Its 10:06AM.

I’m sitting in the bustling Dallas, Texas airport getting ready to hop back on a flight to Atlanta.

I’ve got 47 minutes left until my flight boards…

… so I whip open my laptop and see a slewwww of fresh questions in my prestigious inbox (including a very emotional deep question at the end)...

And while I should be working on finishing up my ClickFunnels migration (turning out to be a massive project — I have more email flows, courses, products and lead magnets than I remember 🤣)

I’ve decided…

WHAT THE HECK! LET’S ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS!

Starting with this one:

Is providing freelance copywriting/creative strategy services to businesses dead or dying?

No one seems to trust anyone who reaches out to them in their dms anymore even though the service fundamentally should still help their business.

— Dee Emmerson

Listen, I’m not gonna pamper your gluteus assimus and tell you…

“Copywriting is the hottest thing right now!”

“Creative strategy is bigger than ever”

When in reality, AI is making the entry level versions of those roles practically absolute.

Because the first thought that pops into a business owners mind now is:

Can AI do this for me?

Including me.

Before I paid $3K to bring on an Email Migration specialist to do my ClickFunnels project, I went down the depths to see if GrokBot could do it.

Before hiring a video editor, I checked to see if Claude can do it.

Before hiring a designer for my Chronicles newsletter, I spent hours building a Claude design system to do it.

So that’s what you’re up against as an entry level person.

On the flip side…

… I am personally more inundated with copywriting & freelance opportunities than I ever have been in my life!

And while I am undoubtedly a self-proclaimed Clientless Copywriter... I do take on projects here and there that sound fun and have massive upsides (specifically royalty or equity deals). And I believe the reason why so many people think the industry is dying yet I am experiencing the opposite is because I’ve invested a decade into building my own…

PORTFOLIO OF PROOF.

Which is the opposite of what entry level people do…

…beginners will read a Cashvertising, watch a few videos on Creative Strategy and then immediately think they’re entitled to reeling in $3,000/mo retainers.

Then nobody responds to you and you think there’s something wrong with THEM or the INDUSTRY.

When in reality, you need to take EXTREME OWNERSHIP over every result in your own life.

Specifically in the form of building your PORTFOLIO of PROOF (the most persuasive element of getting PAID in the world).

AKA…

Work for free.

Get results.

Earn your stripes.

Stop trying to skip the line.

It don’t work like that.

It’s like being 100 pounds overweight trying to sell fitness coaching to people wondering nobody responds to your DMs.

Then saying, “Oh man I gave them a bigger promise… I DM people and tell them I can help them lose 10 pounds in 10 days! Why aren’t they responding!? It’s a great promise!”

BIGGER PROMISES WITHOUT BIGGER PROOF IS THE ULTIMATE RED FLAG!

If you want people to respond…

… Show them what you’ve done instead of telling them what you’re gonna do.

Show them how you shed 100lbs and got royally jacked!

And if you haven’t done jack, then offer your services for free to friends and family, pour your heart and soul into that work, rack up proof, then repeat until rich.

My favorite way to rack up proof is build your own business.

Start your own shopify store or infoproduct. Make a social media account for that business. Drive that traffic to an email list. Write your own email copy for your own business selling your own products. Stop waiting for someone elses permission. Document everything you’re doing publicly. Get success and watch how many people start DM’ing you asking…

CAN YOU DO THE SAME THING FOR MY BUSINESS?

If you do start your own clientless business and want my personal help — check out CopyCreator Club. (monthly membership prices increase soon)

One more question…

Please don’t share my name if you respond to this publicly. It’s a bit of a personal question. I’ve been a solopreneur for a little over a year now and one thing I’m struggling with my mental health.

I feel like I am always thinking about my business. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night often. Whenever I try to unplug for a day (even on the weekends), I’m loaded with so much guilt like I should be working harder and that the second I stop working, my customers will start cancelling. My clients will churn.

Did you / do you struggle with this? Any advice on how to make things better?

— Al Waysson

​
Man, are you kidding me?

Of course I struggle with this!

In fact, last night I hanging out with a few friends here in Dallas. We went to a beautiful wine club where we sat on these enormous leather chairs for a couple hours when one of my buddies started going into detail about how luxuries had become a “vice” for him.

Buying nice watches, nice cars, fancy wine.

Then he turned to me and asked, “Alin do you have any vices?”

You know what I said?

Unhealthy ambition.

I would personally pay thousands of dollars to be able to inject a switch into my brain that I can simply flick on and tell my brain: “Okay brain! I’m in dad mode. No more work time.”

Or turn off the stress of economy, churn, and the weight of all the business success I want to have.

It’s definitely gotten better over time.

But a few things that have helped me is this…

…first:

It’s not a problem to solve, it’s a tension to manage.

As a soloprenuer, this will never go away. But it will get better.

It has for me, especially as I’ve built up a nest egg of cash, more relationships, more track record of proof, more opportunities to where my brain is finally clocking “if this all goes to crap, my skills are so valuable, I can just get a job again.”

If that’s the worse case scenario, then I’m gonna not stress about it day and night.

Which leads to my second thing…

BUILD A “DON’T GIVE A SH—T FUND”

How fast can you put $10K, $20K, $50K or even $100K in your bank?

I’m not saying you put all your peace in money but it would be a lie if I told you that having a chunk of cash in the bank doesn’t skyrocket your peace.

Of course it does!

Because it gives you the opportunity to not give a sh—t when something bad happens.

Like the other day, the washing machine broke in my house.

That thing is like $1,000.

10 years ago, that would have stressed me the HECK out!

But two days ago, I barely remembered it happened. We ordered another one and I moved on with my day.

Whenever I give this advice though, most people tell me they can’t save that much money but they can buy yeezys, a playstation, a rolex, $1,000 in monthly subscriptions, $10K in courses and yada yada yada.

Just remember…

… all that stuff isn’t just costing you pennies, it’s costing you peace.

I’m all for buying expensive luxury things.

I love it. I really do.

But not at the cost of my peace.

And lastly…

GIVE IT TO GOD.

One of my favorite bible verses in the world…

Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV):

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Man…

God is good. Every time I get into his word and inject my brain with scripture, I feel peace flood me.

I can’t explain it, it’s just something you gotta experience for yourself.

Anywho.

I hope this helps you a ton.

If there’s a question you’d love to ask me — simply reply to this email for a chance to get it featured to my email list.

Your friend,

Alin “Email Goat” Dragu