail, the need for proven copywriters is greater than ever.

In fact, the on-line segment of the industry is growing at supersonic speed. According to the Direct Marketing Association, spending on interactive marketing is expected to increase 18.9% annually over the next three years to reach $8.4 billion in 2006.

Direct-marketing growth easily outpaces U.S. economic growth... in bad years and good... which means there will always be a strong need for top-notch copywriters. Think of it this way: A company may be laying-off staff, but it still has to tell potential buyers about its products.

Bottom line: If you can write a letter like this one... you could be on your way to a new career that offers you job security, a flexible schedule, and a lucrative income...

The Formula for a Six-Figure Income

How lucrative, exactly? Let's go back for a minute to our copywriter who is writing two letters a month. That works out to 24 letters a year at $5,000 each. So he's making $120,000 in up-front writing fees. Plus he's augmenting that income with royalties.

To be fair, not all of his letters will become controls-even the very top copywriters don't hit a homerun every time. So let's say one in three of his letters becomes a control. That means that he can claim eight controls in a year.

And let's be conservative and say that each letter is mailed to half a million people. That's 4 million letters, at 2 cents each. It comes to 8 million cents... or $80,000.

So this copywriter is making $120,000 in writing fees. And he's making another $80,000 in royalties. Altogether, that's $200,000 a year for writing two letters a month. No long commute to work. No office politics. No perpetual fear of unemployment. And the freedom to work from anywhere...

The Grass Really Is Greener

As far as I'm concerned, copywriting is the best job in the world. I mean, I work hard. But I also live well. And I don't mean well in terms of the money so much as quality of life.

I get up in the morning and walk exactly 14 steps from my bedroom to my office. I've been around to watch my little boy learn to walk and talk and drink from a big-boy cup. I don't have to wear nylons or lipstick. I can throw a load of laundry in the machine at 2:00 in the afternoon on a Wednesday or shower at 4:00 if that's when I've stopped being productive and need a break, anyway...

And if I feel like going somewhere, I do. As long as I have my computer along, it doesn't matter where I work.

In fact, last summer we boxed up our belongings, piled them into a moving van, and trekked across the country to live in Chicago for a few years so my husband could go back to graduate school. My job just came with me... no fuss at all.

Over the years, I've worked from a chateau in France... a hotel in southern Ireland... a beach in the Bahamas... a mountain chalet in the Rockies... a jungle lodge in Belize... anywhere I happened to be... or felt like going...

I feel as if my life is, well, mine. My time is mine. My destiny is of my making...

Do you ever dream about this mythical "other life" where somehow all the bills get paid... and so you get to be a photographer or write children's books, or sing opera, or play golf... or whatever it is you'd rather be doing than going to your job every day?

Copywriting makes that possible.

You Don't Even Have to Know How to Write

Plus, you don't really have to know how to write. You can't be illiterate. You need a basic understanding of English... and a willingness to learn.

But you don't need to know the usage rules for nouns and prepositions and verbs. You don't need to be a champion speller.

In fact, I'm a terrible speller. But I know enough to use the spell-check on my computer. And companies have proofreaders to look over copy before it gets mailed.

With copywriting, you're not aiming to be the next Hemmingway. Your mission is simply to convince somebody that the product or service you're talking about is worthwhile. You point out the benefits. You talk to your reader... just like you would if he were sitting across the table from you at lunch.

If you've ever convinced a friend to try out a new restaurant or shop at a store she might not have given a second glance, then you can be a copywriter. It's about being persuasive. Get somebody to respond to an offer, and you've done your job.

You Can Live the American Dream...

What's more, copywriting is a great equalizer. Because the companies that hire copywriters are interested only in copy that makes them money. They genuinely don't care what you look like or where you come from.

You could be 21 or 63... fat, skinny... black, white... male, female. It honestly doesn't matter. If you deliver copy that a marketer can mail at a profit, she'll come back for more. Simple as that.

Copywriters come from all walks of life... tailors... opera singers... doctors... bar tenders... engineers... retirees... sales clerks... comedians... stay-at-home moms... carpenters...

In other words, before they traded in their jobs for "the good life"... they looked a lot like you.

