Selling the Golden Dream: Part I

How to Make It BIG as an A-List Copywriter 

Dear  ,  

My gut tells me you are reading this article for two reasons: 

• You’ve heard about the financial copywriting industry and the hundreds of thousands of dollars a year you can make, and 

• You’d like to make $100,000, $200,000, even as much as $500,000 a year or more. 

I’m writing today to tell you that it’s possible, because I’ve done it. 

I’m one of those financial copywriters you may have heard about who has worked three to four hours a day from home... writing copy for the world’s biggest publishers and averaging over $400,000 a year for the past 20 years, $500,000 for 10 years, and $250,000 for over 30 years. 

As a result, I've been able to coach my kids in sports, put a meal on the table for my family, AND pick up two black belts in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu along the way! 

All thanks to my ability to sell the golden dream.  That is, sell the dream of wealth and riches to others via an investment or trading newsletter.  

I’m hoping my short note today will help and inspire you to do just that: learn how to sell The Golden Dream and earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties.  

So how do you do that? How exactly do you sell an investment or trading newsletter?

By telling--no, make that SELLING--a GREAT money story! 

I have to confess, it’s not all that difficult. 

You see… 

As a financial copywriter, you are simply writing your own short-condensed version of The Richest Man in Babylon… Rich Dad/Poor Dad… Investing for Dummies… Think and Grow Rich… The Millionaire Next Door… The Science of Getting Rich… and The Automatic Millionaire all rolled into one.  

The only--and I repeat, only--difference is that you are NOT selling a book, but selling a subscription to an investment or trading advisory. 

But unlike the investing book, you are not teaching the reader to get rich--you are teasing them on how to get rich--and that they will find the answers with their subscription.  Think box of Cracker Jack. Only the secret toy inside is the secret to riches.   

As the legendary publisher Richard Stanton-Jones taught me nearly 30 years ago, “We are not here to teach them, we are here to tease them.”

So every word, thought, and paragraph you write is designed to tease them from page one to the order form, where your reader buys the golden dream.  

Just picture a child ripping open the box of Cracker Jack for the toy.  As a financial copywriter, your job is to get the kid to rip at the box to get to that secret toy. Which is, in our case, THE MONEY. 

When I fully understood this, my Million-Dollar Copywriting Formula began to evolve.  For part of that journey I developed what I call my MacGyver technique--based on the 1980 TV series starring Richard Dean Stanton. 

If you have seen the original or the reboot series, then you know that MacGyver is a secret agent who could solve almost any problem out in the field using anything he could put his hands on--oftentimes appearing to build a bomb out of paper clips, dirt, a box of flour, a battery, or some other mundane materials.  

Because the producers were afraid that someone at home would try to build the same bomb they saw MacGyver was building, they left out a critical step--otherwise they would have inadvertently trained millions of bomb builders. 

I realized that when I was selling the golden dream, I needed to do the same thing. Give a balance of information and tease while leaving out the critical step--the critical step that would make them rich. 

The step they would find only when they purchased the subscription.  That’s why I called this technique The MacGyver--or “everything but.” 

That’s what I would do.  I would give the reader everything they needed to know to get rich except the key that would unlock the door.  They would have to pay for that. 

And they pay and pay and pay for one simple reason:   

EVERYBODY WANTS MONEY--just like your dog runs--no, make that sprints--to you whenever you have a cookie.   

This is why I would always place mental money “cookies” in my copy that would keep my readers gobbling them up as they continued down the page.  I called this technique The Cookie and the Dog. 

The last cookie, of course, would be found behind the paywall. 

I’m sure as you read this, you can probably visualize a pack of hungry dogs barking and scratching in front of a glass wall with a pile of cookies behind it--trying to get at them. That is the feeling you are trying to emulate as you write your investment newsletter or trading letter promotion.  

I have to confess something.   Writing about money is one of the easiest things to do on the planet.  It’s not even a job.  REASON:  You don’t have to sell people on wanting to make money, have money, or spend money.   

They already want it!

It is your job as a financial copywriter to show them the way--how to get it--which, of course, they will find right there on the order form.  It’s as if the order form is a treasure map with a GIANT X marks the spot on it!

Can you tell why I love this business?  

Every day I would get up and take my readers on a treasure hunt--because that is what the job is.   And I got paid for it. 

As I evolved as a writer, I realized I was not writing copy, but simply taking my readers down The Yellow Brick Road.  Together, we were off to see the Wizard (the stock or trading advisor), who is going to bless them with the riches they so desired. 

That's why I called this approach The Wizard of Oz.  For every reader I would take to see the Wizard, I would get a piece of the pot of gold in terms of royalties and commissions.  

