Told he had just three months to live, Matthew Troncone accepted a clinical trial to try to save his life. Four people went in for the trial. Only Matthew came out.

Surviving cancer put life into perspective for Matthew.

Recovering from treatment, Matthew’s corporate employer demanded he return to his job as a salesperson, which required him to spend his days in his car or at his desk. One day shortly after his return to work, he was rear-ended during his commute and severely injured his back.

Despite Matthew’s years of loyalty to his corporate job, his employer denied his request for accommodation to work from home.

“After my accident,” Matthew says, “I couldn’t sit in my car all day, being told where to go, what to do, how high to jump — I just couldn’t do that.”

Keeping Options Open

Fortunately, Matthew had a backup plan. A couple of years earlier, a mailer advertising AWAI’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting (now The Accelerated Program for Seven-Figure Copywriting) had landed in Matthew’s mailbox. It offered testimonials from copywriters who were making an income similar to that of a doctor or lawyer — all from the comfort of their own homes.

Matthew had written sales copy for his corporate jobs in the past, but he was skeptical he could make a living do it on his own. It sounded too good to be true. But the testimonials from AWAI’s members were promising and, an entrepreneur at heart, he was often looking for side jobs to earn extra money.

“If these other people are doing it with AWAI, I figured it was worth a shot,” Matthew says.

A Timely Opportunity

When his boss refused accommodations after his accident, he decided to dedicate all his efforts to copywriting. AWAI eased his transition into full-time freelance copywriting.

After AWAI’s Accelerated Program, Matthew continued his AWAI education with the Masters Program for Six-Figure Copywriting (now the Master’s Program for Seven-Figure Copywriting), Digital Copywriter, Sales Enablement Copywriting Mastery & Certification, and How to Write Video Scripts, to name a few.

He landed a lucrative retainer with an IT company to write their newsletter, create web copy, and make promotional videos for them. Matthew didn’t have experience creating promotional videos, but after joining AWAI’s Circle of Success, which gave him lifetime access to every course offered by AWAI, he was confident that he could excel at whatever project a client requested.

“I like to evolve,” Matthew says, “And when a client asks, ‘can you write a blog?’ even if I’ve never written a blog I can reply, ‘yes’ because I know I can go to AWAI’s library and learn in a couple of days how to do it.”

A Career That Keeps Things Interesting

Since Matthew can get easily bored, learning new industries as a copywriter has helped keep his mind engaged. He has worked for companies in health care, real estate, IT, manufacturing, and restaurants, to name a few.

After learning about social media through several of AWAI’s social media courses, Matthew helped a restaurant chain go from just 38 followers to nearly 8,000 followers in less than a year. The best part is that he did it organically – without paying for any followers.

Also a realtor, Matthew credits the skills he learned through AWAI with improving the descriptions of his real estate listings to generate quick sales. He also learned to improve his Facebook ads, LinkedIn profile, and is currently working on a sales funnel system.

“Being a freelance copywriter is very enjoyable,” Matthew says. “You get to pick and choose what you want to do and you don’t answer to anybody. I like being my own boss.”

An Exciting and Flexible Future

Since becoming a freelance copywriter, Matthew enjoys freedom he never had at his corporate job. He bought a house in Florida for winter snowbirding and is now moving there permanently. Plus, he and his wife plan a fair amount of additional travel.

“I just take my laptop with me when I travel. I get my writing done in the morning and I’m free to do whatever I want in the afternoon,” Matthew says. “In fact, this year my wife and I got each other all-you-can-fly passes with Frontier airlines for Christmas. So, we can go wherever we want. I’m putting together a pickleball team to go to the Bahamas at an all-inclusive. It’s great to be able to take off whenever I want.”

Leaving the corporate world has also given Matthew the time to create his own TV show, called “You’re a Survivor. Now What?” for a local closed circuit TV station and YouTube channel. Since beating cancer, he is passionate about spreading the information he learned about health to others.

Not only is the TV station a fun place for Matthew to spend his time, it’s also a great way to find clients for both his real estate and copywriting businesses.

“I’m a very outgoing guy. I talk to everyone,” he says. “I just plant a lot of seeds and eventually something comes of it. AWAI’s courses have given me the skills I need to succeed in copywriting no matter what my clients may need. And I have the freedom to do it on my terms.”

Ready to be your own boss?

Learn more about the program that launched Matthew’s copywriting career, The Accelerated Program for Seven-Figure Copywriting.