TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

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

A Sneak Peek at the Episode

[03:11]  You have to like writing, because lemme tell you, there’s a lot of writing in a copywriting career. It’s not all writing, there’s a lot of editing as well, a lot of thinking and brainstorming.

[09:34] Being willing to roll with things, being open to other points of view, as a copywriter you’ll come in and you’ll make recommendations.

[10:18]  The more you’re able to be flexible in dealing with people and how you deal with people, the more success you will have.

[13:00] I would imagine if you’re not hustling, there’s someone else that is more than willing to hustle and do the work. You have to get the job done no matter what. You cannot miss a deadline.

[22:15] Clients don’t automatically know how to evaluate copy. They don’t know how you as a copywriter know that you have structured things in a certain way to affect the target audience in a certain way.

[30:07] The concept of patience and persistence. It’s gonna be rare that you get your first draft and it’s perfect. Even just as you’re writing, it’s gonna take some time to come up with the right words and there is a lot of editing involved in copywriting.

Must-Hear Takeaways

“In order to be a copywriter, you need to get the training to add on to that natural ability to write because there are techniques and skills that you will add on to that natural ability. But that natural affinity for writing is a really important place to start” – Nicki

“My next favorite trait is resilience. Because you might love to write, you might then love some of what you’re writing. When you are facing that feedback that feels like it could be personal or it was just not. But you have that kind of ability to say, it’s gonna improve me as a writer, and it’s gonna improve the final product.” – Kate

“You’re the copywriting expert in the room, but you’re not the copywriting expert in the world. So there’s an element of needing to own the fact that you know what you’re doing and you have a lot of value to provide, but at the same time, being open to the fact that you don’t know everything.” – Nicki

” When you’re sitting down with a group of people in the office. You are all working together. You are collaborating to create the best piece possible. It’s at least 50% editing. You write your copy, you look at it from your target audience viewpoint, and you make your change, you make your tweaks. It’s not an instant process.” – Nicki

Mentioned on this Episode

• 11 Traits of the Most Successful Copywriters

Related Links

• What Does it Take to Become a Copywriter?
• Confused About Where to Start Your Copywriting Career? This One’s For You

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.

Previous Episode

The post Summer Rewind: Ep 15. Traits of the Most Successful Copywriters 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

[2:23] People can be reluctant to work on their career mindset but embracing one subtle mindset shift will at least double your copywriting income.

[4:27] Putting on your CEO hat and treating your copywriting business like a business, as opposed to a hobby or side hustle, will propel you forward.

[6:53] There are some telltale signs when you are not treating your business like a business, including letting yourself off the hook too frequently.

[9:41] Viewing the different aspects of your business from the perspective of a CEO is a great tactic to keep you on track.

[12:26] Adjust your schedule to complete tasks at a time which works for you and set out the steps you need to do during that time. Making sure it is a realistic amount of work to complete in the allocated time is also important.

[16:52] Letting the voice of resistance shout louder than your CEO voice will keep you in your safety zone because you’re not letting yourself take it seriously.

[20:46] When you do start taking your business seriously, despite knowing it will be uncomfortable at times, you will transition from having a hobby to having a business. Then you can really start driving more income.

[22:14] Pitching is the direct line to growing your business and getting revenue. Everything else, like growing a social media presence, is ‘nice to have’ but won’t make as big of an impact.

[25:18] This mindset only comes when you fully embrace being a business. Once you go all in with your focus, it’s inevitable you will see success.

Must-Hear Takeaways

As with every episode, we highly encourage you to listen to the entire conversation! But here are a few of the highlights:

“There comes a point in your career where you go, ‘OK, you know what? I’m going to take this seriously. I’m going to do this. I know that I’m going to be uncomfortable sometimes. I know that some things are going to kick up some self doubt. But I’m going to take this seriously and I’m going to wear the CEO hat and I’m going to do the things that I need to do to reach my goals, whether I feel like it or not.’ Because that’s when you truly transition from having a hobby to having a business.” – Nicki

“Pitching is the direct line to growing your business. All the other stuff is a nice to have.” – Kate

“Often if we’re feeling a little bit nervous about taking the next step, we’re going to default to doing the stuff that doesn’t have the big impact.” – Nicki

 “It’s not going to be until you take your responsibilities as a copywriter seriously that you’re going to see any success as a copywriter. It doesn’t just fall in your lap.” – Nicki

