The Copywriter Club IRL 2020: What I Learned & How I'm Implementing
Freshly into Day 10000 of self-quarantine (because I was one of the crazy copywriters that decided to still go to a conference)…
I’d love to share some clever copy lessons I’m still marinating in, after attending The Copywriter Club IRL conference in San Diego this March — where yours truly also had a moment to grab the mic in a *very* early morning panel on pricing and packaging alongside some stellar women.
But since a recap can only go so far, I wanted to also tell you exactly how I’m going to be implementing all I’ve learned directly into my business, so you can start adding some tasks to your Asana board too.
Dana Malstaff, Boss Mom
Serve Up Permission Sandwiches For Your Audience
Dana is an expert at building engaged communities, and she laid down a solid truth for us all — creating content that simply educates your audience isn’t enough anymore. We’ve got to take it one step further!
Her recipe for building authority, connection, trust and sales?
= Permission Sandwiches + Engaging Questions
So what the heck are permission sandwiches? They’re a couple of types of content that nurture your community.
Permission to be who they already are. We don’t need to tell them how to improve or be better — people are already too tired to fix stuff! They just want to know they’re not alone and that they aren’t judged for who they are. You want them to say: “dang, [insert your name] just gets me.” This creates belonging. Give them permission to be scared, excited, have something crappy happen — remind them that they’re human and that it’s okay.
Clout to show others that you rock. Forget blog posts (except this one) — the best way to do this is to get on podcasts or start your own. Even if you’ve been a podcast junkie for years, remember that the rest of the world is still figuring it out.
Two types of trainings: trainings that fill in a gap (a quick win) or give them a hack (one quick, tactical thing they can do). Think small, concise ways to change they way they think about somehting.
Recommendations for stuff you love outside of your own content. If you’ve got *anyone* following you, you can trust that they really do care about what you bring into your life — they want to be like you and feel deeply connected to you. And don’t forget to tell them why you love said things! Be a connector and you’ll be of value. Speaking of which, did ya know I’ve got a Resources page that does exactly this? Go creep on all the tools I love!
Asking your audience to take action. This can look like asking them to opt-in to a freebie or buy something. Or, even to listen to a podcast you were featured on. You can “seed” your audience with content like this and plant your next big idea — for example: “I was featured on XXX podcast recently where I got to talk about [something cool you’re working on launching] that I’m releasing next month! Have a listen and let me know what you think.” See what I did there? You’re already pre-selling your next offer without “selling” it.
Implementation Station:
Here’s how Dana recommended weaving these yummy sandos into your content cal — and I’m definitely going to try this.
Week 1
Monday: Live video on permission
Wednesday: Post on clout
Friday: Action-asking post or live
Week 2
Monday: Live training
Wednesday: Recommendation post
Friday: Action-asking post or live
Week 3
Monday: Live video on permission
Wednesday: Post on clout
Friday: Action-asking post or live
Week 4
Monday: Live training
Wednesday: Recommendation post
Friday: Action-asking post or live
Easy peasy, right? Try integrating these ideas into your social media content cal!
Mike Kim
How To Go From Behind The Screen To Center Stage
Mike said one key thing that stood out to me:
Success is sequential, not simultaneous.
As for how to get there?
You gotta have a marketing strategy that meets you where you’re at.
Here’s how:
If you have a lot of followers + authority = You’re a thought leader and you need to create a unique framework. (Think StoryBrand by Donald Miller.)
If you have a small following + some authority = You’re an expert and you will grow by word of mouth.
If you have a lot of followers + little authority = You’re likely an influencer and you will expand by publishing content consistently.
And so to move from expert-level status to thought leader, you need to start by publishing a lot of content and THEN create a framework.
For context, Mike shared what strategies he’s using to grow his own business:
Year 1: Blogging
Year 2: Started a podcast
Year 3: Launched a mastermind
Year 4: Created his first digital product
Year 5: Hosted a live event
Year 6: Sought out speaking opportunities
Year 7: Started using video
Year 8: Wrote a book
Implementation Station:
Personally, I’m going to dedicate this year to consistently emailing my list and launching my first online program (you can get on the waitlist here, BTW — it’s opening this month!)… All the while, sticking to “digital” visibility opportunities (podcast interviews) to warm me up to seek out on-stage speaking opportunities in 2021. To get started, I hired podcast expert Mai-kee Tsang to help me gain extra clarity on the key messages I want to be known for on the podcast circuit.
