Sleepwalked Into Fatherhood and Bootstrapping to Financial Freedom

[Disciple96]

Hey all,

I've posted one execution thread here long ago that was basically stalled at the hangar and never took off.

About 3 years ago I purchased a course "The Copywriter's Code" from a fella named Danny Marguiles of freelancetowin.com

I'm not entirely convinced I got a great value on the course but considering I never actually finished it, I might as well get my $1000 worth, right?

Anyways, I'm chipping away at it. I'll post some snippets of stuff I've learned here as I go so maybe this isn't all entirely in vain.

Anyways, here's some backstory/goals:

I'm about to be a father AND a stepfather of two very young children. I'm afraid that my lack of formal education or training has basically kept me at the income level of a 17 year old boy and now I'm starting from scratch.

I'm 25 now, but I've been here on this forum since I was 15 and have always aspired to be just like MJ, so to speak.

Well, 10 years later and I still have barely started a business, unless you include a brief stint in residential lawn maintenance and a vain attempt at freelancing 4 years ago (I did make like $500 though)

The dude I just started working for after I quit my demoralizing factory job blocked my number after he couldn't pay me the $1000 he owes me for labor, which means rent payment is going to be late but luckily my family is in a good spot with all that.

Anyways, I'm taking this time off and I hope to accomplish 3 things

1.) Get a job to pay the rent ASAP, preferably with enough time to spare towards my personal goals.
2.) Spend the current bulk of my free time, not spent with the baby or my girl, on educating myself and sharpening my skills a touch more before jumping in the deep end freelancing.
3.) Finally, after I finally complete this copywriting course, jump in the deep end and work towards my 10x goal of $20k / month


I plan to be sort of a one-stop shop for small businesses and their web presence. I want to provide exceptional value to my clients, but I already have a bit of "imposter syndrome" after reading @Fox 's 7 figure webdev booklet.

If you're reading this man, I wish I could take back the money I spent on this copywriting course and keep it in the family through your web school but I guess I'll have to do it with grit and perseverance instead.

Goal for the next 7 days: Finish the course, get my money's worth, and start upworking/freelancing anywhere I can.

Goal for the next month: Study "The Freelancer's Bible", meanwhile I will be taking the barely any money I have and building my mother a website for her independent salon business.
>sidenote: my mom is kind of a boomer and thinks instagram is a feasible replacement for her own website she controls. She also can't afford the some-odd $150 to get a domain and hosting setup, so I'm thinking I'll just consider it a gift on my part. There's no point in trying to sell her on this, not only is she my mother but she can't afford rent at this point either. I'm hoping a professional website will help her stand out and get more clients and this would be a great low-pressure way to develop my skills (albeit on my own dime and my own time) but she knows a lot of people in this city and I'm thinking it could really bootstrap my journey if I knock it out of the park.

Basically, if I don't figure something out at this rate I'm F*cked. Between inflation, two children and a stay at home girlfriend (she has a trust fund to help her stay at home but not much more) and this tiny a$$ house we live in, I feel like a fish out of water.


onto the progress/execution part of this thread:

Yesterday: (re)completed module 1/6 of the copywriting course.
what I learned:

-Strategy trumps words when it comes to writing effective copy. It's more important how you approach the project, than how it's literally written. although that's important too, of course.
-Aim to be the trusted advisor for your clients, not just a dude who follows orders blindly.
-Adopt a detective mindset - look beyond the obvious when trying to understand the audience's story - the story is very prone to change, even within the same scope of the project, so be sure each piece of copy is designed to be relevant depending on who your audience is.

3-step process for client satisfaction:
1. ask client how they would describe the success of this project to a close companion.
2. ask for specific words/phrases they'd like to see included, as well as a rough idea of length and any specific pieces they found powerful.
3. look into the client's previous marketing efforts as well as their competitors. 3-4 star reviews are particularly helpful for finding pain points / objections to overcome.

"Green light method" for client satisfaction
1. Present any ideas I am unsure of implementing to client, only when I might waste a lot of time otherwise.
2. Don't fully commit to any idea - be detached from the outcome and earn client's trust by just laying it out as an option on the table, but one I'm not particularly sold on.

How to write quality copy without writer's block
-write anything at all, even something awful is better than a blank page to start with.

1. remove anything that doesnt surprise the reader
2. imagine each line with the words "great news!" in front of it - if it doesn't make sense, rewrite that line or cut it altogether.
3. add conversion "levers" - i.e. credibility of client, utilizing stories to simplify concepts, quantify abstract statements into concrete benefits.
4. add urgency.

