On This Page: My “12-Step System” for Quitting 9-5 Drudgery, and Replacing It with a Profitable, Adventurous, Freedom-First Freelance Copywriting Career . . .

When you’re in a job you’re stuck. You’re stuck at your desk and you’re stuck with your salary. It’s a little box of your own making. But with freelancing you immediately enter a new dimension. You feel the power of possibility from all angles. You open up all sorts of alternate paths, locations, people in your life, levels of income and leverage. Since 2021, I’ve written freelance copy for 24 private clients, mostly on retainer deals. This experience has taught me a few things. If you follow these steps, you will increase your own chance of success.

Some of what you are about to read may seem obvious. But freelancers who come to me for help always have some level of disregard for these basic truths. We go down the list together, find the sticking point and unblock it. Vincent Van Gogh said, “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”  I agree, but you don’t need to cut your own ear off, wrap it in yesterday’s newspaper and give it to a cleaner at a brothel to do great things. Just follow these steps. 

1: Specialize: Don’t be an everyman. It is tempting to take any work that falls in your lap. But there are over 5 billion people with the internet and millions who you can help with your specific skills. Take a step back and get clear on who you want to serve, what you want to do for them and how you want to do it. Get ultra specific. 

2: Kill your ‘freelancer’ identity. Anyone can google "how to get copywriting clients." But having a cash craft and running a thriving business are two different things. A business is where clients clamor for your expertise and are happy to pay a premium. Skills pay bills, but the perception of your value and the systems you create to harvest it are what build a business. 

3: Provide proof of proficiency. FACT: Every copywriter started from the same place without a single testimonial. Because clients don't care about credentials. They care about ONE thing: can you show them a short sample piece of copy that is similar to what they need? If you can't, perhaps you should do something else. If you can, all you need is a keyboard and some brass balls. 

4: Begin with bold. I signed my first copywriting client by sending a bold, unconventional message that could've gotten me blocked. It got me hired. After some successful months, the client flew me to Dubai to smoke shisha, ride jet skis and drive Lamborghinis around the desert. The most powerful thing you can do for your career is to treat client acquisition not as a chore but as an adventure. . . in which YOU are the main character. 

5: 3 ‘quick win’ retainer plays. Your golden ticket to quick-start success lies in three simple bread and butter services which are built for portfolios. They’re high value and “low touch”, so you can get paid handsomely and consistently and still have your work day wrapped up in a few hours. So forget complex sales pages for now. You're still in training. Master these basics, build confidence, and watch your bank account swell.

6: Use problem-led positioning. Most positioning advice comes down to what you do and who you do it for. This leads people to promote themselves with the dreaded “I write emails for ecom brands.” Instead, pinpoint a pain-based avatar with a high-value problem. With this on lock, you can target a specific group of people with deep pockets who urgently need your help. 

7: Plug in my freelance offer formula. Offers aren’t mythical beasts, they are as simple as what you have to sell. They are an extension of your positioning. There are 3 core components to a freelance copywriting offer. When you put them together the way I lay out, you cannot fail. 

8: Get clients with cold email & hot authority. In the beginning, you have no choice but to go and get clients. In time, as your reputation, results and visibility grow, clients will come to you. But for reasons to do with speed and momentum, the first step should be done with volume. On a cold email campaign of 500 names, you can expect a 1-2% reply rate. I can walk you through this process. 

9: Use this 10-point failsafe sales call structure. People who get on phone calls make money. People who don’t know what to say on the call don’t. The mental model to download is that the economics are in YOUR favour. They already perceive the potential cost of hiring you to be lower than the pain of going it alone. All you have to do is help them diagnose the specifics of the problem and agree on a price. My sales call structure will guide you to close on one call. 

10: Calculate your ‘invisible’ hourly rate (don’t share with clients). The principle that you shouldn’t charge by the hour but should know your hourly rate will serve you well. Keep tabs on where your time is going, what you’re earning for that client during that time and whether or not you’re hitting your target hourly income while doing those tasks. 

11: Client seduction, service and infatuation. There are practical tips for making clients fund you into the future, but none of them matter if you aren’t trying at the edges of your abilities to make an impact in their life and business. Care about their wellbeing, respect them, treat them like a friend and make it your mission to deliver the outcomes you know they want.

12: Flow vs. feast-or-famine. If you follow through on steps 1-11, you are going to have money at your disposal. What then–body shots and sushi at the strip club? You’ve earned it, so you do you. But you are also going to take 5 minutes twice a month to allocate your spoils to different accounts for designated purposes. A disciplined, profitable business run entirely by you is worth much more than a chaotic agency surviving on its top line. 

Stress comes from complexity

The more you commit to 2 the quicker 12 becomes your day-to-day. Understanding 3 by leveraging 6 lets you raise your prices. And taking 11 seriously will unlock your true potential as a freelancer turned business owner. 

Don’t get stuck on 8 because you skipped 1 and have no knowledge of 5. Full disclosure: I paid the best in the world to help me with 6 and 9. But once you start collecting 3 everything else falls into place. And the truth is, with what I’ve given you here, some of you will be able to just run with it as long as you can work out 4.

Twelve concrete steps. There are others who will offer you a shortcut. This has no basis in reality. But if you understand the value of hard work then this is a map with a proven path. Sequence matters. Line them up, do them in order, don’t skip anything. 