As for you: self-identify where you’re at and that will help you decide how to up level your marketing this year!
Kirsty Fanton
Leveraging Confirmation Bias In Your Copy
Okay, full disclosure of my own bias: I LOVE KIRSTY. Not only is she a close friend, but like, she’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met who is somehow also incredibly delightful and a genuinely awesome human. I’m lucky to know her and I was SQUEALING inside to see her on stage this year.
Gushing aside, her presentation blew me out the water.
She delivered on how we intelligent humans tend to rate incredibly vague descriptions of ourselves as highly accurate: think horoscopes and quiz results (guilty!). In fact, she proved this by experimenting with a couple of willing humans in her community — after creating a quiz that ended up serving all of them the same results (which pulled copy directly from pretty old horoscopes), the responses she got were: you guessed it, total confirmation bias. They couldn’t believe how well she knew them! Except, she didn’t. They got played (and she fessed up right after to let ‘em know they were part of a psychological experiment!) ;).
So, a little lesson on how to leverage confirmation bias in our own marketing…
We can reflect our audiences own ideas back at them to help our copy resonate — but, we can also start cultivating a belief that we can leverage at a later point, like a launch.
You can do this by surveying your audience to identify the key beliefs and ideas your prospects have about themselves, their problems and solutions.
Implementation Station:
The next time you launch something (or if you’ve just launched), ask your prospects these questions — they’re especially good for people who tend to open your launch emails but decided not to buy from you:
What was scary or uncomfortable about making a purchase from me?
What tipped you over from thinking about buying to actually following through?
What questions or concerns did you have that went unanswered?
This will help you identify certain patterns that you can then mirror in your own sales copy, quiz or emails.
Kira Hug
Is Your Business Running Like An Ecosystem Or A Machine?
Kira is actually my first copywriting mentor and an incredibly talented personality-driven copywriter — one half of The Copywriter Club that put on this conference. Amidst plenty of slides featuring trees, moss and rats, she helped us think about the bigger picture of how we’re running our businesses today (totally applicable to everyone)…
And she did this through three key questions to help work through this business challenge:
Does the solution I offer others address a core problem, or just a symptom?
Is there a solution that would involved less work?
Am I using each resource in my business as much as possible?
Can I take my offers and turn them into new content?
How can I get another use out of one of my products/services before I throw it away — or worse, forget about it?
Ooof. These are biggies, right?
Implementation station:
Question 4 and 5 really hit home for me. For some time now, I’ve been considering how to turn my Personality Peel offer into a program — because after several years of writing tons of brand messaging guides and web copy, I’ve created frameworks that I’d love to teach on larger scale vs. 1:1, but I’ve been hesitant to retire the 1:1 service. My solution? I’ve turned it into a group program that’s opening for enrollment this year! Not only will this free up more time away from direct 1:1 work, I’ll be creating a resource that will mean less work for me down the line.
I recommend reflecting on the questions above through the lens of what’s making you feel tired in your business right now. I love that Kira approached this through the mentality of an ecosystem vs. a machine (who wants to run like a machine, right?? SO not sexy) because it helped me recognize that all the pieces of my business are interconnected and should be designed to grow with me, not wear out over time.
Jamie Jensen
Overcoming Fear of Failure
Jamie shared a personal story of grief and how it’s shifted her entire business and mentality over the years — it was a beautiful moment of storytelling that was raw and vulnerable. She reminded me that hey: even seemingly successful people are still working through their crap, and they’re not perfect! Heck, she took off her Manolo Blahnik heels halfway through with a refreshing “eff this” flair.
Her takeaway was simple:
Instead of putting crystals in your bra (and hoping for the best)…
To expand and overcome fear, start working through any grief you’re still holding onto.
Because whether you know it or not, it’s tripping you up right now.
