10 Questions with Doug Lawson: Freelance Marketing Strategist/Advisor and Content Writer

Doug Lawson is a marketing strategist/advisor and content writer that helps clients bring the BOOM! to their messaging.

• Years freelance writing: 12 years.

• From: Chicago.

The name Doug Lawson immediately brings three things to my mind: Song lyrics with marketing lessons, BOOM!, and screenshots showing impressive client results.

Doug, thanks so much for this interview and for giving the ATFW community a peek behind the scenes. Here are your 10 questions: 

1. Can you tell our audience a little about your background and how you got into marketing?

I’m a former Special Education teacher. I spent 7 years of my adult life trying to make a career out of teaching, but couldn’t. It was basically a vow of poverty and no real reward for working harder/smarter/better.

Then when my kids were babies… my wife didn’t want them to go to daycare (she wanted to leave her teaching job to stay home with them) and with my meager income plus my intense dislike for working overnight shift jobs to pay the bills (I’ve worked several- newspaper delivery, Target stocking, garbage pickups, etc)… I needed a way to make money from home. 

Went down the rabbit hole called TWITTER (This was nearly 12-13 years ago) and found a term called “copywriting”. Seemed “easy” enough: write for money. Boy, was I wrong on the “easy” part. Just read every book, blog, Tweet, course (cheap ones), freebies I could get my hands on. 

2. What exactly do you offer service-wise today and to whom?

Today I have two businesses. 

One is content/copywriting and the other is content advising for brands/CEOs. 

For content writing, I’m currently working with 2 B2B companies and 2 CEOs. For the companies, I do all their emails, web copy, blogs, social media posts, outbound copy, and some paid ad work. For the CEOs, I ghostwrite their LinkedIn, Twitter (for one of them), and email newsletters. 

I keep my roster small since I don’t outsource anything. And the other revenue (advising) stream, I have 10-14 clients per month ranging from a call to several calls a month. 

3. Scaling comes up a lot in conversations amongst freelance writers. What’s been your approach?

The way I scale is selling packages.

For example, if someone hires me to do email marketing, and their social media can’t drive sign-ups, I’ll upsell them social media strategy to increase their email sign-ups, while working on their emails. Emails without traffic or brand cannot work, and I will tell them that. I will tell them I need to work on the surrounding parts in order to optimize emails. 

Always look for the upsell that benefits the main reason they reach out for your assistance.

Likewise with blogs. 

What good is a blog if the rest of the website can’t convert the visitor? Upsell them to clean up their web copy and some CRO work. Make sure you explain that blogs alone don’t increase revenue (or whatever goal they are working on). 

It helps if you have frameworks you can sell, as well. 

Meaning, if you hire me you’re not getting a blog writer… you’re getting a content marketer. The framework in which the blogs fit into YOUR overall strategy is what I’m selling. Most CMOs/solo pros need ALL the help they can get. If you piecemeal everything, it’s hard to scale – so focus on selling the framework and/or packages. 

Decline all one-off projects, unless you price them high enough. 

4. You’ve grown a large following of 25k+ on LinkedIn. When did you join LinkedIn and what role has it played in your business?

I was on Twitter for 6 years slinging copywriting services. Got burned out badly and nuked my account. I swore off social media for a year or so and stuck with cold outreach/referrals. 

Then I went on LinkedIn 3.5 years ago. Started with ZERO followers. 

It is the MAIN driving force of my business. 

It allowed me to go from a lowly 5-figure earner (with side jobs) to a 6-figure earner in about 2 years. I’m completely grateful for everything the platform has to offer. It’s the ultimate B2B platform. 

5. And we have to talk about the screenshots. You’ve been able to repeatedly drive extremely impressive results for clients. For freelance writers who want to build an online presence to generate demand/fill their calendars, where would you suggest they start?

In this day and age, everyone is a self-proclaimed expert. Copywriting and content writing have such a low barrier to entry. Anyone can be a writer.

So, the easiest way to stand out is to show proof of concept. 

