Some ‘expert’ got thousands of dollars for a PPT you made on a casual Friday

5 min readOct 26, 2023

you get exactly what you think you are worth…

Back in 2018, when I had just started working full-time as a digital marketing associate, we used to have weekly sessions with an expert.

He made more money in those 30 minutes than my monthly salary. He knew his thing, had the results, and had loads of experience.

I remember coming home and telling my dad all about it. I wanted to do something in life that people pay me for expertise, not for staring at a laptop screen for 12 hours. We saw this dream of my one-person business together.

Every day, even at my worst, I tell myself I can’t give up on my dream halfway.

The next big shock was when I realized that the fresher I was mentoring was getting almost the same salary just because she was based out of US.

I don’t get it — How does location matter if I bring revenue for the company and all profits are in $$$?

It hit hard because I was leading the complete marketing operations, creating and editing all our copywriting drafts. I was also managing a big part of sales.

And the results, they were all there. So, how was that salary justified?

The final one:

In 2022, I joined a private copywriting group, and here’s a glimpse of the conversation.

Freelancer 1: ‘I am having a really bad month. I could only make $2k, and really confused about what I was doing wrong…’

Freelancer 2: ‘I am working on a graduation sequence for a client and have a few questions..’

Freelancer 3: ‘How much should I charge for the sample website teardown?’

Freelancer 2: ‘I am charging $5k for an email campaign. Do you think I am still undercharging?’ (after asking for more details, the answer was unanimously yes.)

Freelancer 3: ‘I hit my first $20k month after learning so much from this community.’

The ‘bad’ months for them are full-time salaries for most of us here in India. It’s considered to be a great salary for marketing. And this is the reason I hate it even more.

When people from tech aren’t settling for less than what they deserve, why should the creatives just accept some random no. as an industry standard?

You would think there’s a difference between what a copywriter from India gets paid compared to the US.

Well, the difference is in the mindset.

If you feel that a US client would only hire you because you’ll do the same work for ‘cheap’, that’s not a win. That’s just business. They’ll fire you when they increase their budgets and find better people.

BUT, if you have enough trust in your skill and have previous experience in getting the best results for your clients, location won’t be a reason for you to charge less anymore.

Some past mentors were kind enough to tell me I was undercharging for my services. I literally saw everyone’s profile in that copywriting group. They had way less experience than me and were charging almost 5x the prices I had in mind.

That day, I decided to go all in with my solo copywriting business.

you need the ultimate Barney energy for this:)

I told myself that I needed to stop being comfortable with a salary coming in every month.

I have been obsessed with being an independent creative for the last 4 years. I’ve always dreamed about working with some of the most creative agencies worldwide. I think I am somewhere on the right track, but it’s going to take a lot more effort and consistency to hit my ultimate goal. BUT, I am still much happier and more satisfied than my full-time job.

There are a few months when I do some of my best work, and then there are some when I am scared to death for myself and my business. But I won’t go back to the shackles of a full-time job, no matter how hard it gets.

Look at it this way — for everything you did on a Friday as a casual task, some ‘expert’ out there is getting paid shit tons of money for the same job.

Yes, being an independent consultant or solopreneur is hard. But it’s also fulfilling at the same time.

If you are going through a similar phase and want to chat, my DMs are always open. I also take consultation calls where we proactively create a plan for you based on your skills and interests.

If you feel that you don’t need to chat or do a consultation but need to know how exactly you can convert clients. Well, say no more.