Disclaimer: I have hidden and omitted some names taken from experiences

from individuals on social media groups to protect individuals’ privacy.

These are facts from my perspective and other writers, and I have tried
to represent events as faithfully as possible.

Copyright © 2022 Francielle Silva

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any
manner without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except
for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

To request permissions, contact the author at franciellep.silva@hotmail.com

Library of Congress Number:

First paper edition October 2022

Edited by Excel Book Writing

Cover Art by Francielle Silva
Imprint: Independently published

Check out my Instagram: 4ufreelancers

 Contents
Introduction 5
About the Author 9
Chapter 1 0
Digital Freelancing is the future digital workforce0
Chapter 2 7
Starting In A Generic Niche vs. A Specific Niche: How to Choose a
Profitable Niche You Love 7
Chapter 3 23
Getting Clear on Who Your ICA (Ideal Client Avatar) Is 23
Chapter 4 32
Get Clear on What Problem You Solve for Your Ideal Client 32
Chapter 5 40
Craft An Offer to Attract Your Ideal Client Avatar 40
Chapter 6 45
Six Character Traits You Should Have That Are More Powerful Than Any
Credentials 45
Chapter 7 54
Copywriting Is Not Always Salesy 54
Chapter 8 62
How To Learn Copywriting or Content Writing 62
Chapter 9 71
Signing Your First Clients Without a Portfolio and How to Build One
71
Chapter 10 87
How To Price Your Services When You Have No Previous
Experience 87
Chapter 11 101
How Much Can You Earn as A Copywriter or Content Writer? 101
Chapter 12 105
Pricing: Why Many Freelance Writers Struggle for So Long 105
Chapter 13 109
Six-Figure Earners Pricing Strategy 109
Chapter 14 116
The Problem with Freelance Writing Platforms 116
Chapter 15 124
Income-Generating Activities vs. Non-Income Generating Activities
124
Chapter 16 129
Six Things That Influence Clients to Hire You as A Freelance Writer
129
Chapter 17 145
5 Types of Buyers: How to Get Each of Them to Hire You 145
Chapter 18 157
How To Stand Out from the Crowd 157
Chapter 19 169
The Writer, The Marketer, and The Business Owner: The Three Levels of
Conversation to Have with a Client 169
Chapter 20 179
Client Acquisition Made Easy 179
Chapter 21 204
The Real Secret to Signing Clients 204
Chapter 22 208
Is Guest Posting Worth It? 208
Chapter 23 220
Sign Clients Without Testimonials and How to Get a Powerful One from
Your First Client 220
Chapter 24 229
Eleven Easy Ways to Find Clients Outside of Freelancing Platforms
229
Chapter 25 299
Cold-Pitching Clients 299
Chapter 26 306
Get Steady Freelance Writing Clients 306
Chapter 27 314
What You Should Include in Your Contract 314
Sources 320
 Introduction
I've never met you, but if you ever considered getting the best paying
4th to 7th-grade level ongoing writing projects without any previous
experience, I am going to read your mind.

Not literally, of course.

It's just an educated assumption on why you want to read this book.

This book is for you if you've been looking for effective ways to land
steady, lucrative copywriting or content writing projects. It will teach you
basic freelance writing business principles most copywriters and content
writers miss when starting. It will also give you a step-by-step guideline on
finding and signing the top lucrative writing projects that will pay you more
while working less than your day job.

According to statista.com, 50.9% percent of the total U.S. workforce

and about 86.5 million people in the USA will be freelancers by 2027.
Skillscounter.com says 60% of those who left their traditional job are earning
more than they did as an employee, according to Skill Counter. Why did
landing clients seem so hard when I first started?

In 2022, I decided to write copy for personal brands. I tried

everything you can think of. Posting daily on social media, cold-pitching,
freelancing platforms, creating a website, and ads. I got opinions from
different freelancers, which differed very much from non-freelancers. Do you
know what really happened? I ended up more confused than before.

Previously, I had helped an immigrant mom quit her job and build a
5-figure home-based business with a few simple marketing and sales steps.
So I decided to study more in-depth sales psychology and applied the same
method I used to help her sign clients. Guess what I learned? I figured out the
exact gap often overlooked in the freelance writing industry. As a result, I
finally cracked the code on getting clients to say yes to my offer.

I began to teach the same method and came up with a

personalized strategy for my Facebook community. Many newbies landed
their first better-paying writing projects and so have my coaching clients.
Some are earning a side income; others are working full-time writing. This
book is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It is not meant for freelancers who play
small and aren't committed to putting in the work.

Don't delay in learning and applying these strategies to help you land
the most lucrative writing projects. If you don't grab this opportunity,
someone else will.

Success leaves clues. My clients and my community use many of the

things you are about to learn. I also discovered that's the secret sauce full-
time copywriters and content writers use to sign their highest paying clients.
Each chapter provides a strategic method that will help you stay in control of
landing your dream writing projects.

If you follow the methods and strategies I reveal in this book, it's
highly possible you'll have a recession-proof business. Clients will chase you
and you'll never go without work again.
 About the Author
In the middle of a pandemic, after being tired of spending many
Christmases far from her home country, Francielle decided to start
copywriting to have the flexibility to travel overseas and spend more time
with her family. Freelance writing was the best option for achieving her
goals, but client acquisition was one problem.
After hiring a mentor, Francielle studied simple sales psychology
principles and relationship-driven strategies for client acquisition. By putting
the knowledge and strategies she learned to practice, she was able to sign
high-ticket clients on Instagram and Facebook groups. So she started to help
other freelance writers in her Facebook community and coached her clients
with authentic, non-salesy strategies to land clients.
 Chapter 1
Digital Freelancing Is the Future
Digital Workforce
Businesses and brands have changed how they build awareness in the
past three years (2022) more than they have in the past twenty years. With the
growing digital age, businesses going online and a pandemic helped
accelerate those changes. Who needs to travel for hours to work on a
computer when you can do it from home? The COVID-19 pandemic made
that evident and convenient for both employers and employees. Business
owners want to delegate their content marketing to those skilled enough to
bring them solutions.
With many people experiencing significant job loss during the
pandemic, more younger people are starting a digital business. The “safe and
secure” job is within our ability to wake up every morning, provide value to
the world, and get paid for it.
Any skill that can be done remotely will help business owners and
offer more flexibility than being an employee where your physical presence
is required. If people are not happy with their jobs, what stops them from
quitting them?
The answer is the lack of personal brand. The corporate world
requires experience in a skillset, network, and influence. With freelancing,
you don’t need the experience to sign better-paying clients successfully, but a
skillset, network, and a personal brand to stand out.
Having a personal brand is not about having a website, a logo, a
social media presence with lots of followers, and becoming popular. A
personal brand is what is unique about you (your personality and
background), the authentic message you share with the world, and the value
you add to the world through your business. A personal brand is your vision,
mission, unique life story, business process, marketing approach, what people
know you for (your reputation), customer service, brand personality, and
voice. The visuals, layout imagery, logo, and colors are just a representation
of it all.
As a freelancer, you are the business owner, so it requires you to
learn more than just writing. You need to know the business side of things:
relationship skills, sales skills, marketing skills, and a business owner
mindset. If you dislike working for someone else, it's time to consider
freelancing on the side to go full-time sooner than later.
Why is the demand for freelancers going through the ceiling?
Content marketing and other freelance writing markets were already
slowly growing with the digital age. The pandemic has just accelerated this
growth. Building a strong online presence was a way to innovate and survive
as people were giving preference to shopping online for health and safety
reasons.
With the pandemic, businesses had to innovate. With the digital age
growing, people were forced to learn how to make money without a boss and
felt freer as a result.
Content marketing, for example, has been projected to grow 100
times its size between 2018 and 2025 and expand to $417.85 billion,
according to Power Publish. This fact means more opportunities for
freelancers to make a career out of it. The other reason for the growing
demand for freelance writers is that with a booming age of fake news, online
scams, etc., consumers want credible and reliable information. Content
marketing builds the trust and the relationship businesses need with their
market, and copywriters get customers and clients to take action to do
business with them.
More companies want to hire freelancers over hiring employees
According to Forbes, there are many reasons companies are hiring
freelancers over employees. Even though some people have an impressive
resume and portfolio with successful projects they are unemployable for
corporate jobs. This might be due to excessive absence days, a family health
crisis, being at retirement age, a learning disability, or other reasons.
Therefore, companies would rather sign a contract with a freelancer
than hire a salaried employee. Moreover, many Americans are willing to exit
the corporate life to have more flexibility, better pay, and more freedom.
According to a study done by Upwork and Freelancers Union, the majority of
the U.S. workforce are predicted to be largely independent contractors by
2027, with an estimated 57 million people currently working as freelancers.
Another big reason is that, from a business economics
perspective, companies are starting to figure out that it can be cheaper in the
long run to work with freelancers. By hiring freelancers, they only need to
pay them their fees. They don't have to pay benefits to salaried and hourly
employees. Hiring and firing employees cost money to companies, and
working with independent contractors doesn't require hiring their service full-
time, year-round.
Another reason for hiring freelancers is that it’s economically smart.
Their expertise in a specific task, such as sticking Facebook ads, email
marketing, blog writing, accounting, etc. can help businesses. Agencies
generally do good work, but there's always one thing they lack in expertise,
and businesses changing agencies to fix the problem will bog their business
down and result in revenue loss. Suppose you get too many inquiries,
depending on how ambitious you are. In that case, you can scale and build
your own agency with specialty and hire other independent contractors to
help you out.
Why did a record number of Americans quit their jobs in 2021 when a
pandemic was still happening?
According to CNN Business, millions of workers left jobs for cash
incentives, better pay, or better benefits. They also left the labor market
during the pandemic to care for children or elderly relatives. Meanwhile,
older workers retired early either because they could or because age
discrimination forced them out of the workplace. The older generation also
wasn't used to buying things online.
 The pandemic forced the workers to adopt a new lifestyle, culture,
and trend, so the demand for remote service providers grew exponentially.
More businesses are going online, along with more solopreneurs, but
unfortunately, that also means more online scams. 75.3 million workers were
hired last year, while 68.9 million quit, were laid off, or were discharged. Out
of these so-called separations, 47.4 million were voluntary quits.
 Chapter 2
Starting In A Generic Niche vs. A
Specific Niche: How to Choose a
Profitable Niche You Love
Why work with profitable niches?
Well, the reason is obvious. You can't charge premium rates and hit
your revenue goals with a low-profit niche. I'm not referring to getting rich
quickly. I'm referring to breaking even and eventually making a profit to pay
your bills and live your dreams as a new freelance writer. Here are a few
reasons why you should niche down:
Expertise and value in the market
Even if you are new, positioning yourself as an expert in a specific
industry raises your value in your market. Experts get paid more because they
are seen as valuable and scarce. Creating a portfolio or some writing samples
to showcase your talents in an industry you enjoy or are knowledgeable about
is easier than writing about something you don’t know much about.
When you send your writing samples to clients in a specific niche,
they prefer hiring you over others because they assume you know more about
that industry than others. They feel more confident that your content
marketing or copy resonates better with their target audience. How many
copywriters or content writers are out there? Tons.
How many help a specific niche such as sex coaches or pet e-
commerce business owners? Fewer!
Efficiency
Efficiency is another reason to choose a niche - time is money.
Researching from topic to topic can take time you could spend with another
better-paying client or with your family.
Some freelance writers shared their experiences on social media
forums:
"I would lean in even further to your niche. I specialize in natural
health and wellness e-commerce, specifically nontoxic living brands. Leaning
further into a niche helps you become an expert faster so you can charge
premium rates for your services. Plus, you'll complete the work faster
because you won't constantly have a learning curve with every new industry.
Plus, people will associate you with that one thing, which makes you more
referable."

Melissa R – Facebook group comment

"Great to have multiple niches. I would definitely try to laser-focus
on those, though. The more your portfolio grows in a niche, the more you can
charge."
Kimberly. Z – Facebook group comment

Client attraction
Put yourself in the shoes of the client for a moment. Suppose you are
a doctor looking to promote your clinic and build an online presence on
Google . In that case, you would want to hire someone to write SEO blogs to
gain visibility on Google. How would you likely do a Google search for a
blog writer?
Probably, you would type “SEO blog writers,” “health blog writers,”
“health writers,” “health freelance writers,” “writers for doctors,” or similar.
You'd unconsciously use keywords to find the right fit for your industry. And
if you do a keyword search on social media, you are more likely to contact
those whose profile are relevant to you.
When they scroll through Google, LinkedIn, or Instagram, the
algorithm reads through your professional profile and your previous
searches. It will display similar profiles you've been searching for and
suggest more of that profile to you. And if you've been interacting with a
certain profile for a while on social media, its algorithm starts suggesting
your profile to them.
Suppose you are a family doctor looking to hire someone to write
your blogs, so you can gain visibility on Google. You type in words and it
displays these two options. Which of these ones would you go with?
a) Content writer
I write blogs, social media posts, and newsletters.
b) Health content writer and marketing strategist
I help doctors and therapists to build an online presence and get visible
through quality content optimization.
Probably option B. This content writer is specific about her solution
for clients. You'd assume not only that they'll know what it takes to get these
results, but you will also know what content this person will create to attract
more of your target audience. Therefore, you are more likely to be willing to
pay more to a specialist than to a generalist.
Here is what some freelance writers are saying on social media:
"When you niche down, you focus on several topics and learn a lot
about each so it's way easier for you to write about said topics in the future. I
used to be a generalist in the beginning but in time I found it way too tiring.
Research takes forever and it's challenging for my brain to switch tones too
often. "

Diana. M – Social media forum

"Still charging $50 - $100 per email waiting until you're "more
experienced?”
Well, you do NOT have to be the best or even an expert to charge
great rates. A private client of mine just told me he closed a deal for just
under $2k writing in a new niche (we decided on it together). Charged a little
over $200 per email for...first time. Zero objections. Easy pay. You just have
to know what you're doing on the "sales call" (I don't do sales calls) and be
confident in your craft."

Matthew. Volkwyn - Copywriter and Copy Coach – Facebook Post

"Back in March 2020, I thought I "made it." After pivoting to a new

niche, I had more inquiries than ever. At one point, I had 16 clients at once.
(my OBM was shocked when I showed her my hot mess) and a team of 4.
They are my DREAM team, but I wasn't ready for that kind of growth."

Cythia W. – Instagram Post

How to choose a niche you love
Choosing a niche is where many newbie freelancers get stuck
because they fear being restricted and lowering their chances of finding
clients. It's actually the opposite and as you read this book, you'll find out
why.
You can choose to serve clients by considering one of these different
things: your educational background, past work experience, or passion/
hobbies. Another easy way is to think to yourself about what you can talk
about all day long without getting tired of it.
What helps you stand out in a niche
Suppose you have a nursing degree and are looking for a career
change. You decide to write blogs about mental health and a healthy lifestyle
for psychologists, therapists, and psychiatrists. You know better than any
other generic writer about the terminology, questions and problems people
are going through with mental illness. Your nursing background helps you
stand out in the health and wellness industry.
You are a teacher. You chose online education as your niche. And
you decided to write email copy to help YouTube English teachers that sell
English courses for non-native speakers. As a teacher, you'll know better than
any other generic writer what students want. Your copy or content marketing
will resonate better with your audience.
You are a cashier at a grocery store with no educational background.
You've been investing in stocks, bonds, or crypto and made good money with
it. You are also great with saving money because you invest time learning
about it. Suppose you chose to write sales letters to the financial industry and
decided to help financial mentors. You'd certainly stand out.
Sure, you can still write about anything with research if you choose
to be a generic writer, but you might never become as good as a specialist if
you don't understand how to speak to your reader's main pain points.
One time, I watched a video of a freelancer writer saying she tried to
outsource some of the blog writing from her high-profile beauty brand
clients. It didn't last long as the person she hired didn't even know what a
moisturizer was. For me, it would be stressful writing for an industry I can't
speak the language of. I'd be terrible at writing about investing as I'd have to
be researching specific terminology to speak with that audience.
Ask yourself this question: what topic can I talk about and won't get
tired of? That’s what you'll certainly love writing about it. The truth is, there
is not really a right or wrong for that. Writing about something you already
understand helps you save time on research and makes time in your schedule
for an additional client.
Even if you love writing, if you feel uncomfortable about the topic
you are writing about or dislike completely, you'll quit the first time you face
a challenge. After all, rainy days come for everyone, successful or not.
You don't need to love what you write about, but you need to enjoy it
at least. Writing about something you hate will get you discouraged. You'd
hate it if you were not interested in certain topics. Many terminologies might
be unfamiliar to you and will take more time for research. Furthermore, if
you are not writing in your native language, that can be even more
challenging.
How do you know if a niche is profitable?
 Google is your best friend. You can look up Google trends. Check to
see if there is an increasing interest in the topic of your choice and if it's
consistent. Type in your niche and check for niche stability. It should not be
seasonal or a fad.
Also, connect with other writers in the industry you want to serve on
Facebook groups and find the ones writing the same assignments you want to
specialize in. Reach out to the 6-figure earners about the average pricing they
are charging to X projects you’d like to specialize in. If no one shows up, you
might not be able to hit that income goal working with that niche (it doesn't
have to be six figures). I suggest you talk to them, you'll have their advice
and not from the ones that failed in that niche or from negative people that
will comment.
If you have a Facebook Ads Manager account, then go to ads, then
audience insights. If you don't have an Ads Manager account, Facebook users
can create one with their profile. Find a YouTube tutorial about it. That will
help you look for your target audience's strong affinity/association, leading to
more fruitful income results. Also, you can quickly get an idea of strong
affinity niches using Facebook Audience Insights. If the answer is "YES" to
almost 85%-95% of your questions, guess what? Start working with that
niche.
After you choose a niche, can you change it later on?
Of course you can! Nothing stops you from changing if you are not
happy with your niche. However, every time you change your niche, you
need to change your writing samples to show to new prospects. You'll have to
create new writing samples that are relevant to your new niche in order to
land better-paying clients.
Also, if you have started to brand yourself on social media, you'll
have to pivot your content strategy. It will involve more work and might take
more time for you to sign clients because of these adjustments.
Yes, you can serve more than one niche
For example, there's a 6-figure content writer in my community who
has three retainer clients that are in the finance niche. Then she takes one-off
projects on the side in the environment niche.
My advice is, if you have never had a client before, focus on one
profitable niche until you land your first steady retainer. As you read this
book to the end, you'll understand why.
Niching down success rate
I got high-paying clients from Facebook groups and Instagram from
attraction marketing and direct marketing. I used the same strategies to teach
other freelancers in my network to achieve success landing clients.
I met other successful freelancers on a coaching program that also
use some of these strategies. Two of them have hit seven figures (scaled up to
an agency). A 16-year-old college student named Luca from Italy went from
$0-10k in just 25 days. The shortest period of time to land clients was two
days for the other two freelance writers. Another 34 freelance writers hit six
figures using the strategies I am sharing with you in this book.
To be clear, it wasn't only niching down. It was learning sales and
investing in themselves to hone their skills. It was also having accountability
and support from a coach/mentor to be better at what they do. But niching
helped them find better-paying clients faster.
What if I can't decide on a niche I like?
Marketing agencies are a good place to start as a generic writer. You
might get decent pay, and while they certainly don’t offer premium rates,
they usually treat writers fairly. However, you can earn more by keeping all
the profits from your clients. Agencies also want to profit, and also they have
other expenses they need to cover, which will lower your pay.
Pros of being a generic writer: You can write in different niches,
experience what you absolutely hate or love working with, and learn a lot
from it.
Cons of being a generic writer: You are positioning yourself as a
copy or content writer who is not an authority in a specific industry. Clients
see less value compared to a specialist unless you've built your reputation
through referrals. The reasons given above are why choosing a niche is a
great idea.
I was never a generic writer, so I can't guide you on that. I've seen
only one freelancer on a Facebook group claiming to be a six-figure earner as
a generic writer and the other was a course creator for freelance writers. If
you want to work as a generic writer, look for someone that has had success
going through that route and ask them for guidance.
I'm going to assume they might have taken much longer than a
specialist writer to sign premium clients or they might have gotten more
clients through referrals. People do business with whom they know, like, and
trust.
My goal is to guide you and not confuse you. If you follow different
people's strategies, go from mentors to mentors, from course to course, you'll
end up confused and stuck. Choose the one that makes sense for you and go
all-in with it.
"I started at mills when I was a SAHM, then transitioned to cannabis-
focused writing when we started to legalize it recreationally. I quickly
realized the massive demand for skilled cannabis writers, so I built Cannabis
Content. Content mills don't provide the kind of training necessary to produce
compliant cannabis content. Businesses need niche cannabis writers due to
the complexity of the subject and crucial compliance standards. So, we built a
business that both trains cannabis content creators and connects them with
businesses that need their services. On the flip side, businesses hire us
because we offer continuous training and content compliance audits (side
note: non-compliant content can cost a business in many ways, including
hefty fines, bank freezes, and tarnished brand reputation). We're currently one
of the leading cannabis content providers in the states.”
Abby Hauck - Content writer and course creator for the cannabis
niche.
"Have you found your freelance writing niche yet?
I started out as a generalist — more opportunities mean more money, right?

Wrong.
I hit a point I couldn't seem to get past.
I got stuck in a certain price range and had a hard time getting to the next
level.

I was pitching and negotiating but was struggling to move the needle on my
rates.
Plus, I was tired of jumping from left field to right field.
So, I finally chose a niche by asking 3 key questions, and it helped me scale
up."
Jessica. W - 6-figure personal finance writer LinkedIn Post
 Chapter 3
Getting Clear on Who Your ICA (Ideal
Client Avatar) Is
How do you get clear on who your ICA is?
For most writers, identifying one's ICA comes naturally with time.
As they experience working with different clients and niches, they decide
who is a better fit for them.
However, you sign better clients sooner rather than later by getting
clear on who your ideal avatar client is from the beginning. Once you are
clear about who they are and what problems you solve, you'll be able to
charge premium rates. After all, premium rates are for providing solutions,
not writing only.
The concept of an ICA (ideal client avatar) is not new. It's well-
known in marketing because it's highly effective. However, what does it
really mean?
It's a detailed profile of a client - a profile that is a best-case scenario
for your freelance writing business. According to www.digitalmarketing.org,
the avatar focuses on one person and outlines everything about them. It goes
into much greater depth than a regular marketing persona, providing
marketers with more targeting tools.
Perhaps they are a big spender, a regular who consistently returns,
someone with an easy-going personality, who speaks well of your business
within their networks, or all three.
Suppose you decide to be an email copywriter for fitness coaches and
you want steady retainer clients. You decide that your ideal clients are 6-7
figure fitness coaches who want to scale their business. If they make less than
that, they are not an ideal client. Fitness coaches just starting their business
are not ideal clients for you, as they might not have the marketing budget to
invest on an ongoing retainer. After all, you know your negotiables and non-
negotiables with who you want to work with.
A scenario:
You meet John, who runs a six-figure sustainable, eco-friendly shoe
brand. John is a perfectionist. He is very organized and ambitious, always
finding ways to profit to scale his business. He has integrity at his core, is
spiritually minded, faith-based, and very transparent in his dealings and
marketing. John is ambitious and wants to scale his fitness business to seven
figures and beyond, but the problem is, he has no clue how.
You are an email copywriter. You pitched to John and showed him
that he could profit from investing more in good email marketing. Therefore,
his problem will be solved by working with you. Also, you have always been
a nature conservation activist and any business contrary to this personal value
of yours would make you feel like a fraud. You have a skill that can fulfill a
need and solve a problem he has. Plus, you don't have any conflict of
personality and you both have similar values. John fits perfectly into your
ICA profile.
The clearer you are on who your ICA is, the easier it gets for you to
find and attract better clients who are a fit. . Therefore when you get requests
from leads that aren't the right type of person you want to work with, you
won’t even bother wasting your time trying to convince them to do business
with you.
That does not mean you will only work for people who exactly fit
your avatar profile checklist, but you are more likely to find more of them,
attract them, and be happy working with them. In the marketing sense, it
helps you to better target your ideal client avatar.
A good example is comparing client acquisition to dating and
thinking about your ideal partner to potentially build a long-term marriage.
You might have the negotiable and non-negotiable qualities you'd like your
partner to have in order to build a future together. What's an ideal partner for
you to build a future with? What qualities, goals, personalities, and personal
values should they have to make you happy?
Not all romantic partners you'll meet will fit into every box on your
checklist. Maybe you'll find partners with different personalities that are a
good fit to be with in long-term relationships. As long as it's harmonious
healthy, and you are happy, it will be mutually beneficial for both involved.
The same is the case with your ideal client avatar. What type of
clients fits into the persona for having a long-term working relationship with
you? What clients would you have a happy, mutually beneficial working
relationship with?
When I worked at an immigration firm, my ideal clients were people
sponsoring another immigrant (spousal sponsorship, immigration program) or
aspiring caregivers with a childcare background, so they were qualified to
apply to a Canadian immigration category. I liked them because of my
background as a caregiver and loved helping families' unification. I didn’t
work in business immigration, refugee, or other categories, simply because it
didn't interest me and it wasn't my area of expertise. My clients also needed
to be able to afford to pay our service fees and the government application
fees, preferably with no previous criminal background. Those profiles of
clients have a higher chance of having their immigration application
approved, so they were our ideal client avatar.
Going back to the legal example. You can't be a generic lawyer and
stand out. You can't be a good lawyer practicing all aspects of the law, such
as family law, business law, immigration law, and refugee law. You can help
clients solve similar problems and integrate different categories, but not all
aspects of the law.
Either you help your client with divorce and child custody, or you
help big corporations with their tax matters. You simply can't be good at
everything.
With immigration itself, there are many different subcategories you
can specialize in, such as family immigration, business immigration,
economic immigration, refugee, appeals, etc. There are just so many details
of the law that lawyers can practice and have the knowledge to solve a
specific problem that will make a difference in the outcome for the client. If
you forget a small detail, you'll lose the case.
I would certainly not be able to give good results as a generalist
working with immigration. Each stream requires detailed knowledge of the
law in that particular category. Plus, the marketing to find or attract the right
clients would be different for each category.
It's the same with each different freelance writing assignment. For
example, as an email copywriter, technically, your job is to write sales email
copy. However, you still need to be a marketing strategist for email sales
copy. You need to know (the sales funnel) things like if the previous pages
that brought them to the email list and the posterior pages they will click
from the email have a good sales copy. You also need to know if they need to
segment their email list to get better results with your copy. In other words,
you need marketing knowledge and a specialized skill as an email copywriter
to get your clients results.
Same with an SEO blog writer, case study writer, or any other type of
writing. With every different writing, you need different knowledge and skill
sets to be able to give your clients the transformations they are paying for.
It was very hard to find a copywriter to review or re-write the blurb,
book introduction, and book description for this book because I needed
someone who knew SEO keywords to ranking well specifically on Amazon.
However, it ultimately doesn't matter how great a book is. If the author can't
write an enticing blurb, introduction and book description, and have a good
marketing strategy for those mentioned above, he will have little to no sales.
There are books that sell well, not because the book has great content, but
because their blurb and introduction got people curious enough to read and
buy them. Of course, they also had a good marketing strategy to sell it. I’ve
read best sellers I didn’t like. Not every book that sells well is a good book
(content-wise).
 Chapter 4
Get Clear On What Problem You Can
Solve For Your Ideal Client
"Your clients are not looking for copywriting or
content writing. They are looking for
transformations."