It's just that when they saw an opportunity to enjoy more control over their time and their lives... a better balance of family and friends and work... a level of job security nearly unheard of elsewhere... the possibility of real wealth... they grabbed it.

From $12,000 a Year to $16,000 a Month...

Take Don Mahoney. Today he's one of the top copywriters in the country, earning a steady six-figure income year-in and year-out.

Turns out, he used to be a cabinet-maker-never finished college. He enjoyed the work well enough, but the dust and chemicals were killing him. He'd go home at night wheezing, unable to draw a full breath. His back was giving out.

During the last recession, he got hit hard. His last year in the woodshop, he made just $12,245.

But then he ran into a boyhood friend who he hadn't seen in 20 years. That friend introduced him to the secrets of powerful copywriting. Last year, Don made $105,453.83 writing sales letters... working one week a month. When he tries at all, he earns $200,000 or more a year.

Don used to live in a two-bedroom apartment in a crummy part of town. Today, as a successful copywriter, he owns a home on a golf course in Miami Beach with a view out over Biscayne Bay. One of his neighbors is Lenny Kravitz.

From $6 an Hour to $200,000 a Year

Don's is not the only rags-to-riches story...

Since 1994, when Paul Hollingshead started writing sales letters for a living, he has generated more than $100 million in sales and taken home well over $1.3 million himself.

He's paid off all his debts, and he lives in a mountain-view home in rural Vermont... enjoying a life that, just a handful of years ago, he would never have predicted.

You see, before Paul became a copywriter, he was just another directionless 35-year-old. He'd tried his hand at all sorts of things... sales, construction, retail. And things weren't looking up. He was stocking dog food at the local Publix grocery store for $6 an hour when he answered a want-ad for a copywriter listed in the newspaper classifieds.

In response, he got a personal call from a man who changed his life... the same childhood friend who changed Don Mahoney's life...

...and, as it happens, the same man who taught me about copywriting, too.

Meet the Man Who Could Turn Even Frankenstein into a Copywriter

His name is Michael Masterson, and he's arguably one of the most successful copywriters in America. Michael has been in the business for 25 years, and in our industry he's a legend. He and the writers he has trained have sold over $1 billion worth of products and services through the mail. As a result, he's a millionaire many times over.

Yet what really sets him apart from other top-tier copywriters is his gift for teaching.

Michael probably knows as much about copywriting as anybody could... he's an expert in his field, a master copywriter.

Yet he has a knack for making sophisticated, hard-won insights accessible to the Average Joe-people like Don and Paul and me.

Michael taught me how to review and critique copy back in the days when I was hiring writers, and since I've been writing copy myself, his on-target advice has made the difference between my producing copy that's merely adequate and copy that blows away the competition.

(I'll give you an example: A while back, I wrote a letter selling an investment conference which, the year prior, had attracted 90 attendees. I read through the old sales copy... it was OK. But it lacked one critical element Michael had taught me to always look for. I included it in my letter... and 170 people signed up-nearly double the number of attendees. Instead of $90,000 in sales... that letter brought my client $170,000. Needless to say, they've paid me to write their conference copy ever since.)

I've been thinking about what has made working with Michael over the years so enjoyable. And I've decided it's not just that he's so generous with his ideas and insights, but that he makes you feel as if nothing in the world would give him more satisfaction than to see you succeed.

Michael could have retired years ago, but he hasn't. He really seems to enjoy sharing what he knows, encouraging people who are eager to learn and willing to apply themselves... helping them strive for the kind of financial independence he enjoys.

Learn from the Greatest Minds in the Business

In the summer of 1996, Michael got together with his protégées, Don and Paul, and the three of them began collecting all their most useful copywriting techniques to create a real course-a formal program that would not only reveal the keys to powerful copy... but teach people ( teach anybody with the inclination ) how to succeed in this lucrative industry. (They figured if Michael could teach the two of them ... he could teach anyone.)

It took over a year to put together, and it's impressive.

Michael Masterson's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting contains every inside secret Michael ever used-including the ones that catapulted Don and Paul from down-and-out laborers to accomplished, sought-after copywriters who earn more than $100,000 a year.

And not only that, but once they'd catalogued all Michael's own secrets... they picked up the phone and started calling other "heavy hitters" in the direct mail business and asking them to share their best and most powerful secrets, too. These guys know their stuff...