Mentioned on this Episode

• CCA Core Training Module 0 Video 4 ‘Fight Resistance-and Win’ (For CCA Students)

Related Links

• Frustrated or Fearful? How New Copywriters Can Fight Resistance

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. 140: Traveling Europe While Running a Copywriting Agency – Chris’s Story

The post Episode 141: #1 Change That Will Double Your Copywriting Income appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it a million more times: giving and receiving feedback is a skill. And, it’s a skill not enough professionals, copywriters or otherwise, workout enough. So, while it can sometimes be hard to receive feedback on our copywriting, we can take what we learn from how we receive feedback and incorporate it into how we give copywriting feedback.

If you take away nothing else from this, remember that it all comes down to communication. And we only get better at communication if we practice! So, with that, here are our top tips for giving feedback, both to clients and other writers.

How to Give Feedback to Clients

Ideally, your relationship with your clients is a partnership.

It’s all too easy to gripe about clients and say, “they just don’t get it!” Or shake our heads and say, “Oh clients.” But the truth is, it’s on us as professional copywriters to communicate our needs to our clients. They’re not mind readers!

They also don’t know how to give copywriting feedback.

Going in with this mindset—you and your client wants what’s best for the project and have a positive intent—will help you

How Do You Best Communicate and Process Feedback?

Before you start any project with a client, you need to get clear on how you best receive feedback

Does it work well if you hop on a video call with your client and you walk through the copy together? Does it work better if they include comments on your copy doc explaining what they like and what they don’t like and (here’s the key) why they like or don’t like it?

You need to get clear on what you need to best receive and process feedback. And then you need to ask for it.

Tips for Giving Clients Feedback

• Be timely. If you need to communicate something to your clients, positive or negative, do it as close to the event as possible. For example, if a client is sending you feedback in five different emails over five different days instead of providing consolidated feedback, you may say something after the second email to say, “I noticed I have a couple of different emails with feedback. In the future, is it possible to get all feedback in one consolidated email? That way I can ensure I address all your feedback and no messages get lost in my inbox!”
• Choose your medium wisely. If you want to thank your client for something, email or a group meeting is totally fine if that makes sense. However, for something like working through how your process aligns with the clients’ internal processes, you may not want to try and communicate it via email—or call out their clunky processes in front of an entire group.
• Give the why and the benefit. If you’re asking your client to provide feedback a certain way, focus on the benefit to them! For example, “In an effort to save you any time on word smithing, please provide any feedback via comments versus track changes—I’m happy to take it from there!” Or “In order for me to turn V2 around to you as fast as possible, I appreciate having consolidated feedback from all stakeholders by [insert deadline].”
• Schedule regular check-ins. It’s easy to get in to send-receive mode in our inboxes, especially with clients we’ve worked with for awhile. Don’t underestimate the power of a quick 15-minute check-in with your client every now and then. Particularly for large projects, say a 30-page website rewrite, you may recommend getting a weekly check-in on the books for the length of the project. That way if something is starting to go off the rails, you can get it back on track before it’s too late (and a much bigger headache).

Watch More

Clients don’t know how to be clients. Nicki digs into the secret to managing edits and explains why it’s beneficial for you to guide your clients through this process.

How Give Copywriting Feedback to Junior Copywriters

As you grow in your copywriting career you may hire junior copywriters. As our CCA Next Level members know, this is one of the best ways to scale your copywriting business beyond six figures into the multiple six-figure—and yes, even seven-figure—range.

But hiring a junior copywriter means you need to know how to give feedback to

Show Them the What Not the How

Much like in a pitch where you tell clients what you can do to help their business, you want to do the same for junior writers. The how is what you hired them for! (And what your clients hired you for!)

Inevitably, they’re going to need a few assignments to get used to the client’s style and how best to work with you. But they’re only going to get there—and grow as a writer—if you explain to them what they’re doing well and why it’s done well, as well as where they can improve and why.

For example, let’s say the junior copywriter wrote something like this for a headline: “This 8-ounce mug keeps your coffee extra warm!”

Your instinct may be to say, “Great start, but we need something that focuses more on the benefit. Something like, ‘Power through your entire to-do list before your coffee even goes lukewarm.'”

But…if you’re writing for them—even examples—what’s the point of having hired them? That doesn’t tell them why their headline is off.

