Ordinary RW scam, or something more sinister?

[tanyev]

This week I received an offer in my inbox, via Townhall.com, for a opportunity that will allow me to retire early. Yeah, right.

COULD YOU REALLY "RETIRE" THIS YEAR...
And Still Make More Income Than Most Doctors?

Absolutely. My name is Paul Hollingshead. I "work" a few hours a day. Recently, I moved with my family to a little historic town in the Vermont countryside. I have no bosses, no commute.

Instead I write letters. Just one or two a month, from a little cottage steps from my house, where I'm surrounded by peace and quiet.

But what may surprise you most is the income my "retirement" lifestyle gives me: around $400,000 a year. Let me explain how...

Yadda, yadda, yadda. I automatically headed for the "Delete" button because I knew it was just a come on to get Billy Bob Freeper to part with some of his hard earned money and the only one making money off of this deal is the person cashing BBF's check.

But...a thought occurred to me, so I decided to follow some of the links. An hour later, I emerged from the rabbit hole not knowing much more than when I went in. The main site is http://www.awaionline.com/, but there are many, many sites with different names that either point back to AWAI (American Writers & Artists, Inc., based in Del Ray, FL), or contain much of the same information as the AWAI sites. And, interestingly enough, the very few sites I found where people complained about AWAI had some quick responses from AWAI defending themselves or a person "who had no connection to AWAI" agreeing, yeah, I don't like their sales pitch, but I tried their product anyway, and wow! it is great stuff! Ahuh. Do they do daily internet sweeps to check what is being said about them? We'll see.

Basically, you pay about $500 for all of their course materials (You can pay in $39 installments!) which will then teach you how to become a copywriter. Here is the part that caught my eye:

It’s much like writing a best-selling book. The more often your letters are printed and circulated (whether it’s via mail or the internet), the more you get paid. And considering products are typically promoted every six weeks, royalties can really add up. I’ve written letters that have paid me tens of thousands of dollars... simply because they mail so successfully time after time. (In fact, as I write you today, I’m still getting about $10,000 every three months for a letter I wrote four years ago. That’s over $160,000 in income for about two-week’s work...and checks are still rolling in!)
http://www.thewriterslife.com/retirementlifestyle/

If you're like me, you've often wondered, "WHERE DO ALL THESE RIGHT WING EMAILS ON THE INTERNET COME FROM?" You can hit "Reply All" and send them a debunking link to Snopes, you can compose your own rebuttal to them, but they NEVER die! They get forwarded ad nauseum. Is this the laboratory? I really don't know, it's just a throught that struck me as I read all the self-promotional websites. And then there's user reviews on Amazon and astroturf LTTEs that hit all the Republican talking points so perfectly. None of the people who forward that stuff to me would ever take the time to write anything like that themselves, but they sure love to pass it on to their entire contact list.

Oh, and they do resume writing, too. How many Republicans got busted recently for lying on their resumes? Just who did they hire to write those resumes? Hmmm????

In fairness, I did search some of the few names I could find associated with the company on opensecrets.org, and I did not find any of them listed at all. That could either mean that there is no political connection, or that they deliberately do not make large enough contributions to be tracked.

I am tempted to send them $39 for the first (fully refundable!) packet of information, but if it is a RW front, it's probably like the Masons and you have to get up into the upper echelons before you learn the real dirt. If any DUers have had direct contact with this group, I'd love to hear about it.

[blogslut]

1. I'm going to guess

That company makes most of its money off the folks that pay for the courses.

[ima_sinnic]

2. AWAI is a legitimate organization and has nothing to do with RW

--their course materials are excellent. You learn the "secrets" of direct mail copywriting--you know, those long letters that come with every kind of appeal, whether Repuke, Democratic, or apolitical, such as for the March of Dimes or to subscribe to magazines, etc.

Some people of course use their skills to write for repukes, I will use mine to write fund appeals for Dem candidates.

I have bought the course and am very impressed not only with it but also with their follow-up, student forums, referrals to clients, and multitudinous opportunities to learn and make money.

[tanyev]

6. Have you made any money on it yet?

[ima_sinnic]

8. I have not even TRIED to make money with it yet

I've been so busy with my freelance copy editing I have not had time to thoroughly digest the materials or do the exercises.
There is absolutely no scam involved here. You do the work and, just like any field, apply yourself to making it into something.
There is also some talent involved -- either that, or an arduous struggle to write compelling conversational prose that makes somebody feel like they want to spend money right now on something.
A classic example is the ad that begins "They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano ..." --the course materials include a complete annotation and analysis of that letter as well as 49 others that display the principles of salesmanship and are considered "classics" or outstanding.

Of course, not everybody agrees with the basic premise of advertising, which is to get people to buy something. But it's all part of the "game" of life in 21st-century America, and the world for that matter. You can play the game and make some money, or be purist and be broke.
Since I have writing ability plus ability to relate to people and their problems plus talents for persuasion, this would work for me--but as I said I have not involved myself in it enough yet. And also as I said, I would use it only for causes/products I myself believed in (one of the principles of succeeding at it, anyway).

The only complaint I have seen (on the AWAI student forums) is that there is too much hype at the beginning about how much money you can make. Only those who can write so well that their letters result in huge responses, or that outdo the tried and tested letters, can really command the big bucks (American Express, for example, used the same letter for 28(?) years before one came along that surpasssed it in profitability, i.e., numbers of people who applied for AmEx cards as a result of the letter. Whoever wrote that next one stands to make a ton of moola in royalties, just as the original writer probably retired long ago.)