• One big-wig just retired... in his mid-forties. A single direct mail promotion of his grossed $10 million in primary sales. Secondary income pulled in another $5 million. Then he rented out the names of the people who responded... and he pulled in another $1 million in pure profit.

• Another direct mail legend has been writing profitable sales letters for 15 years and counts among his clients McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, IBM, and AT&T. He's published more than 30 books on writing.

• Another wrote fundraising letters that brought in more than $600 million for charities. He wrote a breakthrough package for a tax newsletter that increased the circulation from 40,000 to 100,000 in a handful of months.

• My old boss, Bill Bonner-the president of Agora Publishing-weighed in with his considerable collection of secrets. Agora was built on copy Bill and his protégés have written over the past 25 years. Worth magazine described him as a genius. Recently, Target Marketing magazine named him Direct Marketer of the Year.

Master Writers Are Hard to Find...

So why did these great minds willingly reveal their most important copywriting secrets... the secrets that make their copy so much better than most writers'... the secrets that have earned them millions of dollars?

Their friendship with Michael surely played a part. But beyond that, many of them own direct marketing companies themselves. And they're always on the lookout for top-notch copywriters. In other words: They're hiring... and they want to hire the very best.

The truth is, copywriters aren't an endangered species. But what companies really want isn't just any old copywriter. Companies want to pay master copywriters to write breakthrough letters that bring in serious profits. (In a down economy, that's more important than ever.) And that's the kind of copywriter this course produces.

The secrets that Michael Masterson's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting teaches, you won't find in any book... and you can't learn this stuff in any university course. It just isn't taught.

This program is, without question, the best... fastest... and easiest way to go from where you are right now to successful, working, well-paid copywriter.

Graduates of this course get work

In the industry, Michael's course enjoys a reputation for producing really excellent writers... people who, right out of the gate, write the kind of winning letters most average copywriters will never master. As one hiring insider put it:

"As a publisher of 5 newsletters with tens of thousands of customers worldwide, I'm constantly looking for writers. It's not unusual for me to pay $2,000, $3,000, even $8,000 for a single letter if I know it'll bring in money for my company. As a copywriter myself, I know AWAI's program is good. Anyone who completes their course and writes a strong sales letter can always find work with me.

- James DiGeorgia, DiGeorgia & Assoc.

A graduate who was already working in the direct marketing business before he took the course wrote to say that it transformed his career:

"To tell the truth, I was doing pretty well as a copywriter before I met Michael Masterson. The letters I wrote got good results, and my clients called me regularly to give me jobs. But once I met Michael and started following his advice, things really took off. He taught me something I'd never even thought of before: how to make sure that anyone reading my letters would KEEP reading them, page after page, till the end. There's an amazing way to do it...and it works! That secret alone is worth the price of his course - an amount that, by the way, I can earn 5 times over, by writing a simple 4-page letter."

- Nancy Collins, Professional Copywriter

What You Can Learn from the Best in the Business

This program contains every technique... every secret... every idea... every writing tip the best copywriters in the country rely on. You'll learn things like the hidden structure that will make your sales letter irresistible, powerful, and persuasive... and how to incorporate into your copy certain core beliefs your readers hold, so it's impossible for them to say "no" to your offer...

Not only does it explain why "conversational writing"-writing the way you talk-is so important, but it actually teaches you how to do it.

Plus the program reveals fool-proof formulas that take the mystery out of what to say next.

Perhaps the most critical thing this course teaches, though, is the three fundamental rules of selling. Once you absorb them, you'll find they influence everything you write. When these ideas become second nature, that's when you'll start to see your letters becoming controls... and start earning the royalties that lead to big bucks... and financial security.

Plus What You Need to Know About Getting... and Keeping Clients

The course includes something else that's critical, too: Expert advice and step-by-step details about how to land clients... so you've always got the security of work that pays well, no matter how many pink slips you see handed out around you.

It teaches you eight ways you can keep clients so happy, you've got more work than you can handle... and 10 sure-fire ways to find prospective clients in your hometown. All sorts of companies reply on direct mail... it's just a matter of knowing where to look for them. This course will tell you not only that... but also what to say when you find them.

