3 Mistakes I Made In Year One as a Copywriter

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It’s officially been 7 years.

I started my copywriting journey in January 2019.

My progress so far:

• Retired my wife

• Lived in 4 countries

• Built a 4 hour workday business

• Hired by multiple 7/8-figure brands

• Generated 7 figures in results with email

• Made over $800,000+ in profit (what I actually made)

And, I've taught 1,000+ copywriters how to do the same.

It’s been a wild journey, and I’m forever grateful I decided to go all in when I did.

The only thing is?

I wish I did it sooner.

And I wish I didn’t make dozens of mistakes along the way that slowed down my progress (and made my life more painful).

Here are 3 mistakes I made in my first year (that you can avoid)…

Follow these if you want to build a full time income with copywriting faster so you can quit your job:

1. I didn’t specialize in sales copy at first

Okay, this might sound strange, but it’s true.

My first specialty was blog posts (even though I was training myself up as a copywriter).

Nothing wrong with blogs. In fact, I’ve made plenty of money with them– and still do (I can’t complain about getting paid $400-$600 in 3-4 hours for writing a post).

But, I would have made more money quicker if I specialized in sales pages, emails, or ads.

Why?

They’re closer to the conversion. And they have a more direct impact on a business’ ability to generate revenue than a blog post.

It’s copywriting vs. content writing.

If you already specialize in blog posts, that’s okay. You can still make $10,000+ per month because they still help generate traffic from Google, engage audiences, and can convert people to make a purchase.

It’s just a harder path.

I primarily wrote blogs for my first 6 months as a copywriter.

At month 6, I specialized into email copy.

That’s when my income went from under $1,000/month to $5,000/month in a single month. And then to $9,000/month by month 12, and $10-$15k months since.

2. I didn’t reach out to businesses directly

I played it safe and stuck to freelance marketplaces for the first 6 months.

So places like Fiverr and Upwork.

Upwork isn’t a bad place to supplement your income.

But in 2026, Fiverr isn’t a great choice.

The main issue was, I was waiting around for clients on Fiverr. And only pitching a few jobs a day on Upwork.

Instead…

I should have reached out to businesses via DMs right away and dropped Sniper Bombs with high value upfront. It would have worked much faster (and got me higher paying clients).

I didn’t start doing that till month 7… and when I started doing free audits and sample, my income went up.

3. I didn’t surround myself with other copywriters

If you want to be successful, surround yourself with people who are successful.

This means if you want to be fit, hang around people at the gym.

If you want to get closer to God, go to church.

If you want to succeed in copy?

Hang around successful copywriters.

I didn’t do this when I started. Sure, I bought the books and the courses (I invested over $5,000 in my copy education in year one).

But, I didn’t connect with successful copywriters face to face. No coaching or mentorship or community.

To be fair, coaching and communities weren’t really a thing for copywriters in 2019. It was all courses.

But the fastest way to get to six figures per year as a copywriter is by:

• Getting your copy reviewed

• Learning what’s working in real time with other copywriters

• Hopping on live coaching calls to ask questions to others who have gone before you

Nothing beats getting personalized, custom-tailored help from other successful copywriters.

Thankfully, you can avoid this. In fact, you can avoid ALL 3 of these major mistakes I made in year one.

How?

By joining the #1 ranked copywriting program on Skool:

The Six-Figure Copy Academy.

In the Academy, you’ll get to learn directly from a copywriter who’s landed dozens of and 8-figure clients in various niches…

And generated millions in revenue in the process… all thanks to copywriting.

You get to go through a structured, 90-day course.

It’s laid out in a simple day-by-day format. Everything. from learning copywriting from scratch. Marketing. Brand new AI training. How to land clients in 2026. And how to get your clients results and scale your business.

That way, you’ll never wonder “what should I be working on” ever again.

You’ll get your copy reviewed directly from me (not some random other guru coaches you don’t know).

Every single blind spot in your copy will be revealed. I will personally send you a personalized video every week showing you tactical tips to improve your copy.

You’ll get live help on our Tuesday group coaching calls to work through your biggest bottlenecks as a freelance copywriter.

This means you don’t have to try to figure all this out on your own. We’ll work through your copy, your outreach, and your current client challenges to solve them live.

Every day, you’ll get to ask questions in the community to get continual support in between calls.

Your questions won’t go unanswered. You’ll get daily help from me directly.

And you’ll be surrounded by a community of ~100 other copywriters on the same journey up who can give you insights into what’s working with them in real time.

The copywriters who fail the most are those who try to build their business alone.

That won’t be a struggle for you anymore when you’re surrounded by a tightknit group of copywriters hungry to build a better life for themselves (and many who are already making a full time income).

This is NOT something you will find in a $997 course.

And it’s NOT something you’ll get in a freebie discord group.

If you want to level up your skills as a freelance copywriter, build a $10k/month freedom business from your laptop, all on the side of your 9 to 5…

Then join the Six-Figure Copy Academy today at the link below.

For the next 2 days, you can skip over the $119 entry requirement…

And get a 7-day free trial.

That way, you can test out the Academy for yourself risk-free to see what all the hype is about.

Click here to unlock digital freedom as a six-figure copywriter.

Brandon “2 days left to get a free trial” Storey

P.S. Here’s some feedback from a few of my copywriting students:

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