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Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!

A Sneak Peek at the Episode

[03:15] If you’ve got a client who maybe doesn’t understand their target audience, as in they think they know their target audience, but they don’t understand their motivations, how do you deal with that?

[04:05] It’s about being as tactful as you possibly can as you guide your client and really make suggestions. It could be something you lead for them and all it takes is asking questions.

[05:44] Testing is always a great way to say, “Hey, I see where you’re coming from, but I think it’d be really great to test this because this could really change the direction and we could get more hard and fast data to make these decisions.”

[06:20] The fundamentals of copywriting: don’t forget to mention the benefit. If we really lean into this audience and understand what they’re thinking, that’s only going to lead to more sales in the long run.

[06:47] You need to do market research with the client. You need to have the client on board with that—and don’t want to spend your time doing it if they’re not onboard.

[09:09] Clients are humans and sometimes they have to learn hard lessons and they have to learn those hard lessons the hard way. Definitely guide and make suggestions, but at the end of the day, it’s their final decision.

[09:44] If you follow up a month after a project and, if the results aren’t what they wanted, it’s a perfect time to re-pitch them. It’s a great way to continue working with them.

[11:53]  With websites, you can do small tests so it’s less dramatic. For example, “what if we test this headline versus this headline?” After that, maybe we’re testing the call to action copy. Test piece by piece so you can really tell which things are influencing the actions people are taking on the page.

[13:06] Microsoft has a tool Clarity where you can enter whatever URL you want to look at, and it shows a heat map. This can show you what people are and aren’t spending time reading or otherwise looking at when looking at a page.

[13:40] You can just start to have some information and data that you can recommend very pinpointed tests that might move things in the right direction.

Must-Hear Takeaways

“When’s the last time we had the opportunity to get on the call with some of our clients and really hear what they have to say.” -Nicki

“Asking questions about what they want, what they need, what they fear, what’s gotten their way, what’s been frustrating, what would life look like if everything were fixed in whatever this arena is. But certainly if you see an opportunity, don’t hesitate to say something.” – Nicki

“When in doubt, suggest testing, depending what copy you’re writing. ” – Kate

“If you wanna do market research, I would absolutely do it with the client’s buy-in because you’re gonna wanna talk to people who have purchased from the client. You’re gonna wanna talk to people who have opted not to purchase from the client.”

“People who are aware of the client but haven’t even yet had the opportunity to purchase from the client, that can be a little bit trickier. ” – Nicki

” At the end of the day, I think you’re putting your best foot forward, right? You’re kind of trying to gently nudge them in the right direction if they ultimately are like, we don’t wanna go in that direction.”

“You can bring it up again certainly as new projects come up and what not and still continue to try to kind of fight the good fight, but at the end of the day, clients are gonna do what they wanna do.” – Kate

Mentioned on This Episode

• What’s a Copy Test?
• Ep. 56: What is a Copywriting Test and Should You Do One?

Related Links

• Why You Need to A/B Testing
• The Most Important Piece of Email Copy
• Top 3 Biggest Email Mistakes Copywriters Make

Tell us what you love about the podcast and what you hope to hear next! When you do, you can get access to an exclusive bonus recording featuring five wildly successful entrepreneurs who share what they do (and don’t!) look for when hiring copywriters. You do not want to miss it! 

Get all the details on how to get your recording here »

About the Build Your Business Podcast

Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?

Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.

Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.

See Previous Episode

The post Episode BONUS – Laser Coaching: How to (Respectfully) Disagree with a Copywriting Client appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!

A Sneak Peek at the Episode

[1:35] CCA student Lizzie, a former business analyst who always loved the writing part of her job, started freelance writing back in 2020. Last year, she transitioned to full-time freelancing and is seeing great success!

[2:49] Lizzie shares advice on transitioning from a full-time career to copywriting and how networking has played a huge role in helping her land work. 

[5:12] Lizzie recommends more structured networking for people who are introverted because they have a more predictable format which minimizes social anxiety.

[6:06] Switching tasks to maintain productivity and relying on structured working hours and consistent processes have helped Lizzie thrive as a copywriter with ADHD and autism.

[7:00] For Lizzie, not niching down has allowed her to be as productive as she is. Her business analysis background has also been helpful in supporting businesses with strategy around their marketing.

[8:11] In terms of pitching and networking, Lizzie has found that when you focus on giving, it’s a lot easier to build up your client base.

[10:52] Networking can help you reach dream clients by tapping into the six degrees of separation and can lead to a lot of unexpected opportunities. Lizzie has been invited to lots of exciting events like celebrity galas and awards ceremonies!

[12:47] After networking events, it’s always important to follow up. Lizzie does this by asking for one-on-one meetings to understand potential clients’ businesses better. This builds rapport and helps her make effective referrals, increasing her chances of getting future work.

[14:57] Copywriting opportunities are not just limited to where you live—there are a lot of opportunities out there. Lizzie has a diverse client base, ranging from local to international clients, including one in Hong Kong! 

[16:46] Lizzie has been surprised by how often she’s asked to ghostwrite books. Many people have great ideas but struggle to write them down, making copywriters and content writers essential in bringing those ideas to life.