When you’re in the game of avoiding grief, what you’re really doing is avoiding growth.
SO. POWERFUL.
How you implement this is totally up to you — your own unique experience of grief may have been holding you back from growing and expanding, and that’s okay. How can you move through it, step by step ?
Tyler J. Koening
How To Be Persuasive Without Feeling Gross
Okay, let’s be real: you read that title and you were like >> it me, right?? Selling your services (AKA yourself) is usually an icky feeling for most, but TBH: it really, really doesn’t have to be.
And here’s why = it all boils down to how we build TRUST.
Tyler shared a new way to feel less crappy about cultivating trust with our audience by pointing to what we’re missing in our copy.
It’s easy-peasy to simply set up a problem, and then present a solution right?
But how we distinguish ourselves comes through offering empathy + a challenge to our audience. Are you offering a product, service or the guidance to move through what’s in front of them?
This starts with attention and ends with action.
Tyler offered this trust-building formula that helps to meet your audience where they’re at and then offer a challenge:
Interest + Desire + Conviction = Trust Building
So, let’s dig into each of these elements:
Interest: Enter the conversations in their head, AKA empathy, and dig into their internal problems.
Desire: Break through their “marketing defense” (the one where they know you’re trying to sell them something and immediately resist) and genuinely acknowledge their imperfections with compassion = so you can then speak to what they truly want instead.
Conviction: Revisit your reader’s initial desires and then: what is standing in the way of accepting your guidance. Does your offer work for their budget? If it’s a maybe, how can you challenge them to assess what’s keeping them stuck?
Implementation Station:
I’ve always been a firm believer in selling (and leading) with empathy, and this formula helps break down the copywriting process in more granular detail. As I work on future conversion copy, I’ll be keeping this handy!
Over to you: how well do you know your audience’s interests, desires and convictions? Will you use this approach to selling without feeling gross about it?
Marcella Allison
How To Rejig Your Creativity When You’re Braindead & Exhausted
IDK about you, but as someone responsible for coming up with new ideas every single day… I often reach points where my creative juices are totally depleted. And with all of us staying home right now, it’s been getting worse! I could not be more grateful for the advice Marcella shared with us about how to amp up the brain sparks.
She shared three key ways to light yourself up again:
Take yourself on artist dates — when we’re all free to go out into the Real World again — Marcella shared how every week, she commits to taking herself on an Artist Date! A museum, yarn store, aquarium… Anything that engages all five of your senses. Why? Well, a study found that looking at a beautiful painting increases blood flow to your head by 10%. (That’s the same as looking at a loved one!) Moreover, brain scans show that when you are watching or engaging with an artwork, you experience the same brain neurons firing that the artist experienced when they painted it. That is embodied cognition, right there! And when we can’t venture out, we should try to MAKE art. This will lower our stress levels and help us take some space away from what’s feeling hard to work through. P.S. This is all derived from a book I’m yet to read (but now, I have to) — The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
Create grounding rituals — every creative person has one thing in common: a ritual! And they’ll go to great lengths to maintain them. In fact, Marcella shared how one famous writer would remove all his clothes and have his assistant take them away before he went into his study to write… So that he had to write something in order to actually get out and get his clothes! Marcella’s ritual includes tending to her Writing Altar, ft. a candle, chime, oracle decks and cards of inspirational women. The point of a ritual is to take you past resistance and then, past routine.
Try a fast write — pick a line from a poem, and then write nonstop for five minutes! Creative writing prompts are a fantastic way to get out of your rut, see what flows and access your subconscious. We actually did this during the conference and I was so inspired, I picked a prompt of my own to move through all the mucky emotions when COVID-19 struck.
Implementation Station:
You bet that I’ll be scheduling artist dates when I can again! But until then, I’m turning to fast writes often as a good way to get unstuck.
How can you harness your inner artist? Can your partner or bestie join you? I’d love to know if this inspired you to try something new!
