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This story was originally business insider.
Before I knew it, I had destroyed my life. I was his skinny 19-year-old and I was so poor that I would walk around the fast food drive-thru every morning collecting enough change to buy a candy bar and a soda to get me through the day. .
I got a job at In-N-Out Burger, worked there for a year, and then asked my boss for a raise. He said he should join the morning team instead. Little did I know it would mean cleaning the bathroom at 5 a.m. and waiting for the Arizona sun to come up to clear the parking lot.
The author when he worked at In-N-Out Burger.Courtesy of Michael Klendenen
Before I knew it, I was polishing concrete during the day and putting on a punk rock show at night. During that time, my friends graduated from college, got married, and had children.
My life got worse when I turned 22. To save money, I lived in a motel room with 5 other people and a Chihuahua. I didn’t have a smartphone, a computer, a car, or even an internet connection.
But I’ve turned everything around and now I’m a 6-figure copywriter and direct response marketer working with Fortune 100 companies, US BMX, political campaigns and more on marketing and copy strategies. Here’s how I self-taught and sent a letter.
In 2017, a friend asked me to write an ad to sell his Mustang in exchange for 10% of the sales.
I had never written an ad before, so I borrowed a friend’s phone and googled “how to write a good ad”. I found a newsletter.Gary Halbert letterI read one of the newsletters where he said he could charge a customer $15,000 for a letter he wrote at his kitchen table in his underwear.
That’s when I decided that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
I read all the newsletters Halbert had. After reading them, I couldn’t afford to sit on the floor at Barnes & Noble and read all the marketing books in the store, so I couldn’t afford it.
Then I had to figure out how to find customers.
Sending a letter changed everything
The number one strategy I learned from Halbert was to mail letters to businesses to acquire customers. But it wasn’t so easy at first because we didn’t have many resources.
I started writing copies in the library. One friend sent me in the morning and the other helped me home. I used to write letters by hand, but when I ran out of paper, the kind librarian gave me printer paper.
I used the Reference USA database (as it is now called). data axle — The library had to find the address of the company I wanted to work with. I got my first client through letters. I have decided to work only with businesses in which I have a personal interest, on a commission only basis.
My letter was so effective that I didn’t feel the need to jump on the social media train
In a world of content creators, but without free internet access, letters were my only option. It worked in my favor and made me stand out.
One of the first groups of people I started working with was chiropractors. Because I was very passionate about their work. When I was younger, I had a few car accidents and had scoliosis. Treatment with a chiropractor helped me recover, and that’s why I opened the letter.
I haven’t talked about everything I can do for them. It gave the chiropractors in my area an opportunity to explore working together, telling them why I am passionate about what they do, why I am emotionally invested in them. It was honest and built rapport quickly.
These are the same principles I currently use in my copy of the client. I still work with a chiropractor, but I am also expanding my work with relationship coaches, data scientists, and anxiety coaches. I also coach other copywriters on both copywriting skills and customer acquisition with letters.
Currently earning between $8,000 and $17,000 a month
I worked about 35 hours a week and my income increased as I brought in more clients. My work brings clients an average of $40,000 to $100,000 per month.
Now my place is full of furniture I bought myself. I have a successful business without spending all my time on social media and I just turned 27.
Even now, when I want to attract new customers, I send out a lot of new letters. Snail Mail saved my life and completely changed my future.