[17:30] If you’re considering going into copywriting, Lizzie encourages you to take the leap! Spread the word among friends, get on LinkedIn, and start networking. You’ll find tons of resources and potential collaborators through making those connections.

Must-Hear Takeaways

 “Absolutely network. Most networks, people are there to help you and want to help themselves, they cant help themselves if they’re not in a group of successful people. So they want to help you be successful because it helps them be successful. So absolutely network your heart out because it also helps you with your cold pitching as well. So you don’t need to do one or the other, a combination of both is always best.” – Lizzie

“I think the reason I’ve got a lot of work is because I don’t put forward that impression of really salesy which is quite hard for people when what we do is selling material. But being free with that information that you have, appearing the expert that you are is really helpful because people go, ‘They clearly know what they’re doing.’” – Lizzie

“People remember you. I’ve now become ubiquitous in my city, everyone knows and is like, ‘Oh it’s you!’ And I’ve literally only been doing it for 8 months, and you get invited to things. I’ve been to more events that I never would have thought I would be invited to in my life before just from starting this and everyone’s like, ‘Oh you’re the copywriter’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I am the copywriter!'” – Lizzie

“Speak to all your friends, all your work colleagues, tell everyone that this is what you’re doing because it gives you a set of warm leads to immediately go to. Get a profile on LinkedIn, make it clever, make it fun. Don’t be exactly the same as everyone else. Don’t expect it to go viral or anything overnight, mine definitely hasn’t but it’s sort of just building traction. And go and network. If you’re introverted, there are networks out there for you, there are online networks. Go and talk to people because the more you talk to people, they might help you in other ways. You’ll find your accountant that way, you’ll find your web designer that way, you’ll find the designers that you want to work with if you want to get those spec pieces.” – Lizzie

Mentioned on this Episode

• View Lizzie’s profile

Related Links

• The One Question That Makes Copywriting Networking Easy
• Can an Introvert Be a Successful Copywriter?
• Thriving as a Neurodivergent Copywriter – Cleo’s Story
• How to Elevate Your Profile & Land Copywriting Clients on LinkedIn

Tell us what you love about the podcast and what you hope to hear next! When you do, you can get access to an exclusive bonus recording featuring five wildly successful entrepreneurs who share what they do (and don’t!) look for when hiring copywriters. You do not want to miss it! 

Get all the details on how to get your recording here »

About the Build Your Business Podcast

Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?

Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.

Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.

See Previous Episode

Ep. 190: Freelance Copywriting Through Divorces, Separations, and Breakups

The post Episode 191: This Copywriter Books Work 3+ Months Out—Here’s How She Does It – Lizzie’s Story appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!

A Sneak Peek at the Episode

[1:50] As people think about transitioning into copywriting, a common concern is whether advertising and marketing is synonymous with manipulation.

[3:12] Kate reminds us of the definition of copywriting: connecting someone who has a certain need with the right solution to that need.

[5:16] There’s a whole gamut of desires, wants, and needs and there’s so much potential for copywriting to help, whether it’s on a smaller or bigger scale. When we write effectively for our clients, we help them bring that solution to their customers.

[6:39] Messaging is the most important part of any business. If a business owner can’t communicate what makes their product or service different, beneficial, and useful, nobody will buy it and they won’t be in business for long.

[8:45] Remember you don’t have to work with every client. If you believe in what your client is selling and think it has the potential to get people what they need, then why not market it?

[9:17] People worry about being a “pushy” marketer but fundamentally, pushiness doesn’t work. The average consumer is savvier now than ever before and more aware of the way that they’re being sold to.

[11:15] Nicki and Kate dig into a response to a question from the CCA student-only Facebook group about whether copywriting can be a force for good. They argue that while pain point marketing often gets a bad reputation, it can help consumers recognize and address their needs.

[17:33] While you can absolutely pitch to companies you believe make a positive impact, Nicki and Kate caution against making assumptions about businesses based on surface appearances. Many companies engage in charitable activities that aren’t immediately visible.

[22:22] It’s not a copywriter’s role to judge consumer choices, as the value of a product or service is highly subjective and personal. If it doesn’t sit right with you, find a company that feels like a better fit.

[24:15] Being intentional in your work and client choices is key to making a positive impact and making your job worthwhile.

Must-Hear Takeaways

“Fundamentally, messaging is the most important part of a business. And I say this to my business students as well: If they can’t communicate what makes their product or service different and beneficial and especially useful and the right choice, nobody’s going to buy it and that business is not going to exist for long. So this fundamental communication element that we provide is essential for both sides, for both the business and for the consumer.” – Nicki

“Sometimes we like to think of ‘if they build it, the the right people will just come.’ But you have to tell people what you’re offering in order for them to find it. And if you believe in what your client is selling—and I think that’s one of the things to look for, you don’t have to work with every client, there are so many clients out there—but if you believe in the mission or in the product or the service of the offering that your client has and you think it has the potential to transform someone’s life, then why not market it? Everyone can win when it’s done right.” – Kate

