Who's Had Experience with AWAI? (Doing an informal study)

I do not have experience with AWAI's program. But...

What kind of question is, "do their products even work?"

Does college work?

This is not an informal study. It's a product review request.

I love the nice wrapping on an empty box analogy lol

It depends on your skill level. I had a peak at a few and, with the exception of Dan Kennedy's stuff and one Michael Masterson peice, I didn't get much out of them.

Then again, I've been kicking around this neighborhood for a long time. That' said, there are plenty of good kindle books on copywriting. They're much less expensive and the content, for beginners, is just as good.

David Garfinkel, Dan S Kennedy, Ben Settle, Big Al (I'd include myself, but who wouldn't?)...then, in the printed books, Drew Eric Whitman, Joe Sugarman.

And, of course, the free Gary Halbert Letter.

I could go on but there's so much progress you can make just on the stuff above. Take two or three books and read them several times, copy the examples in them. Get a good thorough grasp on the basics, that's more than most people do.

BTW, that hypey "MLM style copy" works better than you think. Never assume your reader it too sophisticated to fall for it. You'd be shocked at who reads the National Enquirer.

Perry,
Just to clarify, I'm not looking to take AWAI's courses myself. This isn't another, "TELL ME WHICH COURSE I SHOULD DO!" thread, it's one where the responses will help me understand their business model. If a copywriter has used their courses to become 1. trained in copywriting and 2. successful as a freelance writer, living their "writer's life," then what they're offering is more than just a nice dream.

I'm also interested in knowing how much unique, useful information each course offers. Many marketing courses sell the same basic information slightly repackaged -- information you can get for free in the many resources Seth mentioned.

I suppose my original post was a little broad, so here it goes again: Have using the AWAI information products turned anyone you know into a successful freelance copywriter? And can anyone say whether the courses are as unique as their sales emails claim, or are they all basically rehashes of the same info?

Why am I asking about AWAI? Because it's an info product supplier that a lot of people on this forum have likely experienced. I'd ask about a different info product maker if I thought it would be more relevant.

JohnRussell, that's great feedback. My theory is a very small amount of their "students" will have great success (like an MLM), and those people will then become a spokeswriter for AWAI (similar to how MLMs work).

But if people who stick to the material actually do turn out to be successful freelance copywriters more often than not, then that would disprove my hypothesis.

They have produced successful students for sure.

But they cannot inject cajones which is what is lacking in the vast majority of their students.

Matthew,

I've bought about six of their courses
and have found them excellent.

But you can get a lot of good copywriting
know-how from books – that cost far less.

Also check out Gary Bencivenga's *Marketing
Bullets* and archived articles in Clayton
Makepeace's www.makepeacetotalpackage.com

Eldo

Search the archives. Their must be 300 threads on this. Should give you some good info.

Okay, let's see if I can help shine some light on this from a so-called Insider's point of view...

First of all, I am NOT an employee of AWAI. I went to them in 2009 with an idea for a how-to-write-autoresponders course based on my success in this area and they agreed to market it if I provided the content. A month later, we released Autoresponder Apprentice, and it was their second biggest launch to date, if I remember correctly. Recently, we just rebranded it as Email Copy Made Easy and it still does very well. I also speak at their Web Writing Intensive every year, and do a few webinars here and there. But again--I'm not an official employee. It's more of a JV. Either of us can walk away at any time.

That said, I think the Six Figure course is a tremendous basis for learning how to write direct response copy. You gotta remember--this company was initially created to develop more copywriters for Agora, so it's not like they're going to toss out some old, rehased stuff and call it groundbreaking. Agora's lifeblood has been great copy. And these are tried-and-true direct response copy principles that have been proven again and again and again to work.

After the Six Figure course, AWAI is very good at giving you plenty of options to choose from as a way to position yourself in the marketplace, either by product/service niche or by copywriting niche. Other than my email course, you can find various programs on B2B, web copy, catalogs (which I was fortunate enough to be a part of with catalog copy master Herschell Gordon Lewis), grant writing, speech writing, resume, social media, you name it. It's a buffet of copywriting career choices, and copywriters from any level can come in and choose which one fits them best. This is great for those who get stuck on the "what niche should I go into" thing.

As for "if you can be successful or not" I can only say this. The copywriters I have personally coached over the years all have the same basic dream--work from home, be your own boss, get paid nice sums of money to write stuff, etc--and I've given them the tools necessary to both improve their skills and market themselves accordingly. But I can't do it for them. They have to jump in the water with both feet and actually get wet. And that's where I see a lot of them stumble. They get all the training and know-how, but they don't actually TAKE ACTION for one reason or another. Or they start to, hit a roadblock, and stop entirely. And it's a shame, because I've seen some VERY talented copywriters who could make six figures and more easily get discouraged and toss it all aside.

However, the people who do succeed are those who hit that roadblock, get a sledgehammer and bust that thing to pieces. They don't stop for anything. They keep moving forward and ascending the ladder until they reach the goal they've been searching for. THAT'S who I see come out of AWAI as successes--the people that actually do what they've been trained to do and don't let anything get in their way.

Just my .02. Take of it what you will.

...and you know what?

Since I contributed to getting things off track. Here's a few gems for the OP....

http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...-bootcamp.html

http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...xperience.html

http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...ient-awai.html

http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...rson-awai.html

http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...pywriting.html

http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...rson-awai.html

http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...xperience.html

I have a few questions/concerns about your thread.

a) What informal study are you doing?

b) How do you 'mentally reverse engineer' strategies?

c) Does AWAI 'SELL NARRATIVE' or a copywriting course, among others?

d) 'Do their products work?'

Why ask this question? - To'mentally reverse- engineer' strategies?

Are you looking for a copywriting course?

e) 'Get an outrageous income fast.' - AWAI has respected top copywriters(may
be the best team assembled in any copywriting program.)

This isn't hype.

Take for example a sales letter that was written to sell the
'Six Figure Copywriting Course,' - 'Can you Write a Letter Like this One.'

Prospects are cautioned not to regard the course as a 'get rich program.'

Here are some of their world classs top copywriters.

Dan Kennedy, Bob Bly, Bill Bonner, Herschel Gordon, Joe Sugarman, Joe
Vitale, John Ford, Nick Usborne, Steve Slaunwhite, Will Newman etc.

d) 'What is your experience? Do they work or are they good at putting nice
wrapping on an empty box?'

Another question that shows that your intentions are not to analyze any
strategies.

You could be looking for copywriting training.

Be truthful if you want help. State clearly what you want, we shall help you. There is a lot of business-building information on this forum.

Open up!

I was preparing to write a reply here but then I read Jay White's post and I don't think I can add anything to that, other than that I've bought a few courses from AWAI over the years and gained a great deal of value from them.

When asked, I always recommend Michael Masterson's 6 Figure Copywriting Course for anyone starting out, simply because I think it's the best introduction to the principles of Direct Response writing on the market - at a great price by comparison with the competition, too.

So, to answer the OP's questions directly: What's my experience of AWAI? All good. They are a nice team of people to deal with and show a genuine interest in their customers' development. Do their courses work? Yes, they worked for me - or, rather, they provided me with a level of value that matched or exceeded the price I paid. Are they good at putting nice wrapping on an empty box? I don't think the boxes are empty, but they have some very good copywriters working for them who write good sales letters. Many of whom were originally purchasers of their products, by the way.