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My Odyssey - Finding Meaning And Achieving Financial Freedom

sanadly

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So I had 2 sales calls yesterday. I already shared what happened on the first, so here's the second:


Big diaper and masks company. The prospect had a very solid understanding of Facebook Ads so it was smooth sailing. They were already doing 50% of what I wanted to talk to them about, but had no idea about the rest of the 50% and really appreciated the knowledge. They weren't looking to aggressively scale their ads right now, since they have a logistics issue and asked me to set a reminder to contact them again in late November.

They also said that they're in talks with a few other agencies but that none of them shared their strategies outright, especially "personalized for us" like I did and that the others "just kept showing case studies" and that they'll "definitely keep that in mind after we deal with our inventory problem".

And shortly after:

"I enjoyed talking to you and we'll likely seek you out again, but could you maybe set a reminder to reach out to us around late November?". I consider this call a success for sure.

*Sales call No. 3 didn't happen because the prospect had something come up and let me know 2 hours in advance that they need to reschedule, and reschedule they did - as soon as I replied back to them with a "no worries" type of response.


Anyway, just last night I sent the first ever invoice from my digital marketing agency through PayPal.​


It might sound silly but I was actually pretty stressed out about it and now that I've got it all down (including the terms and conditions) it feels so good. I have now completed the digital marketing agency game in full. The whole process. All that is left is for the invoice to be paid, and even if it won't be I still have more sales calls to go this month and feel completely confident in the process and I'm filled with abundance. It took me a few months to figure it out and I got the best help along the way, so it wasn't easy but I'm really grateful that this is all happening.

Also, I recorded a part of my call yesterday and my spoken English has improved significantly since my first ever video audits and our call with @Phikey on the 14th of September. Exactly a month ago I had absolutely nothing going for me and this man slapped me through Zoom. Can hardly believe the progress I've made since then, I definitely didn't imagine to book 4 sales calls in 15 days sending 5 emails per day, but it's now a fact!
any updates?
 
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emphasize.v1

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Hey buddy I hope you're well. I've read some of the latest progress posts.

Have you considered going door-to-door in your city/neighbor cities and trying to close clients face to face?

I'm telling you this because we were closing like ~1 client per two weeks even before we had registered the legal entity, at the time when friend and I were in the agency business.

On the contrary, long time after I left the business my friend got like 3000 US-based leads to pitch his services. He closed ZERO clients out of email and he IS a good closer. I tried to help him with it and I coludnt close shit either. Weird stuff...

Do try face to face and hit me up if u need help with that.

Also, make a LinkedIn profile and try to pitch there. I think, for starters, that response rate will.be much higher. I believe you'll know what to do from there.
 

sanadly

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Hey buddy I hope you're well. I've read some of the latest progress posts.

Have you considered going door-to-door in your city/neighbor cities and trying to close clients face to face?

I'm telling you this because we were closing like ~1 client per two weeks even before we had registered the legal entity, at the time when friend and I were in the agency business.

On the contrary, long time after I left the business my friend got like 3000 US-based leads to pitch his services. He closed ZERO clients out of email and he IS a good closer. I tried to help him with it and I coludnt close shit either. Weird stuff...

Do try face to face and hit me up if u need help with that.

Also, make a LinkedIn profile and try to pitch there. I think, for starters, that response rate will.be much higher. I believe you'll know what to do from there.
where is that?
 

Phikey

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So I had 2 sales calls yesterday. I already shared what happened on the first, so here's the second:


Big diaper and masks company. The prospect had a very solid understanding of Facebook Ads so it was smooth sailing. They were already doing 50% of what I wanted to talk to them about, but had no idea about the rest of the 50% and really appreciated the knowledge. They weren't looking to aggressively scale their ads right now, since they have a logistics issue and asked me to set a reminder to contact them again in late November.

They also said that they're in talks with a few other agencies but that none of them shared their strategies outright, especially "personalized for us" like I did and that the others "just kept showing case studies" and that they'll "definitely keep that in mind after we deal with our inventory problem".

And shortly after:

"I enjoyed talking to you and we'll likely seek you out again, but could you maybe set a reminder to reach out to us around late November?". I consider this call a success for sure.

*Sales call No. 3 didn't happen because the prospect had something come up and let me know 2 hours in advance that they need to reschedule, and reschedule they did - as soon as I replied back to them with a "no worries" type of response.


