How I turned $150 into $25,000

The smell of toasted coffee beans filled the air.

Between the lush plants and sun beaming through the window, the cafe felt like a greenhouse.

I watched the last few minutes tick down as I waited for the call.

I tried to keep my hands from shaking as I sipped my black coffee, but the adrenaline made it difficult.

At the time, I was a copywriter and got referred a potential clients.

My bank account was slowly draining, so I needed to get some clients rolling in.

The moment of truth arrived as I waited for her on the Zoom call.

Moments later, she connected. I fumbled through the small talk. And my heart pounded like it was trying to escape my chest.

And then came the moment I dreaded most:

The price question.

“What do you charge?”

Suddenly, my throat tightened…

My brain screamed, You’re not good enough to charge high prices. Don’t blow it.

So I panicked, threw out the lowest number possible, and tried to play it cool.

“$150 to write all the copy for your website” I said.

The client agreed immediately.

And while I should’ve been relieved…

There was a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I knew I had just sold myself short.

The problem was, I was 1 copywriter in a sea of millions.

I knew I was a commodity.

And when you’re a commodity?

You (and the client) knows there’s someone else with the same skill at half the cost just a 10-second Google search away.

And you know how that game goes:

Race to the bottom.

Lowest price wins. Everyone else loses.

How I Went From Charging $150 to $25,000

A few months later, I switched from copywriting to social media ghostwriting.

And 9 months into running my ghostwriting agency, I got a DM from a follower.

He wanted me to grow his Twitter account.

I didn’t wanna take on any more clients, but he was persistent on hiring me.

So I threw out the most absurd price I could think of to get him to leave me alone:

$25,000.

He agreed.

I almost spat out my coffee.

A year earlier I was scared to charge $150, now I was closing $25K deals with strangers over the DMs.

And over the years, I’ve come to understand why…

1) I specialized in 1 skill

I picked a skill that:

• I had interest in

• There was market demand for

For me, this was writing.

2) I built my personal brand

I built a brand around my speciality, which increased my:

• Authority

• Reach

• Trust

3) I stacked skills

I found complementary skills that added value to my offer and differentiated me from the competition.

• Content

• Marketing

• Social media strategy

This differentiated me from the competition.

Don’t Be The Best, Be The Only

So, what’s the overall lesson from this?

You don’t need to be the best at one skill to attract premium clients.

You just need to provide a unique solution to a painful problem.

And you sure in the hell ain’t gonna do that if you’re like everyone else.

You NEED to be different.

This means:

1. Becoming proficient at one skill

2. Building your personal brand.

3. Stacking complementary skills

I promise, it’ll change your life.

Your Canadian friend,

Dakota “Stack Skills To Pay The Bills” Robertson

P.S.

If you’re a:

• Coach

• Freelancer

• Business owner

Who wants to:

• Differentiate yourself from your competition

• Attract more inbound leads

• Build your personal brand

I’m launching my new community, Full Stack Creator, on October 1st.

It’ll show you my plug and play system that grew my brand to a 500K+ following and helped me hit $100K+ months.

Click here to join 1,200 people on the waitlist: [link]