A series of lucky breaks leads
to a successful career as
a direct response copywriter

My copywriting story starts with dumb luck. A year or so after graduating from college, I landed a job working for publishing legend Robert J. Ringer, the best-selling author of Winning Through Intimidation, Looking Out For #1, Restoring the American Dream and a number of other tomes.

Robert was famous for using his considerable copywriting skills to again and again turn his own books, as well as multiple books by other authors, into New York Times’ best-sellers.

I’m a big fan of Robert’s books and philosophy, so for me this was a plum job I could hardly believe I had landed.

When I came on the scene, Robert was using direct mail to sell his latest venture, a newsletter called The Tortoise Report.

And as the guy who extracted the checks and credit card numbers from the reply envelopes, and then input the orders into a computer, I got to see first-hand just how powerful and profitable good sales copy can be. I was intrigued.

Alas, my new gig was not to last. To my chagrin, Robert soon sold the whole kit and kaboodle to Blanchard & Company, a coin dealer and publisher based in New Orleans.

And just like that, I was out on the street — but I didn’t forget my first taste of direct response.

From the glamour of publishing to
slogging it out face to face

My next stop was a job selling copy machines and electronic typewriters to businesses in the Los Angeles area. This meant making cold calls, scheduling demos and closing deals, all while competing with highly trained, frighteningly aggressive salespeople from Xerox, Canon, IBM and others.

It wasn’t a lot of fun — more of a slog, really — but I did learn how to sell. I discovered the difference between features and benefits… the value of probing for pain points… and the critical importance of closing, closing, closing.

All of which came in handy later when I began to write direct response sales copy — which is nothing more than “salesmanship in print,” as the great ad man John E. Kennedy put it way back in 1904.

A fortuitous meeting in Redondo Beach

One day, while cold calling in Redondo Beach, California, I wandered into the office of a direct mail list broker and copywriter’s agent in Redondo Beach named John Finn.

Yet another lucky break.

John, who sadly passed away in 2009, was a friendly, gregarious guy. We got to talking and he introduced me to the idea of writing sales copy for a living.

That didn’t sound half-bad, so before long I hightailed it out of the sales game and quickly landed a job at Foote, Cone & Belding — the successor advertising agency to Lord & Thomas, home of advertising legends Albert Lasker and Claude Hopkins.

No, I wasn’t writing copy… I was working in the mailroom — where I had some

My first big break… at a Gary Halbert Marketing Seminar in the Florida Keys. That’s me in the blue shorts (yikes!).

of the most fun I’ve ever had while at work. However, I was also learning a little something about advertising.

Meanwhile, my new friend John Finn was introducing me to his network of copywriting contacts, including Gary Halbert, John Carlton, Jay Abraham, Jim Rutz, Dan Rosenthal, Craig Huey, Kent Komae, Gary Walterscheid and others. He also got me a few small copywriting jobs.

Working with the Marketing Genius

The next thing I knew I was working for Jay Abraham as an editor, primarily turning raw transcripts of his client consultation into products he could sell. I got an instant immersion in the timeless marketing and copywriting principles Jay teaches his clients and students.

Soon after that I became a full-time freelance copywriter… John got me a few clients… I got to be one of the expert copywriters at Gary Halbert’s marketing seminars in the Florida Keys… and I was privileged to speak at several Jay Abraham events

Before long, I was writing direct mail packages for Weiss Research, Phillips Publishing, Agora Financial, Soundview Communications, Biocentric Health, Nature Trade Center, Wellness Research (Al Sears, M.D.), The Green Gardener, Mile High Madison, Market Authority and many others.

My string of lucky breaks continues

I got to hang with some of the copywriting world’s greats when I spoke at Clayton Makepeace’s Financial Publishing Copywriting Intensive. From L to R: Lori Haller, Cindy Butehorn, Parris Lampropoulos, David Deutsch, Clayton Makepeace, Wendy Makepeace, Yours Truly, Richard Armstrong, Guillermo Rubio and (kneeling) Marcella Allison

Most importantly, however, was the day John Finn introduced me to the man who became a generous friend and mentor, Clayton Makepeace — one of the finest and most successful copywriters who ever lived.

Over the years, Clayton and I have worked on countless projects together for Weiss Research, Safe Money Report, Undiscovered Stocks, Marijuana Millionaire, Calendar Profits Trader, Boardroom, Rodale, Personal Finance, Weekly Cash Clock and many others.

I was also honored in 2015 to be invited by Clayton to speak at his Financial Publishing Copywriting Intensive in Atlanta.

Backpacking the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington.

Today, I continue to write copy for a small stable of clients. I live in sunny Southern California, about 10 minutes from the beach with my wife Diane. I also have four children — the youngest of which will finally be off the payroll when she graduates college in May.

When I can pull myself away from my computer, you might find me relaxing with my family, four wheeling in the desert, backpacking on the Pacific Crest Trail (okay, I’ve only done it once) or playing softball.

Here I am photobombing my own family the night before my son Matthew’s graduation from Loyola Marymount University.