If you know how to write copy that sells, you can create cash out of thin air.

You’ve probably heard that saying before.

Or some variation thereof.

Well, a few years back before I had any real paying clients or samples or experience or any of the other prerequisites I would need to make the above statement a “true story” for myself… I tried a little experiment.

Here’s what happened:

My now wife, then fiance, and I were about to put a down payment on our house.

And since I had invested so much of my paychecks into copywriting courses… I had just enough scratch to cover my end of the downpayment.

The thing was…

We also had to pay closing costs when we got the house. Which meant I needed another $4,000 or so. And I needed it in about two weeks.

Sure… I had another paycheck coming the following week. But it wasn’t going to be enough to cover that.

So… I had to THINK of a way to come up with this money.

And that’s when it dawned on me.

Bro… You Know How To Write Copy. GO SELL SOME SHIT

Remember – at this early stage in my career, I wasn’t a “proven” writer.

Sure I got a few gigs here and there.

But I couldn’t just produce a client on command, like I can do nowadays.

My only choice was to sell something.

So, I looked around my house and actually found a LOT of stuff I could list on Craigslist and sell for cold hard cash.

Now, you have to understand something:

At the time, I was still very unsure of myself as a writer.

I struggled with my self confidence and imposter syndrome (still do, from time to time).

I wasn’t totally sure people would even respond from the ads I was about to write.

I still thought it was “all about the copy”… and what if I failed in that aspect?

Luckily for me, I didn’t have time to marinate on that thought for too long.

I had to get my ass in gear and sell some shit!

You Probably Have A Bunch Of Shit In Your House, Garage, Or Shed That You Can Sell

I had a pretty sick garage gym at the time.

Over the years, I bought some pretty legit equipment so I could work out in my garage… and not have to wait for some slap dick to stop curling an empty barbell in the barbell rack before I could use that piece of equipment.

I couldn’t take any of this stuff to the new home I was buying (we didn’t have a garage).

So it all had to go.

I used my copywriting skills and I wrote an ad to generate some leads and get some people to come and buy all of my workout shit.

And let me fucking tell you… this ad PULLED!

I got easily over 120 responses that first week. It was insane!

I even started bidding wars with people who wanted certain items.

Let’s take a look at the ad that made me a bunch of money:

Attention Gym Owners &

Garage Gym Warriors…

If you want to find out how you can get your hands on some high quality, used Rogue Fitness powerlifting equipment, then read this entire message.

The time has come for me to sell off some equipment from my beloved garage gym. I’m putting a down payment on a house that doesn’t have a garage, so unfortunately for me all this stuff has to go.

I’ve used this equipment to take me from a weak, battered and broken down ex-collegiate athlete and transform me into a 250 lb BEAST with a 505 raw w/o wraps squat, 355 lightning fast paused bench, and a gut-busting 595 lb deadlift. And if you pick up some of these high-quality pieces of garage gym equipment you and your clients might be able to achieve similar or even greater results (depending on how hard you’re willing to work)

Over the years, I strategically pieced together this collection of powerlifting tools, bodyweight toys, strongman implements and thousands of pounds of iron and steel in order to build the ultimate garage gym training environment.

Many brave souls have passed through the Orzechowski garage with high hopes. They wanted to be big, strong and tough. Many got incredible physical and mental results. Others were too scared to return – they just couldn’t handle the intensity. They vomitted, they cried, one guy even peed his pants. I’ve trained a lot of athlete in my life and I quickly learned…

SOME PEOPLE AIN’T ABOUT THAT LIFE!

If you think you and your clients are man enough to handle these powerful training tools, then read on.

Here’s what I have available.

– Rogue Monster Lite Freestanding Squat Rack: This rack will last you until the end of time. It’s had to withstand 500lb rack pulls and barely has a scratch on it. You don’t have to bolt it down, which means you can move it wherever you need it.

– Rogue “Beater” Barbell: I bought this bar because it is the perfect bar for training powerlifting. It’s a few millimeters thicker than regular sized barbells which means your grip gets crushed and your forearms will grow huge, without any extra dedicated forearm work. It is incredibly sturdy and has no give whatsoever. I believe this unique feature is what helped me make quick gains in my deadlift – it makes it harder to get the weight off the ground initially, which makes it twice as easy to get the bar moving in competition when you transfer over to a bar with a lot of give.