Stop selling copy or content writing. Start selling transformations or

solutions: more engagement, more brand loyalty, visibility on Google or
Amazon, more sales, etc. Narrow down your offer, perfect your skill on ONE
main writing assignment, and position yourself as a specialist at it.
As an email copywriter, you need to have some knowledge of other
copywriting projects that aren't your specialty. Narrowing down your offer
doesn't mean you won't write a sales letter to a client when they need it. After
all, if you are an email copywriter, you'll need to write them sometimes. It
just means you will focus on mastering one skill set in a specific (s) writing
assignment, either on copywriting or content writing to give clients an ROI
(Return on Investment).
When you narrow down your offer, you'll quickly gain clarity on
exactly what to learn so that you can go in the direction you need to and be
good at what you do. Getting better at your skills will give you the
confidence you need to charge better rates. Not to mention, experts are scarce
and highly valued. How many freelance writers are out there? Many! How
many email copywriters for real estate companies are there? Fewer.
Last but not least, attraction marketing works in your favor when you
optimize your social media profiles with keywords for your specialty. I've
found an ad copywriter on Instagram just by typing this exact keyword.
That's how clients find you and that's how you find service providers - by
typing ONE specific keyword on Google or social media: book editor, email
copywriter, social media manager, virtual assistant, freelancer accountant,
etc.
Suppose you were to start a health coaching business because you
love the health industry and truly believe that healthy eating will benefit your
clients. You will need to be clear on what the possible health goals you'll help
your ideal clients achieve. Is it for losing weight? Is it to gain muscle with
healthy eating? Is it for controlling diabetes?
If you are unclear about what transformations your services will
provide and what they will help your clients achieve, clients won't hire your
services. They are not paying for the coaching. They are paying for a
different specific transformation/solution they will get.
The same applies to any product or service. You don't just buy a pair
of tennis shoes; you buy the shoes because they are comfortable, and/or make
you feel beautiful, sexy, stylish, etc - The feelings. We all buy on the
emotion.
Businesses exist to solve problems. Copy and content writing is not
any different. When you position yourself as an email copywriter, what are
the possible transformations clients will have by working with you? What's
the outcome of hiring someone that knows how to write good sales copy and
understands how email marketing works? Better open rate, better click per
rate, and better deliverability leading to more sales all equals more profit,
more status, and greater recognition in the market.
Being an email copywriter means you know or will learn how to fix
possible problems that are keeping them from selling more:
Is it their funnel that needs fixing?
Is it because their leads are cold and need some more warm-up?
Is it an issue with email deliverability?
You are the specialist. Clients trust you know all about the
psychology of writing email sales copy that converts, plus the email
marketing strategies to get them more clients. If you feel you aren't because
you are just starting, study and learn from a mentor. After all, nobody was
born a specialist; you decide to become one.
As a generic freelance writer who provides everything, you are less
likely to gain the necessary skills and learn all the knowledge to fix their
specific problem and bring them possible solutions.
Think about if your ideal clients are female photographers wanting
more leads organically. What is the one transformation they need to get to
achieve this goal? Probably get visible on Google to attract more leads. Sales
letters, product descriptions, or a case study won't solve their problem. Most
likely SEO content will. See how specific your offer needs to be. It's the best
way to show authority to clients.
As an SEO content writer, you will be a perfect fit to solve lead
generation problems. You understand all the small milestones like keywords,
eye-catching headlines, meta description, H1, and the best marketing
approach for your clients to get X result.
"I write blogs, social media captions, grant writing, ghost-
writing, email, and sales pages."
"I can do everything. I can help everyone."
In marketing, they say when you speak to everyone, you speak to no
one. Charging premium rates are for solving a problem, not for writing.
Anyone can be a good copy or content writer, but not every freelance writer
can be a problem-solver.
And you can, for example, be a writer specialist in email and write
sales pages often when your client needs it, especially if the email campaign
you wrote will need to be followed by a sales page. After all, many
copywriting assignments are directly related to each other and depend on one
another in the sales funnel. Oftentimes, the many links you'll add to your
email copy will lead to a sales page. Or you can be a content writer
specializing in blogs, but you can also offer social media captions and
articles, as the marketing strategy for those writing assignments are similar.
However, don’t be a content writer AND a copywriter. Choose one and
decide a speciality within it that you can master, while having a slight idea on
how to do other writing assignments that will depend on them. Each writing
assignment within copywriting and content writing itself is different. Each
writing assignment requires studying different data and metrics to understand
what works and what doesn’t work and see results.
Sometimes, copywriting overlaps with content writing, but in
general, they are different. The skill sets required to give results for each
writing assignment is different. You are either one or the other.

"Your number one marketing strategy is to be good at

what you do."

That's how you grow your business from referrals. Pick a writing
assignment that you think is more interesting, position yourself as a
specialist, and learn all about it. That’s how you’ll bring the transformations
clients are paying for.
If you think you need to change your specialty later down the road
because of personal preferences, change it! Who will stop you? It's not like
you made a pact with the devil.
Suppose you start as a copywriter and have signed clients. In that
case, nothing stops you from pivoting to content writing as long as you
dedicate yourself to acquiring the skills necessary to be good at what you
want to do.
 Chapter 5
Craft An Offer to Attract Your Ideal
Client Avatar
" If you don't have an offer, you don't have a
business."

What exactly is an offer? According to www.investinganswers.com,

an offer is a communication of interest in buying or selling an asset. In other
contexts, it might refer to the act of making something available for sale.
Creating an offer applies to freelancers and any other business type. As a
copywriter or content writer specializing in X, you'll create a solution for a
common problem your ideal client avatar has - that's your offer.
"I'm only taking on freelance blog and article writing
projects.
Also, I'm only writing on topics related to personal
and business finance. (Loans, credit cards, budgeting,
credit, that kinda thing)
I'm available for 1-4 blogs per month, per client, on a
retainer basis.
I can not agree to any exclusivity agreements.
(Restricting who else I work with)
I'm booked for May, have limited availability in June
but have a bit more in July and beyond. Booking early
is a must!
For new clients, I'm not writing any other types of
content/copy or offering any other services and am
not serving any other niches.
 I've been receiving a lot of requests that are all over
the place so putting this out there.
That's it! Have a wonderful Tuesday!
The SEO-loving finance blog writer."
Jessica Walrack, 6-figure personal finance content
writer – LinkedIn Post
One of the most common problems amongst new freelancer writers, in
general, is not knowing what problem their offer solves. The second most
popular problem for freelancers is wanting to start a freelancing business
without creating an attractive offer. If you narrow down your offer, it will get
easier for you to know what problem you can solve. It's like you are opening
a law practice and helping your clients with every legal matter. You don't
know whether you are helping clients with divorce, tax, criminal issues, or
immigration. You are just providing everything because you fear not
attracting enough clients.
Clients are more likely to trust in the transformation of your offer
when you are a specialist. Your offer is the most important piece of
information you must add to your social media profile to attract those who
need it.
Your offer should call out your ideal client and speak to their pain
point. Doing this shows clients the potential specific results they will get by
working with you. You’ll stand out and sign better-paying clients sooner
rather than later.
Here are two must-include components of a good offer: Who you are
and what you can do for your ideal clients (the solution to their problem).
You can also add something that they don't want to do themselves or what
how you can make things easier for them. Here are some examples of offers
from successful freelance writers:
You are an SEO content writer:
"I Help Doctors and Therapists Get Visible to Quality
 Leads Without Paid Ads."
Paid ads are something your ideal avatar client probably will want to
avoid doing.
As an email copywriter:
"I Help Pet eCommerce Owners Get More Clients
Through Relationship-Driven Email Copywriting and
Marketing Strategies."
As a sales letter writer:
"I Help Men's Brands Scale Their Offers To 6-7 Figures
w/ Copy & Content Strategies."
As an Ad copywriter:
"I Help Course Creators Get Aligned Clients To Take
Action and Sell More Through Compelling Ads Copy."
As an aspiring SEO blog writer:
"I Help Therapists and Doctors Get Quality Leads and
Gain Visibility Without Paid Ads.
 Chapter 6
Six Character Traits You Should Have
That Are More Powerful Than Any
Credentials
While some service providers' careers require a diploma or a degree
like lawyers and accountants, freelance writing does not. If your ideal clients
are magazines and newspapers, some might require a journalism degree,
especially in-house content writers, but most clients I've encountered don't
even ask about credentials.
All clients care about is what you can do for their business. So you
need to be sold to your offer before you sell it to someone else.
Now, of course, education will benefit you, especially if it’s in a field
related/relevant to the niche you want to write for.
Suppose you have a marketing degree and want to be a copywriter, or
you are a nurse and want to write blogs for health-related professionals. It
will save you a lot of time on research.

Here are the 6 things more powerful to have than credentials:

Number 1 – Curiosity: Being curious to learn things will take you
far as a copy or content writer. Be curious to learn new things and keep
updated with the news of your niche or type of clients you want to write for.
As an SEO blog writer, get updated with SEO best practices and Google SEO
policies. As an email copywriter, get updated with email marketing best
practices, email data, and metrics. Same with other types of writing.
If you want to be a beauty writer, subscribe to the five top news
outlets of the beauty industry to keep up with the latest news. You'll learn a
lot and get ideas for copy or content. You also need to do consistent research
to write and improve your work.
Number 2 – Passion or interest: Trying to be a freelance writer is
building a business. So, if you are trying to do something you don't enjoy
(writing, researching, and strategizing), because the gurus out there are
promising you to get-rich-quick or for whatever other reasons, you won't
succeed. Every business has its ups and downs and when challenges come,
you'll give up easily if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing.
Number 3 – Be resourceful: You don't sit and wait for clients and
work to come to you. You go and make things happen. You are an action
taker every step of the way, from signing clients to upselling them,
networking, and building connections to grow your business.
Number 4 – Teachable, eager to continue learning: When you are
an employee, your company provides you with training, but when you are
working for yourself, you are responsible for your personal development.
That includes taking courses, professional development, learning from
credible blogs and YouTube channels, being up to date with the industry you
write for, being willing to learn from more experienced mentors, and
receiving constructive criticism.
Number 5 – Be reliable: Clients need someone who shows up for
their business, provides great customer service, and part of that involves
meeting deadlines. They need to feel they are investing in someone who will
do what they say when they say they will do it.
Number 6 – Be a good communicator: It takes courage to
communicate your needs, set boundaries, share your insight on projects, get
feedback when the outcome of your work didn't turn out how you expected,
and ask for or negotiate things. Clients respect you when you stand your
ground and set boundaries.
Does landing clients require having credentials?
Once, I created a poll on a social media forum that was seen by
around 9k people. I asked full-time freelance writers to vote on their level of
education.
 Most of them have clients from a completely unrelated educational
background to freelance writing.The other question I asked full-time
freelancers from a Facebook group was what their educational backgrounds
are and if they needed it or used it in order to land freelance writing clients.
Here were their responses:

"I started copywriting 1.5 years ago (2018). I had a

degree in university, but honestly, I learned most about
copywriting through experience and actually working
with clients. I actually wish I never spent money on
college/university." Cynthia. W – Instagram DM
conversation

"Ma in English lit and was 7 years into an English lit Ph.D. Now
doing an M.A. in mental health counselling." Anessa M.

"B.A. in English and totally unrelated masters.” Rachel

C.

"B.S. in Medical Laboratory Science. My clientele is

related to my background. I do medical writing. I've
written a lot for plastic surgeons, in now working with a
virtual doctor's office business, and recently picked up a
company that designs programs for managing
laboratory inventory." Meghan J.

"Associate in liberal arts." Meghan S.

"Ph.D. in Lit with a minor in gender theory." Stacey

O.D.

"B.A. in French and Spanish. PGCE in the same. My client's

industry is not really related to my background. I do some
translation but about 10% only." Louise B.

"I have a B.A. in political science! Kind of unrelated, but the

writing/researching skills I learned were definitely helpful."
Samantha N.

"I don't have a degree but have some college credits." Jessica W.
"I have a B.S. in Business Administration. I have
worked with corporate clients and entrepreneurs. But
most of my clients come from my previous work
experience in real estate and health care. I also have
a lot of work in the automotive industry, which had
nothing to do with my education or work experience."
Joyce M.

"B.S. in Medical Laboratory Science. My clientele is

related to my background. I do medical writing. I've
written a lot for plastic surgeons, in now working with
a virtual doctor's office business, and recently picked
up a company that designs programs for managing
laboratory inventory." Meghan C.

B.A. in psych, double-master's in children's rights &

educational sciences, grad certificate in nutritional
psych, Trinity TESOL certificate, certificates in health
coaching & life coaching... I'm a health writer; none
of these degrees have anything to do with my niche or
work, though I definitely think that my research
background + academic writing skills (from school +
my prior profession) help."
Kat. G –

"I have a B.A. in English (my courses included

linguistics, creative writing, etc., etc. To be honest, I
think I've been asked once about my degree in my 8
years of working as a full-time writer. So no, not
really. I worked for a literary agency for a while a few
years back, which I think was the job most related to
what I actually studied. " Janny. M
 Chapter 7
Copywriting Is Not Always Salesy
"Facts tell, stories sell,” - have you heard this popular saying?
People are more likely to spend their money on something they need,
want or when they can resonate with a compelling story that gets them to take
action. Telling facts don’t persuade, but storytelling is a great way to get
people to take action and get them to do what you want them to, whether it is
to subscribe or follow you on social media, give your post likes and
comments, buy a product from you or hire you.
People remember stories easier than facts. If I tell you about the
American artist who revolutionized the entertainment industry and founded
themed parks all over the world, you’ll think of Walt Disney.
To craft good copy, you need to write how you speak. Here are two
good copywriting examples of how copywriters use storytelling to sell.
Here is an email exemplifying that by Justin Goff, one of the best
copywriters in the world:
Subject line: Mom Copywriter Breaks Through and Has $19k Month (Here's
How)
A few years ago, Maria was making around $3k a month writing copy.
Which was a good start...
But…Maria wanted more...
However, there was a problem.
She felt stuck with her writing.
Every week she would submit copy to her clients, and she'd have no idea if it
was good or not.
She wasn't getting any feedback from her clients...
And she didn't get to see any of the stats...
So, she had no idea if her copy was good or not.
This left Maria always doubting herself...
And feeling like she had no direction...
However...
Little did she know that things were going to quickly change for her.
Cause it was around this time that Maria volunteered to help at one of our
Copy Accelerator events.
So, for 3 days, she heard A-list copywriters like Carline, Anglade Cole,
Henry Bingaman, and David Deutsch share their brilliant copy wisdom. After
that, Maria knew she could be doing more...
She wanted to get better.
So, she took a big leap and joined our Copy Accelerator LITE program.
At the time, it was a big investment for her.
And, starting out, she was rightly skeptical that it would pan out.
However, slowly but surely, her copy started to get significantly better.
And as a result, she started to land better clients.
Her average month went from $3k to $10k.
And in fact...
Maria recently had her best month ever at $19k!
Which is a huge feat.
You're in an elite class of copywriters when you are making nearly $20,000 a
month.
So, because of this, I decided to sit down with Maria recently and grill her on
how she made such a big leap in her career.
I asked her about what she focused on...
How she got past her doubts and insecurities...
And exactly what she did to establish herself as a 6-figure copywriter.
The video I made with Maria is up on my YouTube channel.
So, if you want to check it out, just click the link below and give it a look...
-> How Maria had her first $19k month as a copywriter
Enjoy,
- Justin
Another example of a social media post by Susi Kaeufer
This is another example of a copy of an Instagram post. Through
storytelling, Susi Kaeufer handles money objection by sharing a personal
experience using social proof and at the same time, encouraging her audience
to invest in her program. It’s a subtle yet powerful way to sell her coaching
program.
 Copywriting VS Content Writing

A confusion many people tend to have, even including those in the

content marketing industry, is mixing up COPY writing with CONTENT
writing. They overlap many times, but there is a big difference between the
two.
A copywriter can write content because they need to build trust with
the reader before asking them for the sale. With some copy, you don't always
have to use psychological triggers or be persuasive like social media captions
or emails. You can share a personal experience or vent with the intent to
build a personal connection with you reader/leads. After all, before you try to
sell people something, you need to write with the intent to build intimacy, a
personal connection with your reader, and gain their trust. That's more on the
content side.
Unless a content writer studies and practices writing sales copy and
its psychological triggers and its framework to get the reader to take action,
she/he can't craft good copy.
 It doesn't mean that if you sign clients as an email copywriter and
don't like it, you can't pivot to be a specialist in SEO blog writing. Each type
of writing requires different skills and marketing knowledge. You can pivot
to any other type of writing as long as you dedicate yourself to learning the
skills required to be good at it, which takes time. It's never too late to start
doing what you love.
These forms of writing below sums up the difference between
copywriting and content writing.
 Chapter 8
How To Learn Copywriting or Content
Writing
When you start a business as a freelance writer, you might feel
insecure with your copywriting or content writing skills, even if you have an
educational background in journalism or marketing. That’s very normal. It
wouldn’t be normal to feel confident in something you have never done
before.
Even if you read all the books and take all the courses, you'll only gain
confidence when you practice what you’ve learned: writing for clients.
Learning to craft great content or sales copy takes time.
The journey to master anything is nothing short of a roller coaster. As
you sign new clients or take on new projects and new situations arise, you’ll
become insecure again. It’s normal. Even experienced copywriters and
content writers will sometimes fail. They may also have failed launches or
content that won’t perform well. But the more experience you get as a writer
of what works and doesn’t work, the more you’ll know what direction to go
in to give the desired results to clients.
That’s the marketer side of being a freelance writer. Besides the
writing, you need to analyze data and metrics within your speciality to go in
the right direction. You’ll only know by working with real clients. The more
you invest time in learning to get better at your craft, the better you'll be at
what you do.
Taking a course will guide you, e.g., HubSpot Academy offers free
courses. There are also a lot of YouTubers teaching it for free. Keep in mind,
as a freelance writer you are not an employee. You need to start being
resourceful and proactive in your research and self-development as a business
owner.
 You can take all courses, but the best way to be good at what you do
is to practice, practice, practice. Practice makes perfect. Imagine if you
practice 30 minutes on weekdays, how much better you’ll be in a year!
Here are the best ways to learn content writing for free:
Compare a good piece of content to a bad piece of content. This is
how you’ll know whether it’s good or bad: look for samples of the same type
of writing you want to learn from brands you love. Did they catch your
attention and got you reading them until the end? Compare them to other
samples of brands in the same industry you are interested in, but can’t finish
reading to the end. Think of possible reasons why you can’t finish reading
them to the end.
Let’s use a blog as an example. Think to yourself -what makes you
want to read a certain blog to the end? Why did the headline get you hooked?
Why did you read it to the end? Was it the structure? Was it the storytelling?
Was it the language? What was the grade level?
If you see a blog about a topic you are interested in reading about but
are uninterested in reading to the end, think to yourself - why can’t you finish
it despite it being a topic that interests you?
Observe and study the best samples and model their structure
and formula. Don’t copy and paste. Learn what the best samples have in
common and what makes them a good piece of content (the structure, the
logic, the storytelling, the headline or the hook, the method used, and the
format). There’s a proven-to-work structure and formula to work for
every piece of good content marketing.
Google is your best friend: find the checklist of an SEO blog
structure, a good email copywriting structure, or whatever copywriting or
content you want to learn and specialize in.
Every content informs, entertains, and/or educates by answering
questions or solving a problem of a specific audience.
Suppose you decide to be an SEO content writer. When you promote
your business through content marketing, you are likely to write educational
content with the following topics:
[ HOW TO WRITE A BLOG HEADLINE/ HOW TO STRUCTURE A BLOG/ HOW
MANY LINKS SHOULD YOUR BLOG HAVE/ HOW TO DO KEYWORD RESEARCH
FOR BLOGS/ BEST TOOLS FOR SEO WRITING, BLOG SEO BEST PRACTICES
ETC.].

Now, suppose you choose legal as a niche and immigration

consultants in Canada as your ideal clients, your client's audience will be
searching for information such as:
[HOW TO IMMIGRATE TO CANADA/ HOW TO CLAIM REFUGEE IN CANADA/
WHAT THE WEATHER IS LIKE IN CANADA/ HOW TO STUDY IN CANADA,
WHAT'S THE COST OF LIFE IN CANADA, ETC.].
This is because those are some of the pain points, dreams, desires,
and aspirations of your target market.
If you are unsure about what to write about for your niche,
alsoasked.com and answerthepublic.com are the best tools to know what the
question people are searching for about a specific topic on Google. For
example, if you type “coffee,” you’ll find all the questions people are
Googling related to that specific word.
Best ways to learn copywriting for free:
Find your favorite brand samples of what form of writing you want
to learn. Look for proven-to-work copywriting formulas and structure you
can model. Study them and re-write better ones to practice.
Find best-selling samples to study. Structure, storytelling. You can
find a lot of good samples on websites like swipe.co. Think to yourself: Why
was I so hooked on reading about this to the end while I am not interested in
the topic? Why does this inspire me to take action and buy it? Why is it so
persuasive?
In copywriting, every sentence of the copy has a purpose. There are
different copywriting proven-to-work formulas and text structures you can
study to get people to read throughout the entire text and take whatever action
you want them to. Google is your best friend. Do a search for “copywriting
formulas.” Find the formulas and examples. Practice it by bettering the piece
of writing of your interest that you saw from your favorite brands.
As an aspiring email copywriter, find a checklist of what a good
email copy needs to have, then subscribe to the email list of your favorite
brands in the niche you are interested in working with. Study them, look for
patterns, and model the best ones or re-write a better version of them. Same
with any other type of copywriting.
Also, subscribe to the email list of well-known email copywriters or
big marketers who teach email copywriting, like Alex Cattoni, Stefan Georgi,
Justin Goff, Matt Bockenstette, Kevin Rogers, Chris Haddad, Daniel
Throssels, Ian Stanley, and Troy Ericson.
In general, you might notice many copywriting that have similar
structure and patterns; for example, lots of storytelling and less facts.
Find another freelancer who writes the same writing assignment
on the same level or a level above you to bounce off ideas and critique
your work.
There are lots of Facebook groups for free critique and feedback.
However, it is best to invest in a mentor, one who has had great results and
can give you critique. This is a shortcut to get your clients results through
someone else’s experience. This will save you time on trials, errors, and
failure. Look at it as an investment, not an expense. It's a way to charge
premium rates sooner than later. It’s better than spending months or even
years trying to figure it out and getting paid pennies. Or working for pennies
to get the experience to feel comfortable to charge premiumrates.
As a business owner, you learn as you earn. Don’t be afraid to fail.
After all, even experienced and good copywriters and content writers have to
fail to learn what works and what doesn’t.

“ It’s not a prerequisite to be a super good writer to

sign your first clients.”
 The most important thing is not allowing the lack of experience suck
up your confidence and paralyze you. Don’t let the lack of perfection stop
you or shiny object syndrome distract you. Go all-in on learning as you earn
with that one specific copywriting or content writing assignment you chose
for a year. That’s the best way to become the go-to expert, rather than
learning different writing assignments at the same time. The faster you
dedicate to being the best at one thing, the better you’ll become at it.
If you want to learn sales email copywriting, for example, go all in
for a year working with clients as an email copywriter. Learn how to write
email sales copy, to develop marketing strategies for email marketing and its
best practices. Same with any other writing assignments.
Focus your energy on being THE BEST at it and have an idea on
how to do other things as clients need it. As you read this book it will make
more sense why. Before you do that, find out the most profitable types of
copywriting or content writing. After all, isn’t the purpose of reading this
book to learn to charge premium rates? If you choose a type of writing that’s
not profitable, you simply won’t make money.
 Chapter 9
Signing Your First Clients Without a
Portfolio and How to Build One

"Didn't I just say clients hire transformations, not

copy or content writing?"

Premium clients are busy. They have turned their attention to their
CEO role. They don't have time to look at every different type of writing
assignment you have in your portfolio. If your ideal client persona is
corporate, whoever is in charge of hiring will look at your portfolio, but I
guarantee they will just skim and scan at max 3-4 pieces.
It's better to have three great error-free writing samples relevant to
your ideal clients than to have 20 well-tailored different writing samples from
different niches that aren’t relevant to your ideal client.
If you already have a portfolio, share your best relevant ones with
prospects. It needs to be in the same writing assignment you are trying to
pitch. You don’t need to wait to finish a full portfolio and/or publish articles
to sign clients. All clients need to see are your skills and that will build the
trust they need to make a decision.
Here is what will help you get your potential client's trust and show
authority when you are a total newbie. It’s called the law of reciprocity. You
give before you get.In sales, the best way to gain trust and get people to see
you as an authority is to provide value in advance by educating them on a
problem they have and offering a winning solution, which I'll talk more about
at the end of this chapter and how you can do that.
After you’ve decided on a niche and clarified who your ideal clients
are, write 3-4 writing samples that are RELEVANT to them. This is how you
sign better-paying clients.
Now, don't let that get you stuck; if you can’t decide on a niche and
or a specialty, apply to work with digital marketing agencies until you figure
it out. It’s a way to work on different writing projects across different
industries. They don’t pay a premium, but a lot of them pay decently.
Most likely, you'll figure it out when you prospect or start working
with clients. You can always pivot your specialty and your niche. But when
you decide what you like ASAP, it's even better.
"I started as a content writer in 2019 at Fiverr. My intentions were to take the USMLE (United
States Medical License Examination), and I needed to do that without borrowing money from anyone.
Clients began to give me copywriting assignments. I had the chance to write sales pages, and I liked it,
so I decided to pivot to copywriting. I was paid $10 per email. Even when I didn't have gigs to write
for, I'd practice my skills by writing samples for 7-8 figure DR companies. I heard in Pakistan that
copywriting would be hard for me because I am a non-native English speaker, so it would be hard to
talk like clients talk.
It took me 10 months to make my first 10k. I cold emailed a 7-figure business owner and gave
him samples of my writing, and he liked them. I mentioned people we knew in common (my copy
mentor) who were friends with him, and I got a permanent position as the head copywriter of his
company. I also wrote him a cold email and did some done-for-you results in advance: I got into his
email list, deconstructed an email I received from him and asked him to test out my sample on his list. I
did a month of trial, and we ended up working together. I also applied for gigs my mentor posted."
Areeba Ahmed is a 21-year-old Pakistani copywriter. Now she has a full-time retainer client and has
made $10,000 back in 2020.

