How the Dark & Depressing Christmas of 2018 Changed My Life

One Christmas can change everything.

Here’s how the dark and depressing Christmas of 2018 led me to go all in on copywriting…

(And the 4 foolproof steps I discovered to land my first client in 6 weeks and quit my job in 3 months)…

1. I Burned My Ships

In December 2018, I was working at a 9 to 5 with my wife.

We were working 12 hour days.

And certainly weren’t feeling any holiday cheer that year.

And were absolutely miserable.

For years, we wanted to quit our jobs and travel the world. I tried so many businesses over the years.

But, it never panned out.

So, I decided to pull the plug and do something drastic.

I booked us a one-way flight to Australia (from Canada) set to leave 6 months later.

I decided when we hop on that flight in six months, we weren’t coming back to our jobs.

I burned my ships. I had no other choice but to act.

Then I found copywriting. Even though I failed at multiple businesses before like ecommerce dropshipping, web development, bookkeeping, and more…

I fully committed myself to mastering copywriting in January 2019.

And within six weeks, I landed my first client. A few weeks after that, I quit my job.

But, my quick win wasn’t just from burning my ships…

It was also because I had a strong why.

In fact, I had 3 “why”s:

• Time with my family

• Freedom of location

• Enough money to thrive

I would focus on these every single day.

They fueled me to keep going.

But… it wasn’t enough to burn my ships and find my why.

I needed to master copywriting…

2. I Mastered Copywriting

Now, I’m not going to tell you I became an expert writer in just six weeks.

Far from it.

But, I got good enough.

How?

I started putting in the reps.

I understood the only way to win as a writer is to become competent. And the only way to become competent was to put my time in.

So, every morning I committed myself to “Power Sessions.”

I’d wake up every morning at 5-6 am and write for 30-60 minutes straight.

No stopping. No editing. No topic or agenda. No backspaces.

I just wrote.

This developed my writing muscle. I was writing 500-1,000+ words every single morning.

On top of that, I was reading copywriting and marketing books like crazy.

Adweek Copywriting Handbook.

Boron Letters.

Influence.

Scientific Advertising.

And more.

I consumed foundational copywriting information every day.

On top of that, I started handwriting sales letters from the OG copywriters.

Legends like Gary Halbert, Gary Bencivenga, and Eugene Schwartz.

I would just write out their exact sales letters word for word.

Why?

I wanted to become like them.

These guys have sold hundreds of millions individually.

I knew if I wanted to be successful, I’d have to surround myself with those who have succeeded already.

But, I needed something else to stand out in the marketplace…

3. I Discovered My Angle

I invested about $5,000 into my copywriting education in the first year.

Between books and courses, I was pretty well-equipped.

You know what the top copywriters said to do?

Specialize and Niche.

To specialize means to pick one type of writing and go all in like

• Ads

• Blogs

• Emails

• Tweets

• Landing pages

To niche means to pick one topic like SaaS, fitness, finance, gardening, arts and crafts, etc.

So, I picked blogs as my specialty and marketing as my niche.

And every day, I’d write marketing blog posts for practice.

But, there was one more challenge to overcome…

How to actually find and land that client…

4. I Landed My First Client

I didn’t have a clue of what to do next.

So I went back to the courses I was going through.

There were a few ways to land clients:

• Reach out to friends and family

• Wait for inbound leads with a blog

• Apply to local jobs (door-to-door style)

• Send cold pitches to clients in email/DMs

• Pitch businesses on freelance marketplaces

I went with freelance marketplaces. It looked like the easiest way to get started, since these platforms were filled with business owners actively looking for writers.

I tried Upwork and my application was rejected seven times.

So, I went onto Fiverr.

I made an account and put some gigs up.

I could see I was getting traffic and impressions on my gigs.

But, no one was buying.

I needed something else.

So, I went back to research mode and figured it out…

PROOF.

I need proof.

Nobody was going to hire me just because I had an offer.

I needed to show proof I could write.

This means showing off samples of my writing, testimonials, and results.

I had no clients, so what did I do?

I gave myself a topic to write about and whipped up a few blog posts in Google Docs.

Then, I threw those samples on my Fiverr gigs.

3 days later, I landed my first client.

A few days after that, I got another one.

And another one.

Fast-forward a few months later and I was making $5,000 per month as a writer living in Thailand with my wife.

And, just 12 months after I started learning, I was earning six figures per year.

Just remember, you can turn a bad situation into a good one faster than you think you can.

Don’t let one bad Christmas or bad year (or even bad decade) ruin your outlook on life. You have the power to change your trajectory.

Use that painful season to evolve. Level up. And find out what you’re really made of.

It’ll be the very thing that forces you to find success in business.

Recap: 4-Steps to Freedom

• Burn your ships

• Master copywriting

• Discover your angle

• Land that client

Brandon “Merry Christmas” Storey

P.S. My CTA for you today?

Enjoy time with your family and friends today. Relax, eat some turkey, and chocolate, and have a wonderful time.

But tomorrow, get fired up about your goals. Create an action plan to finally get the digital freedom you’re looking for in 2025. Everything can change in just one year.