Don’t follow your passions. Get a job, work every day and retire in 40 years. Does that sound familiar? As children many of us we’re taught to find a secure job and choose money over passion.
But is that really the key to a happy life? It’s what most people do after all. And we all know how hard it is to stand out from the crowd.
But if you’re reading this blog post then I’m going to bet you aren’t like most people…
You refuse to spend your life building someone else’s dream. Instead you’ve decided to break the status quo and do what you love. But how do you get from where you are now to where you want to be in your business?
Learning from other people who have been in your shoes is one of the best ways to get there.
Recently I was able to interview copywriter turned agency owner Kristin Lajeunesse. Kristin quit her day job to follow her passions and travel the world. Now she’s sharing her story to help you do the same.
What is a typical day in your life?
There isn’t really a “typical” day for me, every day is a little different (I like it that way!) Even still, I learned early on how important structure is when building a business.
So I stick to different themes for each day of the week to keep me on track.
For example, Mondays are my CEO days. I use those days to handle business related work I don’t have time for during the week.
Tuesday and Wednesday I focus on writing, networking and completing client work. Thursdays are usually filled with client meetings and discovery calls.
Fridays are my flex days so I only work if I want to. I’ll usually get some work done in the morning and then spend the rest of the day doing whatever I’m in the mood for.
Some days I’ll do some cleaning around the house, others I’ll go for a hike. I’ve been able to find a pretty good balance in my schedule this way.
Can you tell me about your copywriting journey?
2011: Sure! I was working in the communications department for a nonprofit organization. So after finishing grad school I spent 8 hours every weekday working in a literal cubicle. The job was okay but I knew I didn’t want to do it for the rest of my life.
Around this time I started following Gary Vee and Tim Ferriss. Reading books like the 4 hour work week gave me the push I needed to take a chance on myself.
So, that’s exactly what I did. I quit my 9-5, bought a van and set out on a new adventure. I spent 2 years traveling to all 50 states and eating at every vegan restaurant in the country.
I documented my journey with my blog. Over time it started to get more traffic. A publishing company reached out to me and asked if I’d write a book for them about my travels.
2015: Since this was my first book I Googled “how to write a memoir”. I started writing the book from New York and finished it while house-sitting in Hawaii for 3 months.
My book, Will Travel for Vegan Food [1] was published in 2015 and the book tour was soon after that. I self-funded the tour through donations and my own income.
Soon after that I entered a contest to travel around the world. I won a 3 month paid sponsorship to travel anywhere in the world and write [2] and vlog [3] about it.
After the sponsored part of the trip was over I decided to keep traveling the world for another 5 months.
2017: I returned home to slow travel around the U.S and I found my way back home in New York for a while. I spent my time offering one on one marketing consulting services.
But I never treated it like a proper business. Instead, I would make enough money to pay for my next plane ticket and continue traveling.
2020: COVID hit soon after I landed in Vegas to spend the winter living in a tiny home community. That spring, I had a bit of an identity crisis coming to terms with how lax I’d been about my marketing consulting business.
Around this time, I saw an ad for a copywriting course and realized that the blog writing, email marketing, and social content I’d created for nearly a decade could be turned into a proper business!
I jumped on the course, joined Fiverr, and began building my business. I said yes to everything that came my way in the beginning.
My BIGGEST WIN was being able to cover all my essential expenses and pay down some of my debt!
2021: I built a website on Squarespace (yep, I went a whole year before having a business website). I started raising my rates during the first half of the year and continued saying yes to almost every project that came my way.
I began obsessively listening to The Filthy Rich Writer podcast and TCC podcast. I started feeling a little more comfortable on discovery calls and even had my first $8k and $10k months this year!
That was partly due to raising my rates again during the second half of the year. I started putting boundaries around project timelines and client expectations and even said “no” to some.
2022: This was an incredible year! I hired a commission based business/sales consultant and even subcontracted client work to 2 writers.
This helped free up my time to attend networking events and invest in business development courses. I moved my pricing from hourly to project based and doubled and, in some cases, tripled my rates.
I said “no” to more projects than I said “yes” to this year but ended up closing my biggest retainer client and making 5X more than I expected for one project.
2023: We had our first six figure year last year and we’re on target to make 250K this year which is really exciting.
What an incredible story. What helped you overcome the doubts you had about writing your first book?
Well many people say “Oh, I’ll write a book someday” but most never end up doing it. The idea stays in the back of their minds but never winds up becoming anything.
I didn’t want that to happen to me. So even though I knew it wouldn’t be easy, I convinced myself to give it a shot.
Does your business cater to a certain industry or type of writing?
We specialize in helping businesses with their website copy. When I was first starting out, I tried lots of different projects to learn what I enjoyed doing. That’s how I found out that website copy is my jam!
While we don’t niche down to a certain industry we do work with a lot of similar clients. Most of the clients we work with are solopreneurs or women led businesses. I think that’s because it’s a reflection of me since that’s exactly who I am.
Most of the businesses we work with have 1-5 employees and have been in business between 2-5 years.
They’re ready for a rebrand or a way to freshen up their copy, you know give it a little glow up. So we come in and revamp their website copy to align with where their business is headed.
What helped you go from a solo freelance writer to a business owner who hires other copywriters?
The biggest game changer for me was hiring subcontractors. It gave me the chance to offload client work and focus on bringing in more business. I tell everyone to hire a subcontractor before you feel like you’re ready.