Extra Extra! Takeaways
While I’d love to feature everyone from the conference — truth be told, on Day 2, yours truly was on the TCC IRL Panel on Packaging and Pricing (at 7.30AM!) and as soon as that was over, the rest is a little blurry…
(That’s what happens when you’ve been up since 5AM with 2.5 hours of sleep because you kept worrying that you’d never wake up in time for this panel at this ungodly hour. And when you were trying to keep it together while sitting amongst copywriters that are ALL at the top of their game — two of which are your mentors!)
Here’s hoping we get far less blurry profesh photos to capture this moment? Also, note my pensive gaze at the brown backless mules that were dangerously close to slipping off my foot.
P.S. Thanks for being a fab moderator Kira Hug — and great panel partners: Abbey Woodcock, Katie Thies, Amy Posner, Tarzan Kay and Angie Colee.
BUT:
Here are some additional takeaways from some superstars of Day 2 that I look forward to integrating into my business psyche:
Jasmine Star
On pivoting and diversifying your revenue
If you want to identify key opportunities for your business: put up your antenna for ANY questions you’re receiving about your business.
When it comes to shifting your conception of what makes your brand successful: “Instagram is for popularity. A brand is for profitability.” The key to building your business is to focus on building your BRAND.
On staying ahead of the game: “I don’t wanna do what’s working in 2018. I wanna do what’s working in 2023!” And for Jasmine Star, in response to my question to her (Jasmine, what do you think will be a key marketing strategy in 2023??), it’s gonna mean doubling down on TikTok and YouTube — so, start NOW. Why? Because not all of us are comfortable on getting on video, and dabbling in it early enough will help you build your confidence way in advance.
On deciding what to outsource — ask yourself these questions (and remember to always start with a 3-month paid trial):
What do I hate?
What is taking me too much time? E.g. designing slide decks…
What feels like a real struggle?
What feels messy, broken or painfully slow?
Rob Marsh
On recession-proofing your business
Kira’s partner in The Copywriter Club is Rob, AKA Copy Dad. He’s really one of the best humans around.
Rob couldn’t have known just how timely this talk was — on the edges of COVID-19 accelerating what is evidently a dip into a recession. His strategies were clear and tangible, which I loved.
Don’t run out of money, obviously. If you haven’t already, start locking your nest egg of savings DOWN. This should be six months worth of your personal and business expenses.
Build a safety buffer by ensuring you have a key anchor client, if you’re a service-based business owner like me. Personally, this means holding onto retainer clients even if I’m tempted to go off and vacay for three months (not likely in the near future). I’m very lucky to have a strong anchor client that I know would keep me going, even if all remaining business I have dropped off the face of the earth.
Get in your audience’s face and make more offers! What are some recurring offers you can make? For example — as a copywriter, if I helped a client with an email sequence and they loved it — what else could I also help them with? A landing page? Redoing some web copy? Emails for their next launch? Every customer has the potential to bring in recurring revenue, a big lesson I’ve learned over the last year. Whereas my focus previously was to constantly bring in new leads, I’ve been surprised by just how often past clients keep returning to offer me new work. This strategy hit home because I see it in action in my inbox regularly.
Solve bigger problems. Sure, I can help others with copy — but I can also support them by, let’s say, clarifying their package offerings. Why? Because everyone wants more leads, more sales, and a bigger audience to pay attention to them. I can differentiate my business from other copywriters by also being known as a thoughtful strategist and an ideas person. How can you do the same?
Stay positive. It sounds simple, but especially right now, this can be challenging for everyone. However, it’s totally vital to tip the scales to positivity and have it be our equilibrium when we can. We’re only human. We’ve all had a COVID Cry weekly, for sure. And even sharing that with our audience means we’re being authentic! But in order for YOU to move forward in the right frame of mind to grow and recession-proof your business, doing what you can to bring more positivity to the table every morning will support your growth. Personally, this looks like using a gratitude journal, meditating, being of service (volunteering) and even just sending a sweet message to three people I love every night to let them know I’m thinking about them. What keeps you positive?
That’s a wrap! I’d love to know — did any of these insights inspire you to take action in any way? Comment below and let me know!
Related posts:
My Copywriter Club Podcast Interview — How To Get More Out of Events
My Copywriter Club Guest Post — Instagram for Copywriters: How To Attract Clients, Make Connections, And Find Your Audience