“People worry about being a pushy marketer or pushy salesperson or whatever, but the fundamentally pushiness doesn’t work. We all can tell when we’re being pushed and when we’re being forced and if we don’t like it, we’ll just walk away. We won’t interact with it.” – Nicki

“We caution people not to make assumptions because there are a lot of companies out there that maybe on the surface, whatever product, service, thing that they’re offering isn’t overtly changing the world. It’s not like they’re selling a green product that is reusable, reducible, recyclable, but maybe it’s a bank and they have a huge corporate giving arm of their bank that does great work. It’s about digging a little deeper to know what are companies doing beyond what the immediate offer, service, etc. is.” – Kate

Related Links

• Reframing Your Copywriting Goals to Align with Your Values
• Land Copywriting Clients With These 35 Tips
• What Is Copywriting?
• Why You Should Make Your Audience Anxious

Tell us what you love about the podcast and what you hope to hear next! When you do, you can get access to an exclusive bonus recording featuring five wildly successful entrepreneurs who share what they do (and don’t!) look for when hiring copywriters. You do not want to miss it! 

Get all the details on how to get your recording here »

About the Build Your Business Podcast

Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?

Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.

Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.

See Previous Episode

Ep. 186: Are You Stuck in an Employee Mindset?

The post Episode 187: Change My Mind About Advertising! How to Be an Ethical Copywriter appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!

A Sneak Peek at the Episode

[1:39] There absolutely *is* such a thing as too much work, especially when you are a freelancer and it’s all too easy to say “yes” to every project that comes your way. Even one project can be too much if the timeline is tight. 

[4:37] To tackle overwhelm effectively, start by understanding your reaction to it. Are you someone who rises to the challenge or buries your head in the sand? Recognize your cues early on, so that you can take proactive steps to address it and prevent burnout.

[7:35] If you’re looking at your schedule and thinking, “Oh my gosh, I can’t get all of this done”, you have to put the brakes on anything else coming in. But when it comes to pitching, you don’t want to completely stop, otherwise you’ll end up stuck in a “feast or famine” cycle.

[9:55] When you’re busy, it’s a good time to practice saying “no” or propose a suitable start date (include some buffer time). There’s no need to worry about saying “no” as long as you communicate clearly—plus, being booked up shows clients that you’re in-demand!

[12:50] If you’re in doubt about meeting current client deadlines, consider bringing in another copywriter to help you, even if it means you just break even. You *never* want to miss a deadline!

[14:58] Your deadlines should drive your actions, so prioritize by the actual deadline, not by what seems more fun or doable. Breaking your priority list down into smaller steps can make it more manageable.

[18:00] Sometimes we have to deal with the consequences of our choices, like working weekends or canceling plans. But it may teach you a lesson about how you manage your schedule so you make sure it doesn’t happen again in the future.

[21:20] If you’ve built a strong rapport with a long-term client and know the deadline isn’t strict, you could politely request a one-time extension, but only if you’re confident there’s flexibility. Use this sparingly though, as it could impact your credibility. 

[23:45] When you’re faced with a Friday deadline, it’s worth proposing a Monday delivery instead. Most clients don’t work weekends, so those extra days could offer valuable breathing space.

[25:24] Make sure to build in buffer time for each project and aim to deliver projects earlier than the agreed deadline. That way, you have some wiggle room in case life gets in the way.

[27:50] Even if the deadline seems far off, don’t wait until the last minute to start working on it (we’re not in high school any more!). Starting early ensures you have enough time for all aspects of the project, including editing and polishing your work.

[29:19] Having a reliable network allows you to handle unexpected situations professionally. If you are faced with an emergency situation, introduce your client to a trusted colleague who could take over. This ensures your client’s needs are met while you focus on what’s important. 

[31:40] Blocking out time on your calendar for different projects can help you have a better visual representation of where your time is going and how much time you actually have available.

[32:54] Working on your money mindset is also an important piece of this. Saying “yes” to every project out of fear of missing out on income, simply isn’t sustainable. Remember, you have the skills and resources to generate income, so trust in your abilities and follow the steps to success!

Must-Hear Takeaways

“If you’re hearing this and you’re like, ‘Oh, okay, then I should probably also stop pitching. No, scale down your pitching. Don’t be sending out five pitches, but don’t stop. Because as you know, when you stop pitching is when you experience that dry spell. And when you pitch, you’re kind of seeding projects for the next couple of weeks to couple of months. So don’t stop. Dial it back, certainly, but you don’t want to completely stop.” – Nicki

“This is how the feast and famine happens. If you have too much work and then dry spell and then ‘oh my gosh, too much work’, that’s unsustainable to continue working like this, completely stressed out, overworked, too much work to zero. To keep going 0-60 back and forth, you don’t need that and so this process will help hopefully smooth out that process a little bit but to Nicki’s point, continue pitching so you don’t hit the ‘oh no now I have no work!’” – Kate