[tanyev]

13. Thanks for your information and insights.

Since you are a lot more knowledgeable about the writing world than I am, do you have any theories about who authors all of those anonymous RW emails? Some of them are just forwards of RW columnists, etc., but a lot of them are unsourced half-truths or flat-out lies written to provoke an emotional response. The people who forward them to me never bother to check them, never even think of questioning the "facts". Is there a secure room somewhere deep in a RW think tank full of monkeys sitting at keyboards? This has been an irritant of mine for a long time.

[ima_sinnic]

14. I do theorize the existence of just what you describe

I do believe there are paid operatives who do nothing but cruise discussion forums, write scheist and also spy and glean info. They might not be physically in the RW "monkey house" but maybe working independently, home-office operatives, but still with some kind of "central command" that pays them. I have seen what I believe to be several here on DU; I'm sure they are reading this "as I write."

on edit, a little while later: I just remembered, it seems to me, someone here on DU posting a news article or something, some kind of writeup about this, maybe two years ago. Man, that is a vague memory but that is why I do believe it exists.

[LouisianaLiberal]

3. www.ripoffreport.com

I didn't find them at ripoff report.com. But I wouldn't invest any more money in this. I don't mean to discourage you, imma sinnic, but this sort of scheme has been around for a very long time (I'm not familiar with this one, but it's very similar to other very common scams.) Only the scammers will make money.



Just for fun (from ripoffreport.com)
The following is a response to a complaint about a new bible college:

Unfortunately there are still folks who do not have anything better to do with there time but cause chaos to people who strive to do postive things. Christian fellowship church has started a ministers college which is still in the developmental stages yes it is advertised with in the individual churches as a option to those interested in attending a biblical based college and is free to all who desire to attend.

It was created with the sole purpose of educatiing people in biblical truths doctrine and history far to many colleges teach theology but not bible we just chose to do something different to which I do not believe we violated any laws and futher more how many colleges and university have started with a group of people wanting to educate those with a willingness to learnand were not accreddited but are today?

we must remember that nothing happens over night even the accredidation proscess. all we are simly doing is offering to tech people about the bible and the history around its writings.Is that something one should condemn if so every college, private and public school in america whose goal to educate should be condemned all americans walk around dumb and ignorant!

As for the lack of schooling and education many of the founders of our HBCU did not have college degrees but look at them now all fully accredited schools and what about the harvards and princetons, yales or other colleges that may have just started this year alone.

let us not condemn one unless you are willing to condemn all.education is key whether christian or other wise if you are willing to condemn a bible college what else are you willing to condemn!. so to rap up this I say to the accuser Get Over It Man!

Okiema - Norfolk, Virginia
U.S.A.

[Akoto]

5. I do want to add that ...

While ripoffreport can be a great indication of a risky business, it's also the origin of a lot of falsehoods. :) Often, a legit business can be slandered there because someone didn't follow the instructions or expected to get rich overnight (which just doesn't happen in a real business).

I own an at-home business under a great company, and despite posts on ripoffreport, I have zero complaints. Just a warning to take what you read there with a grain of salt. ;)

[tanyev]

7. I did find this on the ripoff report.

Somebody posted, asking about AWAI, and this was followed by a lot of glowing responses. So glowing, in fact, that one person noticed--

Curious As Well

Just yesterday, I received the same mailing. I am not certain the company truly can live up to what it promises in all areas. After reading comments on this site, I am a little more concerned because some of the "glowing" praise happens to be from people that were included in the mailing material I received. For all I know, they could be faked by the company or paid to say nice things.

Does anyone not associated with the company and not included in their "praise" sheet have anything to add?

T. - Jericho, Vermont
U.S.A.
http://ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff65562.htm

There are so many glowing reports out there it makes me wonder if that's the main way a respondent earns any money at all.

[ima_sinnic]

10. you don't know what you are talking about. this is not a "scam"

--so easy for people to "know it all" without even investigating.
I invite you to get the free 30-day examination of the course materials, THEN pass judgment.

[elehhhhna]

4. If they don't use a writng test to determine admissions, you are simply

buying a textbook, not a "course". Just sayin'.

[ima_sinnic]

9. it is a course because all of your writing is evaluated and commented on

--you are given assignments and they are graded. Those who do it well are given paying assignments by clients who go to AWAI looking for writers--those who write REALLY well are given paid assignments even before they finished the course. Those who don't do it so well are simply not given work.

[elehhhhna]

11. Cool. From whom do they get paid assignments--on thier own or

through the institute? The exercizes DO help you amass a "book" for marketing purposes. If the INst. lets your services be careful re: signing a long-term agreement, particuliarly if there's a noncompete clause (watch for this in advet temp agencies, also...)

My sis left a Big Ad Firm 10 years ago and never looked back. She's a freelance copywriter and busts her clients for $150.00 and HOUR (GO SIS!)

IF it's a legit org, and you can stand to market yourself (some people can't bring themselves to --eek!-- "SELL" anything, including their own services), go for it.

[elehhhhna]

12. friendly helpful tip to future self-employed:

When you have too much biz it's time for a RATE INCREASE! YAY!