Anyway, just last night I sent the first ever invoice from my digital marketing agency through PayPal.​


It might sound silly but I was actually pretty stressed out about it and now that I've got it all down (including the terms and conditions) it feels so good. I have now completed the digital marketing agency game in full. The whole process. All that is left is for the invoice to be paid, and even if it won't be I still have more sales calls to go this month and feel completely confident in the process and I'm filled with abundance. It took me a few months to figure it out and I got the best help along the way, so it wasn't easy but I'm really grateful that this is all happening.

Also, I recorded a part of my call yesterday and my spoken English has improved significantly since my first ever video audits and our call with @Phikey on the 14th of September. Exactly a month ago I had absolutely nothing going for me and this man slapped me through Zoom. Can hardly believe the progress I've made since then, I definitely didn't imagine to book 4 sales calls in 15 days sending 5 emails per day, but it's now a fact!

Great stuff man!! Huge leap forward from where you were when we spoke in mid-september. You're clearly making progress and fantastic to hear about that first invoice. All the hard work is now bearing fruit.
 
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Simon Angel

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Hi everyone. Hadn't updated in a while, so here we go:

I'm not offering PPC advertising or prospecting anymore. Haven't at all in the past 2 months..

And what a rollercoaster 2 months they were!

I tried so many things, failed at all of them, and then all of a sudden, someone in my network reached out to me to ask for some copywriting to be done on their dropshipping store (a 7 figure one, at that). I was surprised at the offer but accepted it right-away since I literally had nothing to eat anymore. I was hours away from having my internet canceled as well.

And so I wrote the copy for the product's description..

I went to bed, had my usual feels-like-I-stop-breathing moment while falling asleep which I'd been having for a while, and woke up to see a literal novel worth of messages from my contact. Apparently, my copy was the best they'd ever seen and they wanted me to continue writing 1-2 of these per day, for an indefinite amount of time. And that's how it all began.

I am now a copywriter. Have been for the past month.

I earned $800 in my first month and just signed 2 more clients for $2000 and $300, a total of $3000+ per month.

The amount of leverage these three projects will give me in the months to come is insurmountable. I already have plans on how to scale this and make it a business, thanks to my dear friend and mentor @Phikey.

And I will.

It seemed like I had 0 luck in anything I did. But luck is overrated. That's what I kept telling myself at least when nothing seemed to work, debt was piling up and my girlfriend was second-guessing me and the future of our relationship.

I guess I'm happy, but at the same time numb - the amount of failure I've endured this year has done that to me. I'm also far from content with my current state of affairs and will only pat myself on the back once I've created a business out of this. Also, l've always had the confidence that I'll make it eventually - just had no idea when, so there's that.

And hey, I'm actually paying for my food and bills and can take my girl out to dinner now! Too bad none of the restaurants are open.

So far, my journey has been worth it. Thanks to everyone that's supported my broke a$$.

Happy holidays!
 
Last edited:

Blackman

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Goes to show that if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.

No one is born a millionaire knowing exactly what business is right for him, so it's always a case of trial and error, not quitting, being consistent and just ploughing along until something clicks.
 

Simon Angel

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Goes to show that if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.

No one is born a millionaire knowing exactly what business is right for him, so it's always a case of trial and error, not quitting, being consistent and just ploughing along until something clicks.

Agree 100%. Hope you're doing well man.
 
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Andy Black

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Hi everyone. Hadn't updated in a while, so here we go:

I'm not offering PPC advertising or prospecting anymore. Haven't at all in the past 2 months..

And what a rollercoaster 2 months they were!

I tried so many things, failed at all of them, and then all of a sudden, someone in my network reached out to me to ask for some copywriting to be done on their dropshipping store (a 7 figure one, at that). I was surprised at the offer but accepted it right-away since I literally had nothing to eat anymore. I was hours away from having my internet canceled as well.

And so I wrote the copy for the product's description..

I went to bed, had my usual feels-like-I-stop-breathing moment while falling asleep which I'd been having for a while, and woke up to see a literal novel worth of messages from my contact. Apparently, my copy was the best they'd ever seen and they wanted me to continue writing 1-2 of these per day, for an indefinite amount of time. And that's how it all began.

I am now a copywriter. Have been for the past month.

I earned $800 in my first month and just signed 2 more clients for $2000 and $300, a total of $3000+ per month.

The amount of leverage these three projects will give me in the months to come is insurmountable. I already have plans on how to scale this and make it a business, thanks to my dear friend and mentor @Phikey.

