0$ - 1000$ Copywriting, onwards and upwards!

[Fathazard]

Dear Fastlaners,

Thanks to @SinisterLex , @IceCreamKid , @SweetTooth (and countless others!), I'm happy to announce that I've made my first $1000 copywriting on UpWork. I'll spare you the boring details of how I got here. ($5 for 2000 words, build reviews, yadda yadda) Instead, let's discuss strategies for freelancers who are ready to leave 3rd party freelancing sites.

With a great portfolio and some awesome reviews, I believe I am ready to go independent and source clients from elsewhere. That's why I started http://carlc.co/ - a landing page for my services as a copywriter. (Feedback very welcome as it's under development!)

It's not FASTLANE. It's not my DESTINATION. But god dang it - it's PAID LEARNING.

Now, since life ain't all sunshine and rainbows, the cold hard truth is that I'm strapped for cash and face a choice between either doing more copywriting or getting a J-O-B. The latter used to scare the hell out of me - since I saw it as the ultimate failure, and an end to my dreams - but I've now realized that if required, working for someone else is a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

To get your ice-cream (or in my case: Mango) you gotta be tenacious

So for now, I will hustle to make this copywriting side-gig work even better than before.

Discussion materials for this thread:

• 1. Do you believe it's a good strategy make copywriting services a monthly "subscription"? (Article which talks about it: http://wpcurve.com/productized-service/)

I could charge $300 per month (or other arbitrary number. I would have to test and see what clients are willing to pay) for unlimited copywriting projects, with a few rules:

1. You can only submit 1 project at a time.
2. I will complete your project within 2 days.
3. By your best guess, the project should take between 1-2 hours.
4. Only when your project is completed can you submit a new one.

By providing a fixed monthly price like this, with great value, I would ensure that my clients stay with me longer and I get a more reliable income. A first goal could be to get 10 clients who subscribed. Thoughts?

• 2. What are some of the best ways of getting quality copywriting clients?

At the moment I am sending emails to companies whose products I have bought in the past, that also desperately need my help. I've had some success with this tactic, but I'm running out of businesses to email.

I heard other copywriters successfully find clients by using direct mail. It costs me merely $1 per snail mail below 50g within Europe. Hm.

The best way would probably be to get referrals from previous clients, but it's just not happening fast enough. Perhaps I need to ask them about that more directly, or incentivise them somehow.

• 3. Are there essential things missing from Carlc.co ?

I should keep writing on my portfolio, and making that section better I think.

The mainpage could probably use more copy too, but I'm not sure about what. Put the reviews in a more visible place? talk more about pricing? Add a blog?

-------------------------------
Happy to hear your thoughts and answer any questions you might have!

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Dear Fastlaners,

Thanks to @SinisterLex , @IceCreamKid , @SweetTooth (and countless others!), I'm happy to announce that I've made my first $1000 copywriting on UpWork. I'll spare you the boring details of how I got here. ($5 for 2000 words, build reviews, yadda yadda) Instead, let's discuss strategies for freelancers who are ready to leave 3rd party freelancing sites.

With a great portfolio and some awesome reviews, I believe I am ready to go independent and source clients from elsewhere. That's why I started http://carlc.co/ - a landing page for my services as a copywriter. (Feedback very welcome as it's under development!)

It's not FASTLANE. It's not my DESTINATION. But god dang it - it's PAID LEARNING.

Now, since life ain't all sunshine and rainbows, the cold hard truth is that I'm strapped for cash and face a choice between either doing more copywriting or getting a J-O-B. The latter used to scare the hell out of me - since I saw it as the ultimate failure, and an end to my dreams - but I've now realized that if required, working for someone else is a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

To get your ice-cream (or in my case: Mango) you gotta be tenacious

So for now, I will hustle to make this copywriting side-gig work even better than before.

Discussion materials for this thread:

• 1. Do you believe it's a good strategy make copywriting services a monthly "subscription"? (Article which talks about it: http://wpcurve.com/productized-service/)

I could charge $300 per month (or other arbitrary number. I would have to test and see what clients are willing to pay) for unlimited copywriting projects, with a few rules:

1. You can only submit 1 project at a time.
2. I will complete your project within 2 days.
3. By your best guess, the project should take between 1-2 hours.
4. Only when your project is completed can you submit a new one.

