Podcast

Episode 88: How Delia Monk earned $100,000 in *Her First Year Freelancing* (!!) From Cold Agency Outreach

By Zach Swinehart

In this episode, Zach talks to Delia Monk from www.deliamonk.com.

Delia is a copywriter who used cold outreach to earn over $100K in her first year as a freelancer.

She goes deep into her cold outreach philosophy and approach that can help even new freelancers start booking clients today.

She also shares her email template she used to cold outreach to a design agency that ended up driving multiple five figures of business to her!

Get Delia’s 3-step plan to writing a website that shines and sells!

Turn your website from a pretty window display into a cash ringing register that pings all day and night. https://deliamonk.com/plan

Follow Delia:

AI-Generated Summary:

  • 0:00 – 2:00 — Zach introduces the podcast and his guest, Delia, a successful copywriter who made six figures in her first year via cold outreach.
  • 2:00 – 4:00 — Zach promotes his accelerator community and discusses Delia’s success with cold outreach and her niche in working with course creators and internet marketers.
  • 4:00 – 6:00 — Zach appreciates Delia’s unique style and her satisfaction from client work. He also sets the direction for the interview, aiming to help freelancers systematically get clients.
  • 6:00 – 8:00 — Zach seeks to uncover Delia’s outreach strategies and metrics. Delia briefly describes her past career as a political journalist and her transition to travel business.
  • 8:00 – 10:00 — Delia’s personal struggles during COVID-19, her travel business collapsing, and her decision to leverage her writing skills to start a new venture in copywriting.
  • 10:00 – 12:00 — Delia discusses her initial education in Joey Coffee School and the intensive courses she took, emphasizing her new confidence in her skills.
  • 12:00 – 14:00 — Zach visualizes a pivotal moment for Delia in Barcelona and inquires about the timeline of her career shift.
  • 14:00 – 16:00 — Delia highlights her journey from journalism to copywriting, noting how her unique combination of storytelling, investigation, and sales skills define her brand.
  • 16:00 – 18:00 — Delia and Zach touch on the importance of brand stories and understanding one’s unique strengths and experiences.
  • 18:00 – 20:00 — Delia dives into the beginning of her cold outreach process, emphasizing the importance of researching potential clients and understanding their needs.
  • 20:00 – 22:00 — Delia discusses the importance of understanding client lives for effective pitching.
  • 22:00 – 24:00 — Zach and Delia talk about the challenges and strategies for pitching to larger companies.
  • 24:00 – 26:00 — Delia suggests targeting department heads on LinkedIn and using tools to find their contact info.
  • 26:00 – 28:00 — The duo highlights the value of making direct phone calls for information and making pitches.
  • 28:00 – 30:00 — Delia and Zach discuss strategies for researching and understanding a company’s needs, like signing up for services or reading reviews.
  • 30:00 – 32:00 — Zach encourages questions via chat and mentions the progress in the discussion. Delia emphasizes knowing one’s industry and finding inroads to understand pain points.
  • 32:00 – 34:00 — Delia suggests identifying platforms where potential clients might be and joining those spaces. Zach relates with a focus on developers’ presence on Twitter.
  • 34:00 – 36:00 — The conversation shifts to the next step, with Delia discussing her philosophies on “cold pitching,” emphasizing mindset and considering it a numbers game.
  • 36:00 – 38:00 — Delia talks about adding personality to pitches and how her authentic pitches attracted her ideal clients. Zach shares his experience with homepage authenticity.
  • 38:00 – 40:00 — Zach seeks clarification on time management for outreach, and Delia details her timeboxing method. The topic transitions to identifying and pursuing dream clients.
  • 40:00 – 42:00 — Zach discusses the significance of job postings in determining a company’s budget and needs.
  • 42:00 – 44:00 — Delia shares her thoughts on niching and its advantages for understanding the audience better.
  • 44:00 – 46:00 — Zach expresses interest in creating courses teaching niching from different angles and invites Delia.
  • 46:00 – 48:00 — Zach outlines a rubric for brainstorming ideas, research, and outreach within a 30-minute timeframe.
  • 48:00 – 50:00 — Delia highlights different call-to-action strategies for cold outreach emails and discusses the efficacy of personalized videos.
