How I Became a Million Dollar Copywriter in One Year (From Total Newbie)

Hey fellow copy Warriors,

Allow me to introduce myself because I'm a newbie in these parts.

My name is Kenneth Yu. I'm a full-time online marketer who accidentally became a guru when I released Twitter Salvation System to fund my wedding (successfully, I may add). Now I make a solid income from affiliate marketing and running an SEO agency serving the online big boys in the South East Asian region.

Anyway, prior to that, my biggest crowning achievement was officially writing a seven figure sales letter and making 6 figures from one email. And all that from starting from scratch the year before.

As a way of saying hi and providing value, here's my 5 secrets for becoming a 7 figure copywriter in under a year, and how you can do the same.

1) Read a classic sales letter a day

Notice I said "classic". Far too many online sales letters are knock-offs of knock-offs of knock-offs. Invest in Caples, in Carlton, in Halbert, in Makepeace, in all the classic Boardroom swipes... And take one of them out by random and study it for the day. Keep your sales letter swipe files confined to the offline controls used by Agora, Rodale, Boardroom, etc.

Also notice I say one sales letter a day. Yes, it's hard work. But great sales letter do follow a formula for success that's sometimes not readily apparent. Keep acquainted with greatness and you can start to see the difference, which you now can translate to your writing.

2) Copy these sales letters by hand

This is insane, but who says this was easy?

I remembered copying John Carlton's infamous sex sales letter word-by-painful-word. The result? My sales letter were crushing it in terms of conversion -- even from the start. It's the exact same advice I took to heart from Sir Gary Halbert on how to be become a world-class copywriters.

This has played a big part in getting me where I am today.

3) Be a Persuasion Nerd

Read Robert Cialdini's influence. Read Joe Sugarman's Triggers. Read Mark Joyner's Mind Control Marketing. Read Dan Areily's Predictably Irrational. Read them all? Reread them again. And again. And again.

Internalize these principles and suddenly... You'll start writing copy that's irresistible in its charms.

4) Master the Form

There's a certain form to long form copywriting. It's the same fundamental structure that undergird all forms of persuasive writing, be it the long form to your PPV ads.

The ultimate sales letter template I'd seen is the one here from Perry Belcher. Google Perry Belcher salesletter and you'll find it. It's called the 21 point salesletter.

Just plug in the right details and you'll start seeing better sales letter from the start. Clever shortcuts are really part of the copy game.

5) Have a Laser Beam Focus on Market Research

The SINGLE MOST important part of copywriting is your research. Most so-called copywriters skip it, thinking they know the market. Listen to this insider secret real quick.

The difference between a 4 figure promotion and a 7 figure promotion is a Big Idea. The one thing that resonates so well with your target market that you'll get a breakthrough response. But how do you get it?

It doesn't materialize out of thin air, that's for sure. Big ideas sprout from the soil of intimate knowledge of the marketplace. So research, research and research away before writing even a single word.

Well, those are my 5 secrets. As you can see. the common thread connecting all 5 points is extreme input and extreme output. I hope you take these 5 steps to heart and reach new copywriting heights.

Hope to get to know each one of you much better from this time forward.

Comments? Criticism? What are your thoughts?