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Email 1
Subject: (name), Let's talk Nigerian to Nigerian.
(name), I get it, totally.
The system is failing us badly, and all we can do is find a way to stay afloat, but then what do you want your fate to be?
Over the next few days, I will teach you how to succeed as a freelancer in whatever niche you pick. Don't worry, being a Nigerian will not hinder your success! If I can, you can too.
You already know how I got here; from lost, shy and broke to being comfortable now (I would say rich but then rich is relative, I feel super rich though, lol)
So here's your task for today:
To your success, (Name).
'Oore.
EMAIL 2
Subject: Skills you need to succeed as a freelancer 1
(Name), When I got an email from a client telling me they would love me to handle their blog posts, I was elated, and of course, I was already making a list of topics within their niche to send to them for approval. There was a little problem, though. They wanted me to write at least 600-1000 words per blog post, and I had to do five weekly. The pay was very good, but I was used to writing short poems and stories of about 250 words max (super short, I know, lol).
As I was making the list of these topics, I attempted to write a blog post on one of those topics. I wrote about 200 words and got stuck. So you could imagine the panic going through me as I sent those topics for approval. When it was time to start writing, I kept getting stuck within the 200-250 words range. Long story short, I eventually lost the client.
And this leads us to the first skill you need to succeed ----- self-assurance.
You see, if you don't believe in yourself, nobody will! In Adekunle Gold's words, "my life got better the moment I stopped doubting myself".
One of the major challenges you would face as a freelancer is a lack of confidence. When you get some gigs, you would ask if you are "good" enough, especially those that would pay you good money (I have seen this happen a lot).
Now, it doesn't matter if you do everything yourself or oversee a team; Confidence will drive you far in making a great impression on the client you are going to work for (amazingly, your confidence can go a long way in boosting your morale for the job.)
Remember the blog post job I was talking about at the beginning of this email? The client felt my uncertainty from my words, from the email I sent, they could sense it, and they went from needing me to doubting if I was good enough for the job. Whose fault? MINE!
So back to you now (name),
Whatever it is you can do, you need the backing of confidence. It took me reading many books, affirming that I was enough and could do jobs that pay $500 and above at once rather than doing $20 jobs a lot of times. My mindset had to shift.
The idea is that you need to feel and see yourself deserving high-paying jobs and doing things outside your comfort zone.
A quote in Bena's newsletters that has stuck with me to date says "if you want it enough, your brain will give it to you."
Napoleon Hill, the author of Think and Grow Rich, understood this when he said, "whatever the mind can conceive, the mind can achieve."
Even the bible understands this power because it clearly says in proverbs that Whatsoever a man thinketh in his heart, he is!
As a Nigerian, it is very easy to fall into the trap of poverty through your thoughts. One of the books that helped me out of that mindset hole is "How to turn yourself into a Live Breathing Cash Machine" by Toyin Omotosho (You should google this name if you do not know him).
In layman's terms, this book reprograms your mind to get ready to attract what you want. I have read that book over four times since I got it in February, and I discover something new every time I read it. Something I must have missed the last time.
Without any doubt, you would come back to thank me for #5000 well spent!
So what if you cannot afford this book?
The focus here is to shift your mindset, to prepare you for greatness in freelancing, and no matter how good you are at what you do, if you feel like you don't deserve $500 for a job, you would mess up the chance to make it.
There are tons of other books you can easily find online. I was only specific with that book because Toyin is Nigerian. He tackles this mindset shift from a perspective we are familiar with as Nigerians.
Other than this, I recommend Think and Grow Rich, The Willpower Instincts and the greatest salesman in the world.
YOUR TASK TODAY:
Expect my mail again tomorrow (name), and feel free to share this email with your friends. They should be in this league too, yunno. They can SIGN UP HERE.
To your Success (name)
Oore.
P.S: Did you get the chance to read about the No BS guide I promised to introduce to you?
It would help if you didn't miss it. Head over here to read it, don't hesitate to reply to this email if you have questions.
P.S.S: Don't forget to send me a box of cupcakes when you finally see the light. Xoxo.
P.S.S.S: This mail is super long. I am so sorry. I will try as much as possible to shorten other ones.
EMAIL 3
Subject: Skills you need to succeed as a freelancer 1
(Name), it's me again. I hope you completed yesterday's task. If not, you might want to go and check out those tasks again.
Let me ask you two questions (name)
What kind of clients do you want to attract, and how do you convince them that you are the one for the job?
Those questions I asked above would be super simple to answer when you know your worth! As a freelancer, you should first understand what your client stands to gain from working with you. Identify this, so you can easily position your services as a need to your clients rather than a fancy want.
One of Nigeria's highest-paid Copywriters, Andy Mukolo, understands what he would do for your business once he steps in and guess what? He charges his worth without batting an eyelid.