And I will.

It seemed like I had 0 luck in anything I did. But luck is overrated. That's what I kept telling myself at least when nothing seemed to work, debt was piling up and my girlfriend was second-guessing me and the future of our relationship.

I guess I'm happy, but at the same time numb - the amount of failure I've endured this year has done that to me. I'm also far from content with my current state of affairs and will only pat myself on the back once I've created a business out of this. Also, l've always had the confidence that I'll make it eventually - just had no idea when, so there's that.

And hey, I'm actually paying for my food and bills and can take my girl out to dinner now! Too bad none of the restaurants are open.

So far, my journey has been worth it. Thanks to everyone that's supported my broke a$$.

Happy holidays!
Well done!
 

OneLife

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Hi everyone. Hadn't updated in a while, so here we go:

I'm not offering PPC advertising or prospecting anymore. Haven't at all in the past 2 months..

And what a rollercoaster 2 months they were!

I tried so many things, failed at all of them, and then all of a sudden, someone in my network reached out to me to ask for some copywriting to be done on their dropshipping store (a 7 figure one, at that). I was surprised at the offer but accepted it right-away since I literally had nothing to eat anymore. I was hours away from having my internet canceled as well.

And so I wrote the copy for the product's description..

I went to bed, had my usual feels-like-I-stop-breathing moment while falling asleep which I'd been having for a while, and woke up to see a literal novel worth of messages from my contact. Apparently, my copy was the best they'd ever seen and they wanted me to continue writing 1-2 of these per day, for an indefinite amount of time. And that's how it all began.

I am now a copywriter. Have been for the past month.

I earned $800 in my first month and just signed 2 more clients for $2000 and $300, a total of $3000+ per month.

The amount of leverage these three projects will give me in the months to come is insurmountable. I already have plans on how to scale this and make it a business, thanks to my dear friend and mentor @Phikey.

And I will.

It seemed like I had 0 luck in anything I did. But luck is overrated. That's what I kept telling myself at least when nothing seemed to work, debt was piling up and my girlfriend was second-guessing me and the future of our relationship.

I guess I'm happy, but at the same time numb - the amount of failure I've endured this year has done that to me. I'm also far from content with my current state of affairs and will only pat myself on the back once I've created a business out of this. Also, l've always had the confidence that I'll make it eventually - just had no idea when, so there's that.

And hey, I'm actually paying for my food and bills and can take my girl out to dinner now! Too bad none of the restaurants are open.

So far, my journey has been worth it. Thanks to everyone that's supported my broke a$$.

Happy holidays!
Had a smile on my face reading this man! This is only the beginning for you.
 

TechTurtle

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That's a great encouragement to read on the first day of 2021! :)

I was following your thread from the beginning.
When you moved to your own place, I was afraid that you won't make enough money...
I worried that you gave up since you didn't post a while... And turns out you are doing great!

Thanks for the updates!
 
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Peter Kay

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Hi everyone. Hadn't updated in a while, so here we go:

I'm not offering PPC advertising or prospecting anymore. Haven't at all in the past 2 months..

And what a rollercoaster 2 months they were!

I tried so many things, failed at all of them, and then all of a sudden, someone in my network reached out to me to ask for some copywriting to be done on their dropshipping store (a 7 figure one, at that). I was surprised at the offer but accepted it right-away since I literally had nothing to eat anymore. I was hours away from having my internet canceled as well.

And so I wrote the copy for the product's description..

I went to bed, had my usual feels-like-I-stop-breathing moment while falling asleep which I'd been having for a while, and woke up to see a literal novel worth of messages from my contact. Apparently, my copy was the best they'd ever seen and they wanted me to continue writing 1-2 of these per day, for an indefinite amount of time. And that's how it all began.

I am now a copywriter. Have been for the past month.

I earned $800 in my first month and just signed 2 more clients for $2000 and $300, a total of $3000+ per month.

The amount of leverage these three projects will give me in the months to come is insurmountable. I already have plans on how to scale this and make it a business, thanks to my dear friend and mentor @Phikey.

And I will.

It seemed like I had 0 luck in anything I did. But luck is overrated. That's what I kept telling myself at least when nothing seemed to work, debt was piling up and my girlfriend was second-guessing me and the future of our relationship.

I guess I'm happy, but at the same time numb - the amount of failure I've endured this year has done that to me. I'm also far from content with my current state of affairs and will only pat myself on the back once I've created a business out of this. Also, l've always had the confidence that I'll make it eventually - just had no idea when, so there's that.