On Unique Selling Propositions
1. Client has a clear USP - Showing in addition to telling
2. Client's USP is unclear - SHOW, do NOT tell (tell a story using quantifiable examples of benefits)
3. USP is nonexistent or unidentifiable - ADVISE the client and CREATE a USP

Upsells:
1. 30-60 min strategy session - 2/3 new clients, roughly. basically, whenever the client could use advisement on the scope of the project and actionable steps to take.
>>>>let them do the talking, validate their goals, and don't overdo it with more than 3 ideas that are simple, actionable, and specific
2. Interviewing client's customers
3. Providing an opinion for the client should not be a free service, understand my time and input have VALUE.

Other notes:
Conversion isn't a hard science - clients pay me to do my best.
Nailing the STORY and PSYCHOLOGY of the audience is critical in writing copy that will convert
Don't charge per word - EVER. Flat rate is good for clear project goals, while hourly can be helpful in projects with unclear scopes.

Well that's all for now. I'm off to do Module 2, report back with more learnings.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Disciple96]

Completed Module 2 and 3 now, learned all about E-mail copywriting and press releases. Fun stuff!

But, while I feel like I'm learning a lot and taking good notes, I can't help but feel most of this information is worthless to me at the moment and an action fake. This course wasn't designed to be studied over the course of one week without taking action, it was designed to be a foundational education that you use to practice with over the course of 6 weeks.

Solution: Finish taking notes on the course. Then, revisit the course material for each module and create a minimum of 3 completely unique sample pieces, specifically targeted towards 3 different niches. Since I now have a "portfolio", I can use these as examples for prospects to prove my ability.

I'll probably quit updating this thread with in-depth information from the things I learn from this course. I know it's all repackaged info like every other course, but I'll keep the footnotes.

What I learned over the last 2 days:

E-MAIL MARKETING
>"What does the reader need to accomplish, and how can I help them do that?"

It's all about creating value. How can you provide value through an e-mail?

Well, the key to understanding this is realizing most people hate e-mails and most e-mail promos are garbage. You can set yourself apart from the pack by instead offering some no-strings-attached value to the audience.

Think about their business needs... how can you simplify something for them. Offer tips, suggestions, etc.

The first few e-mails in the sequence might be lacking a sales pitch entirely. Just a few friendly e-mails with some valuable information.

Save the pitch and call to action for later, right now it's more important to tell an engaging story that has them looking forward to reading your next e-mail. Make it fun!

Practice writing subject lines - write down as many as you can and then a few more, even if they feel contrived or barely different than the previous. Eventually you will strike gold in that well and even if you don't... you now have 20-30 headlines you know are no good!

Consider adding in lists when relevant, as it's particularly readable and easy to understand.


Other notes/things to utilize

• create urgency via scarcity or price hikes, get creative
• success stories/testimonials
• FAQ's are helpful to answer reader's questions
• describe the reader's problems
• use positive associations in your stories to stir good memories
• multiple CTA in closing e-mails
• anything to provide more credibility and authority to the client

PRESS RELEASES


I feel like this is probably less relevant to most people so I'll leave it with less detail (edit: nevermind...), but a couple things I found useful:

When dealing with journos, keep the copy journalistic. Not fluffed up or salesy, and make it as easy as possible for them to identify the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the promotion.

Be as specific and concrete as possible. The headline is the most important for this, and the first few sentences should provide just a bit more information than the headline itself. The next few paragraphs are for elaborating on the most critical information while keeping it brief.

Don't over-promote the client or xyz product/service, features, or benefits outside of the most relevant and critical value, i.e., the promotion itself. DO NOT SELL HERE. You have become a journalist.

Provide a context for which a problem exists that is relevant to the solution your client/xyz provides.

However, do be clear about what it is the company is and does, and how it is relevant to the overall "news".

Be clear about the value being offered in this promotion, and who should care about it.

Obtaining quotes from clients or the clients of clients is handy for establishing a credible, relatable, and specific person as opposed to an abstract company name. The name of the game with press releases is SPECIFIC and CONCRETE information.

Imagine you were the journalist receiving this press release. Ideally, you want to promote everything because it all brings clicks and it all brings $. But, you only have so much time in a day. So, if you're going to publish about a press release of all things, you want it to be as easy and relevant as possible so you need to do as little research as possible.

DO THE RESEARCH FOR THE JOURNALIST. Do NOT leave them asking any questions or confused about "who cares?"

