If you’re thinking about buying an online copywriting training program, read this first.
A little over a year ago, I invested $2500 into a well-known copywriting program.
I already knew how to do copywriting. So, I joined mainly for one of the “bonuses”: access to a private job board.
To be fair, that job board worked. I got several leads and responses to my applications.
I landed a really great client from it — and that experience catalyzed me to start talking about God and the Bible more in my content (not just marketing).
That was fantastic. It opened up MASSIVE doors. It got me posting on TikTok. It generated lots of new leads from social media, and repeat business from existing clients who saw what I was doing and wanted to do the same.
So in my case, I made my money back.
But I know many copywriters in the program didn’t make their investment back.
And now—over a year later—that job board is being removed and moved behind a different paid membership.
…Which I personally have zero interest in joining right now.
So the one thing that did produce a result… is no longer included for the graduates of the program.
Legally, they might be able to remove the bonus. But ETHICALLY, it definitely breaks trust.
But here’s the real reason I’m sharing this with you:
This isn’t just about one program. This demonstrates a pattern I’m seeing across the online education space, where “money grabs” are prioritized over clients’ real hands-on learning and application.
Most education programs sell you on:
– Access (telling you to “get around other people” who can open doors for you)
– Bonuses (which may or may not go away)
– “Opportunities” (many of which are not tangible, measurable, or repeatable)
But they don’t always teach you how to consistently create your own results outside of their program.
They try to make you dependent on staying in the program.
Those bonuses can disappear or change. They were never the real asset to begin with.
The biggest promise in the aforementioned program was:
“You’ll land a client in week one.”
The idea was to choose from dozens of businesses who wanted free copywriting, and write an entire funnel for them — and you could then use these written assets in your portfolio.
I followed the process. I wrote an entire funnel for a real-life business. I did the outreach.
And he never responded. There’s no trace of him online.
That’s when I realized something:
Landing clients isn’t about having more access to better people, or being part of more programs.
All you need is to know how to start real conversations, position your offer, and close the deal.
Real conversations, not scripts.
Deep conversations, not surface level outreach.
…And you can do this without relying on someone else’s job board, system, or “A-lister” pipeline. (News flash: they’re not A-List anything if they disappear from the internet. 💀)
When you have the skill of talking to people, it doesn’t matter if someone goes back on their word and removes a program feature a year later, because they had trouble delivering on it.
You can go out and get clients anyway.
If you’re thinking about investing in a copywriting program right now, I’m not saying don’t do it.
But what I am saying is this:
Access doesn’t instantly mean you have the ability to land a client.
And don’t rely on anything you don’t fully control.
Learn how to turn high-value conversations into profits.
If you want help actually landing your first (or next) dream client—without depending on a job board—
Just reply “CLIENT” to this email.
I’ll show you exactly what I’d focus on instead.
Michelle
Copywriter, Author,
The Anti-Marketing Manifesto: How to Sell Without Being a Sellout
Michelle Lopez Boggs is a copywriter and author of "The Anti-Marketing Manifesto: How to Sell Without Being a Sellout." She's helped her clients sell millions of dollars' worth of products and services online by using the MEI(S) principle — motivate, educate, and inspire, and sell. 