Meet Sav Ammann | Writer & Copywriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sav Ammann and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sav, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
To create without a ceiling. Running your own business means investing in yourself and your skill set. I wanted to freely design my own schedule, see how quickly I could develop my passion and knack for writing, and bring in some big bucks doing it.

I think the idea of starting your own business is incredibly daunting to many people. But it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing pursuit. You can and should start small and build something over time. Hone a skill you feel called to. Start dinking around with a website. Ask your network if anyone needs X and if they’d pay X for it.

I loved the slow burn of raising my rates, attracting better clients, and watching my business grow while only working the hours I felt productive in. When you run your own business, you’re not sitting at a desk on someone else’s time watching the clock. You’re at your desk, focused, because you’re free to slam that laptop shut and leave whenever you want.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I opened the digital doors of Savvy Content dreaming of getting paid to write full-time. All I had under my belt were a couple of blogs from an internship, a few college film scripts, and a serious belief that I could pick up a pen and put down better words than most people.

I paid a family friend to help me build a site, told a few people what I was doing, and started hot and heavy on cold email outreach. My first few gigs included writing a promo email for a company my friend worked at that was going out to thousands of big brands (for free), and writing e-commerce blogs for a small design agency.

I once cold-called a local creative agency and left a voicemail for the Chief Marketing Officer. He called me back saying that they needed writers and he’d try me out on a project. That one call turned into thousands of dollars and over a year of ongoing work. I also became their preferred writer on every project.

Today, I’ve written copy and articles for brands like Every Man Jack, Soylent, Onnit, Soludos, and Magic Spoon. I’ve ghostwritten Forbes articles for hotshot CEOs and worked with agencies writing for accounts like Google and Android.

I’ve learned that to start your own business, you first need to believe you’re good at something. Then, you need to be willing to get better at doing it. And finally, you need to ask to get paid to do it and be fine with getting turned down as many times is needed until enough folks say “yes”.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in sunny Santa Barbara, CA, so we’d be basking in the California sun, laying out in sand volleyball, and sipping on some of the best red wine you’ve ever swirled around in a glass.

From the airport, we’d get takeout tacos from East Beast Tacos and descend down the steep steps of Mesa Lane, plopping down in the sand and having a beautiful lunch by the water.

That evening, we’d play pick-up volleyball with cold drinks and music and go to dinner downtown at Loquita.

The next day, we would drive out to the Central Coast wine country, watching sun-kissed hills unfold for miles, and drinking ridiculous amounts of Syrah, Mourvedre, and Sangiovese.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The obvious shoutouts know who they are—friends and family who believed in what I was capable of creating. But within the world of writing and freelancing as a creative, I have to shout out a cheeky and rebellious writer named Cole Schafer over at Honey Copy.

I’ve never met Cole. We’ve exchanged a few short messages. But the way he runs his business (with huge success, I might add) gave me the green light to run mine the way I have.

Cole’s work and his freelancing and copywriting courses taught me shit I simply didn’t know, about writing and sales. But the juiciest value I drew from stumbling across his little corner of the Internet, was that it’s okay to be creative, break some rules, and let your personality shine through, especially as a writer.

Website: https://savvycontent.co/work/

Instagram: @swagarone

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/savarone-ammann/