Check this out:
A few years back, I started lifting again.
I played football in high school, so I lifted 4x a week back then.
But after high school?
I stopped lifting for longer than I’d like to admit.
Why?
I hated it. Idk why. It was tied to football, which I didn’t love playing. So I never took it seriously.
Case in point:
I didn’t deadlift once my entire senior year. I thought it hurt my back so I avoided it like a mask. (Which is the new Chad phrase I’m coining instead of using the outdated “avoided it like the plague” idiom.)
Looking back on it… Power cleans were probably the culprit for my back pain.
Anywho, here’s the point:
When I started lifting again after a long hiatus, my squat was light years ahead of my deadlift.
Light years.
And it still is.
In fact, let me “expose” myself to the other lifters reading this:
My deadlift max is closer to my bench max than it is to my squat.
For normal lifters, their deadlift is the heaviest lift. Then squat comes in a close second. And their bench is usually way lower than both of them.
Last time I maxed out…
Squat: 525 lbs
Sumo deadlift: 415 lbs
Bench: 345 lbs
Yeeeeeesh.
(Though to be fair, last time I maxed out on deadlift I didn’t use chalk or a belt, so I should be able to lift more than that.)
Alright, what’s any of this hafta do with copywriting or freelancing?
There were lessons in here if’n you can find them.
Let me hold your hand a bit though and give you the two most obvious lessons:
Lesson #1 — Muscle memory is underrated
Here’s my theory:
My squat (and bench) are so much higher in comparison to my deadlift because I avoided it like a mask during high school.
I didn’t get enough reps in, so my gains hafta come through blood, sweat, and tears instead of relying on my muscle memory.
This applies to both copywriting and freelancing.
Whenever I look back on copy I wrote a year or two ago, I cringe right outta my clothes. It’s god-awful compared to the copy I cook up today. (It’s still better than most of these copywriting guru jabronis though.)
As for freelancing…
Freelancing is a numbers game.
I want to help as many clients as I can. But some just tell you to fvck off. Sucks for them because I could boost their email revenue by at least 30%. But it is what it is.
When I first started cold emailing, rejection hurt.
When I did hop on a sales call, I sucked. And again, rejection hurt.
But rejection is a muscle like any other one.
Today?
I don’t care if we work together or not. It’s your loss, not mine.
And the more reps you get in, the more comfortable you feel.
Lesson #2 — Track your results
You can only improve what you track.
I’ve gone through crazy post-covid gains in the gym thanks to my handy Strong app.
It tracks every lift I’ve done and lets me “compete” against myself. And I improve every single week — even if it’s just adding an extra 2.5 pound plate on each side of the barbell.
Small improvements add up over time and create massive results.
This is especially true with email marketing.
Send a monthly newsletter?
People will forget who you are, never buy anything, and mark your emails as spam.
Send a daily newsletter?
People might not buy every single day.
But they will remember you
Buy from you when they need what you offer
And not mark your emails as spam
Alright, end lesson. (Pst, Gabe, this is the most you’re gonna get about my squat gains haha)
Onto bidness…
If you have a proven offer and wanna dump kerosene on your revenue (to the tune of 30%-264.1% increase in email revenue) every single month without so much as lifting a finger, book a discovery call here.
We’ll see if there’s an opportunity to work together.
P.S. Also, nothing makes me more creative, productive, and energized than lifting.
Start lifting weights and thank me later.