“We think of saying ‘no’ as being so tough, being so mean. No, all you’re doing is communicating. And it can be very, very simple and very pleasant and nice. And just say, ‘Oh, unfortunately I’m booked up for the next however long, the next couple of weeks, but I could get started with it on X, Y, D, Z date.’ Clear communication is key. By the way, it’s a good thing for a client to see that you are booked up. It always kind of makes me do a little bit of an eyebrow raise whenever anyone’s like, ‘Yeah, my schedule is completely open.” – Nicki

“Sometimes we have to deal with the consequences of our choices. And you may be dealing with the short-term consequences and that does sometimes involve working weekends or giving up some plans or that kind of thing. Is it fun? No. But it may be painful enough that it will teach you a lesson moving forward to make sure that you keep an eye on your schedule and you set up the boundaries that you need to set up to make sure that this doesn’t happen in the future.” – Nicki

Related Links

• What Are Your Copywriting Business Rules?
• Amp Up Your Copywriting Productivity With Ultra Scheduling
• When the [ahem] Stuff Hits the Fan
• How Can You Know if a Copywriting Deadline is Doable?

Tell us what you love about the podcast and what you hope to hear next! When you do, you can get access to an exclusive bonus recording featuring five wildly successful entrepreneurs who share what they do (and don’t!) look for when hiring copywriters. You do not want to miss it! 

Get all the details on how to get your recording here »

About the Build Your Business Podcast

Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?

Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.

Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.

See Previous Episode

Ep. 182: What’s the Best Way to Communicate with Copywriting Clients?

The post Episode 183: You Will Have Too Much Copywriting Work … Here’s What to Do appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!

A Sneak Peek at the Episode

[1:44] It’s a bad scenario when communication from clients or would-be clients gets missed. That’s why it’s important to regularly check your spam folder and test the contact form on your portfolio site.

[3:50] You also need to check your messages on social media frequently. And remember, if you aren’t connected with somebody, it’s not going to go through as a message—it will go through as a request.

[4:28] Nicki recommends checking these different inboxes at least once daily. If a couple of days go by and a client doesn’t hear from you, it does not reflect well on you.

[5:17] It’s perfectly fine to take time off but make sure that you communicate clearly when people can expect to hear back from you.

[6:24] It might sound like there are a lot of channels to check but you want to make it as easy as possible for a potential client to get in touch with you. You never want to take people off the platform they’re on if you don’t have to. 

[7:54] Nicki and Kate strongly recommend sending your initial outreach to a client via email as opposed to a DM on social media.

[10:58] It takes a bit of research sometimes to find a client’s email address but there are several online tools like hunter.io that can help you. (Always avoid emailing generic company email addresses like info@xyzcorperation.com!)

[13:25] Once you have a client, it’s best to ask them how they would prefer to communicate. But choose just ONE way to interact with them—having too many channels for communication gets very confusing.

[17:19] Whichever form of communication you choose to use with a client, you can still set up certain parameters so that you don’t have to constantly be at a client’s beck and call. Just make sure you communicate those clearly to your clients.

[20:17] If there is a certain platform that your client is using, they should add you to that platform without any extra work or costs on your end.

[21:17] Our hosts give a word of warning around texting clients. This kind of communication can cross personal boundaries and is hard to get out of once you’ve started. Plus, there is no such thing as a copy emergency! 

[26:15] Kate advises us to consider taking the tech for your business off your phone. One Sec is also a useful app which gives you the chance to think twice before opening certain apps on your phone.

[28:43] Ideally at the start of a relationship with a client, you want to set them up with clear expectations of when they can hear from you with regard to check-ins for a project and the key milestones throughout it. (It’s best to err on the side of over communication.)

Must-Hear Takeaways

“As with any relationship, it’s about setting the expectations, making sure communication is open and clear but balancing boundaries as well. So, as you’re planning how you’re going to be reaching out in the world, as you’re going to be taking incoming messages, as you’re going to be communicating with your clients, figure out what works for you. And yes, sometimes you might have to accommodate clients in certain ways and that’s okay but also make sure you’re not bending over backwards, and make sure you’re not letting it encroach your peace of mind. Because you need your peace of mind, you need your creativity to do your best work so make sure you’re protecting yourself and protecting your energy while still communicating in an open and timely (not immediate) way with potential clients and clients.” – Nicki

“You want to set your client up with clear expectations of when they can hear from you, check-ins for the project, key milestones throughout it. And if you’re thinking, ‘well, what are my key milestones?’ Again, if it’s a bigger project, you want to have places where you check in, even if it’s just to say, ‘hey, this project’s still on track, still loving digging in, I’m having so much fun, just wanted to let you know that we’re still on track for x deadline’, whatever it is—especially if you kick something off and then it’s weeks before you’re delivering something, just that touch base can set a client’s mind at ease. So thinking about when to communicate with a client, err on the side of over communication in the sense of just, ‘hey, wanted to let you know the status update.'” – Kate