But you can’t have proof if you’re just simply a writer. 

Clients don’t pay me to do busy work. They want an ROI of some sort. So, that’s why I only work with people who allow me to work with other parts of their strategy or allow me to set the strategy (see my response about scaling). It does me no good to JUST write a blog, or JUST ghostwrite emails, or JUST write landing page copy. 

I need to be in control of the variables that allow me to produce a result for them. The results are what get me my next client and my next month’s retainer paid. 

So, if you’re starting out and you don’t have results to share… I would offer a performance-based pay structure. 

In other words, you don’t get paid until your work produces an ROI. It’s a no-risk offer, basically. 

(I used to do this way back. I still offer that occasionally)

Basically, ask for a percentage of sales. 

This will do two things: 

1. Force you to become a revenue-driven writer (to get proof)
2. Allow people to hire you with a no-risk offer. 

“The results are what get me my next client and my next month’s retainer paid.”

Doug Lawson

6. And how about freelancer writers who are in the $5K to $10k per month range but want to level up beyond $10k? What’s one piece of advice you would offer them?

This question reminds me of a TikTok video I watched the other day. The question was (to a car salesperson) which is easier to sell: 10 Ford pickups for 1k each or a Buggati?

The answer was: a Buggati. 

Why? Because it takes less time and it’s the SAME sales mechanics as the Fords (you will need to find 10 buyers instead of ONE). 

So, if you’re wanting those 10k+ retainers… market to the RIGHT people/organizations. 

For me, please stop marketing to people who have NEVER invested in content writing/strategy services. 

It’s so much easier to market to folks who have already invested in what you do (at a high level), but are unhappy with the results from their past/current vendor or are looking to go a different direction – $10k a month to them is par for the course. 

7. Now that you’ve shared a bit about what to do…What would you say is one of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to build their brand online?

They think going online is to sell what they know – dude, there are 1 million plus copywriters on LinkedIn. 

They don’t need more information. 

They need to feel connected to you (show your personality), they need to be drawn by your thoughts/the way you connect dots/the way you explain the gaps, and they need to see you have credibility (proof). 

If you’re a writer, you should be standing out with your WRITING. Seems obvious, but I would challenge you to be creative and be known for a certain style.

 I used to take songs from the audience (any random ones, the harder the better) and turn them into posts related to content marketing and then I would challenge other content creators to battle me with their content. It was a way to be creative, to get to know me, to see how I thought, and to demonstrate my writing skills. 

8. To switch gears a little, I’ve gotta ask… where did the BOOM originate and how did it become a cornerstone of your brand? 

I’ve always said BOOM! growing up. But I started using it a few years ago so I didn’t have to leave LONG comments.

Honestly, most people who write content just want others to support their algorithms (sure, some people want intense back n’ forth exchanges – I ain’t about that life) and I’m short on time. So it was a win-win word. 

So, people would just see BOOM! all over the place and I just became known for it. Plus I’m usually high-energy and intense, so it was fitting all the way around. 

9. Almost done! When you’re not enjoying a cup of joe (non-instant) and helping clients grow their revenue, what do you like to do?

I love reading. I read all the time: history, fantasy/sci-fi, classics. (I detest biz books). 

I love hiking/rucking. I live out in the country now, so there are a ton of trails and forest preserves. Nothing clears my head like a good hike or ruck (throwing on a weighted vest). 

I like to work outside (we have a plot of land that needs a lot of upkeep). 

And of course, driving my kids around to their extracurricular activities (they are teens now). 

10. Lastly, what do you have going on this year? Is there anything we should keep an eye out for?

Oh, man…I’m going to be coming out with a free, by-invite (or request) community where I will show you more of my strategy for certain clients, and products/services, as well as do as much Q and A as I can (right now my DMs are flooded with people asking questions). 

I have two partnerships (one with a B2B and another with a B2C) forming where I will be a part of two growing companies.

Where can you find, follow, and contact Doug?

Head over to his website.

Thank you again, Doug! BOOM!