From $1.80 Articles to Earning $6+ Million

Back in 2011, Julia McCoy was driving home to tell her parents she’d failed college again 😢

She writes…

I was in tears the whole drive home. I was 19 years old, and I knew that I didn’t love the degree I was pursuing (R.N.). It wasn’t something I’d ever love or become great at.

My parents were devastated at the news, just as I thought, and my father wouldn’t talk to me the rest of the month. It was heartbreaking to know that he lost all faith in me, and I spent the rest of the day in tears.

Julia picked herself up and decided to double-down on her side hustle as a freelance writer…

there I was, getting up early, applying for writing jobs, writing every assignment myself to gain experience, and slowly but surely building a brand. My first brand idea was awful: Writer4U2Hire.

I built a free website on Weebly and blogged regularly, and to my surprise, gained clients that directly inboxed me for work, then for repeat work, and then to ask if they could refer others to me. After that, I decided to get serious, and launched a real brand I could hang my hat on. I called it Express Writers.

According to a recent profile…

To scale, [Julia] hired remote contractors to write blog posts, landing page copy, product descriptions and more, eventually growing a pool of about 100 freelance writers.

A decade later, with $5 million in lifetime revenue and zero employees, she sold for a 7-figure sum.

Awesome 😍

Sounds like Julia’s key skill is managing people. Organizing 100 freelance writers is no joke.

I’m guessing that she learned some of her management skills as a Crew Trainer at McDonald’s 🍔

She writes on LinkedIn…

This was my first job at 14 years old. I kept it for five years, and expanded my skills from front counter to grill, drive-through service, and much more. The manager wouldn’t allow me to quit; for all I know, I’m still on leave in a little McDonalds over in Pennsylvania.

Another takeaway here: Julia spent 10 years building her business.

10 years! 🥵

Think back to yourself 10 years ago. What if you had started a simple business back then and stuck with it?

What if you start a simple business now and stick with it for the next 10 years?

Lastly, I found the archive of Julia’s first website: writer4u2hire.com

Words from her about page in April 2011…

I was working part time at McDonalds, sometimes working 12 hour shifts to pay the bills.  Then, in January 2011 I discovered a company named Content Galore through Amazon.  I began writing for them as a part time employment opportunity, earning $1.80 for 150-word articles.  As I wrote, I discovered my enjoyment for writing to get paid.  I could write 10 approved articles inside an hour.  I earned $18/hour.

So she went from $1.80 articles to $5 million in lifetime revenue and a 7-figure exit.

Legend 😎