Someone who is a freelance Facebook expert knows what they are bringing to the table for your business, and as such, they charge their worth!
So why not you?
This leads us to Today's skill...SALES AND NEGOTIATIONS!
Day in and day out, we are constantly being sold to. We are continually bargaining. As a freelancer, your whole career and success do not just depend on how many jobs you get or how good you are. The major determinant is How well you can negotiate to earn good money for your jobs.
I remember when my friend went to a make-up store and kept picking items and 'pricing them'. The sales rep kept responding, "the prices are fixed, ma", but she didn't stop. When she was done shopping and the cashier handed her the bill, she said, "so with everything I have bought, you will not remove anything for me, even this #500 on top". The cashier laughed and said, " Okay, I will remove the #500 because it's you".....NEGOTIATION.
As a freelancer, you need to be able to close clients and close them fast! I know you are wondering how to go about this. It's straightforward:
I can go on and on about sales and negotiation, but I would leave you with this for now "To win a negotiation, you have to show you're willing to walk away. And the best way to show you're willing to walk away is to walk away"- Micheal Westen.
Now you know why our mothers used this in the market and why it always worked. Expect my mail again tomorrow (name).
To your success (name)
'Oore.
P.S: You don't need rocket science to tell you why I am not worried about introducing the foreign copywriting initiative, which I like to call the no-BS guide as a freelancer, even though I did not create the course. Andy Mukolo created it! Did you read in the email that he is one of the highest-paid copywriters in Nigeria? If you still doubt how good he is, See this!
The fun part is you get to take part in a challenge that could potentially return the money you are paying for the guide (not just return, it would double it and add Jara lol). Check it out.
Email 4
Subject: Skills you need to succeed as a freelancer 3
Let me gist you, (name).
But you have to promise not to laugh at me. Rewind to when I learned how to negotiate and close clients quickly. Bruvhhhhhh, I was on a spreeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
I would wake up in the morning and dedicate almost three hours to closing clients for a fair amount (at this point, I did not understand quality over quantity), I just wanted a lot of jobs, and of course, I got a lottttt.
I got the jobs, but I couldn’t deliver the quality the clients wanted, and worse is, I wasn’t delivering on time.
Do you know what that means?
I was using my hand to chase my clients away! I was overworked from working so many jobs. I would hit writer’s block many times because I was working so hard, yet I wasn’t meeting my deadlines, and the clients did not care!
It took me falling sick from exhaustion to realize that this model wouldn’t work. I wanted to be a baby girl, that was why I started freelancing in the first place. I was losing on all ends.
Baby girl, I could not do
Clients, I could not satisfy
I was losing money because no client would pay your balance when they were not satisfied, especially when you didn’t meet the deadline.
This leads us to skill number Three...TIME MANAGEMENT.
If you are a disorganized freelancer, it will take the special grace of God to help you succeed. The difference between the freelancer that is overwhelmed and the one who has enough time to complete jobs and still has enough time to do what normal humans do, like eat, take a bath, and hang out with family and friends, is time management.
As a freelancer, you trade time for money, and as such, you cannot afford to waste time. An amazing hack I found helpful is creating schedules with deadlines 2 or 3 days before the deadline I gave my client. So two days before my client’s deadline, I should already have the job done.
I follow my schedule strictly. If I am working 9 am - 2 pm, I am WORKING! When you start, it would not be exactly easy because the temptation to watch Netflix while you write a copy could be strong, lol.
One time I found myself writing the words from a movie in the blog post I was writing, I was writing about health, but somehow I typed the words from “HBO’s insecure”. This is what distraction can do to you.
You have done a great job convincing them to pick you for the job, don’t just lose it for a reason as flimsy as not meeting deadlines. And at the same time, you as a person should not suffer.
Unfortunately, there are a whole lot of things I want to tell you about things I wish I knew before I started freelancing. I would not be able to because this mail is already long, but the Foreign Copywriting Guide by Andy Mukolo that I have been talking about has this as a bonus alongside other bonuses worth #175,000 (no (name), you won’t be paying #175,000 for this course).
As a student of the course myself, I have discovered so many new things, and to everyone that would say, “Show me the way”, I am putting you on the way with this course. Go check it out (name).
And hey, the support you get after getting this course is a huge plus. If within 30 days, you decide that you don’t want to do it anymore, you will get a full refund of your money. I kid you not!
As usual, I would leave you with something before I leave, this time a song by Mike Okri, time na money; check it out here if you haven’t already heard it. I am currently jamming this song as I am writing this to you. Expect my mail again same time tomorrow (name)
To your success (name)
‘Oore.
P.S: (name), don’t be selfish with these emails. Please share them with someone, so they can also sign up here.
Email 5
Subject: Skills needed to succeed.