“You can set up. parameters so that you don’t have to constantly be at a client’s beck and call. Remember you are not an employee, you are not on staff. If you are, you can even still do that if it’s okay with your employer, but the expectation is not that you are sitting in front of your computer from nine to five each day. If you are an employee, it might be a little bit different, but even still then, you should be able to get a little bit of time away from Slack and email and all that kind of stuff. The expectation is not that you’re just sitting there, waiting to respond to them at any time. You being a freelancer and having many different clients that you’re dealing with, you need to control those rivers of communication, all of those inputs, because if you are constantly trying to respond to everything, seeing all these notifications coming up, watch it, it’s going to get overwhelming. And you have way more important things to be doing than to watch the notifications and respond at every single moment. Well, it’s going to be a time suck. It’s going to completely ruin your productivity.” – Nicki & Kate

Mentioned on this Episode

• One Sec App
• Hunter.io
• RocketReach

Related Links

• Learning to Effectively Communicate as a Copywriter
• What Are Your Copywriting Business Rules?
• You Don’t Have to Work With Clients You Hate
• How NOT to Pitch Potential Copywriting Clients

Tell us what you love about the podcast and what you hope to hear next! When you do, you can get access to an exclusive bonus recording featuring five wildly successful entrepreneurs who share what they do (and don’t!) look for when hiring copywriters. You do not want to miss it! 

Get all the details on how to get your recording here »

About the Build Your Business Podcast

Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?

Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.

Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.

See Previous Episode

Ep. 181: Reading Between the Lines of Copywriter Job Descriptions

The post Episode 182: What’s the Best Way to Communicate with Copywriting Clients? appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!

A Sneak Peek at the Episode

[1:50] In this episode, Nicki and Kate are talking about testing your copy in terms of seeing how different versions of it perform (as opposed to a copy test you might do for a client before being hired—more on that here).

[2:36] Testing your copy is not a scary thing—it can actually be an opportunity for you as a copywriter to better serve your client.

[5:31] There may be times when it’s appropriate to provide options for your client to test, which is a nice way of providing more of a service, while also helping you learn more about what that audience responds to.

[6:24] It is in no way a judgment on your skills as a copywriter to test your copy—it’s just an opportunity to learn (and you will often be surprised by what performs best).

[8:20] You can’t test your copy before giving it to your client—your client has to test it to their audience

[9:35] With an A/B test, you’re testing two versions of one variable against each other. For example, you might test one headline against another headline on a sales page. Changing too many variables at a time makes it hard to isolate the reason one sales page performed better.

[11:01] Your client would split the traffic between the two different versions of the sales page and when they’ve reached a high degree of certainty, they’d look to see how many people purchased on each sales page.

[12:25] There are many opportunities for testing copy, including subject lines, headlines, the language you use in a call-to-action, and testimonials. You can bring more value to your clients by making recommendations for tests to carry out.

[15:46] When Nicki is doing email copy for a client, she will often just automatically send through a couple of different versions of subject lines to her client, which they’re generally grateful for.

[16:41] There are other kinds of projects where testing is more built into it, like Meta ads, where you are constantly testing to see what performs against different versions. Length is always a good thing to test to see if the audience prefers more or less detail before clicking through.

[18:31] If you are creating more copy for your clients to test, make sure you’re building that into your quote so that you are being compensated for it. And if your client comes back to you with additional testing elements, don’t be afraid to create a new quote for that.

[21:17] Anytime that you’re asking your client to test something, put it on your calendar to follow up with them and ask if they can share the results with you (although it may take a while to get them). This is a great opportunity to re-pitch your client—even if it performed well.

[22:32] If your client runs some copy and it doesn’t perform the way that they had hoped it would, that’s not a mark against you. You are only one part of the marketing machine and there are many other factors that can affect the metrics. But you can be part of taking advantage of the opportunity to improve it.

Must-Hear Takeaways

“It’s just so, so valuable for me and for my client to get that information back and know, oh, here’s what our audience actually cares about. Here are the messages that most resonate with them. How can we say these different things in other ways because they want to hear more of this. And this other message, yes, it’s important for them to hear maybe, but they don’t resonate with it as much. So maybe you don’t put as much emphasis on it. It just gives you so much more to work with.” – Kate

“It is not in any way a judgment on your skills as a copywriter to test your copy. It does not mean that you’re not a good copywriter. It’s just an opportunity to learn. And if your client says, ‘oh, we’re going to test this’, embrace it and ask to find out what the results are. After however many years I’ve been doing this, pushing 15 now, I feel like I am almost always wrong of which thing I think is going to win the test.” – Nicki

“I think that’s one of the nicest things about working with a ton of different clients across a ton of different industries is you get ideas that you can then bring to your clients and bring so much more value to them by having all of this knowledge from what other people are doing in their marketing.” – Kate

“And I think anytime that you’re saying to yourself, ‘which one do I think will perform better?’—that’s a perfect time to say, okay this is an opportunity to say to my client that they run an a/b test.” – Kate

Mentioned on this Episode

• What is a Copywriting Test and Should You Do One?

Related Links

• Know Your Copywriting Numbers
• Copywriting Metrics: What You Need to Know

Tell us what you love about the podcast and what you hope to hear next! When you do, you can get access to an exclusive bonus recording featuring five wildly successful entrepreneurs who share what they do (and don’t!) look for when hiring copywriters. You do not want to miss it! 

Get all the details on how to get your recording here »

About the Build Your Business Podcast

Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?

Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.

Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.

