Copy That!

AI was supposed to kill copywriting. Sean Ferres thinks it's helped create the biggest opportunity for marketers and copywriters he’s seen in nine years: creative strategy. He joined me over Zoom to talk about what businesses are paying writers for now, why some freelancers are getting approached by clients, and what it takes to move beyond delivering copy in a Google Doc.

Sean has spent years helping copywriters get clients. Now, he’s seeing unprecedented demand for people who can research, develop, test, and improve top of funnel ads—and he shares what that means for writers figuring out their next move. In this conversation, we get into:

What a creative strategist actually does, and how much of the job a good copywriter already knows.

Why Meta’s Andromeda update is changing what brands need from their advertising.

How one of Sean’s students went from charging $300 per advertorial to earning $50K months through a revenue-share deal.

Sean’s “anti-resume” approach to standing out when you don’t have years of experience or an impressive portfolio.

How to use Claude more effectively by teaching it your standards, critiquing its work, and keeping your own judgment sharp.

Why direct mail and other old-school approaches can still help you get clients’ attention.

We also talk about the limits of AI, the problems with generic outreach, and why businesses still need someone who understands how to turn attention into sales. (Plus, we settle a little beef over my truly terrible Australian accent.)

Why is there a massive shortage of high-paid financial copywriters when there's both 1) high demand for more, and 2) thousands of freelancers looking for work?

In this conversation, Sean sits down with Glenn Fisher from The Fix to break down the disconnect between copywriter supply and publisher demand. They explore what financial publishers like MarketWise are actually looking for, why AI hasn't been taking top-tier direct response jobs (yet), and the specific mindset shift required to turn basic writing into multi-million dollar promotions.

Whether you're looking to apply to The Fix's Financial Copy University (FCU) or want to elevate your persuasion skills, this video breaks down the reality of writing copy for one of the hardest and most competitive niches.

In this episode, we’re joined by Matthew Volkwyn to help us strip away the "get rich quick" veneers of the copywriting world to look at what actually builds a sustainable, high-income career. If you’ve been hunting for a magic outreach "hack" or a shortcut to six figures, this is your reality check: true success is a three-to-five-year game of skill mastery, and the real money is in cultivating long-term relationships with the clients you work with. 

In this discussion, we talk about why most copywriters struggle with client acquisition. We explore the prioritization of skills over tactics, arguing that when you become undeniably good, the industry’s top 1% starts doing the heavy lifting for you through referrals and high-level networking.

Whether you’re just starting your clock on the "3-to-5-year rule" or you’re a seasoned pro looking to tighten your client retention, this episode offers a roadmap for evolving from a freelancer into a high-value partner.

We marked the beginning of 2026 with a free panel discussion between people from different backgrounds, nationalities, and career paths to discuss the questions we get most about launching and building copywriting career: What are the mistakes beginners make when they go looking for their first job or client? Should you go to portfolio school? Should you get a degree in mass communications? How do I build a portfolio as a newbie? Has AI killed this opportunity?

How do you sell a product in a crowded, competitive market? How do you sell a product that... isn't even really enjoyable? More than that, what tools and tactics can you use to quickly scale a new brand to $100 million and beyond? That's what we're talking about today in a new format we're trying called "Pitch, Please." We're going to have copywriters, marketers, entrepreneurs, and strategists come on to share their thought process about how they'd create campaigns for different products in different niches. This way you get a peek inside the methods and secrets used by some of the top copywriters working today.