– Lat Pull Pulley Machine: This looks like something straight out of a Rocky movie. This freestanding loadable pulley is perfect for lat pulls, triceps extensions, low rows, rope hammer curls and high pulls. It is the perfect low cost, compact powerlifting accessory training device. It’s easily less than 10% of the cost of a new machine, and because it uses plates instead of the fixed weight slabs, you can use any combination of weights you need for any exercise.

– 5 Horse Stall Mats: These thick, heavy duty mats can take a beating. They protect your garage or gym floor from dropping your 600lb barbell repeatedly. They’re hard to find in stores unless you live in a rural area (I had to drive down to Allentown, NJ to buy mine) and once you get them you have to wash them a few times to get rid of the weird smell. I’ve already cleaned them so you don’t have to. Pick em up, drop em in your gym and you have mats that will last forever.

– Hex Dumbbells: Pairs: 8lbs, 15lbs, 20lbs, 25lbs (2 pairs), 30lbs (2 pairs), 35lbs, 40lbs, 50lbs, 55lbs, 60lbs, 65lb, 70lb (1), 95lb (1), 100 (1) – you can’t find dumbbells of any quality for under $1/lb. You can have these sturdy, RUST FREE dumbbells for only $0.65/lb

– If you buy all of the dumbbells above, I’ll throw in the rack for free so you can have a nice, organized place to store them.

– Rogue “Thompson Fat Pad” Monster Bench: If you haven’t benched on a fat pad, you haven’t lived. This thick pad allows you to grip the bench tighter with your back and also offers unmatched shoulder and back support. If you’re serious about your bench, you need to check this out.

– Wooden Box Jump Box: This is NOT the plyo box for psycho crossfitters who want to skin their shins and show off their scar as a badge of honor to their fellow cultists. This box is meant for powerful men who need a sturdy plyo box that is specially reinforced on the inside. My father and I built this box from scratch and it has handled my 250 lb frame with added weight on many occasions. We specially reinforced this box with 4×4’s at the corners for extra strength & stability.

– Rogue “Fat Boy” Sled: Portable, heavy duty weight sled can hold at least 10 iron plates. But let’s face it, you probably couldn’t handle that many anyway. Many members of my garage gym have lost their lunches and dinners after a few bouts with this sadistic invention. This is one of my favorite pieces so don’t expect a big discount on this. I wouldn’t have hit my PL numbers without this vital piece of training equipment.

– Iron Plates: If you’re looking for clean, shiny, new plates… go to Planet Fitness. These plates are a bit rusty after years of men stronger and tougher than you using them to sculpt freakish, muscle bound frames. Even the cheapest new plates go for $2/lb but you can have these for only $1.25/lb

– Bench Boards: These wooden boards will increase your bench press by allowing you to train very heavy at your sticking points. Many of the top benchers in the world use these to blast through their bench plateaus and set massive world records. I have a 2, 3, 4, & 5 board for sale.

Like I said before, it pains me to have to get rid of all of my toys. I spent countless hours in this gym forging a strong body and an unbreakable spirit, but now the time has come for me to move to the next chapter in my life.

If you are a brave man or woman who is willing to carry the torch and use this equipment to make a stronger, tougher, grittier version of yourself then you can shoot me an email at ________ .

If you’re local (NJ) you can even come by and take some of this stuff for a test drive – that is, if you’re man enough.

I wish I could say that this stuff will be around forever, but I have already privately contacted a few local gyms who have expressed interest. I will sell these items on a first come, first served basis so if I were you, you’d better act quick.

Remember, the holidays are coming up, you can buy this equipment brand new and have to pay through the nose for it (plus the insane costs of shipping) or you can come by and pick these items up for a fraction of their regular price.

Shoot me an email at ________ before it’s all gone.

P.S. If you are worried about the idea of lifting in your garage in the cold weather then get out of my face – click away from this message. You’re obviously not about that life if the 34 degree weather would deter you from achieving your goals. I wouldn’t even allow you to buy this stuff no matter how bad you want it.

