Why most freelancers are brain dead

I’m writing this email from a starbucks in the snowy Michigan. Peanut and I traveled here for the weekend, and decided to stay an extra day before heading back down to Ohio.

And, boy, did today have a rough start:

I’m living the freelancer’s wet dream today, working out of a coffee shop in an unfamiliar city, and it’s made me realize a fundamental truth:

Most freelancers are brain dead.

I hate working out of a coffee shop:

My parking meter has a two hour limit, so I’m gonna have to move my car after I write this email. Trying to extend my parking for another hour won’t cut it either.

Coffee is more expensive (and doesn’t take particularly better than my keurig machine at home).

The cafe is much louder and more distracting than my at-home office.

Plus, I drove to multiple Starbucks today. The first one, which had a parking lot, had a 2 hour limit, and I figured if I parked on the street I could stay in a given spot for longer than 2 hours. Nope.

At least I was smart enough to bring my own toilet paper, so my arse doesn’t have to bleed when I wipe…

Okay, okay maybe that’s a little TMI.

But, y’know, it reminds me of another reason freelancers are brain dead:

Many are.

Simple as that.

Here’s what I mean:

They’re flakey. They expect to come out the gates making 6 figures a year (without even being able to generate 6 figures for their clients, which, ironically, is why they fap over swipe files, copy and paste entire emails or sales letters, and bow to AI). When they don’t, they blame everyone around them but themselves.

They’re in it for the money, and the money alone. Now, who doesn’t like money? But their love for money is different: They started freelancing (or opening an email marketing agency) not because they found a deep connection with copywriting or an innate desire to help fellow business owners, but because a Twitter guru told them they can make a lot of moolah. These folks almost never produce better results than others who actually care about the client and the client’s results.

They don’t study their craft. Maybe they read Ca$hvertising, $100M Offers, and The Boron Letters. But they don’t spend their free time reading everything — from comics and fiction and manga to sales letters and emails and infomercials. So everything they type, while it doesn’t exceed a 3rd grade level, it equally doesn’t persuade or generate cheddar for their clients.

And frankly, many of them can’t concentrate for 10 minutes, suffer from extreme forms of Shiny Object Syndrome, and jump from one project to another like middle school relationships.

The result?

Well, here’s the rub that sucks for freelancers everywhere including yours truly:

They make all freelancers look bad!

I’ve spoken to many and many-a prospects and clients over the years who have been burned by these types.

Moral of the story?

Be careful you ain’t doing business with a brain dead freelancer!

The good news is since you’re on this list, you’ve stumbled on one of the “good guys” when it comes to freelancing. If’n you need help unlocking hidden revenue in your emails, building a more loyal email list, and making anywhere from 30-60% of your revenue from email alone, book a call here, and let’s chat.

John