Hi Everyone,

No axe to grind here, just offering up some truth. I've often thought that if the athorities got involved, Michael Masterson would have a lot of explaining to do.

I live near AWAI in Delray Beach Florida and know people connected to the company in one way or another. Ahh, the stories I could tell. His own people know what kind of guy he is but I'm not into name-calling so I'll keep all that to myself.

Michael Masterson is doing one of his big seminars nearby this week. One of the talks he gave a couple days ago was how to get rich in business and "not lose any sleep."

The guy is shameless.

Now he is busy selling property in a developement called Rancho Santana in Nicaragua. The place is a ghost town, but he makes all sort of wild promises... as usual.

As for me, yes I'm a copywriter but work mostly on my own stuff.

Respectfully,

Tim

Someone sent me the AWAI course some time
last year when I got started in copywriting.

I read about 4 pages and chucked it aside.

It seemed to make more sense to me to just
go out and write some damn salesletters instead
of reading a bunch of material about writing
salesletters.

The way I saw it was like this...

I can read this huge manual, and not get paid!

Or...

I can just write some letters now and get paid!

It wasn't a tough decision.

Mark Ford = Michael Masterson.

I guess I never understood the need to hide behind a fictitious name.

My understanding is that Mark Ford was arrested and charged with mail fraud some years ago. People started calling him Mark "Fraud", hence the need for a new identity, Michael Masterson.

I've been told this story numerous times by people within AWAI/Agora... on numerous occasions.

Within the company, it's pretty much general knowledge.

Thanks everyone! I just signed up for the course, and I wanted to make sure i hadn't wasted my $$$!

It sounds like AWAI is a good place to start. I will just keep coming here to learn what's hype and what's not.

It's just like many of the classes I have taken in college, there's the "book learnin'" that tells you how it was supposed to work, and there's the 30 books you have to read after college on the subject that tell you how to apply it.

Thanks!
Brian

Brian,

I have the AWAI course. I can credit it for lighting a fire under my arse, but I've only read the first installment. I haven't had time to read the rest. I've been too busy making money with my writing. You'll hear both good and bad about AWAI. They won't make you a six-figure writer; it's up to you to do that.

Use that course as a springboard. It's not a bad course; you can just learn more by frequenting forums like this one and investing in some good books from respected copywriters/marketers. And like Jason said, just start writing. That's what I did.

Good luck!

Thanks Deb. : )

I understand things are imploding at Michael Masterson's AWAI (American Writers and Artists Inc). Scams, money laundering, mail fraud, lies, etc.

Sales of the copywritng programs have tanked, layoffs are imminent.

American Writers and Artists Inc/Michael Masterson SCAM RIPOFF SWINDLE

By the way, I guess I should do a little intro. I'm a corporate copywriter. Actually, I write for 6 different companies all wrapped together. I realize freelancers look at us corporate guys as tied to an office, 9 to 5ers, but I never have to worry where my next job will come from, benefits are great, (especially if you have a family), and I work with some really great, fun people. Guess I'm sort of a team player. And frankly, the pay is wonderful.

And I never go to bed at night saying, "Man, I really wasted today!"

I write lots of web content, white papers, postcards, press releases, magazine articles, direct mail pieces, after sale materials, fliers for sales reps in the field, etc. If variety is the spice of life, my job is pretty spicy.

Biggest problem? I've been trying to get my title changed from "Marketing Copywriter" to "Creative Content Specialist" but nobody is listening.