SUBJECT: Spend the weekend with Bob Bly and direct-mail giant Boardroom Inc.



Exclusive Copywriter's Retreat with Bob Bly and
 Boardroom Inc.

You're invited to receive very private, very direct
guidance from Bob Bly -- a $500,000- a-year copywriter.

You'll also get three chances to get your toe in the 
door of direct-mail powerhouse Boardroom Inc. (They mail 
50 million pieces every year!)

You'll learn a ton of high-level marketing and 
copywriting secrets ...

You'll learn how to get more clients than you ever 
dreamed possible ...

You'll learn how to write more powerful copy than 99% of 
the other freelance copywriters out there...

And, you'll have a whole lot of fun!

*****

I'm hosting a very small, very exclusive event in April, 
and I'd like to invite you to join me. 

Here's the scoop ...

AWAI had an idea recently about how to get copywriters 
on a very fast track. A new and unique approach that 
brings together a small group of dedicated copywriting 
students with a client who is looking for writers.

The idea was to take a core group of students and focus 
on a few extremely powerful copywriting secrets that are 
not normally taught in the regular or masters AWAI
Copywriting programs, to explore them in depth, and 
apply them to specific situations.

And that's when we heard from Brian Kurtz, Executive VP 
and 24-year veteran of Boardroom Inc.

Boardroom was founded by Martin Edelston with start-up 
capital of $3,000 and a promotion written by Gene 
Schwartz with the headline "Now You Can Read 300 
Business Magazines in 30 Minutes and Get the Guts of 
Every One in a Form You Can't Forget."   Today, 
Boardroom is one of the most successful direct-response 
newsletter and book publishers in the country -- mailing 
50 million pieces a year. 

Boardroom is also a "diamond" client, sought after by 
every serious direct-response copywriter because (a) 
they appreciate and depend on great copy and (b) they 
are always looking for freelance copywriters who can 
help them generate more sales. 

Brian came to AWAI a month or so ago with a request: he 
has 3 separate products for which Boardroom wants to 
test new promotions. 

They want to spend a few days hunkered down with 
writers, brainstorming ways to break their advertising 
through to a new level. 

Brian wants to come away with at least two or three 
promos for each product. That's six to nine different 
promotions. And they're happy to pay a fee for each 
promo they test.

"Brian," I said, "it's funny you should bring this up. 
We recently did something very similar ... a copywriting 
Bootcamp that brought together AWAI students with Agora 
Health, a publisher of healthcare newsletters and books.

"The client got several great ads out of the retreat, 
and gave paying assignments to 1/3 of the AWAI students 
who attended. Why don't we create something similar for 
you?"

"Bob," he said, "you're on."

And that brings us to where we are today.

What I'm talking about is unlike anything that's offered 
elsewhere -- including our yearly copywriting Bootcamp. 

In fact, it's not really a seminar at all. It's a 
copywriter's retreat -- with actual assignments to work 
on.

That's why it's taking place in a very private, very 
exclusive environment. 

We're going to send this invitation only to small 
sections of our student file at one time, because we are 
concerned that it will sell out very quickly. 

(In fact, it's quite possible that it will already be 
sold out by the time you read this. If so, please don't 
be upset.)

You see, I can do just one or two of these retreats each 
year. That's how much preparation and work will go into 
it. 

And it's going to be a very intensive effort for me, 
because I'm going to give each of you a great deal of 
attention. You're not just going to be one in a crowd.  
That's what makes the potential rewards so great.

So, here's the situation:

On April 14 - 17, a small group of copywriters (no more 
than 20) are going to meet at the Marriott Hotel located 
across the street from Boardroom's headquarters in 
Stamford, CT. 

I will be hosting the event and personally working with 
all the copywriters who attend.

David Deutsch, one of Boardroom's top freelance 
copywriters, will be there to share his views on how to 
write winning promotions for Boardroom newsletters and 
books. And to work with you on your copy.

If you asked me to make a list of the 5 best ... and most 
successful ... freelance DM copywriters working today, 
David would most certainly be on that list. And not at 
the bottom, either!

