My friend and fellow copywriter John Manley recently had his first child. Jonah is his name. In a recent email, he wrote:
Managing a home office with a baby in the house is a different sport altogether. Especially after living alone for four months.
This really resonated with me.
When I launched my freelance copywriting business, my second child, Owen, was just one month old. At the time, my daughter Annabelle was 2 years old.
Imagine this...
- My wife does not work.
- My daughter was 2 years old.
- My son was born on March 19, 2005.
- I quit my job (our only source of income) on April 19, 2005.
- I tried—and failed—to become a financial planner.
- With 2 weeks of money left, I launched my freelance business on June 13, 2006.
- I just finished my first complete year of freelance copywriting and grossed over six figures. (Net was under six figures.)
Today, my kids are 4 and almost 2. Needless to say, the noise levels at my house can be loud, distractions frequent.
Just last week, "Pebbles" asked me a question on the AWAI forum. She wrote:
I've only started the course fairly recently so haven't taken the plunge yet... but was wondering whether it's really possible to work a couple of hours daily and spend the rest of the day on the beach?
Here's how I replied:
I work about 25-40 hours a week.
This week I took Tuesday off to go snowboarding.
Most weeks I work close to a full work week.
Am I writing the entire time? No.
But there are phone calls to make, accounting, self-marketing, etc.
Copywriting is just one piece of a successful copywriting business.
I don't focus a lot on how much or how little I work.
I focus on the perks: getting to eat 3 meals a day with my wife and kids, getting to go on walks to the park during the middle of the day, getting to run errands while everyone else is working, taking my motorcycle or road bike out on a sunny day, etc.
You can't put a value on time flexibility.
Oh yeah... I also sleep until I wake up. I used to get only 6 hours of sleep a night. I thought that was all I needed. Now I sleep 8-9 hours a night and struggle when I'm running on 6. I think most people are just chronically tired and think that they're rested.
Anyway... copywriting is no walk in the park. It takes hard work and the ability to stand back up when you get knocked down. What do you do when your copy doesn't work? How do you respond when a client is upset? These are realities you'll face as you take on clients.
I guess the bottom line is, life is life. Rarely can you make a six-figure income working two hours a day.
Back to "a day in the life of Ryan..."
This morning, my son blew out his diaper. So my wife and I had to do clean up and give him a bath. I went to Starbucks to get some coffee beans ground. I put the trash out. I rewrote my to-do list. I drew Winner #4 of The Great CD Giveaway. And now I'm writing this post.
Later today, I'll be editing a letter and writing some autoresponder emails.
John Manley's idea of "reality copywriting"—where you get a blow-by-blow look at a real copywriter's life—was phenomenal. I have no intention of getting that detailed, but I thought you might enjoy seeing a closer look at what my days look like.
By the way, John no longer does his detailed reporting (he's gotten too busy for that), but you should read his stuff. It's really great.
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