Let's use this example - Scenario 1

You are a nurse that wants to be a freelance writer. You know you
want to write SEO blogs. Because of your health background, you have so
much knowledge of health-related topics that it makes sense to write for the
health niche. So, you can choose to write blogs about mental health for
psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists, for example.
Your ideal client marketing goal is to have a blog that will get
visibility on Google to book more patients. You create an offer that will help
them achieve their goal. You'll have to learn SEO, which you can learn the
basics of while connecting with potential clients. There are many YouTube
tutorials and short courses that teach you the basics. Free information is
everywhere.
 Practice SEO skills by writing 3-4 blog samples. Then, showcase
them to your prospects. They can be:
SAMPLES YOU WROTE TO PRACTICE COPY OR CONTENT ASSIGNMENT.
YOU REWROTE FOR A PROSPECT TO SHOWCASE FOR A FEEDBACK PURPOSE
(ALONG WITH THE ORIGINAL).
YOU WROTE TO PROSPECTS ON TRIAL.
Remember that your samples need to be relevant to the niche you
want to write about and to your ideal client.
For example, if your ideal clients are therapists, psychologists, and
psychiatrists, then it would be relevant showcasing human behavior or mental
health samples.
7 food that can help to relieve stress
How to sleep better when you are depressed
These, on the other hand, wouldn't be relevant to therapists' blogs:
How to build financial wealth as an investor
8 cheapest places to travel in Europe
The samples also need to have keywords and meet SEO blog
standards.
Clients are more likely to pay premium rates (when you’re starting
out) with a specific portfolio rather than with all different types of writing
niches and assignments, especially if they are copywriting and content
writing, which are two different things. This is because you are positioning
yourself as a freelance writer, not a problem solver.
One SEO blog sample, 2 sales letters, 2 email copies, and 1 ad.
For example, if they are SaaS software companies for filing taxes and
they need results only content can offer, you need to showcase tax-related
articles, blogs, or maybe social media captions.
 If clients pay premium rates for transformations, you need to be
beyond a writer; you also have to be a marketer that figure out how to solve a
problem they have in order to give them results. You need to acquire a skill
set that each different writing assignment requires to achieve the
transformations they are looking for.
As an email copywriter, you will need to learn how to write enticing
subject lines, how to do email segmentation, what’s a good click per rate,
how to write email welcome sequence, how to write a launch email sequence,
and learn about sales funnels. The knowledge of all these things, besides just
being a “writer” that writes email copy, will add up to the results your clients
expect.
Here are other examples of being more than just a writer to be good
at what you do:
If the client you landed has no issues with their email open rates but
he doesn’t sell very well for the number of leads in his email list, then you
need to figure out what is causing the problem. It could be different things.
Maybe his sales funnel is not good, or maybe the quality of the leads in his
email that isn’t good. It could be that he needs to segment his email list to
deliver relevant content according to each email segment interest. Or maybe
he just needs to write more relationship-building emails to warm up his leads
before selling to them.
As an SEO blog writer, you need a different skill set than an email
copywriter, and the transformation is also different. You need to help your
clients gain visibility on search engines. You need to know where to find
keywords (or the client provides you with the keywords), maybe understand
how many links you should have in each blog, etc., so the client can rank
well. That’s what makes you good at what you do. - getting your skills better
at each writing assignment to solve a problem.
As a book ghostwriter, for example, what makes you good at
ghostwriting goes beyond writing grammar error-free, cohesive, and coherent
chapters. It's also strategizing or suggesting to the client a good book
introduction, a blurb that will hook readers' attention, and a cover that will
make people want to buy it. After all, it is how a book ghostwriting client can
achieve his wants (results) - sales.
Technically your job is just writing, researching, proofreading, and
editing, which is just a small part of the puzzle. But only that might not create
the transformations your clients want. Speaking of research, the writer side of
you requires research about your target market you write to - learn about their
pain points, desire, and wants so whatever you write speaks to their heart and
soul.
In most cases, just writing doesn’t solve a problem. Therefore, new
writers end up getting paid pennies and clients won’t be loyal. That’s where
the marketer side of you comes into place to solve a problem for the client.
Clients don't know what it takes to get more sales with their email
marketing and get visibility on Google. Nor do they want to know. They are
not experts on it; they happily pay for to do that for them,so they don’t have
to fix their problem themselves. They are relying on you for that
transformation. You make money by helping people (your clients) get what
they want - achieve results and make money.
Remember that results mean different things for each individual
client. Always find out what they are looking to achieve with their marketing
efforts. If you write content, it can be more engagement, brand loyalty, brand
awareness, and visibility on search engines. Ask what they want when
disqualify the wrong prospects. That is the business owner's hat you’ll have
to wear. Learning sales is a skill which will help you to know who are a right
fit and who aren’t to have as a client.
That's why it's better in the beginning of building your business to
decide ASAP to specialize in 1-3 similar writing assignments and learn ALL
ABOUT IT to get the skills to give clients results. It's the way to become
good at what you do faster. I say 1-3 because one will often depend on the
other (the funnel) to get results.
An email sequence might not be enough to help your clients sell a
supplement product. A sales page might follow up with an “all about” that
supplement. An article, blogs are similar and give similar results to clients.
 How to provide value when pitching

There are many different ways to provide value to leads and prospects.
One is through attraction marketing: posting content online. Another
is through direct marketing: giving clients feedback on one of their specific
assignments you want to pitch or an educational lesson that might help them
solve a problem through Loom screen recording, for example. Why Loom
screen recording?
It's a way to allow them to have a feeling about you. Your energy and
vibe help you sell as they build stronger trust and liking. People are drawn to
your energy. In sales, your energy works in your favor. Like attracts like; you
attract people who are similar to you.
 If you have not built brand awareness of your business on social
media presence or have written content online, use this tip. Whether you
reach out to potential clients through email cold-pitching or if you are
building a relationship in DMs (direct messages), attach this 2-minute Loom
screen recording to provide value through education.
It's important to understand the purpose of each line of what you are
saying. Scripts are just guidelines. I don't recommend you follow any sale
scripts to the letter. Adjust it to each different situation, personalized it to
humanize it.
Scenario 2 – As an email copywriter
You work at a grocery store, and you have some knowledge of
investing in stocks and bonds. You are passionate about investing, growing
money, wealth, savings, etc. You decide to have personal finance as your
niche. Your ideal clients are corporate companies like The Simple Dollar
Bankrate, Super Money, etc.
You will stand out in this niche because you have the knowledge,
understanding, and passion for what your ideal client is about. Then you
should create 3-4 email writing samples relevant to these companies to
showcase, instead of a portfolio with 20 writing pieces they don’t care about
or aren’t relevant to their needs to achieve a marketing effort. Here are some
examples:
I GOT OUT OF 30K DEBT BY DOING THIS...
HOW DID I PAY FOR COLLEGE BY INVESTING IN MICROSOFT STOCKS?
Not 3 blogs whose topics are irrelevant to personal finance companies.
3 COUNTRIES I TRAVELED WITH LESS THAN 5K.
HOW TO STOP PROCRASTINATING WHILE BUILDING A BUSINESS.
5 SUPERFOODS YOU SHOULD EAT DAILY.
If you want to pitch them on case studies, you can also go on their
website and transform a testimonial they have into a powerful storytelling
email. Or you can just share a personal story or make up a story to showcase
your skills as a writer.
If you want to pitch them email copywriting, follow a framework of
what a good email copy needs. An enticing subject line to spark curiosity so
readers can open the email. Then every single line in the email needs to make
the reader interested enough to read the next line until the end and have a
call-to-action - CTA) so they do what you want them to. Research how you
can do that (write good email copy), be proactive, and seek knowledge about
it.
Here are some ideas on how to provide value when pitching clients:
 Besides showing them those samples, subscribe to their email list,
rewrite a small line or paragraph of what you want to pitch, and do the same
feedback through LOOM SCREEN SHARING.
Scenario 3 – As a sales letter and/or web copy (one-off
copywriting projects.)
You are a teacher but you want to do copywriting full-time. Maybe
you love photography and have a degree in it. So you pick filmmakers/
photography as your niche to help them get their photography sessions fully
booked or their filmmaking courses sold out. You decide to write website
copywriting. You can rewrite 2-3 pieces of a photographer’s website and
keep it as a sample along with the originals. You can used it to showcase to
future prospects until you have worked with one and have your own
published samples.
Guest post on credible sources
If you are a content writer, look for credible companies' websites in
your niche to guest post so you can feature them on your social media or
attach them with your writing samples. For example, companies like
credit.com accept guest posts from finance writers if you want to write for the
finance niche.
After you’ve guest posted, add them to your profile on social media
to gain more credibility. Also, research (Google) how to guest post on
magazines like Forbes, for example, and add it to your pile of samples to
showcase to clients. Learn more details on guest posting in the next chapters.
And yes, you can still land premium clients without guest posting, having a
website, a portfolio, or any social media presence.
 Chapter 10
How To Price Your Services When
You Have No Previous Experience
Pricing is very personal and depends on many factors - the cost of
living in your city, your personal life-business goals, and how much you
invest in yourself as a copywriter/content writer. You also need to be sold on
what you do to close clients with success. How bad you believe your offer
will create a transformation for your client’s business (results), even if it’s
small?
When a freelancer doesn't consider these factors, they may set their
prices too low just to sign clients, which can eventually lead to overwhelm
and burnout.
Finding the right price to set is often a problem for newbies. Most
new freelance writers don't even consider their revenue goals, that’s because
most are not confident with their skill level, which is fine. But that’s why
you should decide to specialize on ONE specific writing type, have it as your
main offer and then have a basic knowledge on other types of writing. It’s
easier to acquire the skills to be good at ONE thing faster. Remember that,
your number one best marketing tool is being great at what you do. Also,
many newbies start a business with an employee mindset when it comes to
getting paid.
At least in North America, when you are an employee, you usually
get paid per hour or a salary, and most employers require experience. So, we
are trained to think we need the experience to prove to clients that you can
help them with your solution. As a result, we start to consider charging per
hour or per word as you see many people in the freelance writing industry
doing it.
If experienced freelance writers give their clients results, raises their
rates because they are confident and have experience, it doesn't mean that as
a new freelancer, you should work for pennies.
Freelance writing is a business. You need to structure your rates in a
way you can break even and get paid for the time you spend with billable and
non- billable hours. Non-billable hours are the hours you spend doing
accounting, prospecting, lunch breaks etc.
You need to charge enough so you can have money to buy a new
computer without financial stress if your computer breaks. After all, it's an
instrument for you to work.
Just like if you were to sell cupcakes, you need to make enough to
buy all the ingredients; nobody likes a cupcake without sugar.
While most jobs require experience, what clients care about is what
your services can do for them - the transformations, the results, and the
solution you have for their specific problem.
When setting your rates, you definitely want to consider your
revenue goal, taxes, cost of living, and expenses. It’s easier to feel confident
and not feel guilty about setting higher rates to high-profile brands or
business owners with a higher marketing budget. That’s why you should
consider working with businesses that are more settled financially for
ongoing retainers. If your ideal clients are solopreneurs or start-ups, you need
to balance your worth and a price that makes sense for you and your clients.
Regardless of who they are, if you want to go full time ASAP, you
always need to charge enough to cover your very basic expenses. That’s why
they are called “ideal clients.” They are ideal for you to do business with.
Don't judge a book by its cover. Depending on the solopreneur or personal
brands, they might be able to pay you better then corporate high-profile
brands. Tony Robbins is a great example of a personal brand. You can find
clients that will pay the rates you set, even if you have no previous
experience. As a business owner, you need to learn sales from the beginning.
Sales is a skill and it must be learned. That's the heart of any business. Client
acquisition is the number one thing that builds a business. No clients - no
business. It’s that simple.
 Unless you choose attraction marketing, which is creating content to
attract clients, you still need to know how to craft good sales copy. When
clients inquire about your services because your content is so juicy, you still
need to know how to close them.
Clients are willing to pay for your rates when they feel the benefit of
your offer is greater than the money they will be paying. By honing your
sales skills, you can learn how to communicate the value of your offer with
them with clarity and confidence.
Your energy and confidence when pitching to clients will be your
best friend when starting. If they have a need for your offer and are interested
in your solution but they don’t like your energy, they won’t sign with you.
Confidence is something you only gain as you go. Before anything, always
keep your numbers in mind. If you have a goal of a 6-figure year but only
have a goal of 2 clients per month at $500, do the math and you’ll know it
won’t be possible
The DON'Ts when setting your rates
Don’t set your rates based on your competitor – your competitor has
a different level of expertise and experience from you. They might deliver
better ROI or worse than you.
Your rate is based on your talent, not your client’s budget. If they
don’t have the budget or are not willing to be resourceful financially to work
with you, then they simply aren’t your ideal clients.
If you feel they are a good fit for your business and you have the
solution for their problem, but they don’t have the budget when you pitched
them, keep nourishing the relationship through your content and follow ups.
Always provide value when nourishing the relationship and
following up with prospects until they are ready to work with you. This is a
way to keep you in their radar when they need you. On any moment, do not
offer a discount to sign them as a client. Meanwhile, keep building daily
relationships with new leads to you find the ones who are ready to work with
you.
 I am mostly referring to steady retainer clients in this chapter, but if
you are dealing with a one-time project, offer a payment plan to facilitate
signing the client with you.
Don't set your rates based on your experience, but on the value and
the results you can bring to your clients. - Most likely, when you are starting
a freelancing writing business, you have no previous experience with writing
or marketing. When we usually hire a service provider, we hire them based
on trust, transformations, liking, reputation etc.
If you hire an acquaintance that started an accounting firm, you hired
him because you knew he filed his taxes successfully. Most likely, you won't
care about his previous experience with accounting because you already
know, like, and trust him, and you feel confident he will deliver results.
Setting your rate too low will repel premium clients and attract cheap
paying clients who value low-quality services. Psychologically we are wired
to relate pricing with quality. Prospects will judge the quality of your services
and your ability to deliver results based on your rates. Just like when you
walk into a grocery store, you assume the cheapest shampoo is the one with
the worst quality. Chances are these cheaper clients will be micromanaging
and asking for constant review and revision.
Of course, as mentioned before, your pricing will also depend on
your confidence level and sales skills.
If the leads you approach can’t afford your rates, they aren’t your
ideal clients. Just like if you go to a grocery store that only accepts credit
cards instead of cash, you can’t shop there if you only have cash. You can't
be a customer.

As a content writer, your pricing needs to reflect your

expertise level in the industry you'll write for. If you
are a chiropractor and decide to write blogs about
back pain for doctors or medical clinics, you need to
consider that too to set higher rates. But remember
what will make you a premium writer is mostly the
 solution you provide to your client's problem when it
comes to content marketing.

Setting your rates per word

In my opinion, setting your price per word will give clients the
impression that your work's value is summed up by the number of words you
write. What about the research, the marketing strategy, the proofreading, and
the editing? They are part of the puzzle that will create the transformation.
Most magazines set their rates per word. Some can pay well, such as
Forbes, who pays about $1 per word as of 2022 (rates may go up over the
years). However, if you don't want to get paid per word, then magazines are
not your ideal clients, and you need to redefine who your ideal clients are.
Businesses are the most lucrative clientele for freelance writers. Your
business, your rules. Be clear on the non-negotiables of your business.
Setting your rates per hour
It’s best to price hourly for projects such as editing, or a content
marketing strategy session. The good thing of pricing hourly is that you are
likely to have loyalty from clients you’ve served on an hourly basis. They
might come back for an ongoing retainer project in the future because you’ve
built a relationship with them. They now know, like, and trust you as a
service provider (hopefully!).
Problems with setting your rates per hour
Unless you are doing editing for a client or an hourly marketing
strategy session for leads that can't afford your services yet, setting your price
per hour is usually not a good idea. The more experience you get as a
freelance writer, the more efficient you'll become and take less time to write.
Therefore, if you sign your first clients on an hourly rate, you’ll have a
problem in the long run. As you become more efficient writing, researching,
and strategizing, you’ll work fewer hours. You don't want to pay yourself less
while having more experience and being better at what you do. You'll be
penalizing yourself for working more efficiently while making less money.
 Giving discounts
Different industries have proven strategies to attract new clients.
When you go to Costco, you get a free taste of food. When you go to the
movies, they display a trailer of other movies so you can watch them later.
But not in freelance writing. Your "trailer” is the value you provide in
advance, along with your writing samples or portfolio, and your signature
process.
Under no circumstance should you lower your prices to fit your
prospect's budget. Doing this will give them an understanding that your rates
are arbitrary and don’t really matter. You can't set your rates to fit everyone's
budget. You are not for everyone. You set your rates to attract the right fit,
prospects whose businesses are at a stage where they can afford to pay to
work with you.
It might be a good idea to give discounts when upselling good long-
term loyal retainer clients on a different project. As long as you structure your
rates in a way that you still profit. This can encourage them to bring you
more clients (referrals). Every time they refer you a new client, you can give
them a small discount in the next month's invoice as an incentive.
The psychology of pricing about discounts according to Nick Kolenda:
“Always provide a reason for the discount.”

Follow the rule of 100: Over $100 - Absolutes (e.g., $30

discount), under $100 - Percentage (e.g.: 20%), 25% off
- Offer a discount in round numbers.

To make it seem enlarged, choose round numerals because it's easier

to calculate. Both cases show higher numerals. As an example, a $50 kitchen
blender at 20% off is the same as a $10 off - yet 20% is more persuasive
because it is a higher numeral. For a $150 blender, the absolute discount ($30
off) is a higher numeral.
When to raise your rates?
 In a traditional job, it's unusual to get a raise for any other reason
than an annual bump. Raises in corporate jobs are mostly based on
experience and loyalty to the company. You don't need to wait to gain
experience to raise your rates as a business owner. Here are some wake-up
calls you need to raise your rates:
You got a high demand for your offer. That means you are often
getting more inquiries than you can handle. You only work with 3-5 clients at
a time and get more inquiries or referrals than you can take on.
You write full time but are paid low rates: You are overwhelmed
with clients' work, but your rates are too low that you can't cover your most
basic expenses. Of course, you need to notify your clients in advance about
your new rates or create space to sign better-paying clients.
You are stressed & burning yourself out: When you started out,
you were not very confident, and that's normal, so you set your pricing too
low. Now you feel overwhelmed with so much projects and your freelancing
business hasn't broken even yet. You are always stressed about money and
finances.
Your current prices no longer feel aligned: You feel like your
prices don't reflect the value you provide. Your clients get more than they pay
for.
Your clients are growing and making more money: Your clients
are growing and making money, and you were a part of it. You were one
small fraction of their business that helped them to grow, financially
speaking.
 Chapter 11
How Much Can You Earn as A
Copywriter or Content Writer?
Rates can be different for every copywriter and content writer, but
financial success is achievable for anyone. Of course, it happens at a different
pace for everyone.
Fact: if you master sales, you’d have a process to pre-qualify your
leads or disqualify the wrong fit. If you give your first clients results, you will
get more confident raising your rates. Let’s talk about numbers according to
skillscounter.com:
60% of freelancers who left their traditional jobs to start freelancing
are earning more than they did as employees.
24% of those freelancers who earned more took less than 6 months to
increase their earnings, while 33% started earning more instantly.
72% of freelancers agree that their work-life gives them the lifestyle
they want, and 84% of freelancers working full-time claim they are living the
lifestyle they want.
70% of freelancers working full-time report that freelancing is less
stressful than traditional work, and 64% of people who freelance have
reported a health improvement since quitting their traditional job.
Here is what 6-figures freelance writers shared on a social media
forum about the most lucrative types of writing:
 Chapter 12
Pricing: Why Many Freelance Writers
Struggle For So Long
Most freelancers use platforms like Fiverr and Upwork and start
cheap because they are not confident about what they are doing. And they
don’t have a roadmap to start on their own. They feel bad about charging
enough to even break even because they feel like they don't have enough
experience and are not worth the rates full-time freelancers charge.
The problem is, you will be working just as hard as an experienced
writer; maybe you’ll be providing the same value, the same work quality, and
same results as them, but you are working for pennies.. Lack of confidence
and lack of a strategy leaves new freelance writers stuck for a long time. As a
result, they burn out fast because they overwork for cheap pay.
This is the mindset that our parents and society taught us: Get a job,
get experience, and then you can raise your prices. Otherwise, you’re
scamming people. Who will pay premium rates for someone with little to no
experience? They are right when it comes to employment and jobs. However,
you are not an employee - you’re a freelancer who runs a business.
Our education system and our parents don’t teach us to be business
owners or think like one. On the contrary, we are raised to go to college, get a
diploma, get a good job, and get promoted. So automatically, we think we
need to prove our experience to clients to get their trust and pay us what we
deserve.
But that's not how your mindset should be when building a business
as a freelance writer. Think about how much time and effort you put into
non-billable hours, like prospecting and learning a new skill. Regardless of
your experience level, you’ll be putting in time when working on a project
for a client to provide them solutions.
 When you need to hire an accountant, you'll probably research some,
weigh your options, and most likely you’ll consider the outcome they have
for themselves and/or for their clients instead of their level of experience.
And you will most likely hire a newbie accountant either because it
was a referral, or they've done something for themselves and had results or
earn your trust by showing you solutions to your specific problem.
A mentor/coach will not only help you with strategies to build your
business, but will also help you get out of the employee mindset mode and
into a business owner mode. That is something we don’t learn with traditional
education. After all, freelance writers are business owners, and your time is
valuable. You are not charging to get rich, but to dedicate your time to serve
your client’s needs.
If you have never had a client and you agree to do an unpaid trial
because you don’t feel confident in your skills, at least ask them for a
testimonial and a possible referral in exchange for your time.
I am not in favor of free trials because depending on the project, it
might take time to see results, especially ongoing projects. You can’t be
working for free until you see results. You don’t know when that is going to
happen, and a testimonial about how awesome you are doesn’t really show
social proof of a transformation, simply because they don’t show results.
Instead, when clients ask for a free trial, suggest doing a paid trial,
with no commitment of signing a retainer. Or, depending on the project, you
can suggest working on a commission basis. Every sale they make from your
project, you get percentage of it (5%-20%). Make sure to get them to pay at
least a 50% deposit upfront so you don’t fall into a scam.
 Chapter 13
Six-Figure Earners Pricing Strategy
As I mentioned before, pricing is very personal, but here is an idea of
a 6-figure copywriter pricing guideline for 2021-2022:
Retainer ongoing projects:
1 client at $8,333/month
2 clients at $4,166/month
4 clients at $2,083/month
8 clients at $1,042/month

Hybrid: Retainer & one-off project work

2 clients at $2,083/month
2 clients at $1,042/month
1 project at $2,083/month
Equals $8,333/Month
A quality SEO blog between 500-2000 words in North America is on
average $300-$700. Considering you choose to work with a profitable niche,
those are the average prices for 2022. They change over time with inflation
and will vary with the countries' currency and cost of living. Six figures in a
few years will not be enough.
Why would clients pay you this much?
Most content writing is a more subtle way to sell and belongs to the
beginning of the sale funnel. Both are still sales, and salespeople have one of
the best-paying jobs in the world. Either as a copywriter or content writer,
you’ll bring more business to your client’s business.
As a content writer, one of the most valuable skills for clients is SEO.
It’s one of the most lucrative type of writing. Learning SEO is a way to get
clients to be willing to pay premium for your offer, if you find informational
style of writing more enjoyable than writing sales copy. Don’t pivot to
copywriting - learn SEO.
As a content writer, you help clients attract the right leads, getting
people to trust your client's brands. As copywriter, you help them close the
sales. And without generating leads, and building the know, like and trust
factor with them, they can’t close clients.
It's cost-effective for profitable business owners to delegate their
writing to freelancers for many other reasons. The trend for the future is
businesses preferring to hire freelancers over employees because they don't
have to train them.
For example, one-off projects like a web copy of a sales letter project
take so much time just for the writing, not counting researching,
proofreading, editing, etc. You don't want to charge less than $2500. You'll
be overwhelmed if you charge less than that for simultaneous projects while
trying to balance the time to work on other non-billable hours activities.
As a freelance writer, the best types of projects to specialize as your
main offer for ongoing projects are SEO blogs and email copywriting. They
are very lucrative. That doesn’t mean the others aren’t lucrative. It’s because
brands need these types of projects done weekly. Also, brands prefer working
with a steady freelancer, whom they know, like and trust.
According to an eMarketer study, the median email marketing ROI is
122%. And that is four times higher than any other digital marketing channel.
So, imagine if you are writing emails for lucrative beauty brands who
have millions of people on their email list, such as MAC. As an email
copywriter, you are responsible for persuading those people to buy. These
high-profile brands have already built brand awareness, authority, and
reputation, so people already know, like, and trust to buy from them.
Therefore, their email list is full of warm and hot leads who are ready to buy.
It’s not rocket science to sell if you narrow down your offer and invest time
and maybe money in a mentorship to give them results. Even if you were an
experienced copywriter, it still takes trial and error to get things right.
Working with a high-profile beauty brand like MAC, which already
makes millions, with the right strategy and a good sales copy, email
sequences for a lipstick launch will help them make more millions. You don’t
need to work with high-profile brands to charge premium rates; MAC was
just an example. They just need to be lucrative businesses with a good
marketing budget.
Instagram post from @elisadarma

Don't be intimidated by signing bigger clients when you are new. The
best way to learn is by doing the work. Every time you land a new client,
you’ll encounter different challenges. Even with older clients, different
challenges and situations will come up. Testing and figuring out what works
according to your data and metrics will guide you in the right direction to
create content that converts. This is also another side of you that makes your
rates premium.
In summary, don’t disqualify yourself for jobs because you are new
and think they are out of your league. Pitch and let the clients disqualify you
for the project.
Transformations aren’t possible without a good sales copy, an
understanding of sales psychology, and a marketing strategy. Clients don’t
have that time or don’t want to create the time to learn them and solve their
content marketing problems. Or, they don’t have the knowledge, so they
delegate by paying for your time, energy, and knowledge to bring them
solutions.
A copywriter, for example, who specializes in email copywriting and
has worked on acquiring a specific skill set such as email marketing and sales
copy for email, is more likely to help clients achieve results than a generic
writer. So start focusing on acquiring a skillset to solve a problem and create
ONE offer, so clients trust your expertise and pay you a premium regardless
of your experience level.
 Chapter 14
The Problem With Freelance Writing
Platforms
Freelance writing platforms were created to help business owners
find "affordable" subcontractors. The intent was to benefit those who wanted
cheap work. If you want to work for pennies to get "experience," go ahead,
but let me tell you, it’s normal to lack confidence when you start. You can
earn as you learn.
If you learn how to sell and close clients, you’ll find clients who can
pay you a premium outside of freelancing platforms. Everyone who starts
isn't confident at first. You get confident as you gain experience, and practice
your sale, writing and marketing skills.
A community of over 9k made a poll about using a certain freelance
writing platform and the majority voted to stay away from them. The
minority found good clients there and are having success.
When you start on any freelance writing platform, you compete for
the lowest rates with more experienced freelancers. A small number of
members of those platforms make a full-time living there.