And hey, I'm actually paying for my food and bills and can take my girl out to dinner now! Too bad none of the restaurants are open.

So far, my journey has been worth it. Thanks to everyone that's supported my broke a$$.

Happy holidays!
Congrats, been watching your thread from the beginning. and it gives every like me so much happiness and inspiration to know that you final got see the results, ofcourse pivoting was a good a thing as MJ says Act , Assess and Adjust, that what you did but the process was the most important part of the journey. Goodluck in journey.
 

Gabbe18

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Been testing different email subjects to increase my open rate as it's been about 40-50% on average so far.
Hey man.

Great thread! You are really inspiring me to take action and put myself out there. I will definitely incorporate the Belfort method of contacting 140 businesses a week.

I am just wondering what software do you use to see your open rates on emails?

Keep up the great work! :)
 

Simon Angel

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Hey man.

Great thread! You are really inspiring me to take action and put myself out there. I will definitely incorporate the Belfort method of contacting 140 businesses a week.

I am just wondering what software do you use to see your open rates on emails?

Keep up the great work! :)

Hi, I am not cold emailing anymore, but I used Hunter to track my open rate.

However, you should know that it wasn't 100% accurate. Still, way better than with no tracking at all.

Congrats, you've found something that works

Now go all in on it.

Yes sir.
 

Simon Angel

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Update on January 2021


MY GOAL OF FINANCIAL FREEDOM HAS BEEN ACHIEVED!​


It's been a hectic month, but with an average work time of 2 hours per day, I've earned $2000!

Wow. Going back half a year ago when my journey here started, I calculated that my "fastlane" or financial freedom is earning $2000 in my country with plenty of free time left to follow my other interests (such as racing).

Well, it looks like I done did it..

I can't believe how much shit I tried to get to this point. It was anything but easy, I was severely in debt with my mother and we were on the verge of hunger. I had to constantly manage my lifestyle and stress levels to not cause my Crohn's disease to flare up (huge trigger) while also putting food on the table and helping with the bills.

We're mostly BLIND to the big picture and overly self-focused.

Interestingly, a few months ago when I was at my lowest point financially, a rich girl friend of mine asked me to meet up with her at the park to talk about some relationship issues she'd been having at the time.

As time went by, our conversation evolved into her complaining how tough her life is and how she "barely makes any money" with her $1 million+ valued house, which was given to her as a birthday gift from her father, and costs $500 per night to book, and is only vacant 5-10 days per month.

Her only expense is the cleaner she massively underpays.

That was pretty shocking for me to hear, but then again, it's all about perspective, isn't it?

I am a pleb in the eyes of a McDonald's employee in a 1st World Country and a privileged individual in the eyes of the 1 billion actively dying of hunger all over the world.


And even though my life has been mostly suffering, I've found meaning in it and at least I had the opportunity to change. Many people don't even get that, so I AM lucky.

Persistence, tears, depression, and Amor Fati.

I kept failing, and failing, and failing.. over and over again. Every day. I would often sell some of the weed I got for my Crohn's disease when things got rough, even though it was hard to get ahold of as it is and I needed it to maintain remission. At one point I even considered selling hard drugs because I didn't want me and my mother to starve.

No matter how close I got, the breakthrough just didn't seem to come.

Until it did.

I reached my goal of what I personally consider financial freedom ($2000 per month). I started with zero courses, practice, and no portfolio, and in just 2 months earned more than I did in the past 3 years! Way more.

In just 2 months, my portfolio size has grown from 0 to 350+ products worth of copy and I've got 3 recurring clients!

And the biggest support I ever got wasn't from my friends, mother, or even my girlfriend, but people here from our forum. I appreciate everyone that came through to help me out in my journey with @Phikey being the one who changed my life with his wisdom and was there for me every step of the way. If I were a woman, I'd be head over heels for him, what a man.

And now I can finally, confidently say that I found out what I love doing for a living - copywriting.

To anyone out there struggling - as banal as it sounds - JUST DON'T GIVE UP!​


Days before I landed my first copywriting client I didn't even know I wanted to be a copywriter and I was all out of ideas. It just happened.

Maybe the Universe rewarded me for my efforts, as wretched as they were. The point is, you never know what tomorrow has in store for you.. and sometimes, it's good.
 
