How did you decide copywriting was your way out?

I had been writing off and on. I had my own hobby website back in 2000, talking about computers and software. But around 2010 they cut back our hours. So I started looking around. Read about work-at-home-type stuff. Thought maybe I could turn my writing into something that could make some money. So in October 2010, I began writing in the ultra-low-paying content mills.

Making something like $5 an article, right?
Yes. I worked six hours on an article and got paid $4.95. So I was way below minimum wage. And my first full year of writing, I wrote over 400 articles and made $2,000 for the year I'd hate to do the math. It's kind of scary. But it was proof of concept. I thought, Maybe there's more. And certainly there was.

You saw a crack of light through the door. Now if you write that same kind of article, you make upward of $400, correct?
Yeah, between $400 and $800 for something like that. And in a lot less time. Because I know my niche, so it's fairly easy for me to write what I write. I speak the language, and that helps.

My niche is industrial manufacturing and commercial businesses. If you want to put it in food terms, my meat and potatoes are blog articles and newsletter articles. And then my dessert, my chocolate cake, would be case studies and white papers and brochures.

Would you say the cherry on top is what you did for your wife, Mary, and her website?
She was one of my first customers. She wanted to start a seamstress business, and I had just started learning web copywriting. We treated it just like a real client-and-copywriter relationship, because it was. We put that up in 2013 at marysews.com with $30 in paid advertising. Everything else has come from internet searches and referrals. She's so busy, the racks in her office are always full.

Back when you were getting started, what was your biggest challenge?
Believing I could do it. I mentioned that first article was kind of like proof of concept, but after two years in the mills, you begin to wonder, Are you really that good a writer? And that really works on your self-esteem. That, and I was an electrician in a chicken plant — come on. How can I be a successful copywriter?

What do you like best about your writer's life?
Being home. In June of this year, I'll be retired for two years from my day job. I write copy full time, and that's my gig now. I own my time and can schedule my calendar and not have to worry about getting up at 4 am to climb in the truck and drive 12 miles to work.

What would you tell somebody who is brand-new, wondering if there's more to writing than just the content mills?
Believe that you can and find like-minded people and then understand that you can do this. You can if I can. I don 't have a college education. I worked in a chicken plant and still made a six-figure income with copywriting. It's not six figures now because honestly, I don't need that much at this time. We have taken care of all the major expenses. I still make more money than I did at the full-time job, but it's easier money. And if I need more, I don't have to ask a boss. I just find another client.

Steve's Living The Writer's Life story was originally published in Barefoot Writer. To learn more about how you can start living your dream writer's life too, click here.