Other service providers get better at their skills when gaining

experience as an employee first, which is not the case for freelance writing.
Still, regardless of gaining experience from what they do through previous
work experience, they certainly don't start a business charging little. They are
aware of the revenue they need to have to cover the operating costs and
overhead costs, and so should you as a freelancer.
 “Starting on bidding sites is a great way to start off. But as you
get better, you realize you’re competing for the lowest paying jobs
imaginable with writers who are more than willing to write for those
prices. Before you know it, you’re lowering your prices; it’s a giant race
to the bottom of the barrel. I saved up to invest in a copy coach and got
referrals. On freelancing platforms, I started out charging $100 for full
sales letters; today, clients pay me up to $10K for a single project. And
they refer me to other high-paying clients.”
Josh Copeland – 6- Figure Copywriter for man's brand.

You'll also have to pay a fee for using the platform when you do your
client’s work. In the beginning, your work might not be the best, so getting a
low review makes it difficult for you to sign better clients; in some cases, it
also may also discourage you – but don’t worry!
I am not saying you shouldn't use them; I am just saying you can do
better than that when you start. Especially if you want to be a full-time
freelance writer sooner than later. Usually, new freelancers who get
premium clients on these platforms have been working for pennies long
before clients were willing to pay them higher rates. After all, you need
"good reviews" and results from clients to stand out.
If your problem is insecurity about your skill, hire a mentor to review
your writing projects. This is the most crucial step. Some people who are too
overconfident may deliver work that may not be what the client is looking for
and end up getting a bad review. Especially if you are new to the world of
freelancing, it is essential for you to have a mentor check your work, even if
you're confident about it. Don't worry, it is only until you get the hang of the
work and start getting good reviews.
Another problem with freelance platforms is that many freelancers
find it hard to set boundaries with clients. Some freelance writers vent on
social media:
"I'm fairly new to freelance writing, so I thought I'd try my hand
at an X freelance writing platform. I wrote a trial article for this company,
and they HATED it. No worries, it's clearly not a good fit, but I feel like
I've been jerked around a bit! Is this normal? To threaten a bad review?
I'm fine with not getting paid since they can't use the article, but this seems
like a bit much for not really liking my writing style, saying I didn't match
their "brand voice."
UPDATE: I asked to be paid without being left a bad review,
and they promptly cancelled the contract without a word! Dispute request
has gone out to an X freelance writing platform. "
Facebook Group Post
"I'm just about to come off an X freelance writing platform, it's
not worth it. Get in LinkedIn or networking, that'll pay off so much more
and you'll keep 100% of your money."
Gina. J – Facebook group comment
"So, when I started at an X freelance writing platform, I was
hired by this company, and the pay isn't very good. Of course, I was
grateful that they were even willing to hire me. After a few months, I just
started hating working for them. I get stressed out when I get a message
from them because they want their content right now RIGHT NOW. They
were very demanding, and for the amount of work they want me to do for
the very low pay, it's just not worth it anymore.
Anyway, my problem is that I don't know how to end my
contract with them without them giving me a bad review, and I feel like
they're the type that would. They have me at this ongoing contract, and I
only have 1 5-start review since I just started a few months ago. Help!!! "
 Facebook Group Post–

If you want to start freelancing with better rates so you don't feel
overwhelmed by working for pennies while juggling a 9-5 to gain experience.
Connecting with potential leads on social media.
LinkedIn itself has approximately 66.8 million of active users.
Facebook has about 2.9 billion monthly active users, and Instagram has about
1 billion monthly active users. Most billionaires, millionaires, companies,
business owners, employees in charge of hiring, and personal brands use at
least one of these social media platforms.
How many people in your family or circle of friends knows someone
who owns a business or work for a business that might be a fit for you?
People buy, hire, or do business with whom they know, like, and
trust. How can you get leads to know, like, and trust you on social media with
or without showing your face? There are ways you can do that through direct
marketing or attraction marketing. Building meaningful authentic relationship
leads can help you solve a problem you have with your sale skillset. No need
to be sleazy or use dirty tactics to persuade people to sign up with you. I've
done it and you can do it too.
My advice is to learn sales and marketing, which are two universal skills that
help you to build a business anywhere in the world. You need to know how
to approach strangers, get their attention, and get them sold to you. When you
master these two fundamental business skills in a way that feels authentic and
aligned with your values, you'll never run out of clients for your freelance
writing business. By the way, selling is not what you are thinking; it can be
fun. More details about it are coming up in the following chapters.
 Chapter 15
Income-Generating Activities vs. Non-
Income Generating Activities
Most people think they need to build a website and a portfolio with
many different writing pieces to get clients. They think that’s going when to
make them professional and have credibility. The truth is, when you are
trying to sign your first clients, those things are non-revenue-generating
activities. You still need to showcase your skills, and as I mentioned in
previous chapters, you can create 2-4 writing samples. It is better to have 2-4
writing samples relevant to your ideal clients than 20 irrelevant samples to
their needs, wants, and niche.
Now, showcasing your skills with writing samples is way more
important than having a website. Having a website is not a must to sign
clients; you can build one as you go. I say this because when you are starting
out freelancing, you probably have a day job and need to use your time
wisely so you don’t feel overwhelmed.
An exception is, if you know you want to be an SEO copywriter
interested in writing web copy (website) and want to test it out yourself. In
that case, it’s a great idea to create a website and if you know SEO and write
an optimized website, clients might find you. Of course, you need to get clear
on who you’ll be targeting (your ideal clients) and the problem you solve for
them and a great web copywriting; otherwise, you’ll just blend in the middle
of the crowd.
 Clients are less likely to ask for a portfolio when you were either a
referral from one of your clients or you have met them in person and shared a
solution to a problem they have relevant to their needs. Many of them might
ask for a portfolio if you’ve met them online because they don't know, like,
and trust you yet. Build and nourish the relationship with them, understand
their business needs and wants. Then show them your 3-4 relevant writing
samples, find commonalities, and tell them about your solution if they are a
fit.
When starting, income-generating activities should be your primary
focus so you can sign your first clients. They are activities only you can do
and are not easily delegable: networking, going to events, pitching, telling
people about your offer, asking for referrals, meeting with clients, marketing
your services, etc. Non-income generating activities are tasks that can be
easily delegated to someone else. Building a website, administrative duties,
organizing your Google Drive, etc.
 “[...] Now I work with people like Brian cords, and Dan Kennedy, which I
met at a LIVE event here in Italy. I contacted them later and name-
dropped mutual friends that are into his membership. I offered to help
them sell their books and wrote him some Ads samples to test out, and they
agreed, and it has performed well.”
Luca Meneghetti – 6-figure teenager copywriter from Italy [YouTube
interview].

It’s easier to craft writing samples relevant to your leads and use
them as your writing samples for any leads you pitch after you get clear on
who your ideal client avatar is. Narrow down your offer so you know the
problem you intend to solve for them.
Also, make sure to have an “about me” session where you write
about what makes you qualified to help your ideal client. You write blogs for
a divorce coach because you've been through a divorce in the past. You want
to write for the health and wellness industry because you hold a nursing
degree. You write email copy to help investing mentors sell their mentorship
program because you’ve been investing in stocks, bonds, and bought shares.
You understand it and it has changed your life, so you want help your client
to sell their offers.

Chapter 16
Six Things That Influence Clients to
Hire You as A Freelance Writer
Robert B. Cildini, a psychologist (in his book Influence) mentions 6
principles that help people to make a buying decision: reciprocity, liking,
commitment and consistency, authority, social proof, and scarcity. Let’s
translate those principles into freelance writing:
Reciprocity – You are more likely to get when you give.
When you provide value to someone, they are more likely to return
the favor. According to this psychological principle, human beings are wired
to return favors and pay back debts—to treat others as they’ve treated us. By
nature, we humans feel obliged to provide discounts or concessions to others
if we’ve received favors from those same people.
It's also called the law of reciprocity, meaning the more you give to
people, the more you are likely to get from them. I am not referring to doing
free work for clients or prospects; I am referring to providing value in some
way. Whether it’s a piece of educational information, feedback to help a
prospect improve his X writing assignment so he can achieve a Z goal, or
actionable valuable content on your social media.
How does this apply to you as a freelance writer?
When you provide value through content on your social media or
give feedback to help your lead improve their web copy, email copy, or blog,
you increase your chances of getting hired versus just pitching them without
providing any value in advance. Not to mention that providing personalized
value also builds trust and positions yourself as an authority.
On the Elevopromo website, they mention different forms of
reciprocation:
“The law of reciprocation can be a self-perpetuating cycle; often, what you end up getting
in return from your clients (in the long run) is much more valuable than the small items,
services or advice that you give away for free. In return, customers often repay your
favours with things that they know will be valuable to your company, including, referrals
and word-of-mouth marketing; brand loyalty, sponsorship or professional relationships
that benefit you both.”

It’s the same with your clients. When they hire you to write their
blogs and get results such as more leads, trust with their audience. And in the
long run, the leads become loyal clients. They are likely to become loyal
clients and refer you to other business owners; do things that are mutually
beneficial to you.
Commitment and consistency
To be seen as consistent is a human need. When we've publicly
committed to something (your freelancing business), we're much more likely
to go through and deliver that commitment. Consistency builds trust with
your leads and keeps you in their radar when they need your services.
 Also, for attraction marketing or running ads, there’s a “Rule of
7 applies to the marketing rule of 7.” Developed in 1930 by the movie
industry, this rule states that prospects need to "hear" the advertiser's message
7 times for a prospect to be sold on the offer and finally take action. That
means when you are running ads or marketing yourself on social media, you
need to have at least 7 points of contact with them, as they won't buy into
your offer before seeing it often.
If your ideal clients are not on social media and they are corporate
and you chose email cold pitch as your client acquisition method, you still
need to be consistent and show up for your business in the sales process.
Follow up with leads before and after the discovery calls. This shows
professionalism and commitment to your business. It also builds trust with
each prospect you pitch.
Being consistent builds the idea that your actions are congruent with
your words in the prospect's mind. If you had a small physical shop, for
example, some days it'll be slower than others, but you don't get to disappear
because you have no clients coming in. You must keep the shop open and
show up, so clients can show up when they are ready to shop. Instead, you
study what's working and what's not working and work around them. How do
you expect clients to show up for your business when you don't show up?
If you are consistent for a year and things aren’t going the way you
want, you shouldn’t give up but instead, pivot your strategy. Evaluate your
marketing and sales efforts and see what needs to be changed. Outcomes are
derived from your strategy. In my opinion, things always work out no matter
what. All you have to do is change your strategy. After all, there is a solution
to every problem if you're willing to find it.
Social Proof
Humans rely on the past clues of what has worked for someone else.
Social proof gives prospects confidence in four things: what working with
you is like, if you have the values or character traits they are looking for, and
your solution to their problem.
People are more likely to do what others are doing because there's
safety in numbers. The more social proof you have, the more credibility you
get with the types of clients that only hire your services with social proof. But
not having testimonials doesn't mean you won't sign your clients. Everyone
started somewhere. It is possible to sign your first clients without testimonials
if you use the strategies I teach in this book.
What to do when you have never had a client?
Build trust by being consistent. Give them feedback on their
assignment (the same you are trying to pitch). If you are doing attraction
marketing, write content that addresses your ideal client avatar’s pain points.
Your messaging needs to speak to their heart and soul.
Use industry statistics: For example, if you are an email copywriter,
you can search what helps increase sales in email marketing.
"According to MailChimp, segmented email campaigns have
14.31% higher open rate, 10.64% higher unique opens, and
100.95% higher clicks." (https://blog.shift4shop.com/).
Research how you can do that and tell prospects the approximate
numbers they can get by working with you.
"I'll segment your email campaigns, and we might see a
4.31% higher open rate..."
If you've taken a self-paced course or paid for one-on-one mentorship
and the students of that course or mentorship are getting great results,
mention the methodology you learned and the result people are getting from
it. Plus, share your unique process signature (clear step-by-step on how you’ll
get them a solution).
Make a promise: Don't exaggerate. Make realistic promises about
what their experience will be like and the possible ROI they might get from
working with you. And don’t forget: If you have worked with clients…
Ask for a LinkedIn recommendation, share it across your social
media, your website or portfolio:
 Find an appropriate time and message them asking if they can give
you a testimonial. Tell them you'll send a request for a LinkedIn
recommendation. More details on how to get a powerful one will be provided
further in the book.

Authority
It's human nature to tend to obey authoritative figures. No one was
born an authoritative figure; we build upto it. Gaining exposure by doing
collabs, such as LIVES, YouTube Videos, and podcasts with authoritative
figures might help build your authority, but none of them alone build
authority for you.
People see you as an authoritative figure in what you do when you
position yourself as one. You position yourself as one by educating your
prospects, followers, subscribers, etc., about their pain points and showing
solutions to a problem they have by using your specific knowledge or skill
set. Of course, you must do that consistently, so they have you in their minds.
When you start writing a blog about kitchen decor and you are
consistent, you'll become an authority in the industry of blogs for kitchen
decor in a short time. Authority is directly related to consistency.
Authority pro-tip: If you are a freelance writer wanting to leave
freelancing platforms to sign better clients on social media, add the number
of clients you've worked with within your portfolio, social media, or website.
If you don't have them, use statistics within the writing assignment of your
desired expertise.
As a web copywriter

Liking
According to Cialdini, liking is based on sharing something similar
or a more superficial interest, like physical attractiveness. It’s also based on
sharing similar values, interests, opinions, world views, and life experiences.
Your job here is not to work hard to be liked at all costs or do everything you
can to please everyone. Not even Jesus pleased everyone; why would you?
Your job is simply to do your best to create an opportunity so
prospects can get to know you better. Be authentic, keep your values, and
don't be afraid to say what you think when appropriate in conversations and
your content. Likes attract likes. This will attract the right leads-prospects
who share similar values, interests, life stories, world views, opinions, and
life experiences as you while repelling the wrong ones.
David C. Justin, a member of my Facebook community, is a web
copywriter has featured Star Wars design on his brand. He mentioned that
some clients hired his services because of his liking for Star Wars; this is one
of the things that helps him to stand out with some clients that have similar
interests as him.
I also got an inquiry from a coaching client after posting content on a
Facebook group. On the sales call, she mentioned she chose to work with me
because she wanted to work with another Christian. I’m not sure where she
got that from, as I am very private about my spirituality. I believe she has
been observing my content and read a post where I mentioned the church that
I used to go to which had helped me when I first came to Canada.
Not all clients are going to be interacting with your content. Most of
my clients don't ever interact with my posts. The lesson here is, some observe
you quietly on social media. If you want clients to come to you, I'd
recommend you optimize your LinkedIn profile, your website for SEO,
and/or invest time in attraction marketing. Your content will do the heavy
lifting work for you (sales and marketing).
Liking with direct marketing or cold-pitching clients is built on your
first touch point with clients (the first impressions). On a s chat or on a sales
call, they can “have a feeling” of your personality. When you start to chat
with leads, get to know them and build a relationship, research about them on
their social media, website or any other place. Try to find a commonality with
them. Bring it up in the conversation you have with them.
For example, you’ve seen a picture of a dog in their feed, and you
also had a dog. Share that post on their DM, so they know what you are
referring to and bring that up at the beginning of the conversation. Give them
a reason to reply by asking a question.
“Nice picture of your dog, I also used to have a dog from the same
breed. They are so easy to take care of. How old is your dog?”
With attraction marketing, you build like and trust through your
content. With direct marketing on social media, you need to find a way to
build like and trust by getting them on a discovery call or with relationship-
building in the DMs. When on a sales call or discovery call, building rapport
at the beginning of the call will build like with a stranger. Basically, it is
mentioning a commonality you have to break the ice and make them
comfortable to talk about their business. Building rapport is a must in sales.
For example, if your clients are corporate, the best way to reach out
to them might be through cold pitching (more specifically through email).
Find a commonality with their brand or with whom you are writing the email
to and mention it in a line on the email.
On social media, cold-pitching is not ideal, as relationship-building is
important for building know, like, and trust. People connect with people.
Personal brands are big on social media, and they like to feel intimate with
you. They don’t like to feel treated as a number to check off on your sales list
but as human beings. Regardless of the method you choose to prospect,
people don't like the feeling of being sold. You need to work on your mindset
that you are supporting business owners and wanting to help people instead
of trying to sell. Pitch with a mindset of serving.
We choose to work with people we like, so they won't hire your
services if clients don't like you. You can do nothing about it when someone
doesn't hit it off with you. It's just a dynamic of life and you must learn to
accept it instead of being overbearing and selfish.
Scarcity
When something is in short supply, we tend to desire it. This is
another element that, according to Robert B. Cildini, helps some clients
decide to hire you. When buyers have a need and desire to change their
situation, that’s when they make a buying decision. In this case, a hiring
decision when they know something is scarce, limited in time, or has limited
spots. Scarcity is the perception that products or services are more attractive
when their availability is limited.
“Last ones,” “Limited spots,” “Special deal,” and “Taking 2 more
clients” is how brands add scarcity and boost conversion and you also need
to use this method. You don’t have to be unethical about it; there are only a
limited number of clients you can work with simultaneously.
As a copywriter or content writer, you can use "scarcity time" and
"limited spots."
Scarcity time: "Until the 30th of the month".
Scarcity of numbers: "I've opened up X more spots." "I have X spots
left." "I am taking X more clients."
You add scarcity with attraction marketing when you mention on
your promotional content you are taking 3 more clients for the month of X.
When doing direct marketing, when you pitch your offer or email
cold-pitching prospects write at the end:
"I am taking 2 more clients this month. Would you be interested in
taking one spot?”

Chapter 17
5 Types of Buyers: How to Get Each of
Them to Hire You
Different aspects influence every one of us to buy things or hire
services; it is human nature, and no matter what, we cannot stop ourselves
from it. However, we are all different from one another, and that classifies us
into different buyers. I am not sure who started this concept, but I learned it
online by studying marketing for my own business.
Understanding the buyer’s type helps you understand how each
individual makes a buying decision. In this case, a hiring decision will help
you sell your offer with ease as a freelance writer.
There's no way to know what type of buyer your ideal clients are. If
you are doing attraction marketing, create content that will appeal to each
buyer's type.
If you email cold-pitch clients, for example, you also need to appeal
to all buyer types by establishing authority, showing social proof, and your
expertise to build trust. In any type of direct marketing, try to pre-handle
some common objections on your pitch before the call and address other
sales objections as they come up in the sale’s call.
Buyer type number 1 – The Humanistic Buyer
The humanistic buyer are those clients who need to see social proof
to hire you. Get the humanistic buyer to hire your services with attraction
marketing: by creating awareness of your brand online, you show social
proof of results you’ve provided to your clients with your offer. This is how
you’ll get inbound leads and turn them into clients.
Attraction marketing on Instagram, for example, requires consistent
content on your feed or stories. To appeal to this type of humanistic buyer
doing attraction marketing, make sure to showcase social proof, such as
testimonials, screenshots of client conversations, and statistics, preferably
through storytelling. Facts tell, stories sell, so use storytelling to show how
your client or someone you helped went from A (pain) to B (transformation),
even if it was small.
FROM HAVING NO ENGAGEMENT TO HAVING ENGAGEMENT.
GOING FROM HAVING NO BRAND TRUST TO HAVING LOYAL FANS
GAINING VISIBILITY ON GOOGLE SEARCH.
WENT FROM 21 % EMAIL OPEN RATE TO 23%.
You can tell the same story over and over in different ways. Look at
your metrics and repurpose the content that has done well.
You can sign clients without creating content online. If you chose
direct marketing as your method of signing clients, appeal to this type of
buyer by showing testimonials or a specific method you use that has worked
for other brands. Maybe share your website, your portfolio, or writing
samples with testimonials.
Buyer type number 2 – The Analytical Buyer (need to know details)
 If you were to buy a car, you would need to feel how comfortable
you are with it. If you are an analytical buyer, for example, when buying a
car, you’ll want to know its safety features, previous owners, and mechanical
details or any other detail. Most of the times, clients don’t care about the
details of how you'll get their results. However, if you are dealing with the
analytical buyer, they will ask for these details.
To appeal to this type of buyer with attraction marketing, share
details of what working with you is like. What happens after they (the client)
sign the retainer? What is the step-by-step process you’ll take to give them
the solution to their problem? This shows you have a plan to solve their
problem and builds trust. If you are doing direct marketing, after you
understand their problem and share your solution, ask them an open-ended
question to allow them to express their concerns:
“What questions do you have?” instead of “Do you have any questions?”
This will help you address any objections they have about working
with you. Otherwise, they might not sign with you because of a lack of clarity
or lack of important details that would help them say yes to hiring you.
Buyer type number 3 – The Impulsive Buyer
These are the types of clients who will hire your services when they
see urgency and scarcity. Whether you are cold pitching clients, chatting with
them on DMs, or on social media, tell them you have X spots available and
ask them if they want to hold their spot for X month. If you are doing
attraction marketing, mention that in your (social media?) content.
Buyer type number 4 - Influenced by credibility and authority.
Marketing yourself as a copywriter and content writer, or as a
copywriter that writes sales letters, email copy, ads, web copy or as a content
writer that writes blogs, emails, web copy doesn't build up authority.
With attraction marketing, you build authority when you create
content marketing that shows a solution to a specific problem your ideal
clients have. You need to be specific with your specialty. That will show your
solution is more believable.
 As an email copywriter, for example, creating content exclusively
about problems you see your ideal clients having around email marketing,
sale copywriting, and sharing solutions helps you build up your authority.
When you take the driver’s seat on a discovery call and ask the right
questions about their problem and share your solution, clients see you as an
authority. Learning how to communicate your offer with clarity and
confidence gives you an advantage as a freelance writer. In sales, most of the
time, the best communicator is the one who gets the job, not the best
practitioner.
High-ticket clients with experience working with writers can
differentiate mediocre writers from legends by how they market themselves
to them throughout the whole sales process.
Buyer type number 5 – The Emotional Buyer
These are the types of clients who connect most strongly with
vulnerable stories. Your story matters, even if you think it’s boring. That’s
because people connect with people. Storytelling is important in copywriting
and content writing because it humanizes sales and marketing and makes its
process feel less transactional. Your life story, life experiences, and values
help prospects who have commonalities with you build an unconscious
emotional connection with your brand.
If you are doing direct marketing, be sure to have an "About Me"
paragraph of your story and values along with your writing samples, website,
or portfolio. Also, write a few lines of why you do what you do and why you
are a fit to help your ideal clients.
 Chapter 18
How To Stand Out From the Crowd
What makes you stand out is probably not what you think. It's not the
experience you have writing or your portfolio being featured in an important
magazine. Sure those things will help some clients decide to work with you,
but when you are a newbie, it’s likely you don’t have those things anyway.
Whether you are new or have more experience, what makes anyone stand out
when running a business is what you’ll read in this chapter.
When clients are looking to hire an independent contractor freelance
writer, your competition will offer the same services and have similar offers
to yours. Fewer of them will be a fit for the clients’ specific needs, so they’ll
have to weigh their options on the few to make a decision.
Here are a few things that will make you stand out:
Authenticity: in business is magnetic because no one can do what
you do the way you do it. No one has the values, personal beliefs,
personality, life views, and experiences you have. You and your energy are
unique.
Your Story: Like attracts like. If you have the skills other
freelancers have and offer the same things, what will help clients choose you
over other freelancers is being yourself. Business owners who are emotional
buyers will love your unique story and values. Tell them why you do what
you do and what makes you a fit to help your ideal clients. They will connect
with you on a personal level and resonate with your story.
Don’t underestimate the power of sharing your story on your social
media and on the “about me” section of your website/portfolio. Or, write
three lines about yourself when cold-pitching clients. Sharing your story will
depend on how you choose to market and sell your service.
Your past work experiences: For a nurse who wants to write
content marketing in the health industry, specifically for blogs. Mental
wellness professionals, psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, counselors
would be ideal client avatars. Her past work experience and knowledge
matter to them because she has all the knowledge, language/ vocabulary, and
understanding of that specific industry and understand it better than any other
freelance writer.
Your natural expertise: Let's say you are naturally good at cooking
and are an enthusiast in learning about it than most people. You'll be valuable
to food brands like TASTY because you know many things non-food
enthusiasts don't.
Your brand messaging: Messaging is saying what you think, your
strong positioning, your unique vision, mission, and values. It needs to be
clear, and it's particularly important if you are branding yourself on social
media. Get crystal clear on what you stand for and what you believe to be a
truth you want to share with the world. You’ll never grow and will blend in
with the crowd when you don't have strong brand messaging. Nailing your
message will attract the right clients and repel the wrong ones.
This is a perfect example of messaging from a 6-figure copywriter