Last edited:

Beerbread

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Congratulations!!! That was a helluva ride! It's strange what you come starting one thing and then it morphs into something completely different! I'm glad it's working out for you!
 
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Simon Angel

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Congratulations!!! That was a helluva ride! It's strange what you come starting one thing and then it morphs into something completely different! I'm glad it's working out for you!

Oh, definitely man! I started off by trying to get back to the "dropshipping glory days", offering web design for local service-based businesses, Google Ads for RE brokerages, then Facebook Ads in the US, UK, and Australia for e-commerce stores.

Dropshipping almost worked out again but I was really low on money, web design pulled me out when I was massively in debt, Google and Facebook Ads were a huge fail in the sense that I made zero, but the hustle transferred to my copywriting prospecting and is the reason why I landed my clients. I don't think I'll be going back to dropshipping now that I have the capital though, I'm sticking with copy for sure.
 

Phikey

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Update on January 2021


MY GOAL OF FINANCIAL FREEDOM HAS BEEN ACHIEVED!​


It's been a hectic month, but with an average work time of 2 hours per day, I've earned $2000!

Wow. Going back half a year ago when my journey here started, I calculated that my "fastlane" or financial freedom is earning $2000 in my country with plenty of free time left to follow my other interests (such as racing).

Well, it looks like I done did it..

I can't believe how much shit I tried to get to this point. It was anything but easy, I was severely in debt with my mother and we were on the verge of hunger. I had to constantly manage my lifestyle and stress levels to not cause my Crohn's disease to flare up (huge trigger) while also putting food on the table and helping with the bills.

We're mostly BLIND to the big picture and overly self-focused.

Interestingly, a few months ago when I was at my lowest point financially, a rich girl friend of mine asked me to meet up with her at the park to talk about some relationship issues she'd been having at the time.

As time went by, our conversation evolved into her complaining how tough her life is and how she "barely makes any money" with her $1 million+ valued house, which was given to her as a birthday gift from her father, and costs $500 per night to book, and is only vacant 5-10 days per month.

Her only expense is the cleaner she massively underpays.

That was pretty shocking for me to hear, but then again, it's all about perspective, isn't it?

I am a pleb in the eyes of a McDonald's employee in a 1st World Country and a privileged individual in the eyes of the 1 billion actively dying of hunger all over the world.


And even though my life has been mostly suffering, I've found meaning in it and at least I had the opportunity to change. Many people don't even get that, so I AM lucky.

Persistence, tears, depression, and Amor Fati.

I kept failing, and failing, and failing.. over and over again. Every day. I would often sell some of the weed I got for my Crohn's disease when things got rough, even though it was hard to get ahold of as it is and I needed it to maintain remission. At one point I even considered selling hard drugs because I didn't want me and my mother to starve.

No matter how close I got, the breakthrough just didn't seem to come.

Until it did.

I reached my goal of what I personally consider financial freedom ($2000 per month). I started with zero courses, practice, and no portfolio, and in just 2 months earned more than I did in the past 3 years! Way more.

In just 2 months, my portfolio size has grown from 0 to 350+ products worth of copy and I've got 3 recurring clients!

And the biggest support I ever got wasn't from my friends, mother, or even my girlfriend, but people here from our forum. I appreciate everyone that came through to help me out in my journey with @Phikey being the one who changed my life with his wisdom and was there for me every step of the way. If I were a woman, I'd be head over heels for him, what a man.

And now I can finally, confidently say that I found out what I love doing for a living - copywriting.

To anyone out there struggling - as banal as it sounds - JUST DON'T GIVE UP!​


Days before I landed my first copywriting client I didn't even know I wanted to be a copywriter and I was all out of ideas. It just happened.

Maybe the Universe rewarded me for my efforts, as wretched as they were. The point is, you never know what tomorrow has in store for you.. and sometimes, it's good.
Awesome work man!!! Congratulations!! You've been working so hard and it's really paying off. Looks like you've found your path and you're making some big leaps and bounds ahead every time I see your new posts.
 

