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FIB - Scams 101
Re: AWAI COPYWRITER MONICA DAY SUFFERS COLLATERAL DAMAGE
Posted By: James In Response To: Re: AWAI COPYWRITER MONICA DAY SUFFERS COLLATERAL DAMAGE (Peter)
Date: Tuesday, May 5, 2009, at 10:20 a.m.(pst)
>> Wow. It seems like someone sure stirred up a hornet's nest.
>> I've been a professional copywriter for over 30 years. About half that
>> as Senior Copywriter at a large advertising agency. The second half
>> freelance or running my own small marketing company, which I do now. It's
>> been a very good career.>> I've known about people like Bob Bly for years. What copywriter
>> hasn't.
>> I ordered Million Dollar Web Copywriting from AWAI a few months ago.
>> And I subscribe to their e-Newsletter. My opinion is that there is a lot
>> of good and useful stuff there. Stuff that I use every day. Working in a
>> creative department of an ad agency writing 30 second television
>> commercials, or as we call them spots, you don't get exposed much to the
>> "science" of direct marketing. I used the word
>> "science" because that's what it seems like compared to what we
>> do in an agency. There is a lot more selling going on in Direct than there
>> is in a 30 second spot. I came to appreciate that. Frankly most of the
>> selling we did at the ad agency was selling the client on our campaign.
>> And sometimes that took a lot of selling. But did it actually help sell
>> the client's product? Who knows? People would talk about the commercials,
>> but did that mean they were buying the products because of them? Nobody
>> knows?>> But Direct Marketing shows proven results. Campaigns are tested and
>> improved until the results are outstanding. That's why I call it a
>> "science". It's based on facts. And AWAI is very, very good at
>> Direct Marketing.>> If some of us feel cheated because we were convinced to buy one of
>> their programs, that's because we were successfully sold. Does it feel
>> like manipulation when we figure out how were were sold? Yeah. Selling is
>> manipulation. Whether it's soft sell or hard sell, there's still a whole
>> lot of very clever, psychological manipulation going on. When you know how
>> to do that as well as AWAI and the people who create their courses and
>> write their letters do, then you've got the makings of a pretty prosperous
>> career as a copywriter ahead of you. It's sure worked for me.>> If a product does not do what it promises to do, then that's false
>> advertising. That's against the law. But the tips and techniques I've seen
>> are solid Direct Marketing techniques. Most people writing for the web
>> don't have a clue about selling. Nike Usborne, the fellow who wrote that
>> copywriter's course I was talking about, does.>> I don't work for AWAI. AWAI isn't paying me anything to write this.
>> But if they wanted to give me a free course or a steep discount, I
>> wouldn't complain.>> Just the opinion of this old copywriter. Programs are pretty
>> expensive, I'll give you that. And you sure won't learn any of this stuff
>> in an accredited 4 year college. Not any I've ever heard of. I know a lot
>> of writing professors and none that I know have a clue about writing good
>> copy. It's both an art and a science. As we used to say at the agency,
>> "It's not rocket science." But it does take a certain type of
>> person and a lot of experience to do it well.>> I would recommend every aspiring copywriter sell products door to door
>> for at least three years before they attempt to write copy. That was the
>> best training I ever had. And it's far better training than you'll ever
>> get at a 4 year college. It's even better training than you'll get from
>> AWAI. And you probably still need something like AWAI after your 3 years
>> of door to door selling to learn how to do the same thing you do in person
>> in print. The most important part of a sale is the close. Very few
>> copywriters write good closes. No agency copywriter I've ever met knows
>> how to write a solid close. Direct Marketers do not survive unless they
>> can write great closes.>> Just my humble opinion, for what it's worth.
>> Peter
Hello,
Nice to hear a reasonable man's (Peter) opinion here. Those defamatory posts, whether true or not, sure sound like sour grapes to me. I really don't know what motivation someone could have for doing that. I never bought the AIWA course (not that I wouldn't) or attended a bootcamp.
But I have read many of their ezines, salesletters, etc., and they are all pretty damn good. I also bought Masterson's (couldnt care less what his real name is) book "Confessions of a Self Made Millionaire", and it's excellent.
ETR's newsletters are great too, with tons of solid information, and they give it away to anyone who is looking to learn new things.
I have absolutely no affiliation with AIWA, other than being a reader of ETR. I am a copywriter for the largest mfg. of home automation & control systems in the world. And I study the top copywriters consistently. And I learn from them. Including AIWA & ETR.
For me, that's the bottom line.
Best,
Jim
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