The following facts, pulled from a recent Copy Hackers salary survey, may make you uncomfortable…

— Only about 1 in 10 freelance copywriters makes six-figures per year.  And most of them make between $100,000 and $125,000.

— Only 1 out of every 71 freelancers make more than $200,000 per year.

— Get a copywriting J-O-B, and your chance of making six-figures goes up — a little.

— But your chance of making over $200,000 per year?  It goes to almost zero.

And here’s the worst part…

If you average all the copywriters — freelance and employed — the average income for a copywriter is…

Drum roll please…

Less than $50,000 per year!

The ugly truth…

Copywriting is FAR from being an automatic six-figure income!

But…  But…

I know.  And yet, those numbers are hard to argue with — they are pulled straight from a professional salary survey.  I’m not making things up to fear-monger you.  That’s the facts, on the ground.

And you know what?  Anecdotal evidence supports it.

Just the other day I heard from yet another smart, hard-working freelancer who is basically throwing in the towel.

He’s not able to make ends meet with copywriting.

Despite all the promises.  Despite all the hype.

He’s tried.  Week in, and week out.  Month in, and month out.  Year in, and year out.  Putting himself out there.  And just not getting acceptance.  Not getting the work.  Not getting the clients.  Not getting the income.

Copywriting as the lucrative opportunity he was promised just isn’t panning out.

What gives?

Let me paint a different picture…

Since 2010 or so, I’ve lived in a very different world.

I’ve lived in a world of highly-successful, entrepreneurial copywriters.  The “A-list” of effective direct response copy.

Copywriters who live and die by their results — and whose results let them live like kings.

I’ve hobnobbed and made friends with the “Titans of Direct Response” — heck, I even wrote the sales letter for the event with that name, featuring: Dan Kennedy, Gary Bencivenga, Greg Renker, Jay Abraham, Ken McCarthy, Perry Marshall, Joe Sugarman, Fred Catona, Eric Betuel, David Deutsch, Arthur Johnson, Parris Lampropoulos, Michael Fishman, Jim Kwik, Ryan Lee, and the event’s host, Brian Kurtz.

Among these, copywriters who consider it a slow year to make six-figures.

Entrepreneurs, who, with the same fundamental skills, have generated hundreds of millions, even billions, in results.

“But they’re them — and I’m me…”  Yes, I know the refrain.

I’m not on their level, either — YET.

But I’m getting there…

How’s this for a comparison to the “average” copywriter…  ?

In the Copy Hackers salary survey, it revealed that only 1.83% of freelancers earned from $10,001 to $20,000 for their average project.

My average project STARTS there.

Since 2010, because I’ve developed one critically-important copywriting skill, I’ve been able to consistently generate ever-higher flat fees.  Plus, I get paid a royalty on all sales my copy generates, starting from the first $1.

A client has to put down a $10,000 check just to grab a spot on my calendar.

Then, before they can use my copy, they write another $10,000 check.

And then, when my copy works for them — and it usually works pretty well — they start paying me a percentage of results, starting with the first $1 in sales.

My per project fee shot up above the top 1.83% of freelancers in half a decade, because I understand something critically important…

I understand the kind of copy that gets results!

And you know what?

I notice a huge divide among copywriters.

It’s probably not fair.  It’s probably not “right.”  But it’s certainly true.

There are a tiny group of copywriters who get paid as much as me — or a lot more — who know how to write one kind of copy really well.

And because they understand how to write that one kind of copy, they can basically write their own ticket.

If they want to be a freelancer, they’re booked out months or years at a time.  (My latest contract was for a full year.)

If they want to go in-house, they end up making a fortune as they crank out winner after winner, and get paid on results.

If they want to start their own company?  They’ve got the chops to go out into the market and start spending $1 on advertising, and have it return $1 or more in sales with a new customer in tow.

What’s the secret?

In short, these copywriters understand “big idea” copy.

Recently, a publisher at a $150-million-plus direct response company said, “The one thing that predicts whether a copywriter will be successful is their idea flow.”

Basically, he said, you have to be able to crank out winning marketing ideas.

That, more than anything, determines success.

Writing skill?  Nope.  Selling ability?  Nope.  Time spent working?  Not that, either.

Yes, all those can help.

But what makes all the difference in the world is the big ideas you’re able to bring to the table, that serve as the centerpiece for writing copy that gets results.

If you can capture your audience’s attention with the right big idea, response becomes easier, almost automatic!

Really.  Just think about this article.  What’s the big idea here?

That most copywriters don’t make nearly as much money as they’d hoped, but those who understand “big idea” copy do.

And, by implication, that if you want to place yourself among the top-earning copywriters, that you MUST understand big idea copy as well.

If you’re a copywriter who isn’t making as much moolah as you want, this is an urgent problem to you.  Which makes it a pretty good big idea, in the right selling situations.

But that’s just one of three big idea types.

There are two more that can be even more powerful.

They’re proven.  They’re the core message behind the world’s most successful results-accountable marketing campaigns.

And the copywriters who have mastered these big idea types?  Whether they build their own businesses, or build client businesses, they’ve achieved tremendous direct response marketing success.

Maybe it’s only 1 out of every 71 copywriters who truly understand and master this copywriting skill.  Maybe that’s the income disparity?

It’s not a lie that copywriting is a huge opportunity — it’s just that not all kinds of copywriting is created equal…

I’m delivering a live 1-hour online workshop — free — for 100 copywriters.

It’s all about How to Create Breakthrough Big Idea Copy.

You’ll discover all three big idea “types” that work in creating breakthrough marketing campaigns that bring customers flooding in.

You’ll be the first to get your hands on my brand-new UPSEEN test to know, before you test your copy, if the idea is a likely winner or a dud (and how to improve it to maximize your chance at big profits)…

Plus, you’ll discover what to say AFTER you’ve opened the copy, to close the sale.

It’s all yours, as part of this free 1-hour online workshop, Thursday, 10/12 at 1 PM Central time…

Register here to join me for this free 1-hour online workshop.

There are only 100 spots and it’s first-come, first-served.

Yours for bigger breakthroughs,

Roy Furr