Let's use another example outside of freelance writing. Some

relationship coaches say getting a relationship is all about numbers. The more
you date, the sooner you'll find "the one." Others will say that to attract "the
one," you need to tap into your feminine or masculine energy and learn all
about energy work to attract your soulmate.
Neither messaging is right or wrong. Some people will listen to the
first one and say, “Oh, that's it, that makes so much sense. I need to go out on
more dates.” Others will listen to the one that teaches about masculine and
feminine energy and feel that it makes more sense to them. So they’ll choose
to work with the one whose messaging resonates the most.
Your values: This refers to personal values, religious values,
lifestyle values, etc. An Orthodox Jew most likely will prefer hiring other
Orthodox Jews if they have the option. Fanatic republican voters might not
want to hire fanatic democrat voters.
If you are vegan because you stand against animal cruelty and your
ideal clients are high-profile beauty brands that sell animal cruelty-free
products, those brands will be drawn to you because you share common
values.
Different values are a deal-breaker for any relationship; business is
not any different. Your personal values are more then just integrity and
honesty. For example, when I was looking to hire a mentor, I didn’t want to
work with those who base their marketing on displaying their luxurious lives.
My motivation to build a business and my personal values were not based on
attaining material things, but on achieving freedom: financial freedom, time
freedom, and geographical freedom. Luxury was never my motivation.
Your hobbies and passions: Being financially literate and investing
as a passion makes you knowledgeable about personal finance by experience.
Being familiar with finance vocabulary, terminology, and the challenges of
those who want to better their financial life makes you a fit for businesses in
the personal finance industry. Companies of mortgage, investing, insurance,
retirement, taxes, and finance mentors will find you valuable.
These authenticity principles of attraction will help you to show up as
a freelance writer and business owner more confidently. They help you stand
out and create your own space.
Your genius zone: If someone mentions a humble man who started as a
painter and later founded a theme park, you’ll likely think of Walt Disney. If
someone mentions a British woman who suffered abuse, got a divorce, and
was on welfare but later built an empire by selling a famous series of books,
you’ll likely think of the “Harry Potter” author, J.K. Rowling.
Your genius zone is a combination of your natural abilities, expertise,
and professional experiences, which are all supported by your life and
business story. Never underestimate authenticity.
My cousin is a renowned photographer in my hometown in Brazil. I
listened to an interview he gave on a podcast, and he mentioned what made
him stand out to some of his clients.
One example he gave was a post he made on Instagram mentioning a
book he was reading about Darcy Ribeiro, a classic Brazilian author. The
client reached out to him in the following week after that post, wanting to
sign a contract. The client mentioned he was debating whether or not to sign
a contract with him, and after that post, he made his decision right away.
Following my cousin’s content on Instagram and observing his style
made the client sold on his work. It created a belief that their similar literature
preference would reflect his photography style. The client felt confident my
cousin would know exactly what he wanted his event to be like.
My cousin also shared having a single personal and professional
Instagram combined is positive and brings advantages to business owners.
Being authentic and showing his personal life and interests allowed him to
build a personal connection with his followers, attract the right fit, and repel
the wrong ones who don’t align with who he is and his photography style.
You stand out when you operate out of your genius zone and have an
authentic message that resonates with your leads, and you also have a unique
offer. Taking consistent action will attract those who are a perfect match for
you at the right time.
Last but not least, your specialty and your unique method: Clients
from your niche who trust your knowledge about their industry helps you to
create better content or copy that resonates with their customers. Having a
specialty in solving a specific problem as a freelance writer and creating a
unique method helps draw bigger and better clients into your business.
A blog writer who is an immigrant might be considered a better fit by
immigration consultants and immigration lawyers in Canada to write their
blogs versus a Canadian-born citizen. Being an immigrant makes you
understand their target market in depth and helps you create content
marketing people interested in immigrating to Canada will want to read.
As a copywriter, your copy will resonate better with immigrants
because you know all the challenges immigrants face, from finding
employment, getting an education, making new friends, and legal milestones
to reaching citizenship. You have the empathy to show them you understand
how they feel.
When it comes to your offer, having several writing services such as
email copywriting, blog writing, and grant writing make you a writer, not a
problem solver. Therefore, you get paid as a writer. Having a specific offer
shows clients you have the skill to bring them a solution. As an email
copywriter, you’ll need very specific skills that a web copywriter or a grant
writer doesn’t have.
Do you need a personal brand to stand out?
As mentioned previously, your brand is not what you think. It's not
having a website, outstanding brand colors, and brand design. It's your
reputation and the way you handle clients' communication. In summary, it's
how people perceive you. It’s the image, the feeling, and the association
prospects have in mind when they think of you. You don't need to invest in
attraction marketing to sign clients. However, you need to work on bettering
your reputation to attract and sign dream clients.
Start first by bettering your signature process, your client's
experience, your marketing approach, the quality of your services, and your
results. Define your vision and mission, and then worry about a logo and a
website.
How do you define personal branding?
 What makes you, YOU? It sounds basic because it is. As a freelance
writer, don't ever overstate the importance of authenticity and consistency in
personal branding. Let your personal values guide your decisions instead of
inventing new versions of yourself to meet someone's expectations. This will
help you stand out.
If you want to define your personal branding, think of the following
questions: What adjectives best describe you? How do your friends and
family describe you? You don't have to agree with them, but what were the
common adjectives they mentioned? Start there.
How to invest in your brand
After you land your first clients, you should consider investing time
in knowledge. Make an effort to be better at what you do and give your
clients an ROI; it gets easier when you have narrowed down your offer. The
rest will follow. Investing your time and money in building an online
presence on social media will get clients to chase you.
 Chapter 19
The Writer, The Marketer, and The
Business Owner: The Three Levels of
Conversation to Have With a Client

When on a virtual call with prospects, you need to have three levels of
conversation to show authority: as a business owner, marketer, copywriter or
content writer. But what does that mean, though?
As a business owner
You are not for everyone; you don’t solve everyone’s problems and
you don’t have all the expertise. Your job as a business owner is to determine
if the client is the right fit for your business. You’ll have to figure out how
much attention the project will get from the client and whether they’ll give
you the focus and attention required to get them the desired results.
If you want steady clients, you need to think long-term and find out if
there are any possible future opportunities with every prospect you hop on a
discovery call with. Find out what the project looks like and what their
business goals are to see if you can help them achieve them so they’ll want.
That’s how they’ll want to work with you for longer. How do you find out?
Ask:
“What are you looking to achieve in the next X?”
 [X would be the timeframe they might see some results by working with you]

“What are you looking to achieve in the next 3-6 months?”

If you don’t have the skills to help them, are you willing to get them?
Find out what their business challenges and needs are so you can decide
whether they are a fit for your offer:
“What’s challenging for you right now?” or “What’s stopping you
from achieving these goals?”
After they’ve shared with you their challenges, find out how urgent it
is for them to get their problem solved. If they are not prioritizing solving the
problem they have, they won’t hire you at that moment. So it is important
that you find out if the project you are pitching them on is one of their top
priorities or just one of the many projects they need to work on.
“Is fixing X (the problem they’ve mentioned) a priority for
you right now?”
“On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is it that this
problem gets solved? Is this a priority right now, or is it more like a
later thing you want to do?”
If the project is a priority, find out what’s the timeline for it. This
way, you’ll know if it’s realistic to meet their expectations. What is the level
of urgency of the project? Resentment comes from expectations. Get clear on
the expectations so you can set them in advance.
“How soon would you like this project to be done?
What’s your timeline for the project?”
As a Marketer
Your job is not to create a whole marketing plan for your client’s
business. If they don’t know how to market their business to attract clients,
then they might not have the cash flow to invest in working with you long
term. That’s the job of a marketing agency or a business coach/mentor to
teach them business marketing strategies. If you want clients on an ongoing
retainer, here are two scenarios of prospects who are not a fit:
1. You are an email copywriter wanting to sign a retainer client. You get an
inquiry from a prospect building their first business. They contact you
because they want an email copywriter to help them sell more. They
have an email list with a few leads and have no social media presence or
no presence online where they can build trust with their audience before
selling. They are at the beginning stage of building a business and don’t
have a steady big cash flow yet. They have no marketing experience or
have not hired an expert to guide them on a business marketing strategy.

2. You are an SEO blog writer wanting to sign a retainer with an ongoing
project. You get an inquiry from a prospect who wants to gain visibility
on Google but has no online presence because he is new in business and
has no business marketing strategy yet. The client has no social media
presence, low domain, and page authority, etc.

If you are an SEO blog writer and the prospect mentioned that they
want to gain visibility on Google, then your job is to find out why they are
not achieving their goal with their current blog (the problem) and strategize to
fix it.
As a sales page copywriter, your job is to create a sales page that will
help them sell or analyze why their current one is not selling and strategize to
fix the problem.
Unless they are serial entrepreneurs making money with other
businesses or have other revenue streams, clients generally depend on getting
an ROI from investing in you and honouring a long-term retainer. Broke
clients will lead you becoming a broke freelancer.
Other exceptions are one-time writing projects such as case studies,
web copy, sales pages, etc. If it’s not the case, signing those types of clients is
a sign of failure. They need to have an overall business marketing strategy in
place when hiring you. As a freelance writer, your job is to develop a
marketing strategy with your offer to help them achieve a specific goal. This
goal may be hiring you as their copywriter to write email sequences so they
can have their product launch sold out or hiring you as their case study
copywriter to help them to build more credibility and have sales.
You need to be a marketer specializing in a copywriting project or a
content writing project with a basic idea of writing other projects when
needed.
You are an email copywriter that can write a sales page when clients
need it. After all, if you are writing an email sequence to sell a course, it will
probably need to be followed by a sales page [a funnel].
As a marketer that specializes in email copywriting, you’ll need to
figure out if the leads that are coming to their email list are hot, warm, or
cold. If it’s cold, you can’t sell them until you warm them up.
If they have had a previous failed launch, think to yourself:
Why did it fail? Did the emails get delivered? If they did, was the
copy compelling enough to get their leads to take action? What does the
client need? Does that client need email segmentation to increase their
deliverability? Or do they just need to better their copy?
Once you know the answer, present your client with the best
marketing approach that you believe will get them the results they want.
After all, that’s what they are paying you for, and that’s what will create more
opportunities for you to continue working with them – your results.
As a marketer who specializes in a copywriting/content writing
project, here are some questions you need to ask yourself:
“What does the client actually NEED?”
“What marketing approach will get them the desired result,
regardless of whether it is in your best interest?”
As an email copywriter here are the questions you might want to
ask a client:
“Is this for client acquisition or selling to an existing audience?”
“Is this for cold or warm traffic? Where is the traffic coming from?
Do they have an email program or social media presence?”
As a writer
The questions will vary depending on your offer as a copywriter or
content writer. Your role as a writer is to figure out what the client wants,
what copywriting project or content writing type they want, and what they
need. Ask yourself:
What is the copywriting work that the client wants?
As a copywriter
What is the client’s offer? Is it for a new or existing funnel? You’ll
need to study things like the buyer journey, their leads temperature (hot, cold,
warm leads), their pain points and desires, and craft a sales copy so you can
sell them according to their temperature and where they are at on their
customer journey. Questions you need to find answers to:
What is their offer? What is the medium? (sales page, email, ads), Is this for
a new offer/funnel or an existing offer/funnel? What does “success” look like
to them with this project?
As a content writer
Figure out what content your client’s audience wants to read,
research about their reader, and figure out how to get them hooked and
engaged with your content. What has worked in the past might not work
anymore.
If you are an SEO blog writer, you’ll need to keep perfecting your
SEO skills such as an enticing headline that evokes attention, keywords that
rank, internal and external backlinks, etc. Evaluate their page authority and
domain authority; after a few weeks of studying their metrics, you have some
data on what works best to analyze their KPIs (key performance indicators)
and move into the right direction.
Don’t freak out; you might get a slight idea from a course, a mentor,
or from free content online, but your real growth as a writer will come
working with real clients because different situations will come up with every
client. You’ll end up learning many things and get better at them by doing the
work; you’ll learn more as you earn. You must have a growth mindset and be
willing to learn from failure. It's the best way to learn.
 Chapter 20
Client Acquisition Made Easy
“Buy now.” “Click here.” “Last spots.” “I can create content
for you that sells.”

“Marketing is when you tell people you have something that will solve their
problem, the sale is when you get them convinced you are the one to solve
their problem, closing is when you ask for their business.”

Francielle Silva

When I tell you that you need sales skills to sign clients, you are
probably picturing yourself as a car salesman trying to “convince” people to
hire your services. I know; I used to conceptualize sales that way too. If I tell
you that it is best if you hire a mentor to train you in sales, you’ll probably
imagine him teaching you pushy, sleazy, icky, salesy techniques that will get
clients to sign with you. Some might use persuasive gross sales tactics, but
that’s not how I do it and that’s not what I teach my coaching clients.
Sales are not something mysterious that only a few people know or
are capable of. It’s not a persuasive sentence you say to a prospect on a sales
call, in DMs, or your social media, so that prospects agree to pull out their
credit card and hire you right away. If that’s your concept of a sale, you
won’t sign clients. It’s not one single thing you do or say that will help you to
sign clients. Sales is a process - not a word, sentence, or a single action:

Sales is prospecting, generating leads often, or creating content to attract

them.

Sales is building connections, networking, or attracting other humans that

need or refer you to those who need your solution.
Sales is providing value by educating your leads about their problem so you
can build the trust they need to do business with you.

Sales is nurturing the relationships you’ve built with leads, so you are on
their radar, and when they are ready, they come to you for your solution to
their problem.

Sales is disqualifying leads to find who is the right fit. After all, your solution
is not for everyone.

Sales is offering a solution that matches your lead’s needs and goals.

Sales is overcoming objections or addressing concerns prospects have about

your solution.

Sale is about building genuine relationships to serve people and not just a
transaction. A transaction is a consequence of your solution.

If you miss one of the steps mentioned above, it is less likely you’ll
sign clients, especially when you are a newbie. People have no awareness of
your brand. After all, people do business with whom they know, like, and
trust.
Sales can happen in different ways through different channels - email
marketing, cold pitching, or on social media through content in different
formats: video, audio, pictures, reels, or carousels. Each of them requires
different concepts, techniques, and abilities. But in the end, client acquisition
is the focus. There's no right or wrong, but what works for you. That’s why I
teach 11 different ways to land clients in this book.
Have you researched a piece of information and found the answer on
a YouTube video, blog, or a reel, and loved what you've found so much that
it made you want to have that product or be in that world? Maybe you are a
subscriber to a YouTube channel from a psychologist you love, and you start
to have the desire to be “in their energy” or work with them.
 Brands sell us simply by showing up consistently, providing value
that serves our needs and wants, and by being authentic. They attract people
who like them. We often spend money just to be in people’s energy. That's
the transformation we get; the “feeling” good. For example, you pay to watch
a concert of your favorite singer, or a movie to watch starring your favorite
actor.
Sales is not about convincing people to hire your services. Sales is
getting prospects to convince themselves your solution is right for them. Over
time, especially with attraction marketing, sales happen unconsciously.
There’s no “convincing.” When did you convince your partner to marry you?
You just don’t.
Many people ask me how to land better-paying clients. The truth is,
in the same way you land low-paying clients. The difference is that you don’t
ignore the red flags. Many new freelancers see red flags even before the
discovery call, and because they lack experience, they ignore them. Things
like asking for free trials, asking for a discount, not paying a deposit fee
upfront, or hard-to-reach prospects are red flags. So run to the hills. The other
difference is that you disqualify the wrong fit before getting into a business
relationship with them.
Another important note: just like how your partner shows up in the
relationship is how they will show up in marriage; the same thing is true with
clients.

“The way your prospect shows in the sales process is

the way he will show up as a client.”

Remaining at a job you don’t enjoy drains your energy the same way
as the client acquisition process does to beginners. Most easy things in life
are not worth it anyway. Sales might feel tiring at the beginning, but it’s
worth it if writing for a living gives you a sense of purpose in life. As your
brand gains reputation, clients will come with ease.
If you work towards being good at what you do, the reward is greater
than the energy you invested into building it: the flexibility of time, vacations
and time off under your own terms, the geographical freedom; no one puts a
cap on how much you can earn. You can get paid more than enough to pay
for the benefits a job gives you – consistently if you look to sign retainer
clients.
Although pitching clients never ends, client acquisition becomes easy
with time. Sales become a natural skill. Your mindset and how you perceive
it changes. You see it as having conversations with people that need your
solution. Sale is serving. After you’ve built brand awareness and put energy
into being good at what you do, you start to gain referrals. The universe
brings you past prospects that rejected your offer because they weren't ready.
Later in your journey, you will have a strong portfolio, a website, and a
LinkedIn bio optimized for SEO that will also bring you leads that will
become clients.
That's why I don't recommend starting a business solely for the
money because when you achieve it, you'll still feel unfulfilled. When
hardships come or if it takes longer for you to sign your first premium client,
it's easy to give up. When building a freelance writing business in order to
live a temporary or permanent purpose, you will never stop because you are
living a purpose, even in "rainy" seasons.
There are 6 key steps of the selling process:
 First, you need to prospect or attract, which means you identify
potential clients who would be interested in your solution or attract leads with
content.
Second, you need to connect and qualify by identifying pain points
and determining whether they fit you well. It doesn’t matter the way you
choose to sell your services - attraction marketing, or direct marketing; you
need to create an opportunity for your lead to know, like, and trust you as a
service provider. Without that, you can’t successfully sell. It’s like
convincing a stranger behind a screen to marry you before giving them an
opportunity to know who you are.
Third, provide value to build trust. It can be done in various ways
depending on how you are selling your services. If you are doing attraction
marketing, you are building awareness of your brand and providing value
with your content that’s relationship building. If you are doing direct
marketing, educate them on a problem you saw on their writing assignment
that you want to pitch them. Share a solution (your offer), or just educate
them about something that might be helpful.
With online direct marketing, and more specifically email cold-
pitching, it’s best if you find a way to show your face behind a screen. It will
build trust faster.. In DMs, it will depend on how the conversation goes but
try to send an audio message so they can build a personal connection with
you through your voice (it builds trust quicker).
A lot of successful freelancers will tell you to cold pitch. It’s easier
for more experienced freelancers to sell using that method when they already
have social proof and results to share. But for beginners, I find it a harder
method to start with, but not impossible.
When you are providing value, you are practicing the law of
reciprocity, which is an important principle in sales. The more you give, the
more you’ll get. When you approach prospects with the intent to serve, the
transaction will follow.
Detach from the outcome, whether you sign that client or not and
keep prospecting. Clients will come when they are ready if you keep
nourishing those relationships. Prepare yourself with self-development and
knowledge for the opportunities to come.
“Luck is what happens when opportunity meets
preparation.” Seneca.
Fourth, don’t be afraid to offer your solution to their problem,
that being your offer. Make an assumptive close. Don’t try to sell them again.
Fifth, handle objections or concerns they have regarding working
with you. Objections are NOT an indication they don’t want to hire your
services, but they are concerns they have about working with you for a
particular reason. Don’t get discouraged, every successful salesperson or
freelancer handles sales objections and faces rejections. Most times
objections have nothing to do with you. It might be they are not ready yet or
have no awareness of their problem and see no value in your solution.
If you are getting the same objections over and over, that is when the
problem might be with you. You can study ways to get around that. Maybe
you don't know how to approach strangers and/or transition the conversation
to a sales conversation. You have a low closing rate client because maybe
you don't know how to do discovery calls, or simply because you can't
communicate with prospects the value of your offer. Sales is a skill that must
be learned. Whether it is written through copy for your content or oral. I've
mentioned and will mention many times again. More often than not, it is the
best communicator who closes deals, not the best practitioner.
There are different types of sales objections, and the most common
freelance writers face are money objections: “It’s not under my budget,” “It’s
too expensive,” and “I can afford it.” To avoid being rude, they hide the truth.
It’s your job to find out what their concerns are. Ask curious questions to
better understand their concerns.
Sales Objections for freelance writers tend to fall into these 5 categories:
Lack of trust: They might have a need for your service or have a
problem that they are aware of and might want to fix it, but there was no trust
built in advance. Your solution might sound realistic, but they don’t believe
you’ll deliver on what you say you will.
Build a relatioship/ establish rapport upfront. Focus on the prospect, their interest, and their
activities, and be open and genuine about your offer. Gather as much information about their business
needs, wants, goals, mission, vision etc. Share any story or wins if you have had clients or share a
story of another business that invests in that type of project and gets an ROI.

Service objection: They didn’t understand the details of working

with you or got confused and overwhelmed with the information you gave
them, so they make comments like “someone else is offering more for
less.” You can simply say:
“Well, I don't know the customer service quality, their project's quality, and the ROI their
client gets, but I know what I can deliver to my clients.”

“What questions do you have about working with me?"

Address their concerns and if you feel like that’s a service objection,
give them detailed information about your process signature:
As a content blog writer:
"Here is how I will help you to get X (the results). First, I'll do some research, see what you
have, and analyze your current data and past results to see what can be improved. You'll have access to
me through ASANA. It's where you'll have access to communications and see projects. We'll come up
with blog posts for the week, or I can suggest them. I'll start writing it, including internal and external
backlinks. You'll get two rounds of review. After 3 months of working together, we'll have a meeting to
measure your KPI and keep doing what's working to achieve results."

Lack of Urgency: Your prospects have other priorities in their

business.
Focus on their pain points and help them to picture how your offer would help them to ease
their pain points. For B2B companies, for example, focus on increasing ROI by presenting numbers
and profit margins of the businesses that invest in X (offer like yours) and get Z. Tell them, if another
business owner takes the spot (s) left, you won’t be able to help them for a while and they’ll be leaving
money on the table.

Help them envision the possibilities of what they can get compared to
where they are now.
As an experienced copywriter, mention your previous client’s ROI.
As an inexperienced email copywriter, mention statistics:

“Email marketing is more powerful than social media, and it

generates $42 for every $1 spent, which is an astounding 4,200%
ROI, making it one of the most effective options available.”

Statistics by https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-
marketing-stats

Lack of budget: This objection is the most common. If your ideal

clients are start-ups or new business owners, they most likely don’t have the
budget so avoid targeting them, if your goal is to land ongoing retainer
clients. Target potential clients who have been in business longer and have
the marketing budget to afford your rates. Some might give you a “lack of
budget objection,” but it’s usually a disguise for something else, so they lie
about it. They might not see the value of your offer and maybe you didn’t
express it. You’ll have to find out:
“Can I ask why you feel it’s too expensive?”

“Is it a question of price or value?”

Lack of budget objection for one-off projects:

 Always offer payment plan options
“If money wasn’t an issue, would you move forward?
Why would you move forward?

(Same as you asking if they see value in your offer or not, so you can handle their objections)

Make sure to structure your payment plans in a way that if they don’t pay the
rest, you still break even with the first upfront 50% deposit
Help them to envision the possibilities:
“How many leads do you get now through your blog a week?”

Listen to their answer [supposedly 2]

“Let’s say when working with me, you get 6 leads per week or more. Would you be happy you made the
investment today?”

You can still support business owners who don’t have the budget.
ON-OFF PROJECTS WITH PAYMENT PLANS.

OFFER AN HOURLY CONTENT OR COPY MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION TO GIVE THEM

GUIDANCE ON THEIR CONTENT STRATEGY.

If new business owners or start-ups like you and you keep nourishing
that relationship, they might come back as a retainer client when they are
ready in the future, but don’t try to sign them as retainer clients initially. You
should not lower your rates to fit their budget. If you go to a grocery
shop,mall, try to purchase online, or try to buy a house but you don’t have the
budget, you simply can’t shop there. If you want to have a business, you need
to think like a business owner. Otherwise, you’ll have a hobby.
When it comes to money objection, the key is to focus on the value
of your offer; how your solution will help them to get X, but if a particular
client doesn’t see the value of investing in their business, there’s nothing you
can do. They are simply not your ideal client.
I’ve had a client I kept following up with about once a month. Only
after one year, after consistent follow-ups, he did sign up. Another freelancer
guest on my Instagram Live said one of her best steady retainer clients signed
up after almost one year of following up. The lesson here is that signing your
first premium clients might happen within 30 days you start pitching, but it
also might take weeks or months. It’s just a numbers game and eventually
meeting that one person who is ready to hire you as their solution.
Contentedness Objection: They have this objection because they
are satisfied with a service they have at the moment or with another freelance
writer that they’ve been working with. “Thanks, but I already have a
contractor who does that for me.”
Don’t take rejections as a definite NO. Find out why they chose their
current writer and ask what they like about working with them and what they
would improve about their current writer’s offer. Aim for the gaps left and
come up with a unique selling point. Use your strong case to back up your
points.
“I need some time to think it over.”
They got too much information and were confused by your offer.
Ask them what questions you have and address their concerns.
“I get that and encourage that. We want this to be a great fit for everyone and want you to
make an investment that will bring in money to you.

What questions do you have about my offer?”

“You are too young/old,” “How long have you been doing this for?”
They just don’t trust you yet, so explain your unique signature offer.
You have taken a course that has had results on other students’ clients. Tell clients you are
using the same method you learned at your course to get them the same results. Offer a paid trial with
no retainer and/or rewrite a small paragraph of their copy or content.

Always build rapport upfront. Build and nourish the relationship with
prospects to avoid this objection.
“I am afraid you’ll not capture my brand voice.”
This is also a lack of trust objection. Before even pitching them, you
should do your job. Study their brand voice, personality, and tone on social
media or whatever you can find about them. Propose to re-write a small part
of one of their writing assignments that you want to work on. Write a better
version of it, capturing their brand personality, tone, and voice:
Offer them a paid trial without a commitment to a retainer. If they
accept, find their content online, study it, and try to match up their brand
voice and style.
Regardless of the objection you get, before handling them, always
show sympathy and tell them you understand their concerns.
Nurture the relationship through follow-ups

“The fortune is on the follow-ups.” Have you heard it before?

