You’ve just bought a shiny new car. A Ferrari, perhaps. Or maybe a sensible-but-zippy Tesla.
You’ve read the manual. You’ve watched the YouTube tutorials. You’ve even bought those leather driving gloves that make you look like a hitman from a 70s movie.
But there’s a problem.
You don’t have any gas.
So the car sits there. Looking pretty, and doing absolutely nothing.
That’s exactly how a lot of writers feel after they finish an email copywriting course for freelancers.
You’ve got the skills. You’ve got the certificate (digital high-five). You know your open rates from your click-through rates.
But your bank account isn’t exactly reflecting your newfound genius.
The clients aren’t lining up around the block just yet. And the “high-ticket” dream feels a bit like a mirage.
The point is, knowing how to write is only half the battle. The other half?
Selling that skill to people who have money.
Specifically, landing those juicy freelance retainer agreements that stop you from living in the feast-or-famine cycle.
So, how do we get some gas in that Ferrari?
Here are 5 ways to turn your education into a paycheck.
1. Don’t wait for permission (The “Ghost Kitchen” Strategy)
Ever heard of a ghost kitchen?
It’s a restaurant that only exists on Uber Eats. No dining room. No waiters. No fancy tablecloths.
They just cook the food and ship it out.
They didn’t wait to buy a building to start feeding people.
When you finish your email copywriting course for freelancers, you might feel like you need permission to start. You feel like you need a “real” client to build a portfolio.
Wrong.
You just need the food.
In this case, the samples.
The lesson?
Build a portfolio before you have the clients. If you wait for a paying client to give you a chance to write, you’ll be waiting a long time.
Create a mock portfolio for dream brands. Write a welcome sequence for a fictional coffee company. Write a cart abandonment flow for a real shoe brand (just don’t send it to them… yet).
This is essential for building a copywriting portfolio.
- Pick a niche: Don’t write for everyone. (Read our guide on General vs. Specialised: Why You Need a Niche Email Copywriting Course for Freelancers to see why this matters).
- Create 3 solid samples: A Welcome Series, a Newsletter, and a Sales Email.
- Host them: Put them in a simple Google Drive folder or a sleek PDF.
2. The “Costco Sample” approach (The Audit)
You know when you walk into Costco and you have zero intention of buying jalapeno dip?
But then a nice lady in a hairnet hands you a cracker with a dollop of the green stuff on it.
It tastes amazing.
Suddenly, you have three tubs of jalapeno dip in your cart.
That’s the power of a free sample.
In the world of selling email marketing services, the “free sample” is the Audit.
Most businesses have terrible emails. They know it. You know it.
The lesson?
Give them a taste of what you can do.
Don’t pitch a $5,000 retainer immediately. That’s like proposing on the first date.
Instead, offer a free (or low-cost) audit of their current email strategy. Record a 5-minute Loom video walking through their subscribe process and pointing out—gently—where they are losing money.
- Spot the leaks: Show them where the revenue is dripping away.
- Offer the fix: Tell them what to do, but not how to write it.
- The Upsell: When they ask how to fix it, you step in.
If you aren’t sure what technical skills to look for during an audit, check out The Future of Inbox Marketing: What a Modern Email Copywriting Course for Freelancers Should Teach You.
3. Shift your mindset (The Dentist vs. The Toothbrush)
Nobody wakes up and thinks, “Man, I really want a root canal today.”
But they do want the pain to stop.
They pay the dentist a lot of money not for the procedure, but for the result (no pain, healthy teeth).
If you sell your services as “I write words,” you are selling a toothbrush. A commodity. Cheap.
If you sell your services as “I help you generate $20k extra per month on autopilot,” you are the dentist. Essential. High-ticket.
The lesson?
Stop charging by the hour.
High-ticket clients don’t care how long it takes you to write the email. They care about how much money that email makes them.
We did a deep dive on this specific pricing psychology in our article: From Hourly Rates to Value Pricing: A Case Study on the Impact of Professional Email Training.
- Talk ROI: Discuss Open Rates, Click-Through Rates, and Revenue Per Recipient.
- Sell the outcome: “This sequence will recover lost sales,” not “This sequence is 5 emails long.”
4. The “Netflix Model” (Landing the Retainer)
Okay, you’ve got the portfolio. You’ve done the audit. You’ve sold the value.
You do a one-off project for them. They love it.
Now what?
Do you shake hands and walk away?
No.
You Netflix them.
You get them hooked on a subscription.
Freelance retainer agreements are the holy grail. It means you don’t have to hunt for new clients every 1st of the month. It means stability.
The lesson?
Email marketing is not a one-and-done service. It is a beast that needs constant feeding.
Newsletters need to go out weekly. Flows need optimising. Campaigns need planning.
- The Pitch: “We’ve set up the foundation. Now, let’s keep the momentum going. For $X/month, I will handle 4 newsletters and monthly optimisation.”
- The Lock-in: Make it easier for them to keep paying you than to train someone new.
If you are struggling to make this transition, you might be making some common rookie errors. Check out 5 Revenue-Killing Mistakes Self-Taught Writers Make (And How a Course Fixes Them).
5. Be the expert, not the order taker
Imagine walking into a doctor’s office and saying, “Hey doc, I need you to prescribe me these exact pills, and I need you to use this specific scalpel.”
He’d kick you out.
Yet, so many freelancers let clients dictate the strategy.
“Can you just write this? Can you just change that?”
High-ticket clients pay for leadership. They pay for someone who knows more than they do.
The lesson?
Your client acquisition strategy relies on authority.
After your email copywriting course for freelancers, you likely know more about email strategy than 99% of business owners. Own that.
- Prescribe the solution: Don’t ask them what they want. Tell them what they need.
- Set boundaries: Experts have processes. Amateurs say “yes” to everything.
My challenge to you
The gap between a student and a high-paid professional isn’t talent.
It’s action.
It’s the audacity to pitch.
So, open that laptop, draft that audit video, or write that spec piece for your portfolio.
The clients are out there. They have money. And they have terrible open rates.
Go help them.
Love,
Kav Legacy
P.S. Still feeling like you need to sharpen the saw before cutting the tree? Read The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Email Copywriting Course for Freelancers in 2026 to make sure your skills are top-tier.
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