earlier this morning , i got off a meeting with my first ever client and his business partner.
yeah.
i know.
i’m currently still in shock , so i’ll try my best to explain how this happened.
a week from today , i got word of a client competition being hosted by an agency in the UK.
they were looking to hire ( and i quote ) ‘a direct response copywriting BEAST’ to work alongside them.
the way to apply was by writing them a sales letter.
now , i’m gonna be honest — there were two things that intimidated me when i first read this.
one : i knew there were probably a bunch of people who were gonna apply.
and two…
i had never written a sales letter before.
so i was a tad nervous.
all the reasons NOT to do it were there:
i saw the post a day late…
hadn’t touched any other type of copy besides email before…
and wasn’t even trying to land a client yet…
but oddly enough , there was something telling me i had to take this shot.
it was that feeling.
you know what i’m talking about.
when you just know.
even though every conscious part of you is telling you not to.
i believe that’s God’s way of calling you to change.
because every time i’ve had this feeling , it’s led to exactly that.
so i listened.
the great unknown
for the next 3 days i locked innnnnnnn.
dove deep into their funnel & audience , wrote three drafts , cooked up 8 different headline / lead variations…
( all after my walmart shifts btw )
and 21 hours later i had a 2,119 word-long sales letter staring back at me through the screen.
i kept refining it until the literal last minute to make sure it was the absolute best work i could put out ( along with a quick loom ).
and then it was done.
sunday , 5 o’clock PM , on the dot.
finally — all i had to do was kick my feet up and wait for them to reach out…
right?
wrong.
after not hearing back from them the next day, i kept going.
stayed up until 3 am cooking a story sequence to post on my instagram , in hopes that it would get their attention.
POV : it’s 2:30 — you just snuck out your room b/c your parents were sleeping , so you could get the tripod from your car to take this picture:
i don’t know if it was the lack of sleep , or if i was really starting to lose it…
but at one point i felt delirious.
i stopped to ask myself:
gabe , why are you even doing this ?
the chances of him seeing this are slim to none…
theres gotta be tons of other copywriters better than you that submitted…
AND he probably chose someone already , so you’re about to look like a retard.
that little voice was trying to stop me so bad.
but i pushed through.
and literally two minutes after i posted it…
bro watched the story.
liked it.
followed me.
AND sent me a dm.
now you tell me why i did it.
goodnight
woke up the next morning to drive to work ( yes i stayed up late on a work night i’m so irresponsible blah blah blah ).
and as i’m at a red light — i cannot make this up — he emails me.
we got to messaging back n forth a bit , and proceeded to hop on a call that night.
most chill dude ever , we clicked right off the bat.
but he absolutely loved my work.
said what stuck out to him was the attention to detail & effort i put in , which was exactly the part that i felt crazy for doing.
i noticed i’d gotten so used to doing boat-loads of work for people without any reply…
that when i finally heard someone not just acknowledge , but genuinely gas up the stuff i wrote — it felt like the world was lifted off my shoulders.
the big day
today i hopped on again with him & his business partner.
we ran through some more details , and decided to move forward together.
bish, bash, bosh.
as soon as i hit that red button to end the call , i sat at my desk in silence.
after all the pain , the frustration , the suffering…
something finally gave.
and my life had completely changed in two short days.
i won’t say too much , but i’m also going to be compensated especially well for the current stage that i’m at ( which is a whole other blessing in itself ).
so i’m finally, FINALLY able to rid myself of the parasite that was walmart and do this full time.
waking up slowly every morning with my bible & journal…
sitting at my desk doing work that i love…
cooking meal prep before hitting chest & back at the gym…
during the hardest moments , these were the exact images i’ve replayed in my head.
and now it’s my reality.
sigh.
it’s truly incredible how quickly God can change your life when you trust Him.
He’s proven it to me before , but this has been the biggest example to date.
it just goes to show that when you let Him steer…
all you have to do is keep rowing.
and despite the storms and great white sharks that will try to take you down on the way , eventually you’ll reach the island He’s prepared for you.
this game is not easy , and i still have a long way to go — but these are the moments i live for.
forever blessed & thankful.
like young thug said…
i got the platform.
now it’s time to prove myself.