The Battle Against Myself

Zero to One.

It’s a lot harder than going from 1 to 10, and I’ll tell you why.

The difference is:

When you are at 1, you have 1 experience/client/project under your belt.

Starting at 0, you are playing a harder game. No one trusts you, your work sucks because you have no experience, and you have to convince somebody to let you work with them.

See the struggle?

I’m highlighting this as an example of what it can feel like before you land your first gig as a copywriter, a feeling I am currently in and one that you may be in if you're starting out too.

How do we solve this problem?

My first thought was to research from the best, which is the first thing I did:

I’ve been studying Chris Orzechowski for some time and just purchased his $20 E-book on Client Acquisition.

The book and my research have led me to these conclusions:

• Cold Outreach

• Warm Outreach

• Networking

• Job Boards

These may appear as common sense, but if you are anything like me we need to go in-depth to learn each.

Let’s Start with Cold Outreach:

Chris in his book highlights this as the worst client acquisition method if you are just starting out for a couple of reasons…

1. You have no project work to show/results ( portfolio )

2. There is no reason to trust you, no matter how promising you sound

3. Cold outreach becomes more powerful when you are a known/experienced copywriter

So yes, cold outreach on email or even social media can work but it’s not the best method when starting out.

You see, cold outreach on social media would be the better option in this case because you can build your own “digital portfolio” on your profile and it gives a more personal approach.

Instead of an email bouncing, or being read and then discarded….

On social media, the prospect can review your profile, and if set up right can be the reason that you may land a sales call.

Next Warm Outreach:

This is probably the most powerful approach you can take.

Warm Outreach is a method I am working on because it will have the highest return.

Imagine 2 scenarios:

Scenario 1.

I walk up to you on the street, tell you I can help you make money, and then ask if you would come talk to me in a private room.

I don’t know one person that would take that offer.

Scenario 2.

I bump into you on the street, we both say sorry and move about to our jobs.

The next day I see you on the way to work again and I nod at you, and you nod back.

Then later when you get off of work, you walk past me again, and this time you nod at me.

The next morning I see you again, and we’re waiting at the bus stop together….

“ Where do you go to work man? I’ve seen you like 3 times in the last 2 days haha “

“ I go to work in the same building man! Saw you just as you left last night and was gonna say something but didn’t want to weird you out “

Now a conversation is born, and building this relationship can mean access to a whole network of potential prospects.

Imagine you start walking to work together and talk about what you do in your spare time.

And when you mention you write copy, maybe he knows someone with a business or maybe he just knows another copywriter and introduces you.

Which then connects you with someone who’s already earned their first client, and recommends you to take these steps, or offers you a prospect they don’t need the work for but you might!

I think you get the point, but what matters here is that we are human and don’t beg for work.

Tomorrow we will finish the last 2 methods, and in the future we’ll have an email titled “We Did It, Onboarding My First Client”.

For now, I want you to watch this video on client acquisition.