Because I was very good at selling the golden dream, I received royalty checks of $90,000 to $199,000 quarter after quarter after quarter.  My best year--hold on to your hat--was $700,000. How cool is that! 

I don’t mention this to brag, but only to confirm the power of my Million-Dollar Copywriting Formula. 

This is why I have specialized in financial copywriting for 30 years.  The more I wrote, the better I got, and the more money I made.

Here’s the best part. I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel on every project because I was always selling the same thing--the golden dream.

To be sure, every trading and investing letter is different with different approaches, methodologies, and investments.  But in the end, they are all selling the same thing--the dream of wealth and riches. 

And it gets even better/easier.  

The investment newsletter/trading advisor you are selling already has his secret to wealth.  So you don’t have to come up with the secret--you simply need to sell it. 

It’s almost as if they have helped you write your promotion!  This is how I made it BIG as a financial copywriter--by selling their golden dream over and over and over again. 

If you follow the path I lay out for you in my Million-Dollar Copywriting Formula, you could make it big too.  I sincerely hope you do because it has been a great career for me. I know it can be a great career for you. 

That’s why next month, I will be launching my Million-Dollar Copywriting Formula coaching program. 

My motive is honest and sincere.  

After 30 years of writing copy, my house is paid for, my kids have graduated from college, and I have enough money to be comfortable. 

In other words, I’ve already climbed the mountain, created a multimillion-dollar copywriting business... and now I’m ready for a new challenge.  

My next goal is to leave behind a legacy of copywriting knowledge that will help the next generation of copywriters achieve the same kind of personal and financial success I have enjoyed. 

Initially I was thinking of doing a webinar, but those only apply to the masses in a general way.  In order to help you be more effective in your approach, the best way for me to do that is one-on-one.  

That’s how I learned.  

In fact, I did not step into the big leagues until the legendary publisher Richard Stanton-Jones at Phillips Publishing (now InvestorPlace) hired me to work on a project for the Retirement Letter in 1991. 

I would fax him my copy, and then he would take me by the hand by editing my work and coaching me over the phone.  This back-and-forth went on for six months.  

The result was The Great Retirement Betrayal, which not only beat one of the country’s top copywriter’s controls by 100%, but also earned me over $250,000 in royalties.

This is the promotion that launched my career, and I am forever grateful to Richard and the entire marketing team at Phillips for my success. 

The second project, and my second big control, “Tap the Hidden Wealth Inside Your Paycheck,” that launched the Smart Money with the Dolans publication, took just three weeks to write.

Not only did it beat another well-known A-list copywriter in a split run A/B test, but also put another $100,000 in my pocket.  Not bad for three weeks' work! 

The checks have kept coming every 90 days for the past 30 years. 

To this day, I can’t tell you how blessed I feel to have worked with Richard for more than a decade. To learn these secrets the old-fashioned way--one-on-one. 

That’s something you simply can’t get from an e-book or seminar. 

That’s why the best way to impart my knowledge to you is directly with you. 

Not in group classes… or by having to read or fill out workbooks, where you are always wondering, “How is this going to help me get better?”

You will learn, as I did, the old-school way: by listening, taking notes, talking things out, and writing and rewriting, until you get it right. 

In other words, I will take you by the hand and walk you down the Yellow Brick Road of the copywriting business so that you can grab your own pot of gold. 

If you have read this far, I hope you’ve gotten a feel for how much I love this business that has been so good to me and why I would like to share its blessings with others.    

If you are at all considering a career in copywriting, I do hope you choose a career as a financial copywriter.  You’ll never again have to sit in some office cubby writing meaningless brochures or flyers for people who don’t appreciate your talent. 

You’ll be working with the country’s top financial publishers, who will pay you a king's ransom in fees and royalties to produce winners.   If you can sell the golden dream as I have, you will be golden too. 

In part II of Selling the Golden Dream: How to Make it BIG as a Financial Copywriter, I will walk you through one of my most successful email promotions. 

There you’ll see how I use my Million-Dollar Copywriting Formula to walk the reader down the Yellow Brick Road all the way to the order form.  

As I do, I will point out the many things you will learn as a part of my coaching program.  You won’t want to miss it because this piece generated $250,000 in sales each time it was sent out and about $50,000 for me. 

As you’ll see, it’s a lesson all by itself.    Look for it next tomarrow.  

All good wishes, 


Doug D’Anna, Copywriter and Creator of
The Million-Dollar Copywriting Formula

P.S.  If the idea of making it BIG as an A-list copywriter appeals to you and you want to make sure you are on my coaching launch list,click here to receive the announcement.    

I’m only accepting 10 copywriters into the program. When you’re on the list, you’ll get a one-day heads up to sign up.