Instead you could say something like, “Great start! You’re getting somewhere with the coffee staying warm. Why does that matter? What is that ultimately going to help this customer do? (Small note: I’d recommend losing the 8-ounce piece since that’s a feature!)”

Consider Your Tone

If your writer missed something on the creative brief, it’d be easy to say, “Hey, you completely missed this!”

It’s direct, but not necessarily very effective when it comes to morale.

Instead, consider saying, “The client mentioned x, y, and z in the brief. Can we weave that in here?”

Anytime you see don’t, can’t, won’t, shouldn’t, couldn’t … basically any contraction with “not,” see if you can reframe in the positive. Pro tip: do a “control F” before you send through any feedback to see if you’re using any “nots” or negative contractions.

Think About How You Like to Receive Feedback

If you absolutely hate certain ways clients give you feedback, consider that when giving your own feedback. It’s all too easy to realize we don’t like certain things clients do, and then turn around and realize we’re doing the same thing to our own team!

When it doubt, have a conversation with your writer. You can even say, “This is how I typically give feedback [tell them how you give feedback]. I want to make sure this works for your process.”

Having the conversation sooner rather than later will ensure a stronger relationship from the get-go.

Your Turn

What are your best practices for giving copywriting feedback? How do you like to receive feedback–and how don’t you like to receive it? Tell us in the comments below!

The post How to Give Copywriting Feedback appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

As copywriters, we do a lot of work on our own. After all, the actual writing of copy is a fairly solitary job. But often, we need to collaborate. With designers, yes, but also with project managers, marketing managers, and other key stakeholders within an organization.

The Importance of Collaboration

This is true whether you work in an ad agency or on an in-house team. Even as a freelancer, you may not consider the people you work with your “colleagues” in the traditional sense, but while you’re working for a given client, their team becomes your colleagues.

Now, this may sound obvious, but it’s crucial to act professionally as a freelancer. You’d be shocked by how many freelancers, copywriters or otherwise, don’t. Those are the folks that churn through clients, never landing a repeat project and consistently wondering what they’re doing wrong. But it’s not hard to stand out and ensure you’re providing the professional service your clients expect.

That’s where Tell Me More: How to Ask the Right Questions and Get the Most Out of Your Employees by Michael Sherlock comes in.

Our Book Pick

Another book for your copywriting toolbox, Tell Me More helps you change the way you approach collboration.

Sherlock is a sales communications strategist and global sales leadership expert. In this book (the first in her Shock Your Potential series), she takes you through her “Listen, Learn, and Lead” framework.

First, you’ll learn to embrace active listening. Then, using the information gained during this active listening, you’ll learn how to unpack any issue, as well as how to follow up and follow through.

Tell Me More is unique in that, unlike other leadership books, this one is told through the eyes of a fictional character. The story makes it easier to process concepts versus reading dry “how-to” instructions that make it hard to understand how they work in action. With this book, you’re taken through a real scenario to see how it all works.

While it’s aimed at those who have direct reports, the information in the book is still applicable to copywriters in any situation:

• Developing positive relationships? Check.
• Turning negative situations into positive with honest and direct communication? Check.
• Developing leadership qualities like humility, fairness, and empathy? Check, check, check!

Developing strong partnerships with designers from the first conversation is crucial. You want to have a partnership that ensures you can work together towards a common goal versus letting small annoyances start to fester.

These skills can also improve your relationships with clients. Comprehensive Copywriting Academy students know, clients want to work with a partner. Rather than sit back and wait for clients to just hand you work, how can you help them reach their goals? What solutions do you see that would make their lives (and by extension yours) easier?

This is a must read if you have your sights set on a copy manager or lead copywriter role within an organization, or if you plan to take your business to the next level by starting an agency or outsourcing work (such as hiring a virtual assistant).

Bonus: Listen to Michael’s Podcast

If you’re a podcast fan (and we hope you are; take a listen to the Build Your Copywriting Business podcast), then you may love Michael Sherlock’s Shock Your Potential podcast. Each month has a theme and includes episodes that will help you grow both personally and professionally. Take a listen wherever you listen to your podcasts!