See Previous Episode

Ep. 170: Why You Need to Upsell Your Copywriting Clients (And How to Do It the Non-Sleazy Way)

The post Episode 171: Help! My Client Wants to Test My Copy! appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!

A Sneak Peek at the Episode

[2:09] The easiest clients to sell to are ones who know you and are already thrilled with the work that you’re doing!

[3:21] If you see a project that could deliver value for your clients and have a major impact for their business, then you’re doing your clients a disservice if you’re not pointing that out to them.

[7:04] What’s valuable for one client isn’t necessarily going to be valuable for another client, so instead of having “cookie cutter” ideas ready to pitch, tailor your ideas to each business’ needs.

[8:03] To help you identify possible opportunities, think of how your current piece fits into the whole customer journey. For example, if you’re working on an email and look where it’s driving to, you might see that the landing page it goes to could be a lot stronger.

[9:32] It’s always worth considering what other elements would help to make your original piece more successful. Kate gives an example of this from a recent CCA coaching call.

[12:18] Rather than focusing on the deliverables to upsell, start from what the goal is and what pieces are missing or could be strengthened to help fill this goal. Starting from a stronger strategic place will have a higher impact and bring more value.

[15:11] Anytime is the right time to pitch but when it’s a natural progression of a project that you’re already working on, it feels much easier. What is your client focused on right now? And what other projects can you come up with that will support that focus? 

[18:24] Don’t forget to tell your clients how an idea would benefit them. Sometimes we assume that they know why it would benefit them and their company, but that’s not necessarily true. 

[18:48] The best time to upsell a client is when they’re still riding high on the excitement from  what you’ve delivered on the current project. Get in touch with your ideas as you’re wrapping up the current project and still in direct communication.

[20:06] Kate suggests adding notes to your invoice tracker with upselling ideas for certain clients in the future–especially if you know there’s limited bandwidth for that project right now. (But ideally, all projects should be pitched in the moment.)

[24:15] Every quarter, it is good practice to go back and look at the clients you’ve worked with in the past, check out their websites, social pages, and emails, and see if there’s anything you can come up with to pitch to them.

[24:51] Some of the tools that your clients use to engage their audience will apply to completely different industries. For example, a re-engagement series is a tactic that you could pitch to a wide range of different clients.

[26:39] The key to upselling is focusing on how to provide more value. What are the additional projects that would be helpful to the clients that you’ve worked with in the past and the clients you’re working with now? Remember: there is no downside to pitching a new project!

[30:25] Nicki sets us an assignment to start the upselling process with past and current clients!

Must-Hear Takeaways

“There are all kinds of great opportunities once you start digging into working with a client. But don’t just get too focused on the project that you’re doing. Think to Kate’s point, what other elements would help make this piece more successful but what other elements would help make the entire customer journey more successful, for both the customer and for your client.” – Nicki

“You are hurting your client by not suggesting projects that will benefit them. And I think sometimes copywriters think, ‘well, if this is such a good idea, why didn’t they think about it already?’ I think it can be a great way for resistance to kick in. ‘Well, they’ve probably thought about it already. I’m sure there’s probably a really good reason why they’re not doing it.’ Maybe not. Or maybe it’s a project that they haven’t thought about already. Or maybe it’s a project they have thought about in the past, but they haven’t had the opportunity or the right writer to help them out with.” – Nicki

“What’s your client focused on right now and what other projects can you come up with that will support that focus, that are already within that realm of focus?” – Nicki

“There is no downside at all to repitching, to upselling your clients. It helps everybody. Everybody wins and that’s what we want. We want to win and we want our clients to win.” – Nicki

Related Links

• Should You Package Your Copywriting Services?
• Too Afraid to Pitch? Business Owners WANT Your Copywriting Pitches

Tell us what you love about the podcast and what you hope to hear next! When you do, you can get access to an exclusive bonus recording featuring five wildly successful entrepreneurs who share what they do (and don’t!) look for when hiring copywriters. You do not want to miss it! 

Get all the details on how to get your recording here »

About the Build Your Business Podcast

Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?

Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.

Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.

See Previous Episode

Ep. 169: 12 Marks of a Lazy Copywriter (And How to Avoid Becoming One Yourself!)

The post Episode 170: Why You Need to Upsell Your Copywriting Clients (And How to Do It the Non-Sleazy Way) appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!

A Sneak Peek at the Episode

[1:50] In this episode, Nicki and Kate are talking about the things people do that are a mark of being a lazy copywriter—and confessing to the lazy habits they have been guilty of themselves!

[2:49] Our hosts encourage us not to use the “obvious” copy. If you see everybody else writing it, do your best not to write it–especially when it comes to holidays and using subject lines like “fall for our savings”…

[6:25] Reading back through your work can help you avoid duplicating words, and make your copy much stronger. Pro tip: Reading your work out loud can make it easier to catch these things!

[10:49] Copywriting is half creativity and half strategy. If you skip over the strategy part by missing out the creative brief and the concepting phase, and go straight into writing, you end up with very mediocre copy.

[15:27] Taking the time to present clients (especially newer ones) with your work gives you the opportunity to walk through your work, review the purpose of the project, and helps to mitigate client queries.