By providing a fixed monthly price like this, with great value, I would ensure that my clients stay with me longer and I get a more reliable income. A first goal could be to get 10 clients who subscribed. Thoughts?

• 2. What are some of the best ways of getting quality copywriting clients?

At the moment I am sending emails to companies whose products I have bought in the past, that also desperately need my help. I've had some success with this tactic, but I'm running out of businesses to email.

I heard other copywriters successfully find clients by using direct mail. It costs me merely $1 per snail mail below 50g within Europe. Hm.

The best way would probably be to get referrals from previous clients, but it's just not happening fast enough. Perhaps I need to ask them about that more directly, or incentivise them somehow.

• 3. Are there essential things missing from Carlc.co ?

I should keep writing on my portfolio, and making that section better I think.

The mainpage could probably use more copy too, but I'm not sure about what. Put the reviews in a more visible place? talk more about pricing? Add a blog?

-------------------------------
Happy to hear your thoughts and answer any questions you might have!

Congratulations on your success!

Getting that first $1k is a big hurdle, but once you've done it, it only gets better from there.

1. Do you believe it's a good strategy make copywriting services a monthly "subscription"?

TBH I think it's better to pick up one good long-term client, and leave the rest on pay-by-project.

Get that steady income rolling, and charge everyone else individually because this model is quite limiting.

I have multiple clients on monthly services and the biggest challenge is offering enough value for the price when they're all fighting for time.

I'd almost say it's better to have 1 or 2 great ongoing clients so you don't have to worry about cash.

Then you have more leverage and can charge a premium for your pay-by-project services.

2. What are some of the best ways of getting quality copywriting clients?

The best way in my opinion is referrals. Ask previous clients for referrals.

The clients you get will usually pay whatever price you want since you borrow credibility and trust from the referrer.

3. Are there essential things missing from Carlc.co ?

I like your website. Has enough flavor to show how you write. Plenty of examples.

Not sure what your local market is like, but I could see it doing well locally.

It'll work online too. Maybe reach out through LinkedIn as an option.

I've never tried direct mail for picking up clients. Never had a reason to, but it could work.

If you give it a shot, be sure to let us know how it works out!

 

[Nicoknowsbest]

Great work @Fathazard!

monthly "subscription"

Something to keep in mind for long term development:

The trick is to go through the sliding scale: Intern > Employee > Contractor > Freelancer > Agency > Productised Service > Platform
(If you want to know more, check the Tropical MBA Podcast [HASHTAG]#227[/HASHTAG]: The Rise Of Productized Services)

This view helped me a lot when it came to "grow what you know" (@Andy Black).

Do what @SinisterLex advises you to, but keep the above in mind for later stages.

At the moment I am sending emails to companies whose products I have bought in the past, that also desperately need my help. I've had some success with this tactic, but I'm running out of businesses to email.

I heard other copywriters successfully find clients by using direct mail. It costs me merely $1 per snail mail below 50g within Europe. Hm.

The best way would probably be to get referrals from previous clients, but it's just not happening fast enough. Perhaps I need to ask them about that more directly, or incentivise them somehow.

I am at a very similar point on my journey, it's just not copywriting.

What helped me the most, is:

• "You don't need a website, you need sales." by @Andy Black
• "Spend your money on diesel and coffee." by @Andy Black

I am someone who loves hiding behind a screen, pretending to take action by building landing pages, thinking about AdWords strategies etc.

Oh, AND:

but it's just not happening fast enough

• "1 > 0." by Gary Vee
• "Do things that don't scale." by Paul Graham

Hope this helps

Keep going!

 

[Fathazard]

Congratulations on your success!

Getting that first $1k is a big hurdle, but once you've done it, it only gets better from there.

Thanks Lex for the encouraging words! It means a lot.

TBH I think it's better to pick up one good long-term client, and leave the rest on pay-by-project.
[...]
The best way in my opinion is referrals. Ask previous clients for referrals.

That's a very reasonable approach. l should try to get ONE great long-term client through referrals from past clients. Honestly, I never thought to ASK for referrals. I just sort of hoped they would happen automatically... Makes a lot of sense to politely bring it up.

I've never tried direct mail for picking up clients. Never had a reason to, but it could work.

If you give it a shot, be sure to let us know how it works out!