(Name), I will go right into this because this topic is dear to me. I have made mistakes with treating freelancing as a business I do not want anyone to go through.
There was a month that I considered terrific for me. I made about $3000+ that month, and by the end of the month, when I wanted to pay my tithe (yes (name), I am a Christian who pays tithe, it’s a personal conviction for me), I realized I was broke!
I was confused because I knew I had made money. I took a look at my bank account statement and the only reason I did not cry that day was that I am a big girl, and big girls don’t cry, even if Sia would disagree.
(Crying gif)
You need to understand the BUSINESS part of freelancing.
Look, you have overhead costs in case you don’t know or in case you think it’s insignificant.
Your laptop or phone is your shop! That you need to upgrade or refurbish.
Your data is an overhead cost.
The co-creation space you use is not exempted.
The fuel you switch on frequently to get your job done was not bought with paper.
The important software you need to work with is an overhead cost.
You should know all these things else, you will just be playing yourself, and you’d be scoring own goals.
Know your numbers well, know how much revenue you are making, know how much operating cost you are incurring, and factor in costs that you would need in future, e.g. the cost of an assistant. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have one yet. Know your profit, and don’t eat it (catch your sub, please)
I strongly recommend that you pay yourself a salary, maybe 60% of your profit, while the rest of the profit goes right back into making your business bigger.
The earlier you understand that freelancing is your business and treat it as such, the better for you because some of us learned the hard way!
You already know that I will be leaving you with a word of wisdom (that’s how Stars do), so here it is: “It is not how much money you make. It is how much money you keep. How hard it is working for you and how many generations you keep it for”- Robert Kiyosaki.
We’d talk soon (name), expect my mail.
To your Success (name)
‘Oore
P.S: (name), If you are still contemplating getting the Foreign Copywriting Course by Andy Mukolo, I am just going to leave a list of what the course would teach you and then let you decide again.
Are you still contemplating (name)? Read more here, including testimonials of people who have gone through the course.
Email Six
Subject: (name), Money is usually attracted not pursued.
Let’s take a break today to discuss something.
I have noticed over time that people wait for someone to bring them out of where they are. They are waiting for a government job, A link-up from a friend and when things don’t go as planned, they lose hope and start the blame game.
They blame the government.
Blame their parent.
Blame society.
Blame school.
Blame their friends.
But think again, critically, is it really all these things or you (name)?
When people ask me questions like, Are you sure I would make a good copywriter, or are you sure my clients would pay me well?
I get confused as to why you are still entertaining doubts. Why?
Do I need to review the lecture on “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”?
Running a business is scary. I get it!
In fact, what is even scarier is the business failing after you have invested a lot in it.
(name), you need a mindset cleansing. I need you to be okay with failing a few times but not giving up, and I need you to be okay with dealing with difficult clients without feeling like you are the problem. I need you to be able to make thousands of dollars without squandering it. This is why I am advocating this mindset cleanse. Consider me your mindset therapist today, lol.
Running a business, freelance, especially with the same mindset you have been carrying all this while, is like trying to cut down a tree with a weak axe, it’s time to sharpen your axe (name)
This might sound super funny, but I repeat it: YOU NEED A MINDSET RESET. And the books that I trust to help you do this are the ones I recommended in the first email. I’d remind you:
Also, if you don’t think there’s a problem, but it’s not your mindset, shoot me a reply about the problem (name). Let’s tackle it together.
Don’t forget, Money is to be attracted, not pursued. Expect my mail again in the nearest future (just kidding, it’s a date tomorrow, same time)
To your success (name)
‘Oore.
P.S: Actually, I really do not have anything to say; goodbyes are just hard *tears*. Oh wait, I almost forgot. Share this mail with someone today, buddy.
Email 7
Subject: Marketing for Freelancers
So you are good at closing clients, in fact, very fast too, but the big question remains, “Where will you find the clients to pitch?”..ghenghen
Does the word Advert sound familiar?
Oh, you didn’t think you would need it, lol.
Don’t even let me hear that you want to be dragging a $25 client with them on Fiverr and Upwork (Although there are people who make great money from these platforms, they must have established authority first before making much) see if it’s $25 jobs that your mind went to first. Your mindset cleanse has not finished.
The skill I will discuss in this email is my favourite, MARKETING!
Marketing is the blood and life of a business, freelancing included.
.
.
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.
P.S: So I would be teaching about how Facebook ads can save your business in a few weeks the way it saved mine and how you can even sell Facebook ads as a service. If you want to join the waitlist, you can do that here.
Email 8
Subject: Goodbyes….
WARNING (name): I am fully going to be marketing the copywriting course by Andy Mukolo to you in this email, so if you don’t like that, well, close it now!
I am sure you are wondering why I am going to be marketing a course I do not even own to you. I am going to tell you the reasons now.