How I Landed My First Client in 6 Weeks

***Before we dive in, I’ve got a little JUICY secret I’ve been keeping from you that I’m gonna reveal at the bottom of this email. Feel free to skip ahead if you can’t wait!***

I started copywriting 5 years ago.

January 2019.

Six weeks later, I landed my first client.

February 16, 2019.

Here’s how I did it:

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 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 writing…

2. I Mastered Writing

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 Eugence 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. 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 digital writers 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

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. Land That 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, one year after I started learning, I was earning six figures.

Recap:

• Burn your ships

• Master writing

• Discover your angle

• Land that client

-Brandon “First client in 6 weeks” Storey

P.S. I’ve got something super exciting to share…

After countless requests over the last year…

I’m officially launching a COPYWRITING COURSE!

There are a ton of people who have asked me to create a self-paced copywriting course.

So, I’m creating one that gives you EVERYTHING you need to launch your own $5,000-$10,000/month freelance copywriting business.

BUT...

I need your feedback.

I want to offer something so people can still get all the tools and resources they need to build up a copywriting business even if they can’t afford my 1:1 coaching (which is $1,500 USD).

So, what price point would you be willing to pay for a learn-at-your-own pace, kickstarter copywriting course?

NOT just on how to write copy (that'll be included).

And not just on how to outreach (that'll also be included).

The outcome would be: Anyone could take this course knowing nothing about copywriting...

All the way to having all the tools, resources, step-by-step strategies to succeed as a $5,000-$10,000/month freelance copywriter.

Included would be lessons on how to:

• Improve your copywriting

• Outreach to clients (step-by-step)

• Do a sales/discovery call

• Price your services

• Offer packages

• Onboard a client

• Do research

• Invoice

• Write up contracts

• Keep clients on retainer

• Negotiate and raise rates

• Serve clients effectively

• Create case studies

• Manage multiple clients

• Master client communication

• Scale to six figures

• And more

Answer in the poll honestly on what you'd pay for this type of thing.

It would be a one-time payment with lifetime access (no monthly/yearly fee).

Thank you!