This Is Why Copywriters Can't Sign High-Paying Clients

This wind is horrendous at the moment.

It's 4:57 am. I'm thoroughly enjoying these early morning writing sessions.

Yesterday I had a moment of insight.

I was on my daily walk.

Sometimes I walk around the lake. Sometimes I walk to the local cafes. Sometimes I walk around the block.

The constant is I walk.

It's been an impactful activity for my creativity, problem solving and copywriting.

As I was walking up the second last hill on my way home - one of the final pieces of the puzzle I’m currently solving fell into place.

I left my role as Copy Chief and Marketing Executive at one of the world's leading ad agencies a few months ago.

The first month was a sabbatical from everything except for life.

I needed to create space to process, plan, and think.

I walked away from $160k/yr because I was sacrificing my highest value in life - freedom.

I was the unhappiest I'd been since my teens.

The demands. The clients. The hours.

I was working when other people said I had to, on what they said I had to work on, and had to be on calls and in meetings on other people's times.

In hindsight I should have seen this before accepting the position.

But the bright lights (and my ego) blinded me.

So, I ended the relationship.

I decided the pain of a clean slate far outweighed the pain of things staying the same.

Ripping the Band-Aid off was my sole option.

What I was feeling inside meant a slow transition wasn’t on the cards.

Of course, I felt fear.

But reality grounded me.

I'd built businesses before.

I built a 6-figure business within 6 months thanks to the skill of writing great copy.

I grew it to mid 6-figures in a few years and was in the process of expanding nationally when COVID hit.

Revenue dropped 85% overnight due to the loss of schooling & sport contracts.

It couldn't be recovered due to aspects outside of my control.

I closed the doors on New Years Eve and went $150k in debt.

In the days that followed I made a mistake.

I acted out of fear and scarcity.

Instead of building again I took the option that had the biggest safety net.

I took roles working for a handful of companies solely so I could make money.

I wanted to build something again.

But I'd allowed the recent business experience to affect me too much. My confidence and belief were nearly destroyed.

The story I'd created about the situation was disempowering.

The debt I was in and zero revenue I had were too strong of a force.

So, I gave away my leverage and took monthly retainers with two companies.

I quickly saw the limitation with taking this approach.

The companies had a budget for what they could pay.

I had set deliverables for each week and month.

This limited my ability to generate additional revenue on the side.

I wanted a solution.

So, I created this weird offer one afternoon and began sharing it.

It worked.

I was able to find an additional one-off client every two months for a single $4k to $8k project a month.

I set it up so I could knock it over within 10 hours.

This kept me sane while I committed 40 hours a week to the retainer clients.

I was able to build within 12 months to 6-figures.

I paid off the debt.

Another clean slate.

Only this one felt better.

I maintained what I was doing for a few months until I was offered the recent position I held at the agency.

I saw it as my next challenge.

It was.

But it was more of a large series of painful lessons that needed to be learned.

We managed multi-million-dollar ad spends each month.

We'd take clients from $50k/mo to $100k/week and turn 6-figure ad spends into multiple 7-figures of revenue.

And it near killed me.

So, here we are.

Present day. July 31st, 2024. Only it's now 5:18 am.

During my month-long sabbatical I had an idea.

I began building again.

I call it CopyLaunch.

An all-in-one membership for copywriters to help them make $120,000+ a year - every year.

It's more marketing, sales, positioning, growth, delivery, systems, processes, playbooks, and templates than copywriting.

But of course, there are expert copywriting components to it.

The copywriters I've been speaking with love it.

"This has everything I've been looking for but haven't been able to find, as everything else is about writing copy - not building a copywriting business".

That's been the consistent feedback.

The biggest obstacle has been helping copywriters "see" it without needing to experience it.

Going in I knew this was a key point of leverage.

I haven’t yet been able to find the answer.

CopyLaunch logically makes sense.

But we both know logic alone doesn't get people to buy.

I'll be the first to admit there are a lot of moving parts to CopyLaunch.

There needs to - as building a business has A LOT of different variables.

... on top, it is designed to be the greatest copywriting membership and experience of the 21st Century.

This “how can I help copywriters see it” is the problem I was focusing on during my walk yesterday.

The answer that came in a moment of insight?

I'm going to build a $120,000+ copywriting business (again) and document the entire process so copywriters can see what they are accessing inside of CopyLaunch.

I started yesterday.

This morning I'm sending a proposal for $4k + 5% sales commission for 6 months to a SaaS Startup.

I found them on a Reddit Thread.

They couldn't crack the $20k MRR barrier and didn't know why.

I shot a quick loom video. I DM'd the contact. We scheduled a call.

The key to the video was using it as an opportunity to strengthen my position as the expert.

I pointed out what's likely killing conversions (and why), and then teased ideas on how it could be optimised.

I said the next best step would be a call, as there's a lot more information needed in order to be certain about what's not working.

On that call I asked about:

• current target market
• current top of funnel sources and marketing to drive traffic
• current conversion rate
• anything SEO or advertising, strategy, and spend
• email rates for nurturing and sales
• current offer
• ... and I wanted all the data to be from Day 1.

I quickly saw the constraint and helped the client see it for themselves.

• We discussed how to remove the constraint.
• I showed them exactly how I would do it.
• I asked if they had a budget in mind.
• I strategically quoted my proposal so that it heavily incentivised them.

The contact needed their cofounder to sign-off before committing to anything.

That’s a common occurrence and one I am completely fine with.

And this is where we find ourselves right now.

No website. No social content. No content created. No marketing. No logo. No core offer.

And potentially a better contract than 90% of copywriters have signed this year.

In all, the work will take me about 10 hours. The $4k up-front is covering this.

Then there will be optimising, analysing, and tweaking things as we go. The 5% sales commission over 6 months covers this.

With them currently at $20k MRR, if nothing changes, I receive an extra $6,000 over 6 months.

Their MRR will increase in that time if we work together.

And I've set it up so that the incentive is mine to make sure that happens.

How did I land on $4k + 5% commission?

I'd be happy to take $3k upfront - so the $4k gives wiggle room and wasn't too much of their total MRR.

I'd be happy with 3% commission knowing the MRR is going to increase.

So again, the 5% gives wiggle room for negotiations.

I also made sure the client saw how some very minor improvements to their data would double conversions and double MRR.

Making sure they see the value you're creating is the KEY as a copywriter.

This is an insight in a very simple approach to finding clients and a repeatable sales + pricing process as a copywriter.

I’ll keep you updated on how it goes with this client.

TL;DR: I'm building a $120,000/yr copywriting business within the next 12 months and documenting the entire process here to help copywriters see, firsthand, the power of what's inside CopyLaunch for themselves.