Raja

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Here's my strategy that worked insanely well back then and would work really well right now for you today too:
  • Go into Facebook groups for your niche (I did it for cleaning companies) and contribute and become a known helper in that niche for Google Ads. You just want to answer questions and help where you can (don't ask for anything, just give as much value as possible)
  • When people post about having any problems with their advertising, offer them a free google ads audit but on the condition that you can post it back in the group as a comment.
  • I did this 5-10 times and it generated leads for months to come. I still get leads from it years later and I turn them down every month because I only work with Ecommerce now.
  • What happens after you do that is that you're providing insane value to one person, and dozens of others will get value from that video too
  • After 3 videos, once anyone asked a question about google ads, 3-5 people would immediately tag me and say I was the expert and I had immediate social proof
  • This meant that my sales calls were never sales calls anymore. It was just negotiating on price to fit their budget.
@Phikey does this strategy works for Webdesign as well?
and do they ask for such questions?
 
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Simon Angel

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4th client closed!

Expected revenue for February: $2000

I might be looking into hiring soon as I am seeing a lot of interest in the quality of my work.

But then I wouldn't be able to control the quality as much, which unnerves me.

On the other hand, I could also just leverage the results I've gotten for my clients so far and seek bigger and better projects in the realm of 4 to 5 figures and continue being a one-man company. There are so many projects I could take on, but I would never trade my free time even for all the money in the world.

Considering the fact I dislike managing people but absolutely despise being managed, the latter option is very likely to be the path I'm going to take.

Anyway, February is about to be the 3rd month in a row in which I escape poverty, so that's good.
 

Simon Angel

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Approximate revenue expected for March: $5000


4 months in my copywriting journey. Still working 2-3 hours per day. Signed 4 more clients since the last update.

I really need to hire soon. However, while my clients are ecstatic about my work, I'm not sure that it would be so when I am not in full control of the quality.

So I might also be taking another route - staying a one-man company, going for the top $, and making a name for myself.

As you can see, I am not as enthusiastic as I was when I struggled. That's because I always expected to get here and knew it was just a matter of time before I got what I deserved.

I love it, though:
  • I love not having to choose between paying the bills or eating
  • I love not having to make excuses why I can't buy my girl a gift
  • I love that I can do whatever the F*ck I want all day then spend 2 hours doing extremely valuable work for my clients
  • I love how my clients rely on me and don't even consider having someone else do the copy whenever I am not immediately available
  • I love how I can turn down most of my prospects, knowing that I have a lot of clients to fall back on who already know what I am capable of and trust me with their businesses
 
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_Alex_

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Alright, I’ll admit this was a very interesting read, you’re a good story teller. But man...wtf lol... that came out of no where, not what I thought you’d post (but it’s a good thing) just really took me by surprise when I read this. Still not really sure what happened, but I’m glad you had a eureka moment. I think I’m going to join you on that 140 calls a week thing maybe I get a client, or maybe just better and am that much closer to a new client. Thanks again man! Great story.
How's the digital marketing agency journey going?
 

Simon Angel

Platinum Contributor
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Apr 24, 2016
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Making some good money, but most importantly, I have retained my freedom.

For the past 2 months, I have predominantly worked with 7 and 8 figure businesses by helping them with their email marketing i.e optimizing flows and writing campaigns.

I've gotten them all to a very, very neat revenue. In the past, emails were bringing my clients 0-7% of their total revenue.

With my help, they're all at 15-25% now. One is nearly at 30%.

A few of my clients are making $50-80K in additional email revenue per month thanks to my efforts. I think I can finally say I know how to bring value.

So.. I'm currently writing emails to about 300K people spread across my clients' email lists.

And the best part about it all? I like doing it. In fact, I LOVE doing it.

My plan on how I'm going to scale and go from freelancer to a business:

1. Create my own website with the case studies from my clients (nearly done after a day of work).

2. Upwork and cold email to find new clients.

3. Hiring a freelance graphic designer for the emails. I've already got someone in mind.

4. Charging a small flat fee e.g $500 + 5% of the email revenue on a monthly basis.

5. Incorporating.

6. Hitting 6 figures and pocketing most of the profit as a one-man company.
 
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_Alex_

PARKED
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
0% - New User
Jul 22, 2017
2
0
23
United States
Making some good money, but most importantly, I have retained my freedom.

For the past 2 months, I have predominantly worked with 7 and 8 figure businesses by helping them with their email marketing i.e optimizing flows and writing campaigns.

I've gotten them all to a very, very neat revenue. In the past, emails were bringing my clients 0-7% of their total revenue.

With my help, they're all at 15-25% now. One is nearly at 30%.

A few of my clients are making $50-80K in additional email revenue per month thanks to my efforts. I think I can finally say I know how to bring value.

So.. I'm currently writing emails to about 300K people spread across my clients' email lists.

And the best part about it all? I like doing it. In fact, I LOVE doing it.

