RookieJR

It's not overkill, man. It's work.

(And earning a 4-year college degree isn't a cakewalk, either.)

There's no easy way to get good at something. You have to put in the time and effort.

I've been copywriting for about two years.

Yeah, I'm better than I was when I started... but I still have a shitload to learn.

If you truly want something, you'll dedicate yourself to it.

I wouldn't get a PhD in copy from a university. But that's based on my own preferences - I don't want to pay someone else to learn. If at all possible, I'd prefer to be paid to learn. I know several copywriters who have done just that - studied, improved their own work, freelanced, leveraged that experience into a junior position and moved on from there. As Nick said, it's hard work.

After nearly 20 years and successful careers in two very different professions (neither of them copywriting or advertising), what I've learned is this:

What it takes is honing in on that one particular passion of yours, and focusing all of your energy on it, learning and striving to become - if not the best - then good enough to take pride in your work and the impact it has on others.

If you really want to be a copywriter, you're going to waste a lot of money going to some online university...You can (and should) take some classes at your local community college -- No point in getting a degree to be a copywriter, you'll just get frustrated and there's people with far more education than you struggling to eek out a living in this business...

I graduated with honors and a degree in English (from a small liberal arts college) with no greater hope than getting into advertising. What I discovered was the hot shots from UNC and University of Georgia and Duke U were getting mailroom jobs and frequently ending up in other careers entirely.

There's also a ton of books and resources available right here at your fingertips that you should be devouring. Read everything you can get your hands on, and admit to yourself that you don't know shit about copywriting. Once you get that into your head, you'll be a lot more receptive to advice and suggestions.

More than anything, you need to have the discipline and ethic to sit down at your computer for 8-10 hours a day (or more) and do nothing but write. Convince friends or family to let you write for them. Copy and write all the old sales letters and direct mail ads that fill every great copywriter's swipe files.

Learn from your mistakes...With the right attitude you can get a lot of priceless advice from people who are really good at what they do, even if finding (or paying for) a mentor isn't practical for you.

Forget about the "surefire" way to get a job...It doesn't sound like a traditional college is going to be practical for you. Understand that if the internet was around in 1993 like it's around here in 2012, I probably wouldn't have gone to college at all, and I'd be a lot better off financially than I am today.

Spend 3 months writing 10 hours a day, and reading a book every night. Find out if it's something you're going to eventually pick up and "get," and if not, focus your time and energy on something else.