More Books for Copywriters

• Books Every Copywriter Must Read
• More Books Every Copywriter Should Read
• Books Copywriters Will Enjoy
• Books by Copywriters
• Business Books for Copywriters

Books for Copywriters to Improve Skills

• Find Your Why
• Amp Up Your Persistence
• How To Collaborate More Effectively
• Job-Seeker Advice
• Break Through Self-Imposed Roadblocks to Realize Your Full Potential
• Shift Negative Mindset
• Stay Focused Year-Round

Your Turn

What are your tips for collaborating more effectively and building strong relationships with your colleagues and clients? Tell us in the comments below!

*P.S. This page contains affiliate links.

The post Book Pick: How Copywriters Can Collaborate More Effectively appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

Many of you have already read Start With Why by Simon Sinek, but in case you need a refresher, it explains what the most impactful leaders have in common: a deep reason, or “why,” for doing what they do. Without a why, the what you do won’t matter. You’ll eventually burn out, give up, or simply slog through each day.

But that’s not the book we’re recommending here (though we do recommend you read it!). This book will take your personal introspection one step further.

Our Book Pick

Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team is essentially the companion workbook to Start With Why.

The book includes both finding your personal “why” and a “why” for a group. For many of us, if we’re approaching finding our why for our copywriting careers, we’ll dig into the individual section.

This section takes you through the process of discovering the purpose, cause, or belief that drives you.

But that’s just the beginning.

Identify Your Why and How

Once you’ve identified your “why,” it’s time to figure out your “how,” as in how you bring your why to life! As Sinek explains, the hows aren’t aspirational. They’re how you act when you’re at the top of your game. By knowing the actions you take that allow you to be your best, you can ensure that you’re creating the environment in which you’ll thrive.

Take a Stand

Finally, the “take a stand” section helps you “do the things you say you believe.” Basically, it helps you walk the walk. This is the hard part, but as anyone in the Comprehensive Copywriting Academy knows, anything worth doing is outside your comfort zone and taking action, even small actions, will help you get where you want to go. You’ll never grow if you don’t push yourself!

So, what’s your why? Your true why? Dig into this workbook and discover it!

Books for Copywriters to Improve Skills

• Learning to Effectively Communicate as a Copywriter
• Amp Up Your Persistence
• How To Collaborate More Effectively
• Job-Seeker Advice
• Break Through Self-Imposed Roadblocks to Realize Your Full Potential
• Shift Negative Mindset
• Stay Focused Year-Round

More Books for Copywriters

• Books Every Copywriter Must Read
• More Books Every Copywriter Should Read
• Books by Copywriters
• Business Books for Copywriters
• Books Copywriters Will Enjoy

Your Turn

If you’re comfortable, share your why in the comments below!

*P.S. This page contains affiliate links.

The post Book Pick: Find Your Why (Companion Notebook to “Start With Why”) appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

As copywriters, or any other type of professional quite frankly, we’re always looking for ways to work smarter and happier. If that sounds like you, you’ll want to check out The Leading Brain: Neuroscience Hacks to Work Smarter, Better, Happier.

Neuropsychologist Friederike Fabritius and leadership expert Dr. Hans W. Hagemann have put together strategies that will help you find your “sweet spot” (those moments when you’re performing at your peak), regulate your emotions (a.k.a. keep your cool on client calls), sharpen your focus for longer stretches, eliminate bad habits, build healthy habits, learn more effectively, and more.

The authors talk about looking at setbacks as temporary and to look at these setbacks as a challenge versus treating them as threats. This is part of regulating our negative emotions in order to perform at our best.

You’ll also be happy to know that this idea of “peak performance” is not about operating in a state of stress. In fact, when you’re operating at your best, you aren’t stressed. Instead, you feel like your tasks are easy to accomplish, you feel creative, and ideas come to you. It sounds like a copywriter’s wildest dream, right?

The book also digs into creating psychologically safe workplaces. As an on-staff copywriter, you have the opportunity to create a positive environment for your team. But you also have that opportunity when you’re a freelancer, too! We need to make sure we’re appreciating and respecting our own work, whether on staff or as a freelancer. If you wouldn’t tolerate a boss yelling at you or talking down to you, why would you tolerate doing it to yourself?

So, if you’re ready to overcome unnecessary blocks you’re creating for yourself and find your copywriting flow state, give this book a read and let us know what you think!

Your Turn! What tactics do you use to work smarter and happier? Share it with the community in the comments below!