My plan on how I'm going to scale and go from freelancer to a business:

1. Create my own website with the case studies from my clients (nearly done after a day of work).

2. Upwork and cold email to find new clients.

3. Hiring a freelance graphic designer for the emails. I've already got someone in mind.

4. Charging a small flat fee e.g $500 + 5% of the email revenue on a monthly basis.

5. Incorporating.

6. Hitting 6 figures and pocketing most of the profit as a one-man company.
Well done! Without a website, how were you attracting clients?
 

Raja

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
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Dec 31, 2019
740
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Making some good money, but most importantly, I have retained my freedom.

For the past 2 months, I have predominantly worked with 7 and 8 figure businesses by helping them with their email marketing i.e optimizing flows and writing campaigns.

I've gotten them all to a very, very neat revenue. In the past, emails were bringing my clients 0-7% of their total revenue.

With my help, they're all at 15-25% now. One is nearly at 30%.

A few of my clients are making $50-80K in additional email revenue per month thanks to my efforts. I think I can finally say I know how to bring value.

So.. I'm currently writing emails to about 300K people spread across my clients' email lists.

And the best part about it all? I like doing it. In fact, I LOVE doing it.

My plan on how I'm going to scale and go from freelancer to a business:

1. Create my own website with the case studies from my clients (nearly done after a day of work).

2. Upwork and cold email to find new clients.

3. Hiring a freelance graphic designer for the emails. I've already got someone in mind.

4. Charging a small flat fee e.g $500 + 5% of the email revenue on a monthly basis.

5. Incorporating.

6. Hitting 6 figures and pocketing most of the profit as a one-man company.
Great man nice work,
I see you post less and less of web design, what about that?
 

Simon Angel

Platinum Contributor
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Well done! Without a website, how were you attracting clients?

Upwork. First client was a guy from my network, but Upwork was a game-changer.

Great man nice work,
I see you post less and less of web design, what about that?

I only did web design for 2 months last year.
 
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Dami-B

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Jan 25, 2015
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Lagos, Nigeria

Update on January 2021

MY GOAL OF FINANCIAL FREEDOM HAS BEEN ACHIEVED!​


It's been a hectic month, but with an average work time of 2 hours per day, I've earned $2000!

Wow. Going back half a year ago when my journey here started, I calculated that my "fastlane" or financial freedom is earning $2000 in my country with plenty of free time left to follow my other interests (such as racing).

Well, it looks like I done did it..

I can't believe how much shit I tried to get to this point. It was anything but easy, I was severely in debt with my mother and we were on the verge of hunger. I had to constantly manage my lifestyle and stress levels to not cause my Crohn's disease to flare up (huge trigger) while also putting food on the table and helping with the bills.

We're mostly BLIND to the big picture and overly self-focused.

Interestingly, a few months ago when I was at my lowest point financially, a rich girl friend of mine asked me to meet up with her at the park to talk about some relationship issues she'd been having at the time.

As time went by, our conversation evolved into her complaining how tough her life is and how she "barely makes any money" with her $1 million+ valued house, which was given to her as a birthday gift from her father, and costs $500 per night to book, and is only vacant 5-10 days per month.

Her only expense is the cleaner she massively underpays.

That was pretty shocking for me to hear, but then again, it's all about perspective, isn't it?

I am a pleb in the eyes of a McDonald's employee in a 1st World Country and a privileged individual in the eyes of the 1 billion actively dying of hunger all over the world.


And even though my life has been mostly suffering, I've found meaning in it and at least I had the opportunity to change. Many people don't even get that, so I AM lucky.

Persistence, tears, depression, and Amor Fati.

I kept failing, and failing, and failing.. over and over again. Every day. I would often sell some of the weed I got for my Crohn's disease when things got rough, even though it was hard to get ahold of as it is and I needed it to maintain remission. At one point I even considered selling hard drugs because I didn't want me and my mother to starve.

No matter how close I got, the breakthrough just didn't seem to come.

Until it did.

I reached my goal of what I personally consider financial freedom ($2000 per month). I started with zero courses, practice, and no portfolio, and in just 2 months earned more than I did in the past 3 years! Way more.

In just 2 months, my portfolio size has grown from 0 to 350+ products worth of copy and I've got 3 recurring clients!