How you can do it too

I’ve put everything you’ve just read together in one place and in crystal-clear step-by-step detail. I’ve got it all lined up and waiting for you in a program called Freelance Copywriting Master Key.

It’s called that because it opens doors and reveals opportunities you don’t even know exist yet. And I want to give you access to it in the next 5 minutes.

But first some words from people who have already used it to unlock a work-from-anywhere lifestylemaxxing freelance income. 

Some typical examples 

“This is the most actionable freelancing resource I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been through a few.”– Ray Butler, California

“I grabbed this a week ago, and yesterday, a prospect reached out to me after some back and forth emails asking me to send him the agreement. You saved my ass-never put together a contract before!”– H.B, Seattle

“I found the Master Key on my lunch break at the weld shop. I read the page and you were answering questions none of the heavyweight courses were answering. It was the first course I bought and it ended up being one of the only ones. I just implemented all the stuff and landed two separate agencies straight away. Month two I cleared $9,000. And I still use the Terms of Agreement template.”

– Kyam Calvert, Nebraska

“Master Key lays out brilliant freelance strategies that normally take YEARS of trial-and-error to learn–I can’t even imagine how much further along I’d be if I had this when I got started. Should be the first thing anyone even remotely interested in freelancing touches.”
— Alex Getz, Frankfurt

“Honestly, Master Key is just so good and so well written. The content is exceptional. As I read your story and instructions it created a mindset shift because now I can see the types of clients there are and how many are available. It was like you were programming new beliefs without outright stating it.”
— Chen, Prague

“I picked this up a couple of weeks ago to learn the basics and it’s a steal. The Anatomy of an Offer section is worth the price alone.”
– Ryan Johnson, Texas

“I’ve run through a few copy courses but none of them go into as much detail as you about actually getting clients. I felt like I was in a rut this morning but having you lay out a foundation like that has helped tremendously and I can’t thank you enough.”
– Thomas W, Tampa

“If you’re a copywriter or freelancer struggling to get consistent paydays and you want to learn the ins and outs, the ABCs and the A-Zs of the business of freelance copywriting, look no further. Just go get it.”
— Eddy, Colombia

Introducing Master Key

Freelance Copywriting Master Key is a 12-module written course that you can take in a weekend. It’s hosted on Gumroad so you can quickly and easily view it in the app whenever you want.

It gives you the step-by-step process I’ve laid out above. It also gives you all the practical and tactical details and materials you need to execute the system and set your freelance business up for success. 

And I promise at no point do I ask you to demean yourself by lubing up and sliding into 200 DMs a day just to say, “Doing anything with email?”

You’re getting my hard-earned knowledge and ongoing insight in a fun, efficient and easy-to-reference format.  

An invitation

This is the ticket to living the copywriting life. You have three options to choose from. 

Just click one of the buttons to get started. If you’ve bought something on Gumroad before you know the drill. If you haven’t, you’ll be taken to a checkout page and asked to enter your details.

After you complete checkout, you get instant access to the course inside your Gumroad library. And when you choose the Ultra package in the middle, you’ll also get 5 exclusive bonuses. 

BONUS #1: Pitch-Perfect Proposals
The best way to write proposals (hint: don’t call them proposals)

BONUS #2:  The Ultimate Copywriter Resume
A look at the two key ingredients you need to stand out in a crowd

BONUS #3: Terms of Agreement Template
Make a powerful and professional first impression with clients

BONUS #4: Copywriter Command Center
The software I use every day to keep my business humming

BONUS #5: My “Lickety-Splitz” Offer that Sells for $4,995
A pre-packaged, high-ticket service you can write in 45 minutes

This probably isn’t for you

This isn’t reverse psychology. It’s a statistical reality. 95% of people won’t buy. But if you’ve read everything above, let me be clear on who Master Key is for.

Master Key is for you if you want something more than a mediocre career and average income. You are serious about honing your copywriting skills and building a thriving business.

You have also asked yourself smart questions about the inner workings of the industry: How do top-copywriters land high-paying clients? What strategies do they use to position themselves?  When does a career really start to click?

Most importantly: You have also noticed there are two sorts of teachers who sell copywriting courses. One sort earns most of their money writing copy. The other earns most of their money selling courses. Freelance copywriters in 2025 need practical freelancing skills. You are here because you understand which option is your best shot at success.

The investment is $99 for the Core package, $297 for the Ultra package with exclusive bonuses and lifetime community access, or $247 for the Call package. You can make your choice based on your current level of commitment and focus on your copywriting career.

Hurry 

There are many ways to waste your time in pursuit of knowledge. But I have set Master Key up with a bias towards ACTION. First, I will show you the game. Then you must play it. 

There are other people you can buy from. They come and go. If you have the time, feel free to sort through the winners and losers. You’ll see the difference between hyperbole and reality. 

But if you want to take the straightest path to success you should buy the best product. My mentor Shane Hunter showed me that in the history of online marketing it was often those with the “best” marketing at the time that fizzled away. Those who make the better product survive. 

Two weeks from today you WILL be 14 days older. You COULD be on your way to a stable and lucrative freelance copywriting career.

Let’s see if our paths are meant to meet. 

Bye-bye,

P.S.P. French

P.S. Everything I know, and everything anyone knows about freelance copywriting is only a model. If you want to experiment, I guess that’s fine. But if you simply want to be effective and efficient, then stick with the Master Key system. With the 12-steps and your free Copy Custard Discord community access, you can probably take care of all your freelancing needs for years to come.