The Ups & Downs of My First 6 Months Copywriting

In August of 2022, I was introduced to copywriting by my college teacher who at the time had been running his own ghostwriting agency for roughly 6 months.?

I had no idea what it was, but I saw he was being successful outside of school and he talked about it in reference to some lectures.

So one day after class I stayed behind and asked him about it.

He told me a little bit about what it was then recommended looking it up on YouTube to get a better understanding of it, so I did.

I’ve always had a huge passion for writing and as a musician, it's the foundation of what I do in every song.?

This though, was different.?

It was all about psychology and persuasion and keeping the reader engaged until eventually getting them to take an action that you want them to. (Either buy something, or sign up for something, etc.)

Now when I tell you I dove in headfirst, I truly dove in.?

I started watching videos on end about it.

Then I found the PDF Ca$hvertising, and then the Boron Letters.

I kept on reading.

I then heard about Udemy and bought a couple courses there as well.

I kept reading, researching, and studying but there was one issue.

I wasn’t applying all the information into actually writing copy.

Realizing this I said to myself “Ok, you need to get experience and start doing this for real clients and real people.” so I decided to make an account on Upwork.

It was tough for me at first because my profile was empty with my lack of experience and no portfolio pieces.?

I asked my teacher if I could write a spec piece for him and use it in my portfolio and he agreed, he even helped me make it better with feedback.

As I started sending out proposals to jobs on Upwork, I felt a little defeated because I wasn’t hearing back from any jobs I applied for.?

It shows you how many people applied for the same posting and sometimes it was 50+ writers.

Then I finally heard back from Katie’s Beef Jerky.

She needed a video script written for her website as she wanted to do a welcome video and also post it on her socials for more brand awareness.

I sent her some of my ideas and she liked them and asked if I could get on a call.

I was nervous yet excited so naturally I said yes.

This is where I learned my first biggest lesson:

These people are seeking help because they don’t write or know much about copy.

I was only 2 months into learning about copywriting and marketing and within the first minute she said

“You’re the expert, you just let me know what to say and I’ll do it.”

In hindsight, the lesson I learned is common sense.

Even those 2 months (which didn't feel like much) was 2 months more than she knew, and that's why she needed me.

Once this clicked it was a mindset shift for me.

From there on I started writing my proposals and speaking to clients with more confidence and authority.

I understood my role better and found comfort in it.

I then reached out to a woman in student success at my school who has her own coaching program for speakers and is an entrepreneur.?

We had a meeting and I told her what I was up to.?

It went smoothly and I told her I needed more practice, so we agreed on me helping with her website and a sales page in exchange for a testimonial.

Over the next few weeks she gave me great advice on how to grow as an entrepreneur and I helped edit some videos for her YouTube channel as well.

She then told me about another woman in her circle who needed someone to help her with her videos and she recommended me.

So now I had a client strictly from word of mouth which felt amazing, and I felt like I was on the right path.

If you're enjoying reading this, you can read the full article here:

The Ups & Downs of My First 6 Months Copywriting (darionraecopy.com)