I used to think I would be annoying prospects by following up, but
when I look back, the majority of clients I ever signed were through the
follow-ups. It was just a pivot of mindset. When you know how to do follow-
ups, clients appreciate you. It builds trust because they feel like you are
committed and serious about what you do, and they feel supported. Follow-
ups strengthen the bond we created in the first point of contact.
Not every lead is worth following up on, though. Not all of them are
a fit, but for the right fit, even after you got rejected, you should follow up.
When you make a mindset pivot about the value of following up, you
learn that not following up could result in a loss of business.
A statistic displayed on the IRC Sale Solution website shows how
successful sales are made:

Unfortunately, most salespeople will give up on their first point of

contact. Following up doesn’t only apply to prospects that rejected your offer.
When cold emailing prospects, if you don’t get an answer, you also
need to follow up at least five times. People are busy, and you are not their
top priority, especially when they aren’t aware of your brand and the value of
your offer.
You potentially lose 98% chance of signing a client if you don’t
follow up. According to IRC Sales Solutions, only 2% of sales are made
during the first point of contact.
Statistics say only 3% of prospects will sign up with you on the
second contact, and 5% will say yes on the third try. 10% will sign up with
you at the fourth point of contact, and 80% on the fifth or twelfth contact.
Unfortunately, 44% of people give up on the first attempt. Only 8% of
salespeople follow up more than five times.
Most of the time, rejection means NO just for now. It doesn’t mean
forever; it means not yet.
When do you follow up?
Only if you feel they are a fit should you follow up. If you don’t
know if they are a fit, you also need to follow up and find out. Try to win the
follow-up on your first discovery call by scheduling a second call before
ending the call if the lead is hot or warm. Send out a calendar invite for the
second call right away and explain what will happen on the next call. Tell
them that the next calendar invite has been sent.
If you didn’t have the next call scheduled for some reason,
immediately send an email summarizing the call. Explain what will happen
on the next call or mention the hurdle that kept you from scheduling the next
(e.g., prospects returning from vacation). Say you’ll be in touch soon. Trigger
an automated email for a reminder.
What to do if clients don’t show up on a call?
Prospects have a busy life and might likely forget, especially if the
call is scheduled for more than two days ahead of your initial conversation.
It’s your job to send them a reminder, messaging them one day and a few
hours before the call.
Here is what not to do when confirming the call:
"Hi Alicia, I'm just confirming our call in 2 hours. Are you still down for it?"

This would sound too salesy. Show some excitement in meeting up

with them.
Instead, here is how you can send them a reminder about the call:
“Hey, Alicia. Super excited to meet you. You are still good for our call in 2 hours?”

Someone asked Flavio Augusto, a Brazilian billionaire, on an

Instagram Story this question: How many times have you tried before
achieving success? And his answer was...

“If you only have a micro vision, you’ll think I got it

right the first time I’ve tried. After all, WiseUp was my
first company, and it exploded right away. However, it
is necessary to take a microscope to analyse the
samples of my trajectory, and you’ll see that it doesn’t
work that way…

For each ONE enrolment sold, the seller receives 14

refusals. That’s 14 NO’s for a single YES. If you
consider that in WiseUp’s first year, there were more
than 1000 enrolment in the first school, then we
conclude that more than 14,000 NO’s were received
 (rejection). If you consider that there have been more
than 1 million students enrolled to date, then there have
been more than 14 million refusals of our product.

The success we all seek is the YES. However, to get

there, we dive into a huge ocean of Nos, the ocean of
failure, in which we can never give up, in search of the
YES, the success we want so much.”

Flavio Augusto, entrepreneur

The law of averages is real for any business, big or small. Suppose
you qualify yourself to serve them and know how to communicate your offer.
Your biggest YES, (premium client) is behind an ocean of NOs (rejections).
 Chapter 21
The Real Secret to Signing Clients
The 3 % Rule

According to Sticky Branding statistics, the challenge is that the

percentage of companies in your marketplace who are proactively looking for
your expertise is small. This makes it challenging to sign clients fast. Only
approximately 3% of the market is looking to hire your services at the time
you are prospecting. Here is the representation of the marketplace looking to
hire:
Only 3% are active buyers: These companies and clients have a
need and are actively looking to hire and will do it in the next 30-90 days.
7% intend to change: These are prospects who have a need for your
services but aren’t proactively searching for options. However, they are
receptive to new ideas, so a well-timed cold call or marketing campaign can
be very effective in getting them signed as clients.
 Those are the top 10% of companies and entrepreneurs that need
your services right now. Even though they have a need, you might still need
to follow up but they will most likely sign up within the next 90 days.
Mastering your sales skill will also help with client acquisition;
getting better at what you do will help you keep them as clients.
30% have a need but not enough to act: They are not hiring. They
might look and act like a prospect, but they won’t make a commitment
because they have other priorities. Until the need becomes more pressing,
they won’t act.
30% do not have a need: This segment of the market does not have
a need for your freelance writer services and is not receptive to any marketing
messages. They might have just hired someone, or they might be a company
starting out. Or maybe they might not be ready for other reasons, like a lack
of a budget.
30% are not interested in working with you: There is a segment of
the market that does not fit your brand. Basically, these companies are never
going to hire you. They may be loyal to another freelance writer or have had
a bad experience with you, so they may use alternative options.
These lower 90% don’t need your services but might hire you
someday. So, engage them early, and build and nourish a relationship with
them before they are ready. Following up from time to time will keep you on
their radar. It will be an easy close when they are ready.
You might build a business through referrals from family, friends, or people
from your network, but those referrals might want to see some social proof or
samples. Referrals from clients will be your easiest clients to sign because it
comes from those who have experience working with you. But it won’t
happen until you gain their trust, create a great customer experience, and/or
give them results. Counting on “luck” is not a marketing or business strategy.
 Chapter 22
Is Guest Posting Worth It?
What is a guest post? How is it different than a regular blog
post?
Guest posting is when you write a blog and get someone to post it on
their website instead of your own blog. They are valuable for marketers and
writers. It’s a popular thing to do. You'll get your brand mentioned on a
website with large traffic, which will likely drive traffic to your website.
Copywriters can write a guest post on an educational topic related to the offer
they specialize in.
Keep in mind, being mentioned on a well-known magazine like
Forbes (guest posting) is a great idea and might help boost your credibility a
lot, but none of that matters if you don’t know sales and closing. If you get a
lot of inquires and you don’t have a sales process to follow up with leads,
then you need to learn how to communicate the value of your offer, closing,
and handle sales objections.
Why do guest posts matter?
If done right, it can help you achieve a particular goal and you'll gain
exposure because there will be more traffic to your website and/or more
followers to your social media. It will also boost your credibility and
ultimately might result in client acquisition, which means more profit for
your freelancing business.
The guest posting creates social proof. When contributing to
someone else with your writing, think about these three areas to benefit
something from it.
IS OUR NICHE SIMILAR?
DOES THEIR WEBSITE HAVE AND GENERATE GOOD TRAFFIC?
 CAN THEY BRING TRAFFIC TO MY BLOG?
If you guest post for a finance magazine and you are an SEO writer
for the health and wellness niche, you don’t share a common audience. As a
guest writer, you need to think about how it will be a mutual benefit.
You ultimately want a link as the person providing a guest blog. You
want that referral traffic funneling back to your site and organic search boost
from building a natural link profile. That’s why marketers are doing guest
posting. Yes, you are not only a freelance writer; you are also a marketer.
Look for credible, authoritative partners in your niche to guest post
with. As a blog writer, WebMD and Healthline are popular in the health
niche and have large traffic to their websites. Credit.com is popular in the
personal finance space and accepts guest posting. You'll find partners to guest
post with who have large traffic to their website and accepts guest posting in
almost every single niche. Google is your best friend to find yours.
You can attach them as your writing samples while building your
portfolio. You can also add it to your social media bio or website to boost
your credibility: “Wrote for Forbes” or another website you wrote for.
Find partners with an engaged audience
A large social following with low engagement won’t benefit you.
Your goal isn’t just to go after content to have some comments and social
shares. Go beyond average if you want guest posting to be worth it and get
more referral traffic to your website.
On social media, guest posting is equivalent to collab or
collaborating with other business owners.
On LinkedIn, you can do it through an educational Live. On
Instagram, you can do an educational Live or a shared post collab on both
feeds with someone whose audience is potential good leads for your business.
● Suppose you are an aspiring content writer for fitness coaches.
Build a relationship with a credible fitness coach with a good
number of followers that has an engaged audience on Instagram and
 offer to collaborate with them. Try to have the new post on your
feed as well. Here are the steps on how to go about approaching
them:APPROACH THEM BY BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP, FIND A
COMMONALITY YOU HAVE, SEND THEM A DM (DIRECT MESSAGE) MENTION
THAT COMMONALITY, AND STRIKE UP A QUICK GOOD CONVERSATION.
● SET THE INTENTION; TELL THEM YOU ARE THINKING OF A WAY TO GIVE
THEIR AUDIENCE VALUE THROUGH A COLLAB.
● SUGGEST YOU CAN EITHER DO A COLLAB ON A TOPIC OF THE MOST ASKED
QUESTIONS THEIR AUDIENCE HAS, REPURPOSE CONTENT THEY HAVE THAT
HAS DONE WELL, OR YOU CAN DO A LIVE USING STORYTELLING (IT NEEDS
TO BE A TOPIC OF YOUR EXPERTISE THAT WILL BENEFIT THEIR AUDIENCE).
● EXPLAIN THE BENEFITS TO THEM AND THEIR AUDIENCE.
Guest post pitch sample on Instagram through DM (direct message)
Important things to do before sending them your pitch over DM:
Interact with their account with a genuine comment before sliding into
their DM with likes and a genuine non-generic comment on one of their most
recent posts.
Slide into their inbox with a genuine comment on one of their posts.
Ask a question to evoke an answer and strike a conversation.
 Establish credibility when you can.
Establish authority by suggesting a topic you feel confident in
educating their audience about. This can be related to your writing speciality.
“I’m a content writer and we use a website called alsoasked.com as one of the places we use as
resources to brainstorm content ideas for our collab. Is [insert topic or question], one of the most
popular things your audience wants to learn from you?”
“I’d love to do a collab and educate you with a topic [topic they mention their audience asks
the most]. [Or about one thing your audience would love to learn about [the writing assignment of your
speciality]. What do you think?
Find hosts with an engaged audience
Regardless of the number of followers, they need to have an engaged
audience, but of course, if the host has a large following and an engaged
audience, it’s even better.
Guest blog post or do collabs for the right reasons
Guest posting is popular in marketing. It's an exchange that mutually
benefits both parties involved. The host wants great quality content you can
provide that keeps the right quality leads coming back. You want traffic or
the right leads coming to your website. Or maybe you want links (SEO blogs
require links) from a host with authority in the industry you want to write for.
It’s important to note that you should not only serve your own needs and
rather, do it wholeheartedly for the right reasons. This way, you'll deliver
value to the host in your pitch and simultaneously write a relevant topic that
delivers value to the reader.
When you’re starting as a freelance writer and you want to gain
exposure to authoritative sources online as much as you can, boost your
visibility and reputation. It will eventually help you attract bigger and better
clients sooner. Connect with and publish on as many authoritative sites or do
collaborations on social media with authoritative hosts as much as possible in
the niche industry you’d like to work in.
Here are things you should prioritize when pitching your host:
 DELIVER VALUE TO THE HOST WHEN PITCHING TO THEM.

DELIVER VALUE TO THEIR READER OR FOLLOWERS WHEN WRITING THE

ARTICLE/BLOG/POST.

PRIORITIZE SERVING THEIR NEEDS (HOST AND READER) WHILE TAKING CARE OF
YOUR OWN AS WELL.

What to keep in mind when crafting a successful pitch:

Like many things in life, even if you craft a killer pitch for a guest
post or collab, your pitch might get rejected for different reasons. But don't
take it personally, as it might have nothing to do with you. It might just be the
wrong timing, or they might get too many good pitches and they only need a
few.
For collaborations with other hosts on social media, the best way is
to approach them just by building a relationship first. Then, suggest a Live or
post together about a topic that serves their followers’ needs. Tell them why
you think it is a good idea and ask what they think.
If your ideal clients are corporate or magazines, the best way to pitch
and hear back is through email or on their website that has a part for requests
for guest posts. If not, reach out through social media. When pitching for a
guest post through email, here are a checklist you should follow:
INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
KEEP IT STRAIGHT TO THE POINT. BE CONCISE AND STRAIGHTFORWARD
MAKE YOUR PITCH STANDS OUT: IF YOU ARE SENDING YOUR PITCH THROUGH AN
EMAIL, WRITE AN ENTICING SUBJECT LINE THAT IS PROFESSIONAL, CLEAR, AND
HONEST ABOUT YOUR INTENTIONS.

PERSONALIZE IT, USE THEIR NAME, AND AVOID “DEAR BLOG MANAGER,”
“EDITOR,” OR “TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.”
VALIDATE WHO YOU ARE BY ESTABLISHING SOME CREDIBILITY. IT COULD BE
MENTIONING OTHER GUEST POSTS YOU’VE MADE, YOUR PAST WORK EXPERIENCE,
OR YOUR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND RELEVANT TO THEIR INDUSTRY, OR ANY
 ACHIEVEMENTS YOU’VE MADE AS A FREELANCE WRITER.
TAKE A LINE OR TWO EXPLAINING WHY YOU ARE A GOOD FIT TO WRITE FOR THEIR
AUDIENCE.

In the next page, find out how to guest pitch potential partners
through cold-email:
 Chapter 23
Sign Clients Without Testimonials and
How to Get a Powerful One from Your
First Client
Why do you need a testimonial in the first place?
In the first few chapters, we talked about the elements that influence
clients to hire your services, according to Robert B. Cialdini. These included
social proof, which gives you credibility by using real people to showcase to
others that what you do works and helps you be seen as an authority. They
work because they aren't strong or pushy sales pitches. They come across as
subtle in an unbiased voice and establish trust with potential clients. It's
definitely easier to sign clients with testimonials, but it's not impossible to
sign them if you don't have any social proof. Everyone started somewhere.
What is a testimonial?
A testimonial is a review or recommendation from someone who
benefited from your services. The goal of a testimonial is to let others know
that you are a trustworthy professional and most importantly, that what you
do works.
Clients' testimonials can take multiple forms, like videos, written
quotes, screenshots of conversations with clients, audio, storytelling, case
studies, and interview testimonials.
How to sign your first clients without a testimonial?
Share your own transformations if you have any. You already
have a blog or an Instagram account with significant conversions (saves,
likes, shares, or engagement). You want to write content such as blogs and
social media captions for your favorite businesses/brands. You can use your
own transformations to showcase to clients.
Provide value in advance by educating clients through feedback or
a quick Loom video about a problem you've seen on their writing assignment
you want to pitch them. You can also educate them about the most common
problems you see people in the industry doing in X writing assignment and
share a solution.
As an email copywriter, for example, tell them how they can increase
their sales with their email marketing if they segment their email list a certain
way, and offer a call. Don't worry about them doing the work on their own.
Premium clients want an expert to handle their content marketing. They want
to delegate.
Future pacing will help the client envision the possibilities of what
your offer can do for your clients, then make a promise about the possible
solutions, but make sure you don't guarantee results.
Mention industry statistics and credible sources about how the
exact writing assignment you do benefits their X, Y, and Z competitors that
have it. Let's say you are an email copywriter and you've read from credible
sources the statistics about email marketing. Mention the stats in your content
marketing or at the end of the discovery call.
"According to Forbes, email marketing is 10x more powerful than
social media."
Demonstrate your unique method: What's unique about you and
what you do? Why does what you do work and how is it unique from other
freelance writers?
If you have never worked with clients before, get results from people
using a proven copywriting formula you've learned from your mentor or a
course to showcase to clients. Be transparent and let them know you are
using the exact formula that will give them results.
Another suggestion is to make a paid partnership and co-work with
another freelance writer that has had great results. Ask their permission to
showcase their social proof to close the client, work with them on the project,
and share a percentage with them. Let the client know you'll work with
another freelancer who has had X results on your first projects. Always
underpromise and overdeliver.
Paid co-working with another freelance writer will be beneficial for
both. You do the work and earn money. The other writer reviews the project
or mentors you and earns a commission from it.
Use a proven-to-work method - "I've taken course X, and I am
using the same method they are using to get 33% more conversion on blogs
for their clients."

How to get a powerful testimonial from your first clients?

Practice the law of reciprocity. People are more likely to do
something for you when you do something for them. Start by giving your
client a review on their website or a Google review; mention on your social
media or on their website what working with them is like. Write a brief quote
about the positive experience you've had working with them. If they sell a
product and you've tried it, write them a genuine review.There's no right or
wrong length of a testimonial.
 You can request a testimonial recommendation on LinkedIn.
Screenshot it to share it on the social media you use most to showcase to
clients or rephrase it on your website/portfolio/writing samples.
 Powerful testimonial framework
Even if your first clients are difficult, find an appropriate time to
request a testimonial. Ask them if they can give you a testimonial answering
these three questions from this framework. Ask them if they can text, email,
or DM it and create a paragraph, audio, or video with the answers to the
questions below.
1 – How did you feel before we worked together? What exact problems
were you facing?
(e.g., Before working with X, I didn't have any engagement on my content, I
had only 3% of sales on my email marketing).
2 – How was it like to work with me on this project?
(e.g., While working with X, we had small walk-throughs X 1:1 session that
helped me with Z, I got clear on what needed to change in my content
marketing efforts.).
3 – What did you get after working with me?
(e.g., It can be more clarity, confidence, followers, sales, etc. My conversion
went from 10% - 33%).

Samples of
powerful testimonials online
 Chapter 24
Eleven Easy Ways to Find Clients
Outside of Freelancing Platforms
You’ll know exactly where to find clients when you get crystal clear on what
type of people you'd like to work with, who your ideal client is, and what
solution your offer provides to your ideal client's problem.
Whom do you want to work with? Who is your ideal client?
Are they magazines or businesses? If they are magazines, are they
sports magazines? Travel magazines? Business and finance magazines such
as Forbes? What values do they need to have that are non-negotiable for you?
If they are businesses in the fashion and beauty niche, maybe you only want
to work with sustainable brands. Are they corporate or personal brands?
Maybe they are 6-figure personal brands; after all, they need to be able to
afford to pay premium rates.
If they are businesses in the SaaS (Software as a Service) industry,
for example, who exactly are they? Are they business management software?
Are they course platform software? Are they accounting software vendors?
Do they design software? Or are they all of them as long as you share the
same common values? Are they 6-figure start-ups looking to scale to 7-
figures?
Getting clear on who they are is usually a natural process, and with
time, it might change. But the sooner you gain clarity as to who you want to
work with, the sooner you'll sign dream clients because you'll know where to
find them, you'll say no to the wrong fit, and open space for the right fit.
As a beauty copywriter who wants to work with high-profile beauty
brands, then you know they are corporate, and you are likely to contact
employees in charge of hiring on LinkedIn, not with the business owner
directly.
 As a blog writer for photographers and creators, you'll know the best
social media platform to find them is not LinkedIn, but Instagram and
YouTube, for example. That’s where the creators are and where you'll contact
the business owner directly.
Having clarity of the profile of your ideal client avatar will help
facilitate your search. Google the right keywords: “Top high-profile
photography blogs.” “Top makeup brands” or “top skincare beauty brands.”
Then you'll create a list of leads to connect with and add to your Excel doc,
so you can build a relationship with them, pitch, and follow up.
If you decide you want to write for magazines, the best way to get
them as clients is through direct marketing. Most of them have instructions
on their website on how to send your pitch. . They expect to get pitches from
writers. If you can't find how to apply, Google the name of the magazine with
the right keywords, such as: write articles for Time.
Magazines aren’t as lucrative as writing for businesses, but only if
you choose to work with well-established businsesses with a great marketing
budget in an on-demand niche. Many magazines pay per word. However, it’s
good if you pitch to guest post for high-profile magazines at some point in
your writing career to get more exposure and boost your credibility. You
need to look at gaining from a different angle, not just monetary-wise.
Attraction marketing, which is attracting clients with content
marketing, and direct marketing, which is speaking directly with potential
clients about your offer, are two different ways of client acquisition. The
longer you build awareness of your offer with content marketing, the more
people will know about it. Trying to get people who have never heard of you
to hire your services has a much higher rejection rate because the awareness
is non-existent, especially if you are new and lack social proof.
 People like to buy but don't like being sold to. Regardless if you
choose direct marketing or attraction marketing, you need to use a strategy to
build the know, like, and trust before pitching your offer. I’ll discuss how to
do that in detail at the end of this chapter.
All methods have their pros and cons: offline and online methods,
direct marketing, or attraction marketing methods.
DIRECT MARKETING
With direct marketing, you or someone else tell people about your
offer. You need to warm prospects up and build rapport to gain their trust
before pitching your offer instead of cold-pitching. This will help you to feel
more comfortable when following up with the prospects who rejected your
offer at the first pitch.
Direct Marketing Offline
The offline method has a higher acceptance rate because it's personal.
When it's made through a friend, acquaintance, or especially referrals from
formal clients who have worked with you, there’s trust, so you have a better
chance of closing the client. However, the cons of this method are getting
rejected if you have poor communication skills and don't know how to
approach a stranger and tell them about your offer (learn how to have a sales
conversation and sign them as a client).
The good news is that sales is a skill anyone can learn. However,
with this method, there are geographical limitations as you can only pitch in
person.
Direct Marketing Online
This is when you approach potential clients online and pitch them
your offer. Authority here plays a huge role. As there are many online scams
and it’s not a method done in person, it becomes harder to close clients that
have no awareness of your brand if you don’t build trust upfront.
This method has a higher chance of rejection compared to doing it in
person, but it’s not impossible if you have a sales process in place where you
can quickly build trust from strangers and pitch them your offer. I've signed
clients through Facebook groups and Instagram through direct marketing. Of
course, I've found ways to build trust, such as getting into a connection call
with them. One business owner I worked with on a web copy project used
this method on Instagram and has built a 6-figure business in a year. Then she
pivoted to attraction marketing and scaled her business to 7-figures.
The good news is that with direct marketing online, location doesn’t
matter. You can create a large list of prospects you want to pitch to
worldwide. Also, you can automate your first message or train a virtual
assistant and delegate the social media relationship building and booking
discovery calls. I used a virtual assistant overseas and she booked discovery
calls with prospects weekly. It’s affordable and saved me a lot of time
pitching.
It's a great method to sign your first clients. You get to talk to each
ideal client, better understand their pain points, and learn more about their
industry. However, using this method long-term is unsustainable, whether
you are doing it online or offline. It can be time-consuming finding who is a
fit for your solution if you don’t hire help. And you can't rely completely on
referrals from clients.
 Attraction Marketing
With attraction marketing, you create marketing content or provide
value to an audience to attract those leads interested in your solution. In this
method, you create content marketing in the format of your preference such
as video, reel, carousel, stories, and/or blogs to attract the right fit. You’ll be
building the relationship with your content, and leads will request your
services when they are ready.
When you build an engaged audience, build trust with your content,
and/or share your solution and social proof over and over with your leads,
you attract only those who are interested in it. Therefore, you lower your
chance of getting rejected. Remember, if you want to land clients on social
media, you don’t have to create content. You can start building relationships
through DMs (direct messaging), do discovery calls, and nourish these
relationships through follow-ups.
Attraction marketing is a more sustainable way of client
acquisition because your content talks to a large group of people at the same
time if done right, and your content speaks to your ideal client’s heart. The
larger traffic, following, and subscribers you have, the more people will
know about you. Also, when you create content for yourself, especially if you
are new, you’ll have an idea of what content marketing strategy works and
what doesn’t.
The cons of choosing attraction marketing as a client acquisition
method is that is that you need to have a good understanding of your ideal
client’s pain points and desires. This is how you’ll create content that attracts
them, catches their attention, resonates with them, and gets them to take
action. For that you’ll have to test what works according to your metrics and
data. It takes practice and good copywriting skills. In other words, you need
to know how to sell through content, which you’ll learn by doing it.
If you are not clear on the pain points your ideal client avatar has,
you’ll be putting a lot of time and energy into creating content without
results. I always recommend to start signing clients with direct marketing.
This way you’ll have experience talking individually to each potential client
in order to understand their needs and then pivot to attraction marketing.
Creating content can be time-consuming, but the good news is, it’s
also a task that can be delegated. You don’t need to wait to make money with
clients before you start delegating. You can find affordable virtual assistants,
social media caption writers, appointment setters, and hire people to DM
(direct messaging) from countries where the currency is lower than the
country you live in. You can hire experienced professionals or train them.
More experienced professionals will charge you more, but they can still be
very affordable.
There is no right or wrong in selling your services and getting clients.
It’s a question of what works best for your specific situation, niche, and what
feels good for you.
OFFLINE METHOD

Direct Marketing
Introduction from people you know
You should wear the copywriter or content writer’s hat from day one
– you decided to do that for a living. Start telling family, friends, and
acquaintances what you do. The more people know about what you do (brand
awareness), the better it is. Whenever you have a chance, mention to people
what you do and ask for referrals. Don’t miss an opportunity to market your
service.
Reconnect with your list of family and friends on Facebook
Messager and send them an audio asking for referrals. Here is what you
shouldn’t say:
“Hi ___ {name}, I am doing this side hustle called copywriting. I am looking for clients. Do
you know anyone who needs copywriting?”

(This approach feels like you are looking to serve your own needs, instead of someone else
and it displays a lack of confidence and passion for what you do).

Instead, here is what you should do instead:

 Re-build the connection with the people you are chatting with. Break
the ice, catch up, and then talk about your offer:
“I write _____ (your offer). I’m looking to help 3 more ____ (your ideal clients) who want
to get _____ (solution). Do you happen to know any who you can connect me to?”

e.g., I write SEO blogs. I’m looking to help 3 more mental health professionals who want to
gain visibility on Google’s first pages and build brand loyalty. Do you happen to know anyone who you
can connect me to?

Here are other ways you can bring it up:

“______ (explain what you do). Do you know any business/ business owner I might add value to that
you can connect me with?”

"Do you know any _____ (your ideal client) who wants to get ___ (solution) and might find ___ (your
offer) valuable? Would you mind connecting us?”

"Do you know any 6-figure photographers who might find email marketing valuable and wants to get
fully booked?”

