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No portfolio. No experience. No Upwork account.
Yet I landed my first international copywriting client. The secret? It's simpler than you think
3 years ago, I was trying to figure out the best ways to make a living on the internet.
I was learning copywriting at the time as an essential skill - had just read some books and written a few practice pieces.
I had no idea how to actually get clients or service them. I wasn't sure if my writing would be effective copy or not.
I was looking for gigs here and there, but I didn't want to set up a Fiverr or Upwork account yet because I didn't want to run that race.
So I was just looking on Twitter and IndieHackers.
- On Twitter: I was active, reaching out and looking at what kind of gigs people offered and what kind of work copywriters were doing.
- It was very hard to get gigs from Twitter at the time because I didn't have any presence and didn't know how to find people.
On IndieHackers, I used to visit every day, read, write, ask questions, and answer wherever I could add value.
There, I found one person who was looking for a copywriter to write copy for their Shopify app.
This was interesting because I had built a Shopify store before, so I understood that ecosystem a bit.
I knew what a good Shopify app description might look like, plus I could draw inspiration from other apps in the app store.
I reached out to him and honestly told him that I was new to this and had never done it before. I offered to do it for free.
He was a developer from Greece, and he replied saying he appreciated the gesture but would still pay me.
He didn't believe in getting free work done.
This was a big lightbulb moment for me.
- He offered to give me $50 for a piece of copy.
- I was happy to do it - I wasn't looking for revenue, just exposure and experience of actually servicing a client.
It took me 2-3 days to write the copy for his product.
I learned a lot about him, the product, and the market he was serving. I delivered it, he paid me $50, and he was happy.
He used that copy for his product.
This experience really changed my mind. I realized I could:
- Connect remotely from a corner in remote India
- Write copy and service clients
- Make money online
It wasn't product revenue, but service revenue.
What really mattered was that I could get paid for my skills online in some way.
It was a really eye-opening experience for me.
I thanked him a bunch of times after that. This really got me going into making money online.
What this taught me:
- You can land clients without a huge portfolio
- Be upfront about your experience level
- Some clients value integrity over experience
- Every job is a learning opportunity
This gig proved I could work remotely from India, write for international clients, and make money online.
It wasn't about the $50. It was about proving the concept.