  • 50:00 – 52:00 — Delia emphasizes the importance of connecting with an audience initially, with a strong opening line and repeating the call to action in emails.
  • 52:00 – 54:00 — Delia uses a dating analogy to explain her pitch approach and stresses the importance of complimenting and understanding the potential client’s needs.
  • 54:00 – 56:00 — Delia discusses her own qualifications as a copywriter, offering both direct work with clients and back-end support for agencies.
  • 56:00 – 58:00— Delia links her freebie and Zach points out the value of having a structured process and resources like a lead magnet.
  • 58:00 – 1:00:00 — Delia emphasizes the importance of proving one’s authenticity and expertise, and mentions her unique selling point of wireframing copy.
  • 1:00:00 – 1:02:00 — Delia offers a virtual coffee chat and highlights her writing process by linking her free resource.
  • 1:02:00 – 1:04:00 — Delia emphasizes the importance of whitespace in emails and Zach suggests listeners share their challenges with the discussed template.
  • 1:04:00 – 1:06:00 — Delia explains how personalization in emails makes a significant difference and boosts conversion rates.
  • 1:06:00 – 1:08:00 — Delia shares her success rate from a campaign, emphasizing the high-value return from just ten emails.
  • 1:08:00 – 1:10:00 — Delia discusses the benefits of networking, even if it doesn’t immediately result in sales, and introduces a new service with a special discount for existing clients.
  • 1:10:00 – 1:12:00 — Delia discusses her direct response to a client and the benefits of hindsight. She recalls a potential collaboration with a winemaker in California amidst their rebranding.
  • 1:12:00 – 1:14:00 — Zach inquires about establishing credibility when one lacks testimonials or a website. Delia emphasizes the importance of having an online presence, like a basic website or a robust LinkedIn profile.
  • 1:14:00 – 1:16:00 — Delia advises on the value of a single solid testimonial and how to obtain it, even mentioning her first client, Kayleigh. Zach considers the idea of pro-bono projects for gaining experience and testimonials.
  • 1:16:00 – 1:18:00 — Delia shares her approach to follow-ups after cold outreach and describes a particularly successful outreach experience with a client named Joanna.
  • 1:18:00 – 1:20:00 — Delia highlights the unpredictability of outreach results, pointing out the varying needs and timelines of potential clients. Zach emphasizes the significance of timing and relevance in cold outreach outcomes.
  • 1:20:00 – 1:22:00 — Zach discusses opportunities in offering suggestions for improving clients’ work and asks Delia if she thinks it’s a good idea; Delia sees potential, especially in video presentations.
  • 1:22:00 – 1:24:00 — Delia provides advice on crafting effective emails, emphasizing the need for connection, understanding the audience’s needs, including testimonials, and having a clear call to action.
  • 1:24:00 – 1:26:00 — Delia discusses the importance of perseverance in outreach, sharing a personal success story, and emphasizes the impact one successful connection can have.
  • 1:26:00 – 1:28:00 — Zach inquires about Delia’s services, leading to a discussion about her offering a session to help individuals improve their pitches. They briefly discuss availability for further questions.
  • 1:28:00 – 1:30:00 — Delia explains the primary goal of a subject line in emails, which is to encourage the recipient to open the email. She shares her own cheeky style as an example.
  • 1:30:00 – 1:32:00 — Delia advises against using generic email subject lines and emphasizes tailoring it to tease content.
  • 1:32:00 – 1:34:00 — Zach suggests personalizing subject lines based on preliminary research, hinting at customer commitment.
  • 1:34:00 – 1:36:00 — Delia stresses personalizing subject lines to avoid appearing spammy, while Zach emphasizes importance of prompt customer support email responses.
  • 1:36:00 – 1:38:00 — Delia recounts her motivation and journey to building confidence and pursuing her desired clients despite obstacles.
  • 1:38:00 – 1:40:00 — Zach and Delia discuss the importance of having mentorship and vouching, suggesting leveraging reputable figures to enhance credibility in outreach.
  • 1:40:00 – 1:42:00 — Delia discusses the importance of professionalism in websites and email domains; Zach emphasizes how email sender credibility affects cold outreach success.
  • 1:42:00 – 1:44:22 — Delia promotes her “Thursday toilet talk” email series and offers a three-step plan for website writing; Zach wraps up and hints at future collaborations with Delia.