I can tell you from my own experience that this is real-world wisdom. I've followed this advice, and I could write 24-hours a day if I were so inclined. Rarely does a week go by when I don't turn work away. (Part of what I like so much about copywriting is the freedom that comes with the territory. I want to spend my Fridays with my son. I could work more... and make more money. I choose not to.)

A Lively Road to Financial Independence

If you really want to be a success at something, there's no better way to get a jump-start than to learn from the very best. Studying top-level copy under the guidance of Michael Masterson is like learning to play golf in the care of Jack Nicholas.

Of course, you do have to apply yourself. You wouldn't expect to stroll out onto a golf course and play six under par if you'd never actually put a club in your hand or taken a swing. You have to practice. Professional athletes, musicians, dancers... they practice all the time. It's what allows them to master their crafts.

With copywriting it's no different. If you really want to hone your skills and achieve expert status, you've got to actually put words to paper.

But let me reassure you: As I said earlier, copywriting is something anybody can master. It's a matter of understanding the internal structure of a powerful sales letter and focusing on the benefit to your reader. Persuasion-a copywriter's job-is all about showing a reader what's in it for him.

That skill comes easily with this course... in large part because the program is so engaging. It's lively and funny, and it reads more like an enjoyable novel than a book teaching you the skills that can lead you to financial independence.

Not only are students never bored while they're enrolled in this course... they aren't bored after, either. They're too busy working... well, working and enjoying their new-found freedoms...

Students Are Working... and Transforming Their Lives

That's the real beauty of this program: The students who work hard to apply the lessons it teaches and who systematically practice what they've learned... they start to see success immediately. Here are just a handful of stories from students who enthusiastically dove into the course, practiced what they learned... and reinvented themselves as top-notch, well-paid copywriters.

• Kieran D. boosted his income from $18,000 to $50,000 in two years. Kieran was struggling to make $18,000 a year writing fiction books and articles for newspapers. But within two years of completing the course, he was making $50,000 a year as a copywriter... and now he can devote the majority of his time to his first love: writing stories for young adults.
  
  
• Simon G. was working on assignment within two months of getting the course. "Wow! Or rather, thanks! Yours is the first program I've ever purchased that delivered on its promises," Simon says. "You had me working on a paid assignment within two months of receiving the course. And the best part is, I am now getting paid to learn firsthand from some of the best copywriters in the business!"
  
  
• Beth E., a former seamstress from Minnesota, earned more from her first copywriting assignment-which only took her two days to complete-than she used to make in three weeks hemming pants. "I've made WAY more so far this month than I did in my best month of tailoring... and I live in rural Minnesota," she says. "If I can find work here, AWAI students shouldn't have trouble finding work anywhere."
  
  
• Stuart J. went from delivery-truck driver to star copywriter in 12 months. Stuart was driving a truck for an on-line grocery service when he enrolled in the program, and within a year he was hired by one of the leading direct mail companies in the country. In less than four years, he's generated more than $15 million in sales for them, and he's one of their top writers.
  
  
• Michael S. went from earning $1,000 a week to $10,000 a month. A college dropout, Michael had a small business that was puttering along before he took Michael's course. Now it has really taken off. He says: "I thought I was a pretty smart copywriter, making $1,000 a week with my ‘niche' specialty-writing space ads. But just one concept learned from Michael Masterson-the four U's-has rocketed my little at-home business into the $10,000-a-month club."

Make Your First $10,000 Before You Even Finish the Course

The truth is, you could get paid even before you finish the course. As a student enrolled in Michael Masterson's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting , you're invited to participate in what the publishers-the American Writers & Artists Institute (AWAI)-calls its "$10,000 Challenge." You write a letter like this one selling the copywriting course, and if it looks promising, gets mailed, and beats the control... you get paid $10,000.

Krista Jones took the challenge last year, and her letter is mailing now. So did students Peter Forest and Stuart J.. All of them wrote sales letters AWAI believed worth testing. Peter's letter won, and it has been mailing as a control for over a year now. Krista's and Stuart's letters have an excellent chance of winning, too.

Sign up for Michael Masterson's course today, and you'll receive everything you need to participate and win the $10,000 Challenge. Krista said she was amazed at how much "extra" help Don Mahoney and other AWAI board members gave her, once they'd seen her first draft. She said, "Don told me, ‘When you win, we win. We're happy to pay $10,000 for a new control!'"