HEADLINES: To the point and simple to understand. Leave nothing up to the imagination. This should be a clear picture of the promoted business, the promotion itself, the "story" or relevant problem to the audience, and how the promotion solves it and provides value for the audience.

Do not "bury the lead". After the headline, the first few sentences should be your strongest sentences and for the most part, simply restate the headline with slightly more information regarding the who's, what's, etc.

A non-salesy, simple CTA regarding the promotion is OK.

Anyways, that's all I have for now.


TLDR;

Next steps: Finish course, then revisit each topic spending roughly 1wk per module fleshing out a minimum of 3 pieces each, with each piece niched down to be relevant to the specific clients I prospect.

I'll study "The Freelancer's Bible" congruently with the copywriting course until I've spent 6 weeks or so getting some hands-on, and will implement my freelance learnings to try to get some clients with what I learn from the copywriting course.

After I feel pretty good about the value I get out of the course, I'll move on to self-teach wordpress development. I am also considering, as I mentioned previously, using my mom's business as a pilot project to polish my skills in both WP dev and copywriting congruently, however I would need to pitch all the startup capital myself.

Probably worth it.

Other good news: I got a job to pay for food and shit now. $24 an hour delivering for amazon during madness season through snow and ice probably isn't enough, but it'll pay the damn bills, and it's a lot more reliable than a sheister contractor who smokes more than a rasta. I'm currently going through the process outlined from my state labor dept to demand payment via certified mail (I have his full name and business address from the state entity lookup) and will seek settlement through the courts, who will tack on some very hefty fees if I don't receive payment. Hopefully that will motivate him. Or not. I kinda hope he burns. *shrug*

 

[Disciple96]

Wow, it's been almost a year.

Where to begin...

Well, for starters, the labor department backed me up and fined the hell out of that contractor I worked for and ordered him to pay, although I doubt I ever see a dime.

There was some drama with my mother, turns out she was misappropriating me and my girl's share of the rent payment without our knowledge.

She decided to move out, government grants covered the difference plus a little extra.

My baby boy was born in the early morning at the beginning of February.

Mom still hasn't met the baby, as she said some quite vicious and terrible things to me and my girl both.The last several years have taken their toll on her mental health for a myriad of reasons, and I pray for her healing but it's too challenging with kids to be around someone who avoids and denies reality and refuses to be accountable.

Just last week we completely moved her stuff out for her as she was dragging her feet for 8 long months and enough was enough.

Enough about that. I do have some good news.

I got my first web development client back in June. I projected a 2 week delivery on a fully featured 6 page responsive website, along with e-mail integration and basic SEO setup, all included with the first year of hosting for free for about $250.

I spent more on that just to get the business operational, but that's not the point.

I got it done in 3 weeks. It took a considerable amount of grind and learning curve, and I couldn't have done it without my girlfriend as she really held down the house for that time.

i am now consulting with this client to move forward with digital marketing services, starting with SEM/PPC.

Because they are a smaller company with limited resources, it seems that PPC advertising will yield the biggest ROI in the short term.

They are a small seasonal business, however, so I'll need to find several other clients to do business with if I'm to survive the winter as well.

But all in all, I enjoy working with them a lot and because I'm green, I give them a great deal on the services i provide as they reciprocate that value with trust and respect, but they're also dudes I would have a beer with.

I need to find more business for websites to keep me busy, however.

I did end up getting a better job than I expected just delivering packages for amazon in their prime vans, it pays $20, fair wage for around here, and it provides insurance so, well.... you gotta have it, am I right?

This job is supremely flexible which is great for trying to have more time to hustle.

I am in a priveliged postiion of having grandfathered in a low rent in a decent 2bd 1ba in a city where every other option is almost double the price. It's a bit of a ramshackle home but it's got character and some nice flooring.

So I can afford to work delivery for only 3 days a week, and make it work with my girl financially with all bills paid, and savings in the form of time.

I am applying the lost time principle to my work/life balance. Sure I could work 50 hours a week and slave away for extra dough to "invest", or I could invest that TIME right NOW into something I actually own and control.

Luckily, digital ad agencies are as necessary as ever, and TIME is all I need to learn the tricks of the trade and do a kickass job delivering massive returns for future clients!

I love having a family, through all the struggles, and find it's the only thing that I've ever wanted after all these years dreaming of getting rich. F*ck that. Have a family first, and then get rich for your family, not for yourself.

Unless you want to waste your life away on the pursuit something as fickle as material wealth AT THE EXPENSE OF the things in life that will really make it worth living for you. For me, that's a family.