[18:30] Kate has learned the hard way that you should never write copy directly into any sort of content management system, like an email platform or a WordPress website. Technology will inevitably fail you so you want to make sure you have a backup saved elsewhere!

[20:10] Make sure your work is auto-saving to the cloud so that you don’t lose anything if your computer suddenly goes down.

[21:23] Nicki advises us to plan ahead to be able to upgrade your computer every four to five years—this is usually when computers start to degrade and stop operating the way that they need to be operating! You might also want to consider having a backup computer, even if it’s a cheap one.

[22:54] Schedule out time to update your computer software. Computers can be a lot more temperamental when you haven’t run an update—you certainly don’t want to be in a scenario where you look unprofessional on a call with a client.

[25:19] Sometimes, if you want to save yourself time in the long run, you have to do things that feel hard (like breaking up with a client). As Kate knows, mutual ghosting is not the most professional way to end a client relationship and inevitably, they will come back to you for work in the future (which you *may* end up unwillingly agreeing to!).

[27:30] Lazy copywriters over-rely on spell check to highlight mistakes. Spell check doesn’t catch everything and it’s still important for us to carefully proofread our own work. Consider having a professional proofreader to call on if you struggle to spot typos (you can always build the cost for this into your quote for the project).

Must-Hear Takeaways

“We need to keep and rebuild these habits as we go. There’s no point where you become a copywriter that should just skip over any of these things. That’s when you start to do subpar work. That’s when you are rushing. And these are all marks of things you want to come back to, even as you become a copywriter with 10, 20 years of experience, you still want to do all of these things.” – Kate

“Especially with certain clients, you may get faster at filling out the brief, but you can never skip the strategy stuff. Because that’s copywriting, right? Half of it is creativity and half of it is strategy. And if you take away the strategy by skipping out on the creative brief, by skipping out on the outline, skipping out on planning it all out before you start writing it, then all you’re going to be left with is creativity with nothing to support it.” – Nicki

“That moment of ‘I just did all this work and it’s disappearing’ is the worst feeling. And quite frankly too, that’s not an excuse that you can use with a client. If you have a deadline coming up and the client is expecting a copy, you can’t come back to the client and say, ‘oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I had it all written. And then my computer died’ because you’re a grownup. You’re a professional. You can’t use ‘the Internet ate my homework’. So you have to plan in advance to make sure that even if your computer goes down, even if any number of things happen, you have to have backups.” – Nicki

“When you start cutting corners at the beginning is when you start producing mediocre stuff at the end, or you start getting a client going, ‘this isn’t really what we asked for.'” – Nicki

Mentioned on this Episode

• Wendy’s Ranch Tooth commercial
• Are You Skipping This Essential Copywriting Task?

Related Links

• Keep Your Copywriting Creative Review from Going off the Rails
• The Creative Project Process
• Self-Edit Your Copywriting: Why It’s a Must & How To Do It

Tell us what you love about the podcast and what you hope to hear next! When you do, you can get access to an exclusive bonus recording featuring five wildly successful entrepreneurs who share what they do (and don’t!) look for when hiring copywriters. You do not want to miss it! 

Get all the details on how to get your recording here »

About the Build Your Business Podcast

Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?

Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.

Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.

See Previous Episode

Ep. 168: 1 Year to a Senior Copywriter Promotion – Kelsey’s Story

The post Episode 169: 12 Marks of a Lazy Copywriter (And How to Avoid Becoming One Yourself!) appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!

A Sneak Peek at the Episode

[3:45] CCA student Melanie spends a lot of time in Mexico, and is looking to get temporary residency. She is worried that clients might not have confidence in you if you don’t have a physical presence in the same country.

[5:03] Clients won’t mind where you are, as long as you can do what it is that you say you can do. It’s very common for people to be working from all over and traveling while they work.

[6:40] Having a backup plan for infrastructure issues like power or internet outages is crucial for remote work.

[8:50] It’s always a good idea to give clients a deadline where you’re able to over deliver and get it to them a couple of days earlier. Then if there are any unexpected issues, you have built in time to account for that.

[10:09] Confidence in your abilities and professionalism will outweigh any concerns clients may have about your location.

[12:27] Having multiple modes of communication like Zoom, Google Meet, and a Skype number gives you more options in case of problems.

[13:11] A Skype number allows you to dial out and appear as a local number to the recipient, without any additional charges for your client.