Your social network

Sales is a numbers game. Find the balance by building quality
relationships with as many people as you can. Using your social network
online to get referrals or sign clients is the best option for you as you'll have a
greater outreach from clients overseas. Also, the process can be automated.
"I find my clients exclusively through my network."
Mary. P. K. Facebook group
From other freelancers, your "competitors”
Start making genuine connections with other freelance writers on
social media, especially in the same niche. This can be very positive for you
as they always know someone in need of your offer. Every freelancer has a
limited number of clients they can work with at a time. When they get more
requests they can handle, if you’ve built a genuine relationship with them,
they might refer them to you.
Start practicing the law of reciprocity with other freelancers in your
network. Send other freelance writers referrals from the requests that are not
a fit for you but might be for them. Don't think that because they are your
competitor, they might not help you. It depends on their mindset; you might
be surprised. You might get referrals from freelance writers who have a
different specialty or a different niche than yours. Sometimes a prospect's
brand simply doesn't align with their values, but it might align with yours. Or
simply, they may refer you because they don’t want to be overbooked.
Job Boards
This method has a higher rate of acceptance than other methods.
That's because this group is in the top 3% actively looking to hire when you
are looking for work. One of my coaching clients applied on a job board and
signed them as a client three months later. Her writing samples were exactly
what they were looking for. Here are ways you can find clients looking to
hire contractors:
Try Googling the right keywords in different ways: hiring + your
service and/or your niche.
e.g., hiring a health content writer/hiring a health blog writer/hiring a blog
writer/hiring a mental health writer.
Look into job boards like Craigslist, Indeed, CareerBuilder, Monster,
and Facebook using keywords related to your offer. Those are the main ones
in the U.S./Canada market. Make sure to activate the notifications in order to
receive job post opportunities in your email. Keep in mind, most of the time,
the best-paying jobs/projects aren’t advertised. That means you need to pitch
to clients and nourish your relationship with them until they are ready.
"I recently booked a dream client that I found on Craigslist. Opportunities
are hiding everywhere! " M.C

"This might sound weird, but I found one of my current jobs when it was advertised on
Indeed.com, and the other one I found from a different website (because they were looking for people to
write for their site at the time.).” Claris. C
 You can do the same on LinkedIn to receive notifications from
businesses that are hiring:
Pro-tip: Read the instructions carefully when applying for the job
post. Sometimes they insert a keyword on the post to verify if you’ve read
through it, especially if it's a job post from corporate clients and magazines.
Sometimes, the job posts are for an in-house copywriter or content
writer. Other times, they are hiring or open to hiring contractors, which is
what you want.
Don’t disqualify yourself from the job post; let them disqualify you.
A client's top priority is having someone with the skill to do the job.
 Although my LinkedIn profile shows me as a “health writer,” I’ve
had companies in other niches reach out to me. Many of their job postings
required 1-3 years of experience, but they still reached out to me when my
profile said I had less than that. That's because they are looking for a specific
skill set.
ATTRACTION MARKETING

Speaking Gigs
This method consists of public speaking about your solution to the
problem your ideal clients have. The best place to meet many of your ideal
clients in person is by registering online at meetup.com. This website
organizes online groups that host in-person and/or virtual events for people
with similar interests. You can find groups where your potential clients
participate, build relationships and share your offer with people. I believe you
can create your own event. This way you can invite local business owners,
educate them about the importance of having X (your offer) in their business.
If you want to participate in online networking events where business
owners from all over the world to hang out (a large majority from the USA),
happyneighborhoodproject.com is a free weekly networking online event
where you can get to know other business owners, promote your business,
and/or pitch your offer and ask for referrals. They have classes and you can
register to teach business owners about something they are interested in
learning. This is a great way to get people to see you as an authority. As an
email copywriter, you can offer to teach something like, “Five hacks business
owners can use to profit from their email marketing effort.”
Bait & Switch
 There are several ways to do this method. From the highest
converting way to the lowest: in-person, phone call, email, or in DMs (direct
messaging on social media). This method consists of asking short, personal
questions and expecting a reply with a CTA (call-to-action) in the end to get
them on a connection call.
DIRECT MARKETING

The Surprise Method

This method consists of sending your favorite brands or businesses a
FEDEX box with a small gift and a handwritten note. It can work really well
for local brands. People rarely do this, so it will impress them and make them
feel important. You'll stand out with this method If they are a big brand, as
they receive dozens of non-personalized DMs, emails, and job applications
every day.
However, before sending a pitch, it’s best if you can build a rapport
with at least three people in the business that are in charge of hiring. Keep
nourishing the relationship through follow-ups. This will keep you on their
radar when they need your solution. Doing that on a cold pitch might not
sound genuine. The box and the relationship-building combined will
definitely help you stand out.
You have no social proof yet when you are a newbie. The more
people you contact daily, the higher chances you'll have to sign your first or
next biggest opportunity. If you think of relying mostly on this method to
sign clients, it can be a problem, as it will be more time-consuming and
costly. In the note, you should include information such as:
Who you are, why you are sending them this, mention what you love about
their brand and what you hope to get out of it, and what transformations they
will possibly get with your offer.

Find an example of how to do this method in the next page:

 You can buy a small box from the dollar store, insert a card inside,
such as a gift card, with a proposal to meet up in person or for a virtual
connection coffee chat with the business owner or whoever is in charge of
hiring.
DIRECT MARKETING

Make An Offer & a Promise Method

This method consists of finding out how much a brand/business
owner you’d like to work with is spending on ads and making a promise to
get them the same or better results organically with your offer. Here are the
steps:
1st - Call a magazine you saw an ad of the brand you want to work
with and ask how much it costs to pay for an ad like that with them.
2nd - Contact that potential prospect from whom you saw the ad in
the magazine and make an assumption of how much they are spending on
ads. Offer to bring them organic leads with your services:
"I know you are probably paying X amount a month for advertising in X magazine. I am just
curious, how are the results from that? What kind of ROI are you getting from that?

Prospect: Answer
Make a promise of what’s possible:
"I actually got 2x/3x the results for half of the price. It might be a good idea for us to hop on
a 7-minute call to see if what I do can be a good fit for your business.”

ATTRACTION MARKETING

Gain Exposure Method Through Collaborations

This method consists of offering value to someone's
audience/followers/subscribers whose audience is your potential clients. This
person you'll do the collab with is an authoritative figure and has a large
following or is an influencer in the niche you want to write for. They can be
another freelance writer or a potential client. It’s perfect for those who can
commit to being consistent but don't have the time to post every single day.
Make sure to build a rapport and trust before pitching to someone for a
collab.
Pick a topic of your specialty that’s relevant to their audience and
offer to provide value to their audience on their podcast, YouTube channel,
Instagram Live, or whatever social media they have. Ask what the most-
asked email marketing question they get that is related to the type of writing
you do.
If you are an email copywriter, for example, offer to educate their
audience on a topic related to email sales copy or email marketing that their
audience would be interested in learning about. Study about it in advance if
it’s a topic you aren’t a master in and be transparent about your knowledge.
This method will only attract clients if your ideal clients are on that
social media. For example, you shouldn’t do a collab on Instagram and
YouTube and if your ideal clients are corporate. Corporate clients are mostly
on LinkedIn.
If they are photographers, do a Live with another authoritative
photographer or with a freelancer with a large following whose ideal clients
are photographers. You need to keep doing that consistently, maybe 2x a
month or every two weeks for about six months. This will help you to gain
exposure.
If you are doing it through email, build rapport by mentioning a
commonality. If you are pitching the collab idea through social media, make
sure to build a relationship with the person before pitching it. After building
rapport, here is an example of how you should approach them:
"I noticed you have a blog. What are the most common questions related to the blog that
your followers/subscribers ask?

{after they answer}

Would you be opposed to the idea of doing a collab about <topic he mentioned>?

Wait for their answer.

 "Cool. I am a blog writer on ______ (your common niche); I'd love to help your audience
learn about <topic they ask to learn relevant to your offer> through a Live collab. What are your
thoughts on it?/ Would you be opposed to doing a collab live to help your audience with X (a solution)?

Wait for them to answer. Always follow up if they don’t reply at any
point of the conversation. They might be busy or just forgot to reply,
especially if they have a large following.

Affiliate & Referrals Method

Create an affiliate/ referral/ partnership system, like a funnel where
influencers and people in your network can bring you clients and get an
incentive for it. For example, as a pet writer, you can partner up with a
small/medium YouTube influencer whose channel is all about animals and
pets. Create an affiliate link so they can add to their video descriptions and
pay them 5-20% commission of every retainer client that comes through their
YouTube link.
This method won’t cost you money as they would get paid only when
you close clients. Some YouTubers will charge to promote you, but it also
might be worth the investment, as you’ll be saving time on pitching.
You can attach your portfolio/website/writing samples on the link
they added to their YouTube channel description with a little questionnaire to
disqualify the wrong fit. One of the questions can be, “Where have you heard
of me?” so you can know where the lead came from. Pre-qualifying leads
through a questionnaire will spare you from getting on a discovery call with
the wrong leads. Use Jotform.com – a free software to build the
questionnaire.
You need to be strategic about this method. If you partner with
someone with a lot of subscribers, followers, or traffic but have a low
engagement rate, it might not work. Also, if their audience is not your ideal
client, it won’t work. With a YouTuber you’ll only know by trying. On
Instagram, you can check who their followers are.

Social Media
Social media is a gold mine for freelancers. It is the most popular
place you can connect with and sign clients outside of freelancing platforms.
If you learn simple sales skills, LinkedIn has about 830 million users,
Facebook has about 2.936 million users, and Instagram has about 1.21 billion
active users. Most people you know from every social class that has a small
or million-dollar business have at least one of these social media platforms.
After you get clear on who your ideal client is, you’ll know which social
media platform is the best to find them.

DIRECT MARKETING

LinkedIn
LinkedIn launched a beta test of its Service Marketplace in February
2021 for freelancers. They are looking to expand the options globally since
it’s grown to over two million users in the test pool. This platform will
facilitate more opportunities for brands to connect with freelancers. You
don’t even need to be on this platform to sign clients. You can connect with
prospects on the regular LinkedIn FREE platform.
The profile of brands on LinkedIn are more corporate. So if your
ideal clients aren’t corporate, LinkedIn is not the place for you to find, attract,
and sign clients.
“I’ve found direct messaging on LinkedIn to be how I found more than 90% of my clients. I
get about 1-2 inbound inquiries there per month, so I no longer send cold pitches, but, in the beginning,
I did HEAVELY.” Christine. M – Facebook group comment

On LinkedIn you’ll be more likely to connect with an employee of

the company who is in charge of hiring contractors. Because you don’t know
who is in charge of hiring, I suggest you connect and develop a relationship
with at least three employees, either their HR department or someone on their
marketing team.
When you visit a brand’s LinkedIn profile, you can find the list of
employees and their roles in the company under the company’s LinkedIn bio.
For example, as a personal finance blog writer, you can research
personal finance brands.
 Google relevant personal financial questions using the right
keywords. For example, “how to buy a home,” “how to refinance a home,”
“how to file taxes as a business owner,” and “how to save for retirement.”
You’ll find a lot of blogs and YouTube channels from personal finance
brands to add to your lead list. Then you make a list, search for them on
LinkedIn, and connect with their employees there.
“LinkedIn is how I landed my first 3 clients when I started.”

A. S. – Facebook group comment

People don’t check their LinkedIn inbox very often, so it’s common
to get ghosted. If the message is not read after three times, get their email
address and cold-pitch them. However, if people have seen your message and
ignored it more than three times, it’s time to move on.
“To anyone still wondering if they can land clients (especially high-paying ones) on social
media. The answer is yes! I was able to take a 1k retainer through Francielle’s strategy sessions that
helped me with pitching and closing deals. I know $1,000 may not be a lot, but for someone still new to
freelancing, it’s been super encouraging for me to continue my journey and aim higher.”

Imany Roberts – Facebook post

 “I got my first payment from an article! Thank you to Francielle Silva for your mentorship.
The client said they want me to write for them each month! Also, I won’t be able to go to the video
group anymore because I’ll be working full-time in content marketing.”

Chelsia Durkee – Facebook Post

Pro-tip: There are so many softwares you can download as a Google

Chrome extender and find the email addresses of people on LinkedIn. I
personally used a software called Aeroleads, but there are other options you
can use.
If you want to increase the chances people will reply to your DMs on
LinkedIn, start interacting with their profile posts and make genuine
comments up front. Then send a DM and mention something you saw on
their profile that caught your attention or a commonality you have with them.
People are more likely to like you and interact with you when you share a
commonality. It’s psychology. It can be previous work experiences, values,
life experiences, geographical locations, or even common people in your
network connection, etc.
“I was browsing through my social media feed and noticed a potential client mentioning that
he was looking for content writers. So, I messaged him directly, (cold emailing still scares me lol). I
remembered some of the tips Francielle shared about pitching to clients via social media. Instead of
being direct by offering my services right away. (which can be spammy) I started a warm conversation
and wanted to know what he needed help with specifically. The 1st half of the convo was like talking to
a friend. He was impressed by how helpful I was, we set up a meeting and now I have a client!

Thanks Francielle Silva. It’s so true, pitching to clients is really about starting an open and honest
convo. Your advice on finding clients on social media works! Especially for newbies like me.”

Imany Roberts – Facebook post

ATTRACTION MARKETING

LinkedIn

How to create a LinkedIn bio and profile that attracts premium clients
 LinkedIn is an SEO-friendly social media platform. Companies,
entrepreneurs, and small business owners search for freelance writers daily.
Optimize your profile by incorporating the right keywords relevant to your
niche and skills in your bio, profile, and the about-me section so they can find
you with ease. Don’t underestimate the power of using the right keywords on
LinkedIn. Use keywords indicating your niche, your specialty and skill set:
Personal Finance Writer, SEO Blogs & Articles.
Email Copywriter For e-Commerce
Web Copywriter For Doctors and Holistic Health Brands
Think about what brands would type when they are looking for
someone with a specific skill set.
If you were a psychologist looking to hire a blog writer, you’d
probably type “mental health writer” or “health blog writer.”
When your ideal clients visit your profile, make sure to have
keywords that will answer four things within three seconds of scrolling
through your page:
Who you are (specialty), what you do (skills), who you serve (ideal
client), and what you can do for them. If you have space, add something that
might boost your credibility.

LinkedIn Bio: Don’ts

Here are some other examples of what to AVOID doing:

[BLOG WRITER | EMAIL COPYWRITER | SOCIAL MEDIA CAPTIONS.]

TOO GENERIC.
[content writer and copywriter].
NOT SPECIFIC WITH YOUR SPECIALITY AND SOLUTION.
Instead, use more specific keywords in your bio with similar
transformations:
[SEO BLOG & ARTICLE WRITER | CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGIST] OR
[EMAIL COPYWRITER FOR ECOMMERCE | SALES COPY | MARKETING STRATEGIST].
“Shortly after optimizing my LinkedIn profile using Francielle strategies I got an
inquiry from a lead.” Chelsie Durkee

Best Way to Craft Your Bio: Dos

LinkedIn
Here is what a freelance writer shared on social media about the
results they got after being specific and optimizing their LinkedIn profiles:

“What happened after 1 month of posting on LinkedIn every

day??
Non-vanity metrics...
-5 new clients found me and hired me.
- I was invited to be a part of 2 podcasts and 2 article roundups.
Vanity metrics:
-1000+ new followers.
-search appearances almost doubled.
-profile views in the last 90 days doubled.
-average likes per post from 9 up to 58.
-average comments per post from 8 up to 43.
Other things:
-I’ve made new connections with whom I truly value, learn from,
and talk to every day.
-I love the opportunity to give back. I’ve directly mentored 10
people on marketing/writing in DMs. (free)
-Posting every day is now an ingrained habit and comes
naturally.
-I’ve found my voice and rhythm.
-I’ve improved my ability to start conversations and unpack my
knowledge.
-My friend messaged me and said I was getting famous.
Friends, LI is a valuable place to be for many reasons!! Highly
recommend!”

Jessica Walrack – personal finance content writer shares her experience with
attraction marketing with a FB group.

Here is an experience from a freelance writer with LinkedIn

optimization shared on a Facebook group:
 I have two LinkedIn profiles – one for medical writing, (call this profile A) and one for my
general writing, podcasting, and the other things I do (call this profile B). I optimized both profiles but
only engaged with other people regularly with profile B. I posted new content every few days and
replied to other people’s posts. Every time I attended a networking event, I shared the link to Profile B
and used Profile B to connect with others.Despite all of that, I got zero opportunities from LinkedIn for
profile B.

Profile A, on the other hand, is the profile that I rarely use to write any content that gets me
lots of leads, as I put my profile as available for work to recruiters. I always connect with everyone
who sends me a message, so I can see all their posts.

On Monday, I updated Profile A and made my “open for work” available for everyone to see,
not just recruiters. I shared a post that I was open to working. Within minutes, someone connected me
with someone else that had a job they were recruiting for. Someone told me that she would follow up
with a job she previously told me about and booked an interview. A business owner reached out to me
and we had our first informal chat to see how we can work together with HR for a company-organized
interview with me for a role they were recruiting for. Someone contacted me about a job, but it wasn’t
suitable, so I referred my friend for the job who was offered the job more or less immediately.

What I am trying to say is: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL THE TOOLS AND RESOURCES
LINKEDIN HAS. Look at LinkedIn job adverts and connect with the person who posted the job. While
it is important to know your shot, life is not about what you know but WHO you know. Build the right
connections for you and make it easy for people to contact/connect with you.” Freelance writer
facebook group post

LinkedIn “About Me” Section:

Mix generic and specific keywords: freelance writer, content writer,
copywriter. Avoid mixing a lot of different writing assignments, especially if
they are copywriting and content writing. Copywriting is different from
content writing. You are either mastering a copywriting or a content writing
specialist.. Remember that high-paying clients are looking for people with a
particular specific set of skills.
Many freelancers with an “unattractive bio” might be full-time,
have consistent clients, or have even reached a steady 6-figure income. That’s
because they got their first client outside of LinkedIn. They might have
gotten results for their first clients, got referrals, started on freelancing
platforms, and built their clientele elsewhere.
LinkedIn Must Dos:
Crafting a bio helps visitors know you have a solution to a problem
they have. If you have the right information, you’ll attract the right people. If
there’s a disconnect between your bio, your “About Me,” and your content,
visitors won’t stay. Your bio invites the right people in and your content
helps them stay.
If your bio says you are a content writer and you post about all sorts
of different types of writing, such as sales pages, case studies, blogs, and
social media captions, you are not showing any expertise and skill set that
provide a solution to a problem. First of all, the term “content writer” is very
generic. Your audience can get confused about what your offer actually is
and what your solution is.
Instead, add your specialty so clients know you have a specific
skillset to provide them solutions. “Ad copywriter for pet products
eCommerce” is much more specific. In that case, your content should be all
about showing solutions to problems related to ads: ad copy, storytelling for
ads, CTRs (click-through rates), mistakes your ideal clients make when
writing or running ads, statistics about ads, social proof for ads, etc. This
shows clients you have the skills to solve their problem and demonstrates
authority.
Also include some relevant keywords that show you have some
specific knowledge pertaining to your niche. If you say you are a mental
health writer, mention 10+ things you can write about in that niche. An
example would be, “I can write about depression and anxiety.” This will help
clients think “I finally found someone who understands my niche and my
brand”.
In your “about section” on LinkedIn, try to create short paragraphs,
three lines each for each mentioned above, and give space between the lines
for better readability instead of writing big chunk of paragraphs. Make sure to
tell a bit of your story, explain why you are a fit for that niche, and mention
what your signature process looks like. It should also include the scope of
work in your main offer in detail, describing the skillset you have to provide
solutions. Ensure you do that using keywords that will help clients find you.
There’s a section on “LinkedIn recommendation” where you can add
the specific skills you have that will help you bring the solutions to your
clients.
As a book ghostwriter, your skills probably involve writing a book
that flows well. You need to write a book that has a coherent and cohesive
story, and is free of grammar and spelling errors. An addition to that would
be writing or suggesting to your client (the author) a book introduction and
blurb that would get the readers curious to read the entire book so they feel
compelled to buy it.
As an email copywriter, your skills probably involve crafting
compelling storytelling, writing sales copy and research, A/B testing of
subject lines (a split test with two or more variables that shows your audience
which performs better), strategizing product launches, email segmentation,
sales psychology, and funnel analysis, etc.
As an SEO blog writer, your skills probably involve backlinking,
content marketing strategy, SEO headlines, storytelling for content, research,
KPI (Key Performance Indicator) analysis, etc.
Don’t have the skills? Learn them. Take a course, watch/read free
content to learn, and find a mentor. That way, you can add them to your
profile. You are not an experienced expert, but you did learn the basic skills
to help clients. You’ll only perfect them by working with real clients.
In the end of your “About Me” section, you should write a sentence
with a CTA (call-to-action) inviting them to book a call with you. Attach
something you have – website, portfolio, writing samples, or link to
testimonials.

What type of clients can you find on Instagram?

Instagram
Many Instagram user are from a younger generation like millennials
and generation Z. This social media platform is one of the best ways to find
personal brands, solopreneurs, or any brand that relies on visuals to sell. Do
your ideal clients need visuals to sell their services or products? Then you can
find them here.
“I love using Instagram and have used it effectively to grow my business. It
is a powerful tool that allows me to easily connect with like-minded people from all
over the world.”
Cynthia.D.W 6-figure copywriter Instagram post

Examples: Influencers, creators, photographers, nutritionists,

coaches, weight loss professionals, and any brand that needs need to build a
personal connection with their audience or use visuals to attract clients.

Create an Instagram bio that attracts premium clients

Like LinkedIn, use very specific relevant keywords to your niche
that will attract the right clients. Make sure it answers these questions:
 Who you are [health writer], what you do, or your writing
specialty [SEO blog].

Also, add what you can do for them (transformations/solution) and something
that makes you credible or the possible transformations they might get by
working with you.

Crafting a bio with relevant keywords to your niche builds awareness

of your solution to the right people. Your bio invites the right visitors to your
page, but if there’s a disconnect between your bio and your content, visitors
won’t stay. Your content nourishes the relationship with them.
On LinkedIn, if your bio says you are a content writer and a
copywriter, you are not showing expertise at a specific skill set. Instead, add
“SEO blog writer” or “Email copywriter.” If your blog says you are an SEO
blog writer, you’ll probably attract visitors who want organic traffic so they
can gain brand visibility. You need to have a profile showing clear solutions
to a problem using specific keywords. Recruiters and clients are looking for
professionals who have a very specific skill set. Adding a specific skill set to
your profile makes your solution more believable, as they are looking for
specific results.
What makes you credible enough to help them generate more
traffic? Your results, the clients you’ve worked with, or your step-by-step
signature process on how you’ll get them results (if you are inexperienced)
needs to be in your profile instead of random generic writing services.
I signed one of my first clients on Instagram through direct
marketing. I consistently built relationships through DMs (direct message)
and got the leads on a discovery call.
Steps to find clients on Instagram

Step #1: Type your ideal client’s niche. It will display a lot of entrepreneurs
and businesses within that niche.
Step # 2: Visit their profile. You’ll see a button where you can click beside
“Contact.” Instagram will display other similar profiles to the one you are
visiting. If you search for photographers, Instagram will display other
photographer accounts.
Step #3: Interact with their account to start building a genuine relationship
with them.
Like their last few posts and leave a genuine, non-generic comment with
questions to strike up a good conversation.
Step # 4: Slide into their DMs by commenting on something relevant about
their story or sharing one of their posts in their DM. Strike a conversation in a
DM by mentioning a commonality you have.

Step # 5: End the first messages with a question to keep the conversation
going. Always validate their answer. Then pivot the conversation to business
and ask them when and why they started their business. Ask curious
questions about their business needs and goals. If you feel like they are a
good fit, move the conversation to a discovery call.
“I’ve built up my Instagram, and now I message brands in my niche directly on there.” Heather C.
 Luca is a 16-year-old copywriter from Italy whose first language is
Italian. I met him in a mentorship program. He also signed his first clients on
Instagram with a small following. He has hit his first six figures with five
clients. According to the conversations we had, having a coach helped him
learn sales, stay accountable, and hit his goal. Here are the things he shared
with me in a YouTube interview:
“I started back in March 2020 [...] I got a lot of objections because I was a 16-years old
college student. [...] I dedicated 6 days per week for 6 hours, then I went to work 19 hours a day, and I
went from $0- $10k in 24 days. [...] I’d sent 50 DMs on Instagram every day, emailed and contacted
people. I was doing everything I could to reach my goal. I was in college, and I learned copywriting
without paying a dime. I practiced my copy skills by writing copy for 2 hours each day. [...] I studied
the bestselling samples from websites like swipo.com and joined Facebook groups where copy mentors
provided free value. I would rewrite emails, sales pages, etc. Later, I invested in courses.”
Luca Meneghetti – 6-figure copywriter from Italy.

Here is one of his Facebook posts I thought was interesting to share

with the coaching FB community:
“When you're sure you haven't enough time to make it in your business, but… you have 168
hours every week. Let’s say you work 8 hours per day, 5 days per week. You still have 128 hours. But
you have to sleep and eat, and that takes you 8 hours per day. (yeah, you sleep 8 hours, and you spend
two hours eating: I personally don’t care, if you want it so bad, then sleep faster. So, you have 72 hours
left every week!

THAT MEANS 3 DAMN DAYS EVERY WEEK TO MAKE IT HAPPEN! Look at me!
I’m f*cking 16 years old, and I’m making more than my mom and dad together! You see, I started with
nothing but a pen and a piece of paper! Nothing but a pen and paper…

And if I made it happen, you can do it too, no matter if you feel: you can't do it; prospects
are going to let you on "seen". You aren't ready to acquire clients. You’re too fragile to start!

IT IS ABOUT THE PROCESS, NOT THE RESULT! Every time you are left "unseen,"
you are one DM closer to your success! The key is to DM 50 people each day, nonstop, and post
valuable content. Once you start, you gain momentum, and you'll be invincible - you'll feel invincible!”

Luca Meneghetti
 FINDING CLIENTS IN FACEBOOK GROUPS

Facebook
On Facebook groups, you’ll find generation X, baby boomers,
millennials, or any business that wants to support their clients through the
community. On Facebook, you’ll type your niche or keywords relevant to
your ideal clients in the search bar. Facebook will display a list of relevant
groups. Join 2-3 max quality groups where members actively participate. Join
two groups where your ideal clients are and one quality group of freelance
writers relevant to your specialty, such as course creators, non-profit
organizations, or anything like community, psychologists, and mental health
support.
"I just wanted to share some things that have been helpful to me for getting clients lately:
Facebook Groups - Find groups where your ideal clients hang out. Add them, strike up a convoy. Don't
pitch them, but rather build a relationship and ask questions."