And the biggest support I ever got wasn't from my friends, mother, or even my girlfriend, but people here from our forum. I appreciate everyone that came through to help me out in my journey with @Phikey being the one who changed my life with his wisdom and was there for me every step of the way. If I were a woman, I'd be head over heels for him, what a man.

And now I can finally, confidently say that I found out what I love doing for a living - copywriting.

To anyone out there struggling - as banal as it sounds - JUST DON'T GIVE UP!​


Days before I landed my first copywriting client I didn't even know I wanted to be a copywriter and I was all out of ideas. It just happened.

Maybe the Universe rewarded me for my efforts, as wretched as they were. The point is, you never know what tomorrow has in store for you.. and sometimes, it's good.
Your journey put a huge smile on my face, I'm glad you're doing great
 

Simon Angel

Platinum Contributor
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Apr 24, 2016
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UPDATE


I guess it's time to write an update for everyone that's been with me on my journey.

And I know this may seem a bit depressing to read at first, but bear with me.

I've been broken more times than I'd like to admit, and I've found I don't really care about the myriad of mental disorders I carry with me anymore.

Depression, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, hypochondria the occasional bout of mania and psychosis..

You name it, I've probably had it.

Interestingly, the depression has gone into hiding. Perhaps it's the Vitamin D and all the sun I'm getting.

In terms of PTSD, I still get some nasty flashbacks from time to time, but I don't really react to them.

My OCD and Hypochondria are as bad as ever, and the only thing that helps is accepting that, eventually, we're all goners anyway.

The ADHD, though? Well, let's just say the BEST decision I've EVER made to date is..


Working 1 hour per day!

Seriously. No matter how bad your ADHD is, unless you're literally not turning on your computer (which has happened, funnily enough), you will always be able to deliver without suffering burnout.

And the whole about imposing such a "harsh" limit on yourself of working just 1 hour per day is that your brain automatically switches to maximum creativity mode.

I mean, I used to spend 99% of my time thinking about money.. while not earning any.

Then I realized that even if I did earn a decent amount of money, working all day would be the death of me. Not just for my mental health, but also the severe, dormant Crohn's I have that's triggered by stress and feelings of overwhelm, just waiting for the right opportunity to F*ck me up.

So, I took control.

I bullshitted my way into getting paid $40/h doing copywriting work for a digital marketing agency when the highest I'd been paid until then was $20/h for a few hours on Upwork. And I love it.

Sure, I'm not the boss. But I'm not an employee either - the owner is a client of mine. And I frequently remind them of that by the way I position and assert myself in our interactions.

Additionally, I also get to work with 8 figure businesses and they seem to love the way I do their marketing, which never fails to put a smile on my face.

And since I have a ton of spreadsheets detailing EXACTLY how many millions I've helped these businesses make (hey, I asked for them, they didn't show up on my doorstep) my confidence in negotiating and maneuvering my way into ANY industry I deem fit has gone nuclear.

Oh, and I realized I'm not driven by the allure of making millions and owning expensive things.

I grew up poor. Not as poor as starving-african-kid poor, but single-parent, "we have no money for food left this month" kind of poor. Also, debt.

So, the seemingly measly $1200-1500 (about 2000-2500 BGN) I'm currently making per month, working just 1 hour on average per day, is giving me a quality of life in Bulgaria for which to match in the US I'd need to be earning about 4-5x that amount.. in dollars!

But that's HARDLY the most important aspect of why I love it.

My feeling of wealth stems from the fact that I'm 100% free to do whatever the hell I want all day!

Sure, I could work 8 hours a day and earn $10K a month, but nothing would really change in my life.. apart from the fact that I'd probably absolutely hate it.

And thanks to all this free time, I've since:
  • Contacted a famous writer I look up to and had a very personal conversation, plus a thumbs up
  • Leveraged said interaction to join a HIGH profile video game project, which in the past I'd only dreamed of
  • Traveled more in the past year than I had my whole life

So, my advice to a kindred soul?


Work 1 hour per day. Use your strengths i.e your almighty creativity and out-of-the-box thinking to find a way to do that in a way that makes sense for your situation.

I could go on and on about how different my life has become after I started working just an hour per day, but I'm sure you're already visualizing what YOU could do with that abundance of free time.
Once you've come up with an idea on how to do this, just go for it.

Procrastination is MUCH more painful than actually doing something - as unknown and intimidating as that something may appear to be at first glance. Try and see for yourself.


P.S. I'd love it if we could rename my thread to "My Journey - Finding Meaning And Achieving Financial Freedom".
 
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