P.P.S. You don’t have to be a musclebound freak to buy this stuff. You could be skinny as a string bean. All you need is an insatiable will to be a big, strong Alpha Male leader of men. Shoot me an email: _________

Now listen…

Is this the best ad ever in the history of copywriting?

Hell no!

But who gives a shit?

I had people coming by my house every single day for two weeks straight to buy my stuff.

I sold most of this stuff for very darn near close what I paid for it myself, when I bought it new (it was in almost perfect condition).

And a few of the items I sold I actually got for FREE at scrap yards and from other garage sales.

The end result?

Over 5 G’s of cold hard cash.

Now here’s the thing.

I learned a few valuable lessons from this whole experience…

1. Copy is important. But if you have a good product that people want… and you put your ad in front of a hungry audience… your copy doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be good enough.

2. The reason no one is doing business with you is because you probably haven’t made them an offer in some time. Write up an ad, make an offer, and put it in front of your target audience. If they respond, you’re in the money.

3. Don’t you dare fucking complain that you have no clients and therefore you can’t create any samples. If you got some shit lying around your house… write an ad and sell it.

Not only will this get you PAID… you will also have an actual tested, proven ad and a case study. You’ll be able to show clients exactly how much traffic and response you got. And even though it’s not an ad that a client hired you for… it’ll still impress people and show that you take action and don’t let anything stop you from writing copy. And that’s more than most copywriters can say who refuse to create any kind of samples on spec.

Here’s My Challenge To You

This weekend, I want you to find something lying around your house that you don’t need any more.

Write up a quick ad for it.

Put the ad on Craigslist or any of these other sites where you can sell stuff.

Publish it and sell your thing.

If you do this, leave a comment below.

Let me know the result of your little experiment and I might even give you a surprise gift or bonus or something like that.

Seriously, do this and let me know.

Go make some money,

Chris Orzechowski

P.S.

My inspiration for this article was from a thread Jimmy Parent created in Copy Chief. Jimmy is the man and he too has been selling some stuff online.

The crazy thing is… he’s not only been selling stuff and collecting cash… he’s actually had people reach out and want to hire him to write their own ads!

So if you’re a freelancer, you could be missing out on some serious cash money by NOT doing this.

And btw…

If you’re not a member of Copy Chief yet, WTF ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE???

Get your ass inside this community. It will change the course of your career and take your copy skills to a whole new level.

Click here to join Copy Chief

2 thoughts on “How I Made $5,000+ In 21 Days Writing Copy For Myself (Before I Had Any Clients, Experience or Samples)”

  1. I did just this when we were selling all our worldly possessions to head out on the open road. In the beginning, I was just throwing stuff up on the UK equivalent of Craigslist, but as the crunch date got closer, I started to panic about how much stuff we still had, so I decided to put some effort in to it. Creating a story around each item, talking about the benefits and touching on the pain I would feel at saying goodbye to such treasured items helped me to get rid of pretty much everything in double quick time.

    Copywriting – it’s not just for other people.

  2. Thank you Chris, I enjoyed reading your article and ad. Funnily enough actually owned those same dumbells… allbeit a long time ago.

    Got more of a workout from unboxing them all, than actually repping them out at home.

    Seemed like a good idea at the time.

    Joined Copychief a few days ago. My head is spinning with all the threads and amazing level of copywriters in there.

    Probably why I’m finding it less daunting to write here, following a link in your signature.

    Loved Jimmy’s “Pixel book” ad, jees he made it look like an art form, even with the …. placements, quite amazing.

    So being in a similar position of new to freelance copy with no client or writing examples this seems like a great idea.

    Especially as about to sell my car, and the girlfriend (can you still say that at 43?) has way too many handbags, not that I know the difference between Louis Vuitton and Louis the 14th. Guessing both of French origin, just one wore a wig and tights.

    I digress…

    Back to my main reason for writing.

    Whilst Jimmy’s ad’s were aw inspiring and in some way poetic (pls dont let me turn into a fanboy!) and I guess thats why he writes for Agora… yours was much more reassuring, an easier bar to reach, even without a garage 🙂

    So thank you for the inspiration and making the path to successful freelancing seem more achievable.

    Perhaps I will see you on a CC call soon..

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