What Does It Mean to Be a Filthy Rich Writer?

My company teaches people how to write copy and how to build their careers and businesses. I probably could have gone with “Copywriting Training Resources” or something like that.

But I didn’t. I really didn’t.

I went with Filthy Rich Writer. And some people hate that name. I mean, a loathing that seems all out of proportion.

But I’m okay with that. Here’s why.

First, It’s Important to Me that the Name Makes People Stop and Think

I want people to read “Filthy Rich Writer” it and go, “Hold up! Is that for real?”

Because it doesn’t seem real, right? Most people—except, maybe, for wide-eyed college students and people who still think a newsroom consists of Cary Grant bantering with Rosalind Russell—most people think you can’t make money as a writer.

And, in many ways, they’re right: You can’t make a good living as a blogger, a novelist, or even a journalist. It’s deeply sad, but true.

But they’re also wrong: Because you can make a good living, a great living, as a copywriter. Not a gimmicky, “write online sales letters and retire this year” copywriter, but a real one.

I Also Want People to Know How Good the Copywriting Life Can Be

For me, being “filthy rich” means having a job you love, being good at it, and being paid well to do it.

Some people get that. But some people definitely don’t.

Every time I post an ad on Facebook, I get people who don’t even click, but who comment with things like “Scam!” or “Another BS ad in my feed.”

And, yes, they don’t make me feel particularly great, so I usually delete them. (It makes me feel better.)

But those comments are also important: They remind me of who I don’t want to work with.

The kinds of people who immediately label things as “spam” or “BS” are the kinds of people who said humans weren’t meant to walk on the moon or that a doctor would never transplant a heart.

Healthy skepticism is great, but the kinds of people who shut themselves off to things before they even understand it, just aren’t worth the price to even educate. We’re happy to prove ourselves to these people, and we’ve got plenty of proof to offer, but they’ve already made up their minds.

The people who say, “You can’t make a good living as a copywriter” are being proven wrong literally every single day by thousands of people. Maybe hundreds of thousands.

Just because they don’t know how to do it doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

A Filthy Rich Writer is who I am, it’s who our students want to be, and it’s who they are becoming—if they’re not already there. Every time one of our students lands an ad agency job or a huge freelance client, that’s exactly who they are.

So I don’t care if some people don’t like the name of our company. The people who are open to changing their lives and making them better, get it—and those are the people I want to work with. The rest of ‘em? Delete. 🙂

Watch More

Hear Nicki explain more about the reasoning behind the name “Filthy Rich Writer,” and why it’s a good thing it’s such a polarizing name for a business.

Your Turn! What does being “filthy rich” mean to you? Share your own definition in the comments below!

Interested in copywriting? Here are more resources:

• What Does a Copywriter Actually Do?
• Why People Tell You “Copywriting is Hard to Get Into
• How Soon Can You Make Money?
• The Best Backgrounds for Getting Into Copywriting
• So, How Much Do Copywriters Make?
• How to Know if You Have What it Takes

Last Updated on July 4, 2023