Here I am, being awarded a $10,000 “big check” prize as the industry’s hottest up and coming direct response copywriter at AWAI’s 2010 Bootcamp!
Hey Rainmaker, let’s talk about going places!
As I head off this week to AWAI’s annual Bootcamp, I’ve been thinking about why I go to these things…
After all, after having gone in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, and again this year in 2015…
… As well as having been at Titans of Direct Response last year…
… AND having been an avid student since 2005 of the topics that are taught at these things…
There’s not a TON of new information I’m going to get from the stage.
So why is it that I leave my family (usually the hardest part — especially the youngest that just doesn’t get why daddy’s gone), spend thousands of dollars, and slough off across the country in a flying germ tube to go year after year?
I’ve actually narrowed it down to two big reasons, and the first isn’t necessarily what you think…
My #1 reason for going to industry conferences is __________…
The #1 reason I go to AWAI and other industry conferences is people. More and more it’s as much because of the old friends as the new people I’ll meet.
Example: I already have dinner booked on Thursday with a handful of prized industry insiders of the world’s upper echelon of direct response consumer publishing. Don’t want to give away too much, but the guest list for this private outing includes someone whose last name starts with “Make” and ends with “peace.” And this isn’t the first time we’re hanging out at AWAI. Plus the dinner guest list includes a whole lot of others playing this game at a similar level, whose names may not be quite as familiar.
That notwithstanding, the reason I went to my first AWAI Bootcamp in 2009 was for the people. At that time, pretty much the NEW people I’d meet.
I’d done a little work with AWAI and others in the industry up to that point. I knew a few of the AWAI insiders. But I was largely unknown at the time.
But what I knew about AWAI — that is still true to this day — is that they intentionally and methodically attract some of the top marketers in direct response to their Bootcamp. (In fact, marketers of a certain caliber are invited in free to exhibit at their Job Fair.)
And my intention in being there — before I’d even launched my copywriting career — was to connect with those folks.
Knowing that if the selling process requires someone to know, like, and trust me… One of the single-best ways to make that happen, fast, is to meet a bunch of them in person.
My very first night at my very first Bootcamp, I actually (accidentally) sat down for dinner next to the Marketing Director for The Oxford Club. We talked for 45 minutes straight AFTER everybody was done eating, and I felt (before Bootcamp really even started) that I’d already taken a huge leap forward.
It was because of the people I’d met there that within 3 months and 3 days, I was able to walk out of my full-time J-O-B for the last time ever, and launch my career as a full-time copywriter.
And so when I choose industry conferences today, I care about who is speaking and what is being presented. But one of my biggest reasons for caring about that is based on who it will attract into the audience.
It’s the people I meet that will determine the real value of the conference for me.
That said, I still have another reason for going…
My #2 reason for going to industry conferences is __________…
If my #1 reason for going is who I’m going to meet, it’s probably not that big of a surprise that my #2 reason for going is for the ideas.
Back before I was a copywriter, my boss and I at my first marketing job would jet across the country to go to marketing conferences.
We’d convince our mutual boss — the company’s owner — to plop down big sums to send us off for a few days, on the promise that we’d come back and recoup his investment and then some.
And here’s the really interesting bit — a philosophy both of us shared.
Neither one of us really hoped to get a LOT of ideas out of going. Both of us were already pretty good at marketing, and used much cheaper resources such as books to always be improving our skills.
So we weren’t going for ALL we could learn. We were going for ONE THING we could implement and get immediate and dramatic results.
We were looking for the actionable ideas and insights with the most leverage, most built-in power, that offered big returns with little time, money, or effort.
Yes, we’d listen intently throughout the conference.
But all along the way, as I made notes, I’d put big stars and arrows next to the really important takeaways.
By the time I was done, I’d usually picked up a handful of “ONE THING” major takeaways that could generate big ROI from our training investment.
Yes, I went looking for one thing, and I’d come back with a few. But it was this mindset that had me constantly sifting and sorting and figuring out where I’d generate the most impact by taking specific small ideas, and applying them.
It’s in this spirit that I want to make sure you see this offer…
Like I do at every conference, I’ll be looking for my biggest takeaways and actionable ideas and insights at this week’s AWAI Bootcamp.
But unlike ever before, I’m offering to share them with you.
I expect to walk out of that room on Saturday having picked up 5-10 really important ideas that I believe could change your copywriting abilities and career forever.
And next week, after I get home, I’m going to put together a video presentation walking through these 5-10 actionable ideas, why I think they’re important, and how to apply them to immediately boost your copywriting results (whether for your business or your clients’).
Then, next Tuesday, I’m going to send out ONE email with a link to this video, never to be shared again.
If you’re going to be at AWAI, this will add depth and dimension to important ideas you heard before, and help you take action on them as you’re getting back home and into the swing of things.
If you’re not going to be at AWAI, this will be a way to be exposed to these ideas and especially my perspective on them after my first decade in marketing and copywriting. (I won’t be trying to copy what the speakers shared — rather reflect on them in a way that delivers a ton of value to you while also respecting everyone who invested in being at AWAI live.)
If you want to get the email with my top 5-10 takeaways from AWAI’s Bootcamp, here’s what you need to know…
I’ll be sending out that email at zero additional charge ONLY to people who have already invested in my training, The Copywriter’s Roadmap To Building A Core Offer.
This is one of those incredibly actionable, high-leverage ideas.
I find too many copywriters with even a good amount of talent struggle because they don’t have a clear core offer that makes it easy for their ideal clients to choose to hire them.
I spent nearly 3 full hours delivering my best thinking and experience on how to solve this problem for good, with the goal of catapulting your copywriting income to $5,000, $8,000, even $10,000 and beyond. (Using examples of all kinds of copywriting, NOT just direct response with royalties.)
This is the core principle my friend Ryan Levesque used to launch his $1-million-plus Funnel Specialists marketing and copywriting agency.
When you invest a paltry $49 (fully guaranteed for 60 days) in this Roadmap training BEFORE Monday at midnight — and really, why not do it now? — you’ll get my AWAI “Bootcamp Bonus” actionable ideas video absolutely free.
Click here for full details on getting my top 5-10 actionable ideas from AWAI’s Bootcamp, free…
Tomorrow I’m on the road, so I’ll reprint a very popular essay I wrote last year about one of my big actionable ideas from my very first AWAI Bootcamp.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets
