#22: From Church Minister to Saving the World (From Bad Content) with Aaron Orendorff

About the Episode:

In today’s episode, we’re talking to Aaron Orendorff, a content strategist, copywriter and blogger for hire.

Aaron spends most of his time in the world of content marketing, working with companies like Shopify and somehow finds the time to also write for top business publications like Mashable, LifeHacker, and Fast Company.

Aaron’s story is a surprising one. He didn’t go to business school or study to become a marketer. Aaron actually went to seminary school after graduating from college and became a church minister for a couple of years.

Eventually, he experienced a few life-changing events, and found himself in a bit of a dark patch—turning to alcohol, and had to step down from his church ministry. Aaron took some time to recover, make positive lifestyle changes, and started to test his way into a new career as a freelance writer.

The rest, as they say, is history.

In Today’s Episode, We Talk About:

[02:17] What book Aaron is reading at the moment.
[04:03] He talks about how long he’d been a content strategist, copywriter and blogger for hire.
[04:25] How he learned writing and marketing.
[05:44] What triggered him to step out of seminary school.
[08:06] He recalls his first writing job.
[09:14] His best piece of advice on how to land high-value freelance contracts.
[11:01] How he landed high-value clients like Shopify.
[15:20] Tactical tips on how to land name-brand client in the business world.
[18:50] He shares some of his writing process and how often he writes.
[22:58] His biggest challenge as a content strategy consultant over the years.
[25:02] His best piece of advice on how to get started as a freelancer, especially if you’ve got very little experience.
[26:40] He dives into how to pitch to sites like Entrepreneur, Inc, or Lifehacker.
[28:44] The sacrifices he’s made over the years for his business.
[31:42] The best investment he’s made in order to create enough time to grow his business.

Like What You’re Hearing? Subscribe for New Episodes.

Resources Mentioned:

Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday

The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday

Testing Advertising Methods by John Caples and Scott Hann

Connect with My Guest:

Aaron on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

VP of Marketing at Common Thread Collective

Subscribe, Review, & Share:

If you enjoyed this episode of The Side Hustle Project, I would love your support. Head over to the show on iTunes or in the Apple podcast app and give us a rating please! And as always you can catch every episode on the Apple podcast app, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for tuning in.