I think I've cracked this beast...

Do you remember the time - as a copywriter - when you realize that all those late nights, tests, set backs, failures, learning curves... all actually pay off?

Not just in terms of getting clients, but from proving, unquestionably, that you have what it takes to put words on a page and command money from people's wallets?

Because to me, THAT is what counts... Results.

For the longest time, I have been working for clients and never getting any reliable data back from their campaigns (you know how it is.)

So despite the odd testimonial, elated email, or client referral (thats how I get my clients today)... I never really had solid, first hand proof that my skills are sharp enough to convert people in the real world.

Today, I finally have that wonderful moment of absolute clarity and conviction, where I can clearly see that my skills are worthy.

Although I've given clients the results they needed in the past, and although I have sold my own stuff with my own copy in the past, I never really felt like my copywriting skills were much to write home about.

So what changed?

First, I went out, picked a market, picked an affiliate product to promote... and it bombed. Less than 0.03% conversions from cold traffic.

I looked at the sales copy, and then I went off and did my research.

I came back a few days later with the intel on this market, and wrote my copy.

Just a few days later, I'm sending the same cold traffic, but to my sales copy instead.

And I've shot from the other guy's 0.03% copy, to a whopping 3% conversion...

... on cold traffic.

But here's the kicker...

The other guy's copy had all the usual stuff you're "supposed" to have, such as testimonials, but mine had none.

Not one single element of proof, other than the product owner's experience.

Hope that makes a few folks around here see what's possible, when you do your research and craft compelling sales arguments.

And I should say...

This is in a market that I have no affinity with... and I'm certainly not the market myself. It's totally alien to me, and I only picked it for the sake of proving this to myself.

Bully for you, Nick. Right?

Yeah, screw me for showing off. Screw me for spending night after night, year after year, sacrificing so much of my social life to be able to make a post like this in a forum.

But I don't care. This isn't just a "look-at-me" post.

What I'm trying to say won't whet your whistle if you're a "copywriting uber gooberoo" but it's not supposed to.

I just wanted to put my karmic AND SINCERE thanks out there to everyone I've ever learned from, in this forum, in every book, and on every website I've read over the past 4 years.

There are simply too many to name here, without risk of accidental - yet offensive - exclusion.

And more to the point... I'm posting this to encourage others to stick with it, because having this power seems to come pretty ****ing close to having superhuman powers.

Ok, maybe that's pushing it. But it's darn reassuring to know that all you need is a keyboard or a pen, and you'll never go broke again.

Am I saying I'm the world's best copywriter? No.

Am I saying I'll always be able to crank amazing conversions? No.

But I know, without a shadow of a doubt, I'll never be on the breadline again... internet or no internet.

Because to the rookies in the pack - this stuff darn well works, if you actually have the gritty determination to master your craft, and patience when it doesn't work first time.

Above all the hype, trends, fads and gimmicks that you see in the general forum, nothing compares to the power of being able to sit down and put words into a website or on paper, and see people pull their hard earned money from their wallets.

Screw gadgets, screw social media, screw tons of traffic, screw fancy web design, screw all the **** that surrounds the heart of what really matters in this industry, and dare I say it, in the entire economy... the ability to sell.

If there's one thing you ever bother to learn, learn to write killer copy. I'm sure my peers in this forum will gladly agree, that moment when you realize that you "have arrived" is a very special feeling of liberation that very few will experience.