Doing this one thing can help take your business to a new level. Even hiring a virtual assistant to help with small tasks can help you build your business faster.
Should new freelancers subcontract work early on in their careers?
Yes! But you shouldn’t pay for it yourself. Build the cost of subcontracting the work into your fee for the service. For example, say you charge $1,000 to complete a project and hire someone to help with editing, researching, etc.
If the subcontractor charges $25/hr and spends four hours on the project then you can add $100 to the project fee.
What’s your favorite way to find good copywriting clients and why?
I don’t know if I have a favorite way… I do a little cold pitching but over 90 percent of my work has come from word of mouth referrals.
LinkedIn has been a great place to meet new people and network. If I have to pick just one thing I’d say networking because its’ led to so many opportunities for me.
What tips do you have for new freelancers to have better sales calls?
Oh I have SO many tips for that! The funny thing is that when I first started taking sales calls I’d get super nervous. I’m talking about wanting to puke, sweating through my shirt NERVOUS.
After getting through a few sales calls like that I learned about a designer named Chris Do. Everything I know about sales, I learned from him. One of the most important things I learned from Chris was this acronym for “S.A.L.E.S:”
This is the formula you should follow during every sales call you make. Approaching sales calls in this way made a huge difference in my results. I tell everyone who will listen to write this out and place it in view before getting on a sales call.
Another thing Chris helped me with was changing my mindset towards sales calls. Many new freelancers get on the phone with a client and will say almost anything to get the work.
That usually backfires because clients can smell desperation a mile away. And when a client thinks you’re desperate for work, they believe you’re insecure.
Instead, use the phone call to actually listen to the client’s needs. Find out if you’d make a good fit and identify concrete ways you can help them.
You have to be okay with whatever the outcome of the call is and your confidence will soar. Oh and by the way, if you’re interested in learning from Chris (like I did) you can check out his instagram [4] and youtube channel [5] to follow his work.
What helps you keep good copywriting clients?
It’s a combination of things. I make it a point to always over deliver on every project I work on. I look for ways to make working with my business a better experience for my clients.
That doesn’t always mean doing more work. It could be simple things like showing up for meetings on time and communicating well.
Make it your goal to build a good relationship with the client even if it’s a one-off project. Doing this will help you keep good copywriting clients and get referrals for more work.
How important do you think niching down is for new copywriters?
Anyone who plans to become a solopreneur will benefit from niching down early on. You can only do so much as a single person. Sticking to what you know can speed up the time it takes to complete projects.
You can also charge more because you’re seen as an expert. I know how painful niching down can be in the beginning (I’ve been there) but it can really speed up your success.
If you plan to go the agency route and hire other writers then it can make sense not to niche down all the way. The other writers on your team can take on projects that aren’t in your area of expertise.
What advice do you have for new freelance writers?
Stop shiny object syndrome in its tracks by setting “course buying boundaries”. I’ve spent a small fortune on copywriting courses, coaching services and books. Some of which I’ve never even opened.
Start with a basic course to learn the skills you need for your business. Then start offering your services to clients. Resist the urge to invest in several different courses/coaching programs all at once.
You’ll end up spinning your wheels and spending lots of money. If you do want to buy programs regularly then create a boundary for buying courses.
Setting a rule to finish the course you’re working on before buying a new one is a great way to do this.
What’s your favorite Vegan restaurant?
Okay that’s not fair, I have so many! If I HAVE to choose one then I’d say Casa Albets. [6] It’s a picturesque bed and breakfast with some of the most delicious vegan food I’ve ever eaten.
An award-winning pastry chef from Barcelona created the incredible menu. I seriously think about that place about once a week.
What’s been your favorite travel destination?
Since I can’t narrow my favorite travel spots down to one, I’ll give you my top 3:
Hôi An Vietnam: One of my favorite places to visit. Vietnam is such a warm and welcoming place. It was an amazing experience.
Chiang Mai Thailand: This place is a classic nomad destination for westerners. Free WiFi is everywhere, there are plenty of low-cost places to eat and rent is super affordable.
Amsterdam: Easily one of the cleanest cities I’ve ever been to. There were more bikes than cars on the road. I love this place! There’s tons of great food and plenty of lovely people to meet here.
Do you offer any coaching services?
One of my favorite things to do is to help other copywriters get better at sales calls.
I’m planning on offering paid coaching sessions in the future. If you want to get in on that before I start charging, hit me up and we can do some mini coaching sessions on the house.
Thank you Kristin for the interview! I learned a lot and I’m sure all the other full-time freelancers reading this did too.
Let’s do a quick recap:
Kristin’s story is so inspiring. Choosing to bet on yourself and risk the security of a steady paycheck can be scary. But the results speak for themselves.
Use Kristin’s story to motivate you to take more risks in your freelance writing business. Higher risk = higher reward!
Yours for freelance writing success,
Brandon Davis
Want to connect with Kristin? Use these links to find her:
You can find all the resources Kristin referenced in the interview at the end of this post.
And if you want to take advantage of Kristin’s sales call coaching sessions for $0 you can book a time with her here.
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Reference
[2] https://www.vegantravel.com/vegan-travelers/kristins-vegan-traveler-blog/
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXjQ6LmHmw8&list=PLbq_PwqhN3tKTtA3WsI7T1gODV8cc2SY-
[4] https://instagram.com/thechrisdo?igshid=ZWQyN2ExYTkwZQ==
[5] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWqGiF72rubTwZLNoKT9Y1A
[6] https://casaalbets.cat/en/