Why I took Clayton Seriously
(and you should too!)
When He said,
"Beg, BORROW, or Steal"

Hiya Fellow Copywriter,

If you're wondering whether you should attend
Clayton Makepeace's seminar in 07, you will
absolutely want to read every word of this
important message!

Because I'm gonna share with you a little bit
about my 'life changing' story about going and
why I think you should too!

Earlier this year, Clayton started piking his first
summit - with the price tag of $5,000... and at
the time I was working a new sales job and did
NOT have the money to go.

But everything I had read of Makepeace's was
so on point ... and he was so successful ... and
Peter Stone's blog posts pointing out the fact
that this was THE seminar to be at if you
wanted to make it as a copywriter...

A fool idea

Plus, what Clayton was offering was giving me a
crazy idea. He was holding the copywriters
challenge and basically you'd write a sales letter
for a product he chose and submit it before the
seminar and if you won first place you'd get
guaranteed work with him - up to $25k in fees!

It got me thinking, Just Maybe, I could borrow
the money to go and I'm good enough to win the
contest and I could pay back the money I
borrowed to go!

Luckily, I'm a fool!

So I set my plan in motion, and didn't look back.

I ended up writing a sales letter selling all the
points of the seminar, why it was worth the
mulah ... a bullet list of how I could make money
just by going, even if I didn't win the contest ...
proof of how Gary Halbert already loved my earlier
writing so this would be a sure thing ... and a
clear call to action "just write me a check!"

The only people who I could think of who
possibly had the money was my mom and her new
husband. I emailed her the letter ... she said I
should drive the two hours to talk to her and
her husband about it, so I did ... feeling the same
adrenaline buzz I always did before a sales call

They said yes. We called the company up, got
their address, filled out the paperwork,
and made plans for my mom to mail the money
and application the next day.

The Summit is Amazing ...

Wrote the letter, finished it at 2am the day before
the deadline. Here's a link to it:

http://www.closerinprint.com/CoQ10%20Draft%204.pdf

I thought for sure I'd win. I go to the seminar,
The very first day I meet a life long idol of mine,
Matt Furey and his brother Sean Furey who just
happens to live in VA about 2 hours north of me!

He also just happens to need a 'web guy' so we
decide to work together in the future.

Meet a ton of other people ... Talked to John Carlton
(hint: telling him you just swiped one of his headlines
for a recent project doesn't impress him ) Met
David Deutsch, Kent Komae, Peter Stone, Parris
Lampropoulis, and sat next to Daniel Levis through
the whole seminar - I was pretty surprised when he
went up on stage to start talking.

Harsh conditions

The summit was luxurious... my life was not! I was
so broke, I came home the second night to find my
light switches didn't work (aka, I couldn't afford the
electric bill!) ... cold shower in the morning ... bummed
$20 off my dad for gas money to drive to DC and pay
the parking ... made more connections the second
day ... learned more million dollar copy secrets!

I'm kinda embarrassed to be sharing this part, but you
have to understand however stretching it might be for
you to pay for the summit ... I'm pretty sure I was more
broke - but it's called 'do or die' ...

... It's called "brass balls"

... it's called not taking no for an answer!

Sometimes in life, you just gotta rush into battle and
burn the ships you sailed in on!

Did I win !?!?!

So my letter is good. But not good enough. My
Psycho Cybernetics goal card in my wallet says I'll win
first place, but I wind up winning an honorable mention
instead - aim for the moon and you'll at least land
among the stars!

But the first and second place winners both live a
little north of me in Virginia and we formed a copywriting
'cell' and crit each other's copy - invaluable!

Why didn't I win? I'm an idiot! haha. Clayton spends
months talking about dominant emotion heads and leads,
and when I'm writing the letter and I'm saying to myself
"I could either go with a 'make them the bad guy' approach
or straight benefits" I go with a benefits theme and head!

Oh well, everythings a learning experience!

So was it worth the investment?

Absolutely!

1. I just turned 21 seven days ago ... and not to be
****y but I learned a ton and write like I've been doing this
MUCH longer...

2. I made HOT contacts which have all turned into
work for me or will VERY soon (new years) be ...

3. I have a hot copy sample from the contest, and an
award from the top dawg copywriter that says it's awesome
- GREAT for landing clients...

4. I made some life long fellow copywriter friends ...

5. My name is in the heads of chiefs at big DM houses ... and
on Clayton's website more than once ...

6. I got to flirt with all the cute girls from response ink,
believe me, there's no shortage

IF you are serious, You absolutely SHOULD go!

I'm gonna do my best to attend this year.

I recommend you should as well. I haven't gotten my affiliate
links from Julie yet, but When I do, I'll have them up here
for you guys if you think you'd like to throw some cash my
way.

I actually finally made up my mind about going this year
after reading a Peter Stone blog post, so when I signed up I
used his affiliate link and because I paid by check I made sure
he got credit for the sale because he was the one who 'closed'
me.

So there you have it. My embarrising, strange but true, story
of how I beg, borrowed and (thankfully!) didn't have to steal -
but still made it happen!

Caleb OSborne

P.S. The lights are back on now, and all the sacrifices have
paid off!

So exactly how much money did you make as a result of this seminar?

A fair question. Here's another. How much does the average participant in one of your seminars make as a result of attending?

Fair question.

Some people have gone on to start their own businesses and have done very well.

Some people who attended my Value Based Copywriting seminar have made tens of thousands of dollars in a very short period.

In fact, last year's group came with a guarantee that if the people did what I taught and didn't make back their money, I would refund every dime.

I know that one of our good friends, Leah Carson has done extremely well.

If I remember correctly, it was only a month or so after she went to Harlan's private "un-seminar" (not sure what it was called), she was able to quit her job and become a full-fledged, freelance copywriter... Way to go Leah!

She told me in many PM's how Harlan's training completely changed her life and her financial situation... she also told me that if Harlan ever does this again, I need to attend (no matter what the cost)... I might just have to take her up on this.

Last time we spoke she told me she doesn't have much time to post here anymore... she's just too darn busy these days!

I wouldn't be surprised if she hasn't doubled her income by now.

I like the question, Doc.

A better question might be...

"So exactly how much money did you make as a result of DOING SOMETHING with what you LEARNED at this seminar?

(not making assumptions about Caleb...)

Just a side note:

Far too many people think the magic is in participating in the coaching program, attending the seminar, buying the "next big kit." When... the magic is in DOING!

The statement...

"Knowledge Is Power" is BS.

Knowledge is not power.

Rather...

"The acquisition of knowledge and the application of knowledge will make you a very powerful person for the rest of your life." -- JP Maroney

Well said JP!

I agree with this 100%.

Yup, APPLIED KNOWLEDGE is power.

Very true.

Some can "do" on their own without needing coaching or mentoring... and some can't. No harm being a mentorship participant or not-- as long as you "do".

I'm surprised that a bunch of writers misinterpreted my question. For clarity, I'll restate, just the question.

How much does the AVERAGE participant make as a result of attending one of YOUR seminars?

This means, I'm not looking for anecdotal stories about remarkable participants. I'm curious what happens to the average person. I want to know if you manage to pull of the remarkable and change the lives of, oh say, 5% of the participants?