Will do
I'm thinking that would be a great way to reach local businesses. Include some samples from my portfolio, a short handwritten letter describing what I could do for them, the triple guarantee (Money-back, free sample, short turn-around).

I don't think a mass-mailing would make sense - just a few dozen, well-researched proposals per week.

 

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[Fathazard]

Great work @Fathazard!



Something to keep in mind for long term development:

The trick is to go through the sliding scale: Intern > Employee > Contractor > Freelancer > Agency > Productised Service > Platform
(If you want to know more, check the Tropical MBA Podcast [HASHTAG]#227[/HASHTAG]: The Rise Of Productized Services)

This view helped me a lot when it came to "grow what you know" (@Andy Black).

Do what @SinisterLex advises you to, but keep the above in mind for later stages.



I am at a very similar point on my journey, it's just not copywriting.

What helped me the most, is:

• "You don't need a website, you need sales." by @Andy Black
• "Spend your money on diesel and coffee." by @Andy Black

I am someone who loves hiding behind a screen, pretending to take action by building landing pages, thinking about AdWords strategies etc.

Oh, AND:

• "1 > 0." by Gary Vee
• "Do things that don't scale." by Paul Graham

Hope this helps

Keep going!

Wow, thanks Nico for the massive value-dump!

I feel like I've skipped a few steps in the "sliding scale" you're talking about since I started as a freelancer. (I'm listening to the podcast right now, great stuff.)

But you're right. An agency is the natural next step after getting more clients than you can handle, isn't it? As an overview, these steps are invaluable:

Intern > Employee > Contractor > Freelancer > Agency > Productised Service > Platform

I'll read "1 > 0" and "Do things that don't scale" and post what I learn from them here. I love reading.

 

[Fathazard]

Entrepreneurship...no... LIFE is all about mindset (or so I've come to realize lately). And small changes in how you talk to yourself can have big effects.

Let me empower you by explaining the personal insights I have gained through absorbing "1 > 0", "Do things that Don't Scale", and "Your Mind Over Money".


I grew up with life being easy. Good family, easy childhood. Even school was easy. I was one of those kids who didn't learn to work hard at a young age because there was no need. My parents praised results, not action.

I believed that I was bigger than I actually was. I was full of shortcuts. All flash, and no fire. It led me towards not taking the smaller actions that would have made the bigger actions come within my reach. Like Gary talks about in this video.

One Is Greater Than Zero - Gary Vaynerchuk

Furthermore, I became complacent and let hubris overtake me. The focus on positive results got to me, and I equated my self-worth to things going well - as they always had.

In "Your Mind Over Money", the author talks of auto-attribution bias, and that's exactly what I suffered from although I didn't have a name for it until now.

Auto-attribution bias is: The tendency to link our self-worth to an activity that we either are (or imagine ourselves to be) good or bad at. ( I think 'Your erroneous zones' talks about this too if someone wants more reading)

"I'm happy and valuable because I'm a good entrepreneur"
"I'm worthless because I'm shit at math"
"I'm a good person because ...."


That's like loving your wife because she cooks, or F*cks well. It's not love - and it won't last.


Same thing goes for loving yourself - it can and should be based on something deeper than your performance. Otherwise, you risk hubris if things go well, and depression when things go to hell.

I guess I'm advocating a form of Stoicism. Epictetus said a perfect stoic is one who is: "sick and yet happy, in peril and yet happy, dying and yet happy, in exile and happy, in disgrace and happy". (But he also said that it's impossible, yet we should strive towards it).

say to yourself:

I am not what I do. Win or lose, I will always be me.

That's how you build the resilience to keep going and improving - come hardship or fair weather.

Because it's dangerous to believe you will succeed simply because it lies in your nature. It leads to skipping things that are hard, that can potentially fail. It leads to shying away from any chance at embarrassment and not grinding your hardest to protect your start-up when it's new and frail.

A few years ago, I certainly wouldn't have gone door to door like the founders of AirBnB did. Or done any of the things Paul talks about in the article below.

Do things that don't scale - Paul Graham

http://paulgraham.com/ds.html


I think what I'm trying to say is this:

Love yourself unconditionally; it will make both your life and career more enjoyable and productive.

(...I might have gone off-topic slightly, but hopefully someone can find value in my ramblings.)