My Formula for Success
By Guillermo Rubio

If you’re at a place where you feel like you’re stuck — where nothing you seem to do is working to move your writing career forward …

Or if you absolutely know you want to live the writer’s life, but you just can’t seem to get any traction going …

 … you’re not alone.

I’ve been there.

Way back in 2002, I received a letter from AWAI.

It introduced me to the idea I could write from home … make great money … and have complete control over my life.

I wanted that.

So, I bought the course they were selling.

I received it in the mail (remember, this was 2002!) and got through maybe the first section or two.

And then …

Nothing.

A year went by … I wasn’t living the writer’s life. But I still wanted to.

Two years went by … I had the same New Year’s resolution — This time I’m going to become a freelance copywriter and get paid big bucks to work from home!

Three years came and went — again, nothing (but I still had the dream!).

Ultimately, it wasn’t until six years had passed that I got unstuck.

Today, I want to share with you the three steps of how I did it — and what you can do to gain some real momentum, so you can FINALLY make your dream to be a high-paid writer a reality.

Step 1: COMMIT.

At the risk of being too obvious, I’m still including this first step because, well — it’s absolutely necessary.

During those six years, I was working three jobs.

I was tired of it. And I wanted out.

Pain has a great way of moving you to action.

And it certainly did for me.

So that’s when I finally decided to commit. I mean, I truly committed to making this copywriting dream happen.

You’ve got to do the same.

Tap into whatever you can deep inside of you.

Drum up whatever emotions you can muster that will get you to that point of “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I’m changing this!”

Step 2: “Break the Habit of Being Yourself.”

I titled this step after Dr. Joe Dispenza’s bestselling book Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself.

If you want radical and positive change in your life, you can’t do it being the same person you’ve been up to this point.

And ultimately, who we are is often a product of what we think and do habitually.

So, to effect true change, you’ve got to “be” a different person.

Author and speaker Mike Dooley encapsulates this concept beautifully, saying …

“To begin living like you’ve never lived before, begin living like you’ve never lived before.”

For me, that meant no longer letting that copywriting course sit on the shelf. Every day, I pulled it out and went through it. I started reading everything I could on the subject.

I copied a LOT of letters out by hand, as well as doing other exercises to learn the craft. I was behaving in a radically different way from who I’d been the last six years.

And ultimately, this is how I ended up landing AWAI as my first real copywriting client.

I was willing to get out of my comfort zone and stop being the old me.

For you, that might be reading and studying one piece of great copy per day. Maybe it’s finishing that course you started.

I can’t emphasize it enough — “to begin living like you’ve never lived before, begin living like you’ve never lived before.”

What you need to change will probably be different from what I had to do. But if you’re honest with yourself, you know exactly what things need to start changing.

Step 3: Start Small

One of the reasons I put off learning how to write copy was that I was trying to bite off WAY more than I could chew.

Back then, learning how to write sales letters was THE way to “make it” as a copywriter.

So that’s what I did. But I was trying to master it all at once.

What helped was to take it section by section — learning how to write headlines. Then, learning how to write leads. Then, learning how to write a guarantee … and so on.

However, if I could go back in time, I would make it even easier on myself.

I’d forgo starting out with sales letters.

Instead, I’d focus on learning how to write great emails and email campaigns.

And I’m being a bit biased here (since I am now teaching AWAI members how to do that) — but I recommend you start with email.

You can still learn how to write the bigger projects later on, like sales letters or white papers, or whatever else your heart desires.

But if you’re stuck and haven’t achieved your goal to live your own version of the writer’s life — let go of the other stuff, just for now.

Instead focus on emails.

They’re such a great way to really level up your writing.

Every subject line is like learning to write a headline.

Every opening sentence to an email is like learning how to craft a great lead.

Getting someone to click is a lot like trying to get someone to make the purchase.

In short, it’s like a “mini” sales letter that’s designed to get someone to click the link at the end.

And because emails are far shorter, it’s way easier to learn and get the deeper, persuasive principles that are at work.

They also aren’t anywhere near as intimidating as having to write a 16+ page letter!

Instead, most emails are about 150–500 words, tops.

Because they’re so short, you can get a LOT of practice writing them.

As a result, they will naturally “level up” your skills for the other projects.

It’s what happened for me.

Once I learned how to get good at writing emails and email campaigns, my sales letter writing improved as a by-product.

Plus, emails are a great way to start because it’s far easier to land clients. They’re more willing to work with newer writers and give you a shot when it comes to email.

Not so much with sales letters, since there’s a lot more at stake.

Oh — and as far as “breaking the habit of being yourself” — emails are a great way to do that too …

They help you build confidence in your skills as a writer much faster, so you can start “seeing” yourself as a true professional.

The pay is great, too, and there’s a lot less pressure. You don’t have to make tons of sales or beat a control. You just have to get someone to open the email and click the link!

By the way, if you’d like to take my advice and “start living like you’ve never lived before,” I recommend you take my email certification training.

AWAI is offering it for 90% OFF (!!) as part of their Black Friday Deal.

You can get all the details (and claim your savings) by going here.

No matter what you decide … please, just remember:

1. Make a real commitment to change.
2. Break the habit of being yourself.
3. And start small (Rome wasn’t built in a day, after all).

Follow those three steps and I promise you this time next year, you won’t have the same goal to finally “make it” as a copywriter over and over again, like I did.