One of Boardroom's favorite graphic artists, Lori Haller 
-- a popular presenter at the AWAI Bootcamp -- will be 
there too.  Lori is one of the top designers in the 
business today.  Brian says she has a natural instinct 
about design and text - she knows when a designer needs 
to go outrageous or be more subdued.

I have worked on numerous projects with Lori. Between 
us, we will show you how you and the designer can work 
together more effectively -- to produce winners for your 
clients.

And the Boardroom team - Brian Kurtz, Executive Vice 
President, Michele Wolk, Creative Director, Rita 
Shankewitz, Marketing Director, and other Boardroom 
creative experts - Carman Suarez, Mary Kostyk, Benedette 
Knopik and others will be there, with samples of the 3 
products for which they need promotions. 

You'll be able to work on any or all of these 3 spec 
assignments.

If Boardroom likes what they see, you may be given the 
opportunity to write a full promotion for them ... and 
they will pay for any promotions they decide to test!

And here's the "glicken" ... the icing on the cake ...

Martin Edelston -- legendary direct marketer and founder 
of Boardroom -- will be there on Sunday morning to share 
some of the secrets that helped him build Boardroom from 
an idea in his head into the direct-marketing powerhouse 
it is today ... as well as personally answer your 
questions.

Marty, now at an age when many men retire, could 
certainly afford to do so ... but he doesn't, because he 
is having too much fun.

However, he almost never goes to DM events or speaks at 
conferences anymore -- so this is a rare opportunity for 
you to learn at the feet of the master firsthand.


---------------------------------------------
A Once-In-A-Lifetime Career Opportunity
-----------------------------------------------

If your pulse isn't pounding with excitement at the 
thought of having this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to 
write for Boardroom, let me be clear about why joining 
us at this retreat may be the most important business 
decision of your copywriting career. 

In direct response, there are only a handful of diamond 
clients ... companies that the top freelance copywriters 
all want to write for. 

These diamond clients live and die by the quality of 
their promo copy. So they pay for ... and mail ... only the 
very best and strongest copy.

There are only about half a dozen or so true diamond 
clients in all of direct marketing: Agora ... Phillips 
... Rodale ...KCI... Weiss Research ...Soundview and, of 
course, Boardroom.

Boardroom mails more than 50 million pieces of direct 
mail annually to promote its 20+ newsletters, books, and 
annuals.

Most of their promotions are magalogs for information 
products in health, taxes, money saving, business, and 
related areas ... long-copy promotions requiring the 
highest degree of copywriting skill and expertise.

Boardroom assigns approximately 40 DM packages to 
various freelance copywriters each year -- and the fees 
they pay are the most generous in the industry. 

It literally took me 20 years in the copywriting 
business to get a shot at writing for Boardroom ... 
that's how tough a nut Boardroom is to crack!

But by signing up for this one-time-only AWAI writer's 
retreat, you get a shot at writing for Boardroom years, 
even decades, earlier in your career than I did ... even 
if you've never freelanced for any other client before. 

That opportunity to work on these 3 spec assignments for 
Boardroom is guaranteed to the first 20 AWAI students to 
respond to this invitation.

And knowing how smart and ambitious you guys are, I 
expect the phone here at AWAI will be ringing off the 
hook as soon as this message hits our students' email 
inboxes.

So, to ensure your place at the Boardroom retreat, call 
Barb or Scott at 866-879-2924. Or click here now: 
http://www.awaionline.com/boardroom/bb49

By the way, preparing for this retreat is so labor-
intensive ... both for us and for Boardroom ... that Brian 
told me confidentially, "Even if we get great copy from 
the AWAI students, Bob, I don't know that we'll ever 
have time to do this again."

So, this Boardroom Bootcamp is truly a unique 
opportunity for you to get a foot in the door with the 
most prestigious client in DM ... and once it's over, it 
is unlikely we will ever repeat it again.


--------------------------------------------------------
Here's The Preliminary Agenda For What May Be The 
Most Important Copywriting Opportunity Of Your Career
--------------------------------------------------------

We'll meet at the Marriott Hotel in Stamford, CT. The 
hotel is across the street from both Boardroom's 
headquarters and the Stamford Mall. 

To save you money, we've negotiated a special rate of 
$109 per night plus tax for our participants (discounted 
from the regular room rate at this time of year). 

