This is gonna ruffle some feathers... but if you are looking for Monster Success as a copywriter (or doing anything else), you ought to read it...

My friend ultra-copywriter John Carlton is traveling (Australia, New Zealand) and he invited me to do a guest post on his Marketing Rebel Rant blog.

First of all, it's a great honor. John's a living legend and very picky about letting anyone else appear on his blog.

Second, it was a great writing opportunity. The style of posts on John's blog is more expansive than I allow myself on mine.

Don't ask me why... that's just the way it is...

What I wrote about will probably challenge some people, maybe offend others.

It's the truth as I see it, and, wayull... it's not pretty.

I decided to write about something that's been on my mind for a long time. It has to do with what makes copywriters successful. Anyone successful, for that matter. 

Especially in light of the popularity of The Secret (which has led some people to confuse fantasy with achievement) and more recently, popular books with unique views on success like Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

All kinds of buzz going around.  Some strands of this buzz contradicting other strands.

I've mentored copywriters (and still do) who make huge amounts of money and succeed wildly in other ways.

Some of the folks I mentor succeed wildly, that is. 

Not everyone.

So, what makes the difference?

After lots of personal experience and historical research, I've drawn my conclusion. 

You can read about it here.

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Comments

[Jim Van Wyck]

I clicked thru, and this is an OUTSTANDING essay with consequential insights for all who read it.

GREAT STUFF

[Laurel Goehl]

The coiled serpent at the base of most of our spines is not kundalini, but laziness.

Laziness can glamorize the most foolish of messages--and after all, isn't it much easier to sit around visualizing than to actually think?

Real, focused thinking is the hardest work of all.

[Joey Chua]

hi David,

I just saw a hardcover book done by you- "Advertising Headlines That Make You Rich"

I am just wondering, do you sell it in digital form? *means E-book.

[David Garfinkel]

Laurel, I'm with you.

Except for one tiny quibble. Real visualization (the kind that moves mountains), COMBINED with hand-in-glove connected ACTION to bring what is visualized into being, is VERY hard work.

But ultimately, much more productive, and therefore, in an unusual way, much EASIER, than working for peanuts at a suboptimal level for most of your life.

Which, unfortunately, is what most "lazy" people do -- with no notion whatsoever of how they are cheating themselves and in fact the world at large by not exercising their most precious privileges.

[David Garfinkel]

Hi Joey,

Yes I do:

http://adheadlinetemplates.com/