Forbes | Interview with Jasmin Alic, Bosnian digital mogul
"Hello, I'm Jasmin. I am 31 years old and a single dad.” - begins Jasmin's post on LinkedIn, where he is now followed by over 140,000 people.
“Most of you know me as Jay the copywriter.
The LinkedIn guy with super applicable advice.
In my country, I'm mostly known as a professor.
But at home... nobody's got a clue about what I do. I'm the dad that's "ON" 24/7. Pillowfights included.
The dad who cooks. Cleans. And brings car toys.” - is part of a post he shared with his global LinkedIn family.
LinkedIn is the only social network that allows business people to have a public, online presence to stand out in a crowded job market. It also allows employers, businessmen, companies and public figures to connect with other professionals in their industry and potentially open up new business or collaboration opportunities.
Jasmin danas pomaže hiljadama ljudi da kreiraju život kakav žele. S nama je podijelio svoje znanje, govorio nam o svojim počecima i odao nam nekoliko tajni za uspjeh. U nastavku vam donosimo najbolje savjete Jasmina Alića kada je u pitanju online prisustvo i na koji način se gradi globalna mreža u poslovnom svijetu.
Upwork vs. teaching
I started writing articles and translating texts while still at university. When I graduated, I had the choice of working as an English teacher or going into the world of online earning. In a country like Bosnia and Herzegovina, a "secure job" was a much more tempting offer. I worked as a teacher in primary and secondary schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I also worked in Saudi Arabia, where I won awards for my work in education.
After a few years, I realized that I could do a lot in the field of freelance copywriting. I've always been good at writing, and I've always been interested in marketing. Upwork is the platform where I found my new "me" and that's where I combined these two worlds. My first freelance client paid me $8 an hour.
Today, those figures are many times higher. Writing one website costs from 2 to 10 thousand dollars. Writing 1 ad for Facebook or Instagram is a few hundred, and if you offer premium consultations or workshops for clients, you set the price. However, it took many years of learning and experience to reach a level where I dictate the price myself, independent of the market.
Humble beginnings
Although I had no experience in marketing, I didn't wait long to take my first freelance job. On the other hand, it wasn't the highest-paying job in the world either. I wrote short articles of 250 words on marketing and digital transformation.
In the first few months of freelancing, I barely made $300. After that, I came across clients who needed a little more serious things like websites, Facebook ads, or slightly longer articles. That's where I already started charging more and was able to earn around $1000 a month.
But I always wondered, “what's next?”
From copywriter to brand strategist
I remember that with each new client, I learned something new, and I googled "how to write" that new thing day and night. Honestly, it was also the biggest turning point in my freelance career. Learning. After some time, I came across a gentleman named Chris Do and his YouTube channel The Future. That's where I learned that I actually have the ideal experience for a brand strategist.
Being a writer or copywriter is one thing. Being a strategist and understanding the exact purpose of each word, their place in the sales cycle, and you can be the one to coach the client on certain things. No more order taker. You are now an order giver. You are now someone who “leads” clients to results. That's when I really started to enjoy my job, because I was doing a lot more calls with clients, designers etc. I was no longer "just a writer", so I increased my price.
As someone who worked for 700 KM a month in school, I was happy to charge $50 an hour. However, just a year later I doubled my hourly rate to $100, and within just a few months after that I doubled it again to $200 an hour.
First big clients
With a premium price, I started to attract premium clients. People find it fascinating when I tell them this, but I met all my big clients on Upwork. Some of my favorites are Digicel, the largest telecom operator in the Caribbean, Microsoft, and Marriott Bonvoy.
We are talking about clients with an audience of millions here. With budgets of millions. Most of the projects I worked on had so many "moving parts", and each new project represented a new challenge. I learned so much about graphic design from the designers I worked with, and I started designing banners and websites myself "by the way".
Personally, I enjoy new challenges, because I always learn things that are useful for my work, and on the other hand, the great results of my clients become and remain my results.
It's not all that great!
Of course, not everything is so wonderful in the freelance world. I also had "bad" periods.
Let's say in 2019 there was a big crash on Upwork, and I only managed to make $1000 for the whole year. That year I was expecting my first son, so I knew I had to do something. I used my understanding of marketing and started my own brand, Creative Maze, where we designed personalized posters and gifts for special occasions.
In less than 4 months, my small brand reached 10 thousand followers on the Facebook page, which at the time was a great result. Honestly, posters and graphic design "saved" me until I made that pivot from copywriter to brand strategist. 2020 i.e. the first year of the coronovirus pandemic was a big restart for my career. From the beginning of the pandemic until today, I have not "lifted my foot from the gas pedal", as my American colleagues would say.
