U.S. Marine joining the Fastlane!

[jjspano]

I'm in my late 20's, served in the Navy for 4 years, worked in counter-terrorism when I got out, started a small company with my buddy doing GMB pages and Google Ad campaigns. We had a small amount of success with it (A few clients, but we weren't bringing in enough money + ran out of cash) so I went back to work and college. In college I met a Marine Corps recruiter, now I've been in the USMC for 1 year.

My goal is to learn copywriting so that I can earn my base pay ($2k per month) from my computer while still in the military and not have to re-enlist but instead scale up a profitable, location-independent business from my laptop. I'm married and looking to use geo-arbitrage to my advantage by living in South America and earning in USD.

That's me and the direction I'm headed towards, glad to be here. Also, I'm reading TMF at a rapid pace + taking copious notes. I can't wait to put this stuff to action. Thanks, @MJ DeMarco

- JJ

 

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[Shono]

Hey there,

Welcome to the forum. Your story reminds me a lot of Alex Becker's. He learned Copy/marketing while in the military until he could afford base pay, moved into a sharehouse with 4 dudes and was living off $1000 a month til he gained momentum, eventually scaling an SEO company to a large exit.

Curious, what made you choose Copy, and what is going to be your method of learning it and getting clients? What will separate you from other copywriters? It is important because the best copywriters are those with unique life experiences which can be seen in their repository of knowledge evident in their copy.

Best of luck to you, and I hope you all the success! You are definitely in the right place.

 

[jjspano]

Alex Becker rings a bell, if I remember correctly he's prior Air Force. I've seen a few of his YT videos, but this was a few years back.

Why copywriting? Sales skills touch almost every aspect of our lives. Having the ability to identify a problem, tell a story and form a solution, explain WHY what I do is better, with a nice call to action is priceless. Every business needs to sell, why not develop this skillset to pay the bills (and then some) before I get back into business?

Other than @MJ DeMarco 's work, these books will be my education:

Five on Sales
“Secrets of Closing the Sale” – Zig Ziglar
"The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation" - Matthew Dixon and Brent
Adamson
"The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal" -
David Hoffeld
"If You're Not First, You're Last: Sales Strategies to Dominate Your Market and Beat Your Competition" -
Grant Cardone
"Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions" by
Dan Ariely

Five on Copywriting
"How To Write A Good Advertisement" - Victor O Schwab
“The Copywriter's Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide To Writing Copy That Sells” - Robert W. Bly
"Break-Through Advertising" - Eugene M. Schwartz
“Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content” - Ann Handley
“Copywriting: Successful Writing for Design, Advertising and Marketing” - by Mark Shaw

While I'm building this foundation I will build a "swipe file" (A document containing examples of good copy). I'll study that swipe file and understand why it's good copy. Then I'll take the principles of it and apply it to my own work. I'll pick a niche and write different types of copy for it to build a portfolio. Then, I'll start cold emailing and DM-ing businesses within my niche using Disarm > Engage > Introduce > Pitch > Close.

That's the rough outline I intend on following.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Welcome to the forum my friend, the discipline of the armed forces will definitely prepare you for the world of business.

My goal is to learn copywriting

Not sure why you want to do this, AI will erode this opportunity.

Right now I can create an AI GPT based on Kennedy, Abraham, and Halbert -- and boom, instantly you're out of business.

 

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[jjspano]

Welcome to the forum my friend, the discipline of the armed forces will definitely prepare you for the world of business.



Not sure why you want to do this, AI will erode this opportunity.

Right now I can create an AI GPT based on Kennedy, Abraham, and Halbert -- and boom, instantly you're out of business.

Thanks for the Welcome Aboard MJ! It's good to be here.

I can see how people might come to that conclusion. As it stands, that GPT is a decent mimick of those guys but is definitely not a replacement anytime soon and here's why:

1) It might be good at learning from large sets of data but I wouldn't trust it to be able to adapt to new trends or be able to pick up on nuances that are crucial to writing persuasive copy that converts.

2) If there comes a day where the status quo changes and AI truly becomes a one-stop shop and all the ad-men and freelancers are out of work then I'll have made my money, built up my network and cultivated sales skills which I'll take with me to my next venture. The form of selling I do may change in the future but the principles of the game will remain the same.

Of course, I could also be totally wrong. I'll adapt if or when the situation dictates it.