The retreat kicks off with a Welcome Reception from 6 to 
7 p.m. on Thursday, April 14. Dinner is available at any 
of the hotel's restaurants or at the Stamford Mall, 
right across the street.  Afterward, I'll be around for 
hours to talk to you personally.

On Friday, April 15, we'll provide a complimentary 
buffet breakfast, starting at 8 a.m., to be held in 
Boardroom's conference room.

At 9 a.m. sharp, we get to work.

First off, Brian and his core team will give you the 
Boardroom assignments. They'll talk about each product's 
USP, its hot points, their prospect, past promo efforts, 
their competition, where the promo will run, and more.  
They'll talk about the overall marketing strategies that 
have worked for Boardroom over the years.

Next, we'll go over the Core Desire of the prospect, the 
4 U's, and several approaches to copywriting projects -- 
including the Boardroom style, format, "fascinations," 
and more. 

We'll talk about how to hook your prospect ... and we'll 
start talking about the approaches and copy styles that 
would work best for Boardroom products.

Then before we break for lunch, we'll tour the Boardroom 
facility. This is a rare chance to get a firsthand look 
at a major direct-response operation. (You don't need a 
car; it's less than a block from the hotel to their 
office.) 

With luck, you'll get to meet and shake hands with some 
of the top Boardroom marketing staff -- the people who 
may be calling on you soon to handle a lucrative 
copywriting assignment for them!  

We'll have a lunch break from 12 to 1. Lunch is 
available at a number of restaurants in the hotel, the 
mall, and nearby. You'll be free to go on your own or in 
groups. 

After lunch, you're going to start writing. You'll work 
on headlines and openings (the first three to five 
paragraphs) for your promo.

Then, we'll break into 2 or 3 groups in order to do peer 
reviews on everyone's copy -- and ratchet it up to 
breakthrough levels.

We'll come back together for a panel review -- where 
we'll cover questions, hot tips, and do a further 
analysis of how to write a winner, Boardroom style. 

By the end of the day, you'll know more about 
Boardroom's products, marketing approach, and copy style 
than 99% of the working copywriters in the country!

On Saturday, there's another complimentary buffet 
breakfast -- and we get to work at 8 a.m. Make sure 
you've had a good night's sleep, because we're going to 
hit the ground running.  We'll start with feedback from 
Brian on what you've done so far. Then, we're back into 
techniques and secrets ...

Emotion, research techniques, "golden nuggets," the 
"halo effect," and more. Plus, we'll investigate the 
space requirements of writing for information products 
and how to keep your copy from meandering off the path 
and running out of steam. 

I'll talk about how to close the promo and make sure you 
cover the all-important "little details" -- critical 
secrets like the "tipping point" and "drop in the 
bucket."

We'll break for lunch and then it's back to work again ...

You'll write the body copy for the first page or two of 
your promo -- and punch up your headlines and leads. 
Brian and I will be available to consult with as you 
work.

Then, it's back to peer reviews to evaluate what you've 
done and brainstorm ways to make your promo even better.

We'll wrap up the day with another panel session to 
answer questions -- and then we'll break for dinner.

Dinner will be at one of the Stamford area's hotspots ... 
and it's on me!

We'll have good food and drink, sit around a table, and 
talk about copywriting, marketing, freelancing ... or just 
shoot the breeze. 

Sunday, April 25th, we'll have another complimentary 
buffet breakfast -- a little later this time. We'll meet 
at 9 a.m. and go till noon.

On Sunday, I will lead several bonus sessions never 
before presented at any AWAI event.

And that includes the great Marty Edelston, the 
legendary direct marketer who never speaks to groups 
anymore.  But he'll be there with us - to talk with you!

Other bonus sessions include "The 1-Hour E-Zine Writing 
Formula," where I'll show you the formula I use for 
creating and distributing my free e-zine "The Direct 
Response Letter" -- a (practically) free self-promotion 
that generates thousands of dollars in assignments every 
month.

Another bonus session, "What's Working in Email 
Copywriting Today," is an intensive overview on how to 
apply AWAI copywriting principles to email marketing 
campaigns.

And last but not least, members of the Boardroom team 
and I will review the copy you've written.

