I'd like to take this opportunity to share with you my copywriting journey. You may have heard bits and pieces, but I would like to connect the dots for you, in hopes that you can enjoy the same level of success.

One might say it starts in high school, where I was voted most talkative.

You see, I have always been gregarious by nature. I happen to like people. I just love to talk; I think this originally came from a position of being shy.

 

Talking was a part of my anxiety to overcome it. In the beginning, I was the guy who talked too much. I am now too.

 

But I have simply embraced this part of my personality because that is who I am.

Along the way, I discovered this to be a strength, as most people you meet are simply reserved.

 

In fact, the people I get along with most are shy, reserved, and loners.

 

But I never thought that because I got them to open up.

That said, it was only natural that when I got to college, my major was speech communication.

After all, as a talker, I thought there would be no writing.

Yet, I did not think of any of the assignments as writing. They were simply speeches to persuade, entertain, or inform. I just didn’t know it

 

Here's my journey.

• Transfer to Skyline College to wrestle
• Co-op ed teacher offers help in getting jobs
• Tells me he is a member of the Screen Actors Guild
• Helps me write a letter to a casting agency for part-time work on movies
• Transfer to SDSU, join fraternity
• Fraternity advisor gets me job as assistant to concert promoter at San Diego State
• Write letters to get internships
• Move home, secure internship at Bill Graham Presents via letter and cold call
• Meet singer on movie set
• Singer tells me about a restaurant that needs an advertising guy; I call and get hired
• Two days later, friend hires me as marketing director
• Write first direct mail package, drop off at printers
• Discover copywriter opportunities in printer's magazine
• Join organizations, cold call potential clients
• First job writing letter for bank, $500
• Realize calling in letter writing
• Work with Target Publishing on inserts, learn about royalties
• Brief career switch to real estate, take Dale Carnegie class where I learn how to sell
• Return to direct marketing
• Sell jobs over phone, landing big gig with Phillips Publishing
• Write promotion for $10,000, later offered penny royalty
• They mailed over 25 million pieces
• Its success led to a feature interview in a major magazine; phone starts ringing
• More successes establish my name as a top copywriter in the business
• Get hired by every major publishing company
• Make $0 in 1989 to averaging $250K for 30 years, $400K for 20 of those years, and $500K for some of those years

Moral of the story.

I believe the master key to my success was two-fold:

1. My curiosity to sniff out opportunities and to go for them.
2. Embrace my unique traits, for they can lead to unexpected successes.

Bottom line:

My journey from a talkative high school student to a celebrated copywriter shows that sometimes, our greatest strengths lie in what we once considered our weaknesses.

By turning my love for people and persuasion into a career, I learned that every experience, every conversation, and every connection can pave the way to achieving your dreams.

 

This curiosity and proactive approach were key in opening doors to my career, one step (or should I say, phone call) at a time can pay off in droves.

That’s the magic that happens when you align your passion with your profession. When you do the same thing, you could enjoy similar results.

All good wishes,

Doug

P.S. I have outlined my journey in my "How to Sell Yourself as a Copywriter" sales guide. It's the same path I followed that led to my success.

I created it in hopes that you could enjoy the same level of success as I have enjoyed in 2025. It promises you three clients in 90 days if you simply follow the path I lay out.

Here’s the link to learn more along with a special discount.