How a lazy youth like you can make your first 5 million Naira with your skills.

If you don’t work 9–5, you’re a lazy Nigerian youth. And you’re about to read not a get quick business ideas or strategies. I would show you the good, the bad, and the ugly.

In 2017, I moved from ten clients — all paying thousands in Naira to two clients in one month, both paying thousands of dollars.

Before then, I’ve made millions.

But I never earned N5,000,000 on 2 jobs.

So how exactly did it go down?

I will tell you about one of the jobs.

Now, let’s get into it.

Remember, I’m very picky about who I work with. So, I don’t send a million emails to every business in the US — most Nigerian brands are broke and don’t understanding marketing. So, I don’t usually target them. I spend lots of time researching the ‘right’ brands to reach out to.

As a copywriter, I don’t have problem executing the message. Here’s how it began.

I’m sticking with Ecommerce for now.

So, I typed in to google, “Direct to consumer companies”. Found a bunch of different lists. One of the lists mentioned a few pet brands that launched in 2017.

Because email marketing is often overlooked, there was almost ‘no chance’ they were killing the email marketing game. That’s a good start. But it’s not enough.

Often, new companies don’t have the capital to bring on new people. So, I had to find the ‘right’ brand. After looking on the websites of those pet brands, one of them was featured on Shark Tank. SWEET. Tons of PR for them, probably made a lot of money fast.

So, I started vetting the website. Remember, I only work with brands I ‘want’ to work with. And their website is great.

Niche product. Clean website. Great reviews. Fun copy. Premium product.

WINNER.

So, I then typed in on Google, “(Company) chief marketing officer” Found the woman’s name. Went to her LinkedIn. Vetted her as well. I’m not playing around here. My standards are high.

She passed the test. Now, normally…at this point, I’d go to some email scrapping tools and get her email address. But instead, I started LinkedIn’s Premium Free trial so I could message her via LinkedIn without having to “connect” with her.

Here’s what I said:

Subject line: Email Marketing (Company)

“Hey (name), really cool to see your involvement with Burning Man in Russia. Don’t see that every day! (personalized first line)

I’m Lolade. I help brands to move people from no to yes with email copywriting.

I recently helped (Company) — a DTC brand in the health and fitness space -6x their email marketing revenue in the month of March with some simple tweaks to their email copy and strategy.

Do you have time for a quick 15-minute phone call to see if we can do something similar for {Company}?

I sent the message on a Thursday.

She responded on the following Monday.

I had forgotten about the message.

She asked if I was an agency or if I ran solo, and asked to see some examples of my work.

Uh-oh. First off, I only had only ten clients. But I signed an NDA with them. Even if I wanted to share my examples, I couldn’t.

Here’s what I did.

First, I told her what I DON’T do.

“I’m a solo operation. I specialize in copy-driven emails, so if you’re looking for giant hero images and boring emails, I’m not your guy.”

LOLADE!? It doesn’t even seem like you’re trying to CLOSE THE SALE?!?! That’s the point, my friend.

I’m not looking for any client that will give me money. I’m looking for the right client. I’m not desperate. I’m in the control seat. Added bonus of saying something like this…

People want what they can’t have. If they’re looking for giant hero image emails, we’re not going to work together anyways. But if they’re looking for copy emails, they now see that I’ll turn away companies that don’t want what I produce… And that makes me more attractive.

Back to the story.

I had to provide examples, remember? So, I opened a google doc, pulled up their website on a tab, and quickly wrote 2 emails for them in 45 minutes. Free of charge.

I knew nothing about their company. But that’s the cool thing… When you’ve written enough words in your lifetime, you can squeeze something out of nothing. Their website had fun, playful copy…so I mimicked it.

Gonna toot my own horn here… One of the emails was “laugh out loud” funny (she said so, too).

Quick note: there will be people who tell you that you shouldn’t write emails for free, and you shouldn’t work on a performance-based structure, etc.

Listen, it’s YOUR business. Handle it how you want to handle it. And the way I handled it… Got me a monthly retainer for words on a google doc.

Let’s keep going.

When I sent her the google doc link, I even said… “Feel free to steal them, whether we work together or not.” Free value. I just sent her free value that made her laugh, personalized to her company that I know nothing about, in 45 minutes. Would YOU work with me?

We talked back and forth a little. Then she asked about price. I delivered it matter-of-factly. (amount) for (service) No explanation. No defense. No nothing.

She said, “Ok, can we chat at 9am tomorrow please?” Absolutely we can. We hopped on the phone, and discussed the details. Monthly retainer. Wants to work together for a while. No design. No implementation. Just emails on a google doc. Best job ever.

Now, can we be honest for a second? I told you guys I would show you the good, the bad, and the ugly. This article is about the good. But it was bad and ugly for a little while there.

Lots of emails and messages sent out. And no responses. Even with a solid case study. I was frustrated, disappointed, and confused. But I kept showing up every day.

This is 2020, and I’m on the hunt for clients. And I guarantee you, I’m going to get frustrated, disappointed, and confused again. But I’m going to put my head down, and outwork everyone else. I want you to notice something about the process of landing this client…

I didn’t do anything crazy. I utilized google and LinkedIn (free). Yeah, you need some brains to do it. But with enough strategy, adjustments, and time… You can make it happen, too. Irrespective of the services you’re selling.

Now, this article took me quite a while to put together. And I don’t want it to go to waste. I think it can help someone trying to start an online business. If you agree, can you do me a favor?

Share this article.

And go follow my IG and Twitter @voice_ofsanity. I share simple and easy-to-apply tips on Twitter.

It can be a frustrating game, but when your efforts pay off there’s no better feeling in the world.

Let me know you think in the comments.