Product Launch Series: Problem Email
For Freelance Copywriters & Marketers
- The Goal: To get the audience emotionally invested in a story that builds anticipation for a product reveal, positioning it as the definitive solution to their problem.
- The Approach: To use the Problem-Agitate-Solution (PAS) launch model. A storytelling sequence where problem, agitation, and solution each appear in separate emails, building anticipation and desire for the offer.
Subject: I was a marketer with zero clients…
I remember quitting my job, staring at an empty calendar, wondering if I’d made a terrible mistake.
After years of working a restaurant job and doing marketing as a hobby/side gig, I’d finally taken the leap to freelance copywriting full time. I had the passion, I’d built a simple website showcasing my work, and I was ready to start my dream career.
Confidently, I sent out my first batch of cold emails to potential clients…
And waited…
And refreshed my inbox obsessively…
Two weeks later, I had received exactly zero responses. Not even a polite “no thanks.”
I was devastated. The silence was deafening, and my confidence was crumbling. I started questioning everything—my skills, my decision to go freelance, even my career choice.
After a particularly rough day of zero leads, I reached out to a fellow copywriter who’d been in the business for years. His first question caught me off guard: “Who exactly are you targeting with your outreach?”
“Anyone who needs copywriting,” I replied.
There was a long pause on the other end of the line.
That’s when I realized my fundamental mistake. I was trying to speak to everyone, which meant I was effectively speaking to no one. My messaging was so generic that potential clients couldn’t see how I could solve THEIR specific problems.
Without a clear target audience, even the best copywriting skills in the world won’t land you clients.
Because when you try to appeal to everyone, your message gets diluted. Your expertise seems questionable. And your prospects have no compelling reason to choose you over anyone else.
Tomorrow, I’ll show you the simple shift I made that took me from zero responses to a waitlist of clients eager to work with me.
Until then,
Donnie