You'll get all the details about this opportunity when you begin the program... and a lot more, too...

An Interactive System and a Built-in Support Network

In addition to guiding you through the secret architecture that supports the most powerful letters... and giving you all the tools you need to make sure you are always in demand... this program has you build a direct mail letter of your own as you work through the course material.

At critical junctures, you actually send your work in by e-mail or snail mail so it's evaluated and critiqued by a faculty of professional, working copywriters. And they lead you by the hand from where you are today (no matter what your writing level is)... into the world of power-house copywriting.

This is not like some courses you might have seen-where you get a book in the mail, and then that's it... good luck, hope you find a job. (For that matter, it's not like most universities either, where you get your degree and then it's out into the real world with no practical guidance.)

Instead, here you get a whole network of built-in support. If you have questions or a problem while you're working through the course, you can always call the Student Services Director for help.

And there's an active message board on-line where students and graduates share ideas, brainstorm, answer questions, critique each other's writing, and generally act as friendly colleagues. In other words, you aren't left alone to wonder if you're doing things right...

So if your dream is to find yourself on the front porch of your own mountain cabin, your laptop open on your knees, only the sound of birds chirping to interrupt your work... then go for it. Because you really can have the best of both worlds: the freedom of working for yourself... plus the benefit of hundreds of fellow copywriters whose brains you can tap and an approachable faculty and staff you can rely on for support...

AWAI stands firmly behind Michael Masterson's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting . It's a real organization with Michael, Don, Paul, and other friendly, accomplished people working for it. (They are, by the way, always eager to meet students in person. So if you ever find yourself in Delray Beach, Florida, by all means stop by the office.)

Have Paid Assignments Drop in Your Lap

A bustling office it is these days... in part because AWAI formed a sister organization called Fourth Avenue Marketing , which shares its office space. This group is a full-service ad agency specializing in Direct Mail advertising. The staff there is always looking for new writers... and regularly turns to the best AWAI students.

Even as our economy stumbles, the demand for top-level copywriters is as strong as ever. So if you prove to the staff through your send-in assignments that you've got what it takes to write a good sales letter... they just might hire you themselves.

Many students have already had that good fortune. Glen S. of Ontario has worked on 26 assignments in the last 18 months!

"What a couple of months it has been! I ordered Michael Masterson's Accelerated Course for Six-Figure Copywriting several months back. I read it-and had a great time with the assignments. I sent in my practice assignment and... presto! A few weeks later, I got a call from Katie at your office to write a real sales letter. It was great fun, a great learning experience... plus I got paid to do it! And just today, I got word my second assignment is on the way. Many thanks for this wonderful opportunity."

- Dr. Edward G., South Carolina

I can't guarantee you'll become a highly-paid copywriter. That is entirely up to you... and how well you apply the simple lessons and techniques this course teaches. But I can say with confidence that this program delivers to you all the tools you need to make it happen... including the jobs.

Sometimes Value Really Is Easy to Spot

Usually this kind of opportunity to make a six-figure income comes attached to a university degree (and often a graduate degree) at a cost of at least $50,000. And sadly, these days even that kind of investment is no guarantee of a job. Hot-shot MBA students with thousands of dollars in loans aren't landing work the way they did in the booming ‘90s.

By contrast, this copywriting program doesn't cost $50,000-though it's worth at least that.

After all, not only does it prepare you for a lucrative, recession-proof career... and give you the skills you need to build financial independence...

...but it also guarantees you a quality of life you'll never find in the 9-to-5 world, with the flexibility to live anywhere and work as much or as little as you choose.

I'm not sure you can even put a price on that kind of freedom...

Yet this program-the most comprehensive copywriting course available-costs less than $1,000-less than you'd pay for just one university credit. The total price for Michael Masterson's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting is just $507.

And think about it: In all likelihood, the first job you land will pay for the course itself.

You Can Pay as You Learn

Nevertheless, we'll make it a bit easier for you. After all, times are tough... and those monthly bills aren't going away. Instead of paying the whole $507 upfront, you can enroll now for just $39. We'll send you everything you need to get started.