Must-Hear Takeaways

“Clients aren’t going to care where you are, as long as you can do what it is that you say you can do. You have your portfolio you can send them to and say, ‘here’s work I’ve done’, and you’re going to do it the exact same way that you would land clients if you were in the U.S., or if you were anywhere. This process is not going to change in terms of pitching.” – Kate

“For your clients, it’s no different whether you’re in Mexico City or whether you’re in Los Angeles. There’s no different experience for them at all. The only thing for you is that there can be infrastructure issues.” – Nicki

“I always give clients a deadline and I usually under promise, over deliver in the sense of I’m going try to get this done probably at least 2 days before the actual deadline, and then maybe the next day I’ll just read it for one more read through to make sure it’s all good. But I feel confident that if I had to send this to the client as is, I could in those situations.” – Kate

“If you want to have your days free and work nights, you can definitely do that. I think the only thing I would say is set boundaries for yourself of saying, ‘okay I know I need to take some client calls – what are those hours going to be for me that I’m available on whatever time zone that your clients are on?’ But otherwise, so much of what you’re going to be doing, you can control your schedule and when and where you do it.” – Kate

Related Links

• Is it Really Possible for Copywriters to Work Entirely Remotely?
• Tips for Copywriters Working With Remote Clients
• Which Work From Home Writing Jobs Are Real?
• 7 Tips to Living the Digital Nomad Lifestyle as a Copywriter

Tell us what you love about the podcast and what you hope to hear next! When you do, you can get access to an exclusive bonus recording featuring five wildly successful entrepreneurs who share what they do (and don’t!) look for when hiring copywriters. You do not want to miss it! 

Get all the details on how to get your recording here »

About the Build Your Business Podcast

Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?

Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.

Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.

See Previous Episode

Ep. 149: The Worst Advice for New Freelancers (And What to Do Instead)

The post BONUS – Laser Coaching: How Can I Work Remotely from Anywhere in the World? appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!

Read More: How to Manage That First Copywriting Client Panic

When you start getting work, your first reaction will be elation. But then the panic may set in. Learn how to overcome that feeling and push through the panic with our blog post here >>

A Sneak Peek at the Episode

[1:44] Challenges are likely to come up when building your own business but panicking about them will only hinder your progress.

[5:31] Whatever the problem is, start by viewing it objectively and ask yourself what you know for sure about the situation and what the absolute facts are. Your feelings are valid, but they’re not objective.

[10:48] The next question to ask yourself is what problem you are looking to solve, e.g. are you working too many hours? Then you can go through all of the elements that may have contributed to that.

[13:55] Nicki and Kate discuss some possible scenarios for working a certain number of hours and not making enough money. Are you factoring meetings into your price? Are you making an assumption about the number of hours you’re working?  

[21:59] As you go through and see what all of the contributing problems are, it will be clear exactly what is causing the main problem. The last step is figuring out what to do now instead.

[23:26] Having too much work can be a sign of not setting or enforcing effective boundaries with your clients. Make the shift toward wanting your clients to respect you, rather than like you.

[26:35] Using this process is useful for hitting your financial goals, but can also be used if you have too much work. 

[27:58] Once you have the facts about business activities like pitching and social media, you can figure out what you need to objectively do to move forward. You can’t make those decisions in a state of panic.

[33:33] Tracking the metrics in your business is key for determining if the activities that you’re doing are generating revenue.

[35:44] Aim for slightly higher goals, as achieving them can happen a lot faster than you think. It’s all perfectly possible but not if you spend all of your time in panic!

Must-Hear Takeaways

“Whatever the facts end up being, once you have the facts you can figure out what you need to objectively do to move forward. Not just sit there and say “ahh I don’t know what to do!!!” Yes, absolutely take a moment to feel your feelings, but when you know the objective facts, you can come up with the steps to move forward.” – Nicki

“If we’re not enforcing our boundaries, if we’re working well beyond the hours that we told our clients that we would work, or if we’re doing extra work for our clients just to be nice, that’s going to compound and that’s going to end up with us working way too much for way too little.” – Nicki

“We’re looking for what objectively happened because as you start to list out these problems and list out the symptoms, the factors that contribute to those problems, you’re going to start being able to come up with what I would then call hypotheses or possible scenarios to fix it.” – Nicki

“It is a spiral that’s hard to get out of because you just keep saying yes to work and keep taking on work. And then you still have all of these problems and you’re wondering what’s going on. And sometimes the cash is nice enough to make up for that, but you’re somehow burned out and miserable in some ways like ‘I thought I was going to have more time as a copywriter’. You can, you just need to go through this framework to make sure you’re setting up your business in the right way.” – Kate

“The truth is, there’s no problem in your business that can’t be fixed and I hope that makes everyone feel really good. Wherever you are, whatever you’re facing, there’s nothing that can’t be fixed and whatever your goal is, it is absolutely possible to get there.” – Nicki

Related Links

• Frustrated, Disillusioned, and/or Procrastinating? It’s Time to Fight Resistance
• Copywriting Rush Fees: When and How to Charge Them
• Ep. 17: How to Set Your Copywriting Rates
• What Are Your Copywriting Business Rules?
• Ep. 134: Keep Copywriting Fun: 3 Must-Implement Business Boundaries

Tell us what you love about the podcast and what you hope to hear next! When you do, you can get access to an exclusive bonus recording featuring five wildly successful entrepreneurs who share what they do (and don’t!) look for when hiring copywriters. You do not want to miss it! 

Get all the details on how to get your recording here »

About the Build Your Business Podcast

Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?

Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.

Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.

See Previous Episode

Ep. 146: Face Your Freelance Finances Fears – with Crystalynn Shelton (CPA)

The post Episode 147: How to Avoid Freak-Outs & Solve Any Challenge appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.