Top 1% in the world
At the beginning of 2022, the Upwork platform introduced the Expert-Vetted program, i.e. an exclusive club where they invite only the top 1% of freelancers from the world and connect them directly with enterprise clients, such as Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies. I was immediately invited to join the program and from that moment on, my personal brand and reputation reached a whole new level.
A little boy from Zenica, who graduated in English in Sarajevo, is now at the top of the world on the biggest freelance platform in the world. This is a huge thing for me and other entrepreneurs in Bosnia. Proof that it is possible to achieve something in the world, no matter where you come from or how small your beginnings are.
Freedom, the most valuable currency
I haven't sent any project applications in my business for 5 years. Clients strictly find me and send their offers, and I have that "dream luxury" called "waiting list".
The freedom to choose with whom, where and how much you work is truly the most valuable currency today.
This was also the reason why I decided to dedicate myself a little more to strengthening my personal brand on social networks, and to share my knowledge with others. When I looked at all the social networks and what they had to offer, only one platform made sense to me. LinkedIn.
My LinkedIn journey
Those who remember the LinkedIn platform 5 or 10 years ago, know that huge changes have taken place. In the past, LinkedIn was an online CV, where you could apply for jobs in a few clicks and possibly add a colleague to your contacts.
Today, LinkedIn is a platform with a billion users, where written content is at the forefront and personal branding is its primary purpose. I expect that in the next 2 to 3 years, LinkedIn will be the most important platform for building a personal brand, if it isn't already.
Personal branding
I always say that "we all have a personal brand", but many of us do not know that we have it.
Why? Because we don't invest enough time in writing online content, expanding our social network and creating our own opportunities. We leave our employment to a game of chance or we only "jerk" when we are (un)able to look for a new job. Only then do we remember LinkedIn and start the cycle of applying for new jobs again. My question is: How long will you keep doing so?
Building your personal brand has never been easier, and LinkedIn is the ideal platform for that. Personally, I neglected my LinkedIn for years, even though I was registered on the platform. However, in January of last year, I made a decision that I was going to share everything I knew and that I would not stop sharing, regardless of whether my posts got "likes" or not. My results?
From 0 to 140,000
In less than 2 years, my LinkedIn profile has over 140 thousand followers. The content I create is primarily about writing and personal branding, and after a few months of my own growth on the platform, I also started sharing my LinkedIn marketing strategies, and that turned out to be a hit as well. I get at least a thousand comments on almost every post, which is a record in the LinkedIn world.
Everything I share on my profile is 100% applicable, you don't need additional resources, and you can already see results from today, and this was confirmed by certain rankings for LinkedIn creators, where my content is always ranked at the top of the world.
This is no small thing for someone who comes from Bosnia and Herzegovina, someone whose native language is English, and someone who doesn't have a marketing degree.
My unique strategy
My LinkedIn strategy is “share everything for free”, and frankly, I don't regret it one bit.
Every day people book consultations with me, which I charge a minimum of $500 per hour. At least twice a month I hold paid workshops for companies around the world, online or live. Every week I get an invitation for conferences, interviews or guest podcasts. The list is long. The benefits of sharing content on LinkedIn are unparalleled.
More and more young people are on LinkedIn. There are more and more experienced ones. Even planetary stars like Snoop Dogg and Mr. Beast actively use LinkedIn as a business network.
It is so easy to get in touch with new business contacts and start cooperation - with one click, comment or post. LinkedIn is slowly but surely growing into a social network, not just a business network. I believe that this is exactly the reason for their growth of one billion users in 2023.
Teaching others
I'm often asked if I could go back in time and choose copywriting and brand strategy as a career. Honestly, I wouldn't change a thing. I learned so much about work, about myself, and taught other people an important life skill. Moreover, this is my goal in the near future.
In 2022, I started the first university course in copywriting in our area, at the International Burch University in Sarajevo. This year I took a break from teaching, because I really travel a lot to my workshops and conferences around the world, and also expand my Hey Jay business into some new spheres. I can't wait to return to my wonderful students.
Plans for the future
My plan for 2024 is to raise LinkedIn and copywriting culture to a higher level in Bosnia and Herzegovina through workshops and, of course, even more content on my profile.
Soon I'm releasing my long-awaited Masterclass, where you'll be able to learn "absolutely everything" about copywriting, the psychology of writing online, and personal branding and LinkedIn.
If you read until here, here's a piece of advice…
I want to tell those who read this text that it is never too late or too early to start that journey of strengthening your personal brand.
We don't all have to become millionaires, but at least we can create a future where we don't fear the future or lack of employment. You determine your worth. You determine how others perceive your personal brand. You decide what opportunities will come your way.
My advice is to share knowledge online. Get started on LinkedIn. Explore freelance platforms like Upwork. And most importantly, invest in new skills and never stop learning, because that is more valuable than any title.