That means you'll receive the first 14 sections of the course-including the first writing assignment you'll send in for critique. Plus you'll also get AWAI's Direct Mail Hall of Fame: Great Selling Ideas from 50 Super Successful Direct Mail Letters and Direct Response Ads .

This volume contains some of the greatest sales letters ever written-letters that have earned millions and millions of dollars for the companies that mailed them (and the copywriters who wrote them). But to my mind, the best thing about this book is that sentences are circled and underlined, and there are notes in the margins. It shows you exactly why each letter is so successful... and teaches you how you can model your own letters after them.

Plus More Success Stories... Job Leads...
and Expert Advice for Master-Level Copywriting

One of the things I most appreciated about studying directly with Michael Masterson is that his enthusiasm for my success was infectious. It gave me a confidence in my own abilities that I think I'd have found impossible to maintain if I'd been working in isolation.

Don, Paul, and Michael understand the importance of that feeling... and have made it an integral part of this program. When you enroll as a student, you'll receive, at no extra charge...

The Golden Thread , a popular e-letter that will land in your in-box twice a month. It's a lot like having a meeting of the minds with the best and most up-and-coming copywriters in the business. In other words, it keeps you connected... and motivated. You get...

• Success stories from your fellow students. They tell you how they started work or got a new job... and map out exactly how you can follow their lead.
  
  
• Interviews with hot-shot copywriters. Michael and others reveal things like how they leap-frogged over obstacles early in their careers... or how they stumbled into a trap you should avoid.
  
  
• Insider's tips about writing and useful exercises... a new idea Michael or Don or Paul has hit upon... the kind of cutting-edge stuff that helps keep you on-track to succeed...
  
  
• Plus job listings ... companies looking for AWAI students to write for them...

No kidding. That means that before you've even finished the course, you could be landing assignments. This is something you certainly won't get from any other correspondence course... and not from any university, either.

Yet through Michael Masterson's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting it does happen. So you're not only getting valuable, money-making skills that will serve you well for life... you're getting connections, too.

A Rock-Solid, No-Risk Guarantee

To my mind, you have nothing to lose by trying out this program... and an incomparable quality of life to gain. If you're not completely convinced that it can provide you the best recession-proof plan for a six-figure income imaginable... then simply return the materials within 30 days, and you'll receive a prompt refund, no questions asked.

If you feel the program is everything I've described and more... then we'll send you 12 additional installments at $39 each. In other words, for about 1/100 th the cost of an MBA... you can launch a career that offers a level of job security nearly unheard of elsewhere... the possibility of real wealth... more control over your own time... a better balance of family and friends and work...

And if for any reason you want to stop additional chapters from coming to your mailbox, you can cancel at any time with no further obligation.

This Is A Limited Offer

I feel I should warn you of one thing, though: Michael, Don, Paul, and the AWAI staff can only work with so many students at once. This program is highly interactive... and they can't be at it 24-hours-a-day. So I urge you to respond now so you don't miss out.

A modest investment today... for the skills that can deliver a lifetime of financial security in an uncertain world. Can you afford to ignore this opportunity?

If you can write a letter like this one... and you're eager to make a change in your life, to free yourself from the prospect of a lifetime of 9-to-5 drudgery... then sign up today, and start living the life you deserve.

Simply fill out the enrollment form enclosed here, slide it into the envelope, and drop it in the mail. We'll send you the course materials immediately.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Saxton, Freelance Copywriter

P.S. As soon as you sign up, you'll also receive a special report called How to Safely and Quickly Change Careers . It's written by a renowned career counselor whose mantra is: "Life is too short to spend toiling at a job that pays the bills but doesn't feed your spirit."

She'll show you the easiest and most effective ways to get from where you are today to the life you've always dreamed about. Inside are lots of examples of folks who have made the leap already... and lessons they've learned that will help make your transition to top-tier copywriter easier.

Plus there's even a checklist of questions to ask yourself and steps to take before you make any radical change... so your transition to your new life is smooth and enjoyable. To get your own copy of this excellent resource, simply send in your course enrollment form today, and we'll put How to Safely and Quickly Change Careers in the mail to you right away. Even if you decide six-figure copywriting isn't the career for you, this report is yours to keep.

American Writers & Artists Institute