- JJ

 

[Antifragile]

I'm in my late 20's, served in the Navy for 4 years, worked in counter-terrorism when I got out, started a small company with my buddy doing GMB pages and Google Ad campaigns. We had a small amount of success with it (A few clients, but we weren't bringing in enough money + ran out of cash) so I went back to work and college. In college I met a Marine Corps recruiter, now I've been in the USMC for 1 year.

My goal is to learn copywriting so that I can earn my base pay ($2k per month) from my computer while still in the military and not have to re-enlist but instead scale up a profitable, location-independent business from my laptop. I'm married and looking to use geo-arbitrage to my advantage by living in South America and earning in USD.

That's me and the direction I'm headed towards, glad to be here. Also, I'm reading TMF at a rapid pace + taking copious notes. I can't wait to put this stuff to action. Thanks, @MJ DeMarco

- JJ

Welcome to the forum.

I'll be one of those people who will try to talk you out of copywriting. I understand the appeal and your described reasons, they are not wrong...

For example, I agree that every business owner can benefit form being skilled in copywriting.

At the same time, no business owners should be an expert copywriter, because it distracts you from your actual business. If you own a car repair shop, and you are also the mechanic, you'll work more on cars than on your business. Same with restaurants whose owners are chefs. I see it as a "fake action" move, being busy for the sake of being busy.

Shorter version: if you can't be the best, don't compete.

What else have you considered that would afford you the same geo flexibility of earning form a computer? What advantage do you hold over others based on your life to date? What topic and area are you curious about to the point where you are reading, trying and getting more interested with every passing month, year ... ?

Regardless what you do, welcome and best of luck.

 

[jjspano]

Welcome to the forum.

I'll be one of those people who will try to talk you out of copywriting. I understand the appeal and your described reasons, they are not wrong...

For example, I agree that every business owner can benefit form being skilled in copywriting.

At the same time, no business owners should be an expert copywriter, because it distracts you from your actual business. If you own a car repair shop, and you are also the mechanic, you'll work more on cars than on your business. Same with restaurants whose owners are chefs. I see it as a "fake action" move, being busy for the sake of being busy.

Shorter version: if you can't be the best, don't compete.

What else have you considered that would afford you the same geo flexibility of earning form a computer? What advantage do you hold over others based on your life to date? What topic and area are you curious about to the point where you are reading, trying and getting more interested with every passing month, year ... ?

Regardless what you do, welcome and best of luck.

I really appreciate this kind of insight. My immediate instinct was to go right into copy because written sales can have such a high return (i.e. high ticket sales).

Your comment doesn't make me doubt the potential of making a lot of currency units in copy, but why should I invest all that sweat equity in becoming an expert in one leg of a business when I could be building an entire brand or company much greater than that copywriting gig could be?

I have a pretty solid command presence in-person. I should think of how I can capitalize on being the face of a brand I create. I don't have all of the answers but your comment is making me ask myself more questions as to how and what I should re-focus my efforts on.

Thanks @Antifragile and @MJ DeMarco I'm going to look back on this and be grateful for being challenged on this path. Time to get to work now!

 

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[Kevin88660]

I'm in my late 20's, served in the Navy for 4 years, worked in counter-terrorism when I got out, started a small company with my buddy doing GMB pages and Google Ad campaigns. We had a small amount of success with it (A few clients, but we weren't bringing in enough money + ran out of cash) so I went back to work and college. In college I met a Marine Corps recruiter, now I've been in the USMC for 1 year.

My goal is to learn copywriting so that I can earn my base pay ($2k per month) from my computer while still in the military and not have to re-enlist but instead scale up a profitable, location-independent business from my laptop. I'm married and looking to use geo-arbitrage to my advantage by living in South America and earning in USD.

That's me and the direction I'm headed towards, glad to be here. Also, I'm reading TMF at a rapid pace + taking copious notes. I can't wait to put this stuff to action. Thanks, @MJ DeMarco

- JJ

You have military experience.

Never considered running a business in security service or military contractors?

Even as simple as firearms related service based business. Rifle cleaning is a pain in the a$$.

I remember in the late 2000s when I was in the military people were paying others $50 to clean their rifles after a live range. There was also an unofficial markets selling “guard duties”.

 

[jjspano]

I could definitely lean into what I know. Those services you mention are naturally still a thing to this day and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

I'm trying to establish myself with a skill set that I can leverage anywhere in the world from a computer. Cleaning firearms and picking up some extra firewatch won't cut it, unfortunately.

So, it's back to the drawing board. Find a need/problem - Create a product or service that can be provided online to fill that need - market and sell it to the right audience - scale it up. Rinse, wash and repeat.

 

[chazwazzer]

Welcome!

 

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