B.G.B – Facebook group post

"So, I thought I would make a post as several people have been asking me how I have
managed to find clients (I have successfully on-boarded 2 clients, with another 3 potential clients to
come and have only officially been in business for 2 months) and the best ways to find them. For me, I
have found that the way to get clients is by networking. All the time. I am part of loads of Facebook
groups. Where I have introduced myself and my services. I have interacted with general posts or job
opportunity posts, posts where people ask questions, promotional posts."

Justine S. – Facebook group post

Being in groups with other copywriters and content writers is

advantageous because sometimes they post opportunities. To sign clients on
Facebook groups, you need to “show up” in the community where your ideal
clients are. That means participating and providing value. This builds trust
and then you can take the conversation to DMs. You can also take
conversations to the DMs when you see someone with a need you can help.
Facebook was the social media I helped Simmi use to connect with
clients. She worked as an English tutor for a school at the time. One post with
social proof and connecting with people in Facebook groups consistently
helped her get 16 requests for her services in a week. Within six months, she
was working for herself full time. I helped her with ads, but she didn’t run
them. She posted on FB groups and it worked. Today she runs a 5-figure
English tutoring business. A lot of her clients come from Facebook groups
and referrals.
I have also signed most of my clients on Facebook groups with no
special secretive persuasive sales tactics. The strategies I use is relationship-
driven and it doesn’t feel like you are selling a service, but serving people.
Did you notice that I signed clients on Facebook and helped others
sign on other social media as well? That’s because the basic principals of
sales (persuasion) is the same on any social media. With relationship-driven
sales strategies, the method might change, but the principles stay the same.
Stay away from these pitches on social media

Avoid these types of pitches at all costs. There is no value built here
to gain the prospect's trust. Always private message to build a relationship
first.
 Regardless of which social media your ideal client is on, you need to
be organized and add them to your pitch leads list on an Excel doc. Include
every lead you believe to be a fit. As you get to know them (subtly disqualify
the wrong fit), remove the wrong leads from your list, leave the ones who are
a fit, and keep nourishing the relationship through follow ups.
 If you want to increase the number of people replying to your DMs,
start interacting with their posts and leave genuine non-generic comments
upfront.
Make sure to message every single lead that starts following you on
any social media to welcome them. Asking them what type of content they’d
like to see in your feed.

General Rules
Don’t ask for favors or help before building a genuine relationship.
That’s a turn-off unless they’d benefit from it. Approach leads with the
mindset to serve and add value instead of selling. They don’t want to feel it’s
a transactional conversation and would rather be treated like humans.
Here is how you can do that on social media:
Leave a genuine, meaningful comment on their latest post (if
possible) with a question to strike a conversation and build a relationship.
Leave a comment relevant to their post, like the following:
“I totally believe pets can feel when their owners are going through something difficult. My dogs felt it
when I was grieving from a family member.”

Send messages without sounding spammy

Rule # 1 – First message:
Send a genuine relationship-building first message. Don’t be generic or
formal; it feels spammy. If possible, find a commonality you have with them
and mention it. This is a good reason to strike up a good conversation, which
will allow you to feel comfortable asking questions about their business. This
will help to build trust. Additionally, avoid huge blocks of text:
LinkedIn:
"Nice to connect Robert! I'm John. I noticed you also have Jennifer in your network. I
checked your profile and loved your last post about climate change. So, I thought to connect with you.
Where do you know Jennifer from?"

Instagram:
“Patricia, I loved your last photo in Greece. I was there in 2018. Where exactly did you visit?”

Rule # 2 - Add value

Find something on their social media account and give them either
feedback or some education:
 “I am Francielle, a web copywriter for pet brands. I followed Pelf blog and noticed the
company could have used more links to authoritative sources and crafted better headlines with
keywords that would rank you better, but they haven’t. Do you happen to know why?”

Voice notes help you strengthen the trust, but only give them
preference after you strike up a written conversation with whom you are
talking to:
[voice notes] “Hey, I saw your last email. I meant to tell you; you could have _____
(something they should have done) instead of _____ (what they could have done better/ a mistake
they’ve made), you’d get more _____ (a solution).” You can do that by doing X, Z, and Y, but If you
need help, I’m happy to help you out.”

[voice note] “I am on your email list. I love the email you sent about X and Y. I am not sure
if you knew this, but if you segment your email list and do X, Y, and Z, you get better email
deliverability. It’s quite a work to do that. you can do that on your own, but I am happy to give you
some tips and help.”

Offer support when appropriate in the conversation:

“Is there anything or anyone in my network you’d like to be introduced to that will help you with X?
Let me know; I’d be happy to help.”

Rule #3
Depending on how the conversation goes, ask them permission to understand
the business so you can see where you can add value, or just tell them you are
doing market research.
“Photography is a flexible business. Seems like you love what you do. When and why did
you start that?

That’s great, (validate their answer). I am doing market research to make some tweaks to
my business. Do you mind answering two questions to help me out?”

“I write __ (exact writing assignment) for photographers, so they can have ___ (solution
they get). I might be able to add some value to your business in the future. May I ask you two questions
to see if I could help you?”

Rule #4
Find out their challenges as a business owner.
“What has been challenging for you so far as a photographer?”

Rule #5
Find out their business goals.
“When it comes to marketing, what are you planning to achieve this year that you haven’t achieved
yet?”

“What are you planning to achieve in the next 3-6 months as a photographer?”

Rule #6
Figure out if they have the budget for your rates.
“[…] What is your market budget to fix ___(problem) and get ____(solution)?

Let me know, if we are not a fit, I’m happy to refer you to someone that will help you.”

Rule # 7
If you feel they are a fit, offer help and pivot the conversation to get them
into a call.
[...] I’d love to hop on a Zoom with you and see if whether we can work together in the future”

Suggest the day and book the discovery call.

Things to keep in mind:

▶ You’ll get ghosted by some people. Don’t take it personally. Follow up. If
you get ignored more than three times, move one.
▶ You’ll encounter rude people, but the majority will be nice. It has nothing
to do with you; it has to do with them. Rude people are not your ideal clients
anyway. How leads show up in the sales process is how they’ll show up as a
client.
Keep track and find out your conversion number after your first
month of prospecting. If your goal is to have three retainer clients and if you
talk to five people every day, three of those people may agree to get into a
discovery call with you. From those discovery calls, you sign one client. How
many people do you need to be talking to every day to sign three retainer
clients? If you don’t get any, increase your numbers. It’s about the numbers
but also the quality of the relationships you create.
 Another strategy you can use is after you provide value and they
reply, ask permission to ask curious questions about their business and see if
you can help:
“[…] I’d better help you with ___ (problem you mentioned in the feedback) if I had an idea of your
business marketing strategy. Would it be ok if I ask you a few questions?”

[Find out their business goals and needs]

Ways you can invite them on a call to see if you can help:
“Thanks for sharing that with me. I’d like to get on a quick call with you in the morning to see
whether we are a good fit to work together. Would you like to have a coffee on Thursday morning?”

“I’m happy to give you some tips and hacks to improve X (the challenges they’ve mentioned)
that you can implement yourself. I’d love to hop on a call with you to brainstorm some ideas. This way,
we can see if we are a good fit to work together in the future. Are you free on X-day morning?”

Make sure to have a small questionnaire attached to where they will

book the call. The questionnaire should ask about their marketing budget for
x projects.
What if your ideal clients are on two or more social media platforms?
If your ideal clients are on LinkedIn and Instagram, for example, then
choose a single platform you like spend your energy into prospecting. If you
are trying to sign clients on multiple platforms, you will get overwhelmed,
especially if you have a day job. Don’t have time for any of that? Hire a VA
(virtual assistant) that can book your calls.
Even if you choose Instagram, you can still optimize your LinkedIn
profile to get inquiries.You can still tell family, friends, and people from your
network about what you do and ask for referrals. You can still apply on job
boards. You shouldn’t put all your eggs into one basket. You still need to
diversify your forms of client acquisition. If sales are about numbers, the
more people know what you are doing, the better it is. If you have attraction
marketing as a goal, LinkedIn is easier to create long-form content similar to
blogs optimized for SEO and clients can find your article in a Google search.
Keep in mind if you choose to do attraction marketing on Instagram,
you will probably need to invest time in creating visuals (video, reels, photos,
or graphics). If you choose direct marketing where you approach people in
DMs (direct message), you don’t have to post daily. But you need to have a
profile that makes you look like a credible, legit freelance writer and not a
scam.
Where freelancers’ writers find most of their clients
Once I created a poll on a Facebook group with 10k freelance
writers. I asked where they had found their first high-paying clients. 34 of
them answered that they got referrals from acquaintances, 30 found them
through freelancing platforms, 24 applied from a job post they saw, 16 were
through networking, 13 were through cold-pitching, and 7 from social media
groups.
If you are doing everything taught in this book and have no results,
you might want to tweak your offer and/or your sales strategy. Or learn to
communicate your offer to clients in a better way. Being specific with your
offer and mastering sales is the key to signing better-paying clients, even if
you don’t have experience. This applies to any service or product-based
brand.
To illustrate this, I have another example of self-published writing.
According to Dave Chesson, founder of Kindlepreneur, when you publish a
book, being specific with the book title matters.
Emmanuel Haldeman-Julius was a publisher in the early 1900s and
experimented with which book would perform well according to its title. He
changed the book title from broad to less broad and straight to the point.
According to Dave Chesson from product-based, here are the results he got:
LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram BIO

If you have worked with many clients on freelance writing platforms

and are looking to sign better-paying clients, regardless of the social media
you choose to prospect, add any information that will boost your credibility
and authority in your bio. Here are some examples: 10 clients served, Wrote
for Forbes, Worked for X magazine.
 Chapter 25
Cold-Pitching Clients
Cold-pitching is when you pitch your service to someone without
building a relationship with them. This method requires a different sales
technique, so it deserves a different chapter. It has a higher rejection rate
compared to others because awareness is non-existent. It's like you are
proposing marriage to a stranger without ever going on a date. But it's not
impossible to sign clients through this method if you know how to do it.
In my opinion, cold-pitching works best when it’s done through
email. Nobody wants to be going back and forth in an email conversation, so
you have to be straight to the point on what you are looking for and how the
person/brand you are reaching out to can benefit from it. Cold-pitching
doesn’t work as well in social media DMs (direct messaging). I personally
don’t like this method, but I’ve seen other freelance writers have success with
it:
Content writer shares her experience on a Facebook Group post:

“Don't underestimate luck. This is my fourth year working with one of my clients. I sent them a
cold email. They responded within an hour. We hopped on a quick video call. I was hired for a paid
trial. They loved it. I loved them. The rest is history. I've been writing one long-form article for them
per week ever since. I've received many referrals, and many clients came to me after seeing those very
blogs in my portfolio.
How did this happen? My cold email was probably good. I had a great portfolio. I did a
good job. They accepted my pricing. We were a good match. It's easy to give credit only to these things
you can control (good portfolio, good cold email, good work, etc.). But that's not the whole story. You
see, I emailed this very same client about 9 months before. I didn't hear anything back. I am not sure if
they opened my email. That first cold email wasn't worse. It was just not the right time. They didn't
need a writer. The second time I emailed, their writer had just decided to transition into a different
role, and they needed someone ASAP. I emailed at the right time. I had the right portfolio and
experience.
And I also got lucky. Yes, having a high-quality portfolio, expertise in the niche, the right
skills, and sending a non-spammy, enticing cold email is non-negotiable. But don't forget about luck. If
they don't need a writer, none of these will matter. If it's not the right time, this is not the right time. So
how do you improve your chances of good luck? By sending enough cold emails. If you are only
sending out one or two, there is a good chance neither will respond. But if you send out 50 within a few
weeks, there is a good chance that at least one will turn into a client."
 When doing cold outreach, focus on building awareness of who you
are, what you do first, and how you can add value to your client, first and
foremost focus on them. Do your homework on the brands you’re connecting
with to personalize your pitch and offer a solution to a problem they might
have.
“Cold-pitching totally works! It’s how I got my first retainer clients.” – Facebook
group comment

People are on LinkedIn for professional reasons, so they are likely to

expect to get pitched. Regardless of the social media, I always tell my clients
to build a relationship first. It's harder to sign clients cold pitching on social
media, so avoid it at all costs.
People are on social media to be entertained and don't like to feel like
they are being sold to, but sales and marketing happens on social media daily.
You just need to learn how to do it. When you build a relationship upfront, it
won’t feel awkward following up later, even if you get rejected.
Cold-pitching works best when…
YOU PERSONALIZE YOUR PITCH, SHOW COMMONALITY AND A STRONG
REASON WHY YOU ARE A FIT. SHOW YOU HAVE THE SKILLS TO WRITE
WHATEVER YOU ARE PITCHING AND BE A SOLUTION INSTEAD OF PRESENTING
YOURSELF AS A GENERIC WRITER.

YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS ARE CORPORATE OR HIGH-PROFILE BRANDS (BEST TO

REACH THEM THROUGH EMAIL).

WHEN YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS ARE MAGAZINES OR NEWSPAPERS, THEY EXPECT

TO GET PITCHES FROM WRITERS, AND THE MAJORITY OF THEM HAVE
INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW THEY WOULD LIKE YOU TO SEND THEM YOUR PITCH.

YOU HAVE GAINED SOME EXPERIENCE AND HAVE BUILT SOCIAL PROOF.
Based on Robert Cialdini’s principles of persuasion and my
experience with sales and email copywriting, here are some must-have email
cold-pitching checklist:
KEEP IT INFORMAL AND ADDRESS PROSPECTS BY THEIR NAME. NOBODY LIKES TO
READ BORING FORMAL EMAILS. INFORMAL FEELS MORE PERSONAL AND LESS LIKE
A TRANSACTION.

BE CREATIVE: YOUR SUBJECT LINE AND THE FIRST LINE OF THE EMAIL MUST
SPARK CURIOSITY TO GET THEIR ATTENTION, BUT SHOULD NEVER BE A DECEIVING
SUBJECT LINE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT THEY'LL EXPECT. YOU'LL STAND OUT EVEN
IF YOU ARE INEXPERIENCED, ESPECIALLY IF YOU WANT TO BE AN EMAIL
COPYWRITER. ENTICING SUBJECT LINES INCREASE OPEN EMAIL RATES.
INTRODUCE YOURSELF & ESTABLISH CREDIBILITY. BE DIFFERENT WITH AN
UNUSUAL INTRODUCTION. BE AUTHENTIC AND SHOW YOUR PERSONALITY.
PITCH THEM ONE OFFER ONLY. ONE PROBLEM, ONE SOLUTION. (WORK WITH
OTHER TYPES OF WRITINGS PER CLIENT REQUESTS IF YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE
DOING THEM).
MENTION THE SOLUTION FROM YOUR OFFER.
PROVIDE VALUE TO ESTABLISH TRUST. (TRY TO DO THIS WITH EITHER FEEDBACK
OR GIVE SOME EDUCATION WITH THE LOOM VIDEO LINK ATTACHED. LOOK AT THE
PREVIOUS CHAPTER FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO DO IT.) E.G., GIVE THEM A WALK-
THROUGH OF ONE OF THEIR WRITING PROJECTS AND TELL THEM WHERE THEY ARE
LEAVING MONEY ON THE TABLE.
FOCUS ON THEM: DO YOUR RESEARCH AND MENTION IN THREE LINES A
COMMONALITY YOU HAVE WITH THEM. IT CAN BE COMMON VALUES (EITHER WITH
THE COMPANY AND OR WITH THE PERSON YOU ARE WRITING TO). NAME DROP
SOMEONE YOU KNOW IN COMMON IF YOU HAVE IT.
MAKE IT ABOUT THEM: MENTION WHY YOU ARE REACHING OUT, WHAT YOU LOVE
ABOUT THEIR COMPANY, AND HOW YOU FOUND THEM.
SHARE WHAT THEY EXPECT FROM WORKING WITH YOU (PROCESS AND
RESULTS/OUTCOME/ TRANSFORMATION).
ALWAYS HAVE A CTA (CALL-TO-ACTION) FOR THE NEXT STEP YOU’D LIKE THEM
TO TAKE: GET ON A VIDEO CALL. THAT WILL ESTABLISH A MORE SOLID
RELATIONSHIP AND BUILD TRUST.
ATTACH YOUR WRITING SAMPLE, CASE STUDY, WEBSITE, PORTFOLIO, OR
ANYTHING YOU HAVE, AT THE END OF THE EMAIL UNDER YOUR NAME.
TRY TO CREATE SHORT PARAGRAPHS, THREE LINES EACH FOR EACH MENTIONED
 ABOVE, AND GIVE SPACE BETWEEN THE LINES FOR BETTER READABILITY INSTEAD
OF WRITING A BIG CHUNK OF PARAGRAPHS. (USE HEMIGWAY EDITOR).
Another freelance writer shares her success with this method:
"Oh. My. GOD!! Cold pitching works, you guys. I just sent out one single highly personalized
cold pitch at a timely moment (I did my research!). I got a reply within an hour. I was put in touch with
the freelance coordinator, and we scheduled a call for next week. All from one well-crafted cold pitch
that took me a little over an hour to research, plan, and writes. If you’re looking for the confidence to
start cold pitching, this is your sign. You’ve got this!
I signed up for their email newsletter a while ago. I stay up to date on what they’re up to. They
just sent out a survey, and when I filled it out, I noticed that they are planning to ramp up content
creation in the coming months. Then, I did research to find the right people to contact, and I wrote a
killer pitch!"

M. C. – Facebook group post

Keep in mind that you can have the best cold pitch in the world, but
if you are targeting the wrong clients, it won't work. And if you are targeting
the right clients, but they are not in the “hiring mode,” you’ll lose a potential
client if you don’t keep nourishing that relationship through follow-ups, even
if they haven’t replied to your first email. Find ways to nourish the
relationships with your leads through follow-ups so they keep you on their
radar when they are ready.
 Chapter 26
Get Steady Freelance Writing Clients
Have you not had any luck in finding brands that gives you steady
work? Or have you never had any ongoing retainer clients? And is your
priority to have a steady income like your day job? Then I have some
excellent news for you.
Business owners need projects such as ads written and tested, a
website that converts visitors into customers, a sales page to sell their
products, a case study to show credibility, a product description to be written,
or blogs and email done weekly. The list goes on.
While living in a digital era, most of them need some of it or all of it.
They need consistency with projects like blogs, ads, social media captions,
YouTube video descriptions, and email marketing to see results and keep
their business afloat. They need you. And of course, they don’t want to hire a
different person every week to do those projects because they want writers
who align with their values and understand what they are about. They need
reliability and loyalty from contractors. They also want a long-term
relationship with freelance writers.
You need about 2-5 retainer clients max to work at a time. These
brands need to be well-established businesses that need ongoing projects such
as blogs, emails, ads, and social media captions. More than five retainer
clients (ongoing projects) will overwhelm you. Then you can get one-off
contract projects on the side or as clients need them.
Many freelance writers don’t do their homework. They pitch brands
for a project that they aren’t even sure the brands needs. Avoid being one of
them by doing your homework and checking out the brand to see if they have
a need for your offer.. If you want to write blogs, check if they have a blog. If
you want to be their email copywriter, check if they have an email list. If you
want to write their ads, find out if they are running ads. You can go to
Facebook ads manager and look.
Client loyalty is the outcome of their positive experience with you
and the results you give them.
Jessica Walkack suggests on her blog post some (All things freelance
writing) clients where you’ll find steady work.
Profitable small business owners: With the pandemic, businesses
sped up and went digital. All business owners need online content to build
awareness and trust if they want to sell more. However, many small owners
can’t afford professional agencies as their fees can be high. So, they prefer to
hire one freelancer in order to cut costs. It also benefits them having someone
they can communicate with directly.
Your chances of getting steady work and consistent content for them
will be higher if you build and nourish relationships with them. Also, it’s
proven to be easier to sign clients who have used your services before. So,
upsell current clients whenever you see a need or an opportunity that might
help them. Reach out to clients you’ve worked with previously on a one-off
project and understand their current needs. If it’s a fit, offer help on a
retainer. It’s a win-win situation for both.
Established writers/authors: Busy full-time authors not only need
ghost writers to write their next books, but they also need promotional
material to promote them. You can charge about $10k or more just to write a
book for an author.
They often have more work than they can handle, and it’s a natural
progression of scaling to delegate some work to other freelance writers into
editing, writing ads to sell their books, email marketing, or different roles.
Working with them is a mutually beneficial long-term working relationship
when you are professional, reliable, and produce quality work.
Digital marketing agencies: They write, promote, and help their
clients sell through different content formats. Writing is one of them, so they
need freelance writers. They are perfect to work with if you are starting and
are not sure what niche is best for you. You’ll work on different writing
assignments across various industries so you’ll get an idea of which one you
want to specialize in.
Content-based businesses with large blogs: These website types
are almost every single niche. Businesses like Hubspot, NerdWallet,
Nomadic Matt, Wellness Mama, and CSS Tricks delegate all their content
writing. They publish several types and forms of content in a high amount
regularly, especially written content, and make money through traffic.
Start with smaller ones as it might be hard to get on with the
industry-leading ones and move your way up as you grow with them or
through referrals. You can use www.alexa.com to analyze site stack-ups. This
website will show you a site’s stats and rank its competition.
Serial entrepreneurs: These serial entrepreneurs need content for
several projects because they have built several businesses. An example of
this are coaches that sell books (authors) that have different types of products
like courses, mentorship programs etc. Becoming the go-to person for content
can create an ongoing income stream.
Elements that will help you to have steady work
Results: When you give your clients an ROI (Return On
investment), they will want to keep you. Having a vision and predictability
when you pre-qualify leads about having potential work opportunities will
increase the probability of working together in the future. Be proactive, eager
to learn, curious, reliable, and a good communicator. Put effort into giving
them results to get long-term work. Prioritization for landing clients who
need ongoing projects when you are starting.
Here are some examples:
Some ongoing content projects: email copywriting, blogs,
newsletters, newspaper articles, and podcast transcripts, social media captions
such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok post descriptions, LinkedIn posts, etc.
Some one-off content writing: E-books, how-to guides, product
descriptions (sometimes can be ongoing), etc.
Some ongoing copywriting projects: Email copywriting, social
media captions, ads, or a video sales letter.
Some one-off copywriting projects: Web copy (website), sales
page, landing pages, opt-in pages, and/or case studies.
Sometimes copywriting and content writing overlap. For example,
you can write an informative social media caption, but you can also write
using persuasive storytelling with a call to action.
Just like in a romantic relationship, you should tell the dates you are
looking for commitment, so you can attract those with similar wants. It’s the
same when signing clients. When you are dating, if you tell your date that
you want a relationship and they are not ready, you’ll feel it, or they will tell
you. Same with clients.
On discovery calls, communicate what you are looking for and set
the intention. The client might not be able to commit to a retainer right away,
as they may already have a copywriter doing the exact project you want to
work on. But maybe with certain clients, starting with one-off projects are a
foot in the door to future opportunities.
This is not rocket science. One example of that is when I used to
work part-time as a caregiver in my first years in Canada. I didn’t want to be
full-time, but I also needed a consistent X amount of income coming in. So,
when I was interviewed by families, I’d tell them my needs and expectations.
This way, I would find the best fit for my situation. You can’t expect
something you haven’t discussed beforehand. Resentment and
disappointments in life come from not setting the right expectations. It’s as
simple as that.
 Chapter 27
What You Should Include in Your
Contract
Why is it important to have a contract or a retainer in the first place?
Just like a day job, if your employer asks you to do more work than it states
in the contract, or they don’t pay you, and/or ask for more work than
discussed, you can take them to a small claims court. And so can the client
you are working with.
A contract is a legal document that protects both you and the client.
You can write it on your own or hire an attorney to write it. A contract will
benefit you in many ways and protect your business. It outlines the services
you will perform for the client, the compensation you will receive, and
important info like who owns the rights to the work.
A contract helps you look professional and protects you from a lack
of payment. Although an agreement won’t force the client to pay you, they
are less likely to skip a payment if they sign one. It sets boundaries on what
you want and don’t want to do in your scope of work. Also, when clients ask
you to review the work too many times, you can go back to the contract and
say you offered a limited amount of revision.
Clients who are trustworthy and serious about their business want a
contract because it protects them from not having work done in return for
their money. It sets expectations on what you both want in a working
relationship. It weeds out all the shady clients. If a client is not trustworthy,
he will balk and try to talk you out of a contract. In the end, it’s up to you to
decide to work with a client without a contract. But remember that anyone
who refuses to sign a freelance writing contract is usually giving a red flag.
Imagine getting married without a prenup agreement. Years later,
you get divorced and find out you have no rights to any material things you
worked so hard to build while married. I see that all the time, new freelancers
agree to do some work without signing a retainer, and the client doesn’t pay
them.
What should a contract include?
It’s your business; so you might outline whatever you want if both
parties agree.
 If this book was helpful, would you consider taking 2 minutes of
your time to leave a genuine review to support my business? (Amazon or
Barnes and Noble).

Sources
1. Statistics about brands:
https://stickybranding.com/3-rule-engage-customers-before-they-need-
your-
services/#:~:text=The%20challenge%20is%20the%20percentage,in%20my%20book

2. skillscounter.com

3. https://www.instagram.com/p/CcDd_6Nv3ag/https://thewritelife.com/freelance-
writing-contracts/

4. https://www.instagram.com/cynthiadiwar/

5. https://www.instagram.com/susikaeufer/

6. https://www.nickkolenda.com/psychological-pricing-strategies/

7. https://kindlepreneur.com/how-to-title-a-book-with-good-book-titles/

8. https://www.statista.com/statistics/921593/gig-economy-number-of-
freelancers-us/skillscounter.com
9. https://allthingsfreelancewriting.com/2022/02/26/5-types-of-clients-
providing-steady-freelance-
writingwork/fbclid=IwAR0gwVBLQ0mW4JsBxiXd5TBkPBSNjjEeKUTr4KNFOHs

10. Find resources about this email segmentation

at:https://neilpatel.com/blog/how-to-use-email-segmentation-to-
increase-your-conversion-rate/

11. https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/guide-to-
segmentation-for-the-evolving-
marketer/#:~:text=Savvy%20marketers%20know%20the%20importance,increased%

12. Resources: https://investinganswers.com/dictionary/a/asset

(https://blog.shift4shop.com/)

13. Statistics by https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-stats

14. https://jesswalrack.medium.com/