I have to warn you: The Boardroom folks pull no punches. 
But no one knows more about writing killer copy for info 
products -- and their sharp critiques will enable you to 
take your Boardroom promo to the next level. 

That will be the official end of the retreat.

Remember, Boardroom is going to pay a fee for any promo 
they decide to test. It will be modest -- but if your 
ideas are selected, you'll have your foot in the door 
with a major publisher. And that may result in 
opportunities for future assignments.

Having Boardroom as a client so early in your 
copywriting career will open more doors than you can 
imagine. When prospects ask who you've written for and 
you can list Boardroom, they'll instantly be persuaded 
to give you a try.

One more thing: You can bring anything you want to work 
on to the retreat -- any assignment or project you might 
have -- and I'll be glad to help you with it.

Okay, down to the nitty gritty. The cost.

As I said earlier, this invitation is for a limited, 
very private, very exclusive retreat.

When we ran this event by Michael Masterson and asked 
him what we should charge, he said, "When I was starting 
out like our AWAI students, I would have happily paid 
$50,000 to learn from these guys."

Michael pointed out that Marty, Brian, and David would 
charge something like $10,000 or more to come in and 
teach you copywriting for just one day ... if you could 
hire them at all. (And you can't.)

But, of course, we don't expect you to pay $50,000 ... or 
$10,000 ... or even $5,000 to attend this Bootcamp.

No. The fee to attend this Boardroom Bootcamp is $2,450, 
which comes to about $816 a day for this training. 
Travel, room fees, and any meals other than those I 
specified are your responsibility.

Not cheap, I know. But a drop in the bucket compared to 
the value ... and opportunity ... you will receive during 
these 3 very special days. 

You're a working (or studying) copywriter. So I'm not 
going to go on and on with a standard close like "A 
program like this is well worth ... etc. etc."

I think you already know what it's worth. If you do, 
your pulse is pounding. If you don't, it's not. Plain 
and simple.

So ... the price is the price. If I didn't think it was a 
good value for all you're getting, I wouldn't be putting 
my name on it.

If you want in, here's what you have to do:

Step One: You have to register for this exclusive 
retreat immediately. We're accepting only 20 people. So 
it's first come, first served. I recommend you call Barb 
or Scott today at 866-879-2924 or click the following 
link to reserve your spot:

http://www.awaionline.com/boardroom/bb49

Step Two: Once you've registered for the retreat, you 
have to call the Stamford Marriott at 203-357-9555 and 
tell them you are part of the American Writers and 
Artists Institute group.  Be sure you make your 
reservations early as the cut-off date for our in-house 
discount is March 31st.

Step Three: Make your travel arrangements. If you need 
assistance with flights, please contact Agora Travel at 
800-926-6575. 

Step Four: We'll send you all the preparatory material 
for the retreat, so when you arrive you'll be ready to 
go. 

We'll also send you any additional materials that Brian 
wants you to have. We're going to hit the ground 
running, and we want you to have your track shoes on.

Step Five: Show up.

That's it.

This promises to be a very exciting professional 
copywriter's retreat. 

You'll learn a ton of top-level copywriting techniques 
from me, David, and Brian ... and get to pick our brains 
for hours on end.

You'll also have the opportunity to get one or more 
paying assignments ... and your foot in the door of this 
major publisher.

But remember: There are only 20 slots, and people are 
already talking about coming just based on the rumors 
that have gotten out to our students and associates.

So, please, act immediately if you want to participate. 
Reserve your place right now! To register, call Barb or 
Scott at 866-879-2924 or simply 
click here:

http://www.awaionline.com/boardroom/bb49

Hope to see you there.

Best regards,

Bob Bly 
Copywriter
22 East Quackenbush Avenue
Dumont, NJ 07628
Phone (201) 385-1220
Fax (201) 385-1138
email: rwbly@bly.com


P.S. The first 10 people to register will receive a copy 
of the classic marketing book "Breakthrough Advertising" 
-- published by Boardroom and written by their top 
copywriter of all time, Gene Schwartz -- absolutely 
FREE! (This gift has a retail value of almost $100!) 

So register today:

http://www.awaionline.com/boardroom/bb49