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

The post Finding Your Copywriting Flow State appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

As copywriters, we’re often typing away on our computers, writing copy to deliver to our clients. So, it can sometimes come as a shock when we interact with our client and the feedback is…less than stellar.

As Brandon Black and Shayne Hughes explore, humans have a significant preoccupation with self-worth, which causes us to react to various situations with less-than-ideal behaviors. Behaviors, as they explain, that are automatic, deceptively destructive, and very predictable.

Our Book Club Pick

Black and Hughes are the co-authors of Ego Free Leadership: Ending the Unconscious Habits that Hijack Your Business. The book takes a first-person perspective, alternating between the two authors as they recall the time when Black was the CEO of Encore Capital Group and Hughes and his team at Learning as Leadership were hired to help completely reshape Encore’s culture.

You may be thinking at this point, what does an organization in the financial industry have to do with my copywriting career?

Reactive behaviors happen to all of us, in personal and professional settings, even if we’re not often working alongside colleagues or bosses in an office.

The Benefit to Copywriters

As copywriters, we have relationships with clients, whether we have one point of contact or we’re interacting with larger marketing and creative teams. But regardless of the number of people we’re interacting with, we have the opportunity and—if you hope to work with clients long-term—the need to act as leaders.

In our desire to be seen as competent, likable, ethical, and strong, too often we focus on ourselves versus the outcomes we want to achieve.

Black and Hughes offer actionable tips for swapping default reactions for intentional responses.

Through learning the importance of vulnerability and empathy and eliminating the toxic habit of being right, we improve our communication so it’s more constructive and productive.

We all have biases and blind spots. But it’s on each of us to take responsibility, including for those blind spots. Knowing that we have them in the first place can help us recognize when we may be going off the rails and recognize that sometimes we need to simply stop and listen; there’s a lot we can learn if we’re willing and open to hearing it.

And, if we’re honest with ourselves, we can all see ourselves in Black’s story. Instead of making his same mistakes in our own work environments, we can learn from Black’s experience to ensure we’re always providing our clients with not only the best copy, but the best experience possible.

Your Turn

What are your tips for ensuring ego doesn’t get in the way of your success? If you’ve read the book, what do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

*P.S. This page contains affiliate links!

The post How To Prevent Ego From Derailing Your Copywriting Success appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

Normally, I’m wary of using a clickbait-y style headline like “This One Tactic Will Double Your Income.” But in this case, it’s true: Making this change will easily double your income, if not increase it even more.

And I warned you that it’s subtle, so I’m going to need you to stick with me for just a bit to explain exactly how implementing it will make such a monumental difference.

So, what is this subtle shift?

It’s treating your business like a business.

Stop Treating Copywriting like “Bonus” Work or a Hobby

Here’s the thing: Most of us come to copywriting from another full-time job or other full-time responsibility. Maybe the goal is to transition to copywriting full-time or maybe the goal is to keep it as a part-time opportunity. Either way, most people treat “side hustles” like this like bonus work. Really, like something a step or two above a hobby.

And that is seriously getting in the way of your success.

What happens when you don’t treat your business as a business?

• You let yourself off the hook when you don’t feel like studying or practicing. 
• You settle for “good enough” in your practice work.
• You let your self-doubt or insecurity get in the way of taking the steps you know you need to take, like doing the practice work, reaching out to designers, or pitching clients.
• You don’t dedicate consistent time to taking action and making progress.
• You don’t have clear goals for where you want to be and you don’t have a plan for how to get there.

Now, let me ask you a question. Do you think the CEO of any company would put up with ANY of that for even a moment? 

Sara Blakely, Daymond John, Oprah, or insert-your-favorite-business-leader here would NEVER let any of that slide.

And you can’t either.

Becoming the CEO of Your Copywriting Career

When you’re running a business (and—surprise!—you are) you have to treat it just as seriously as any other CEO would treat their businesses. 

You, as a person, might feel some temporary self-doubt. But, as the CEO, you wouldn’t dream of letting that get in the way of taking the necessary action.

As an average person, it’s easy to think, “Ooo, I’m nervous about sending out these pitch emails.” But a CEO would recognize that that action is essential to the survival and growth of the business, so they would just DO IT. 

They might, personally, feel a little nervous, but they don’t let feelings get in the way of what must be done.

Are you getting the distinction here? When you’re running a business, there’s no equivocating and no indulging in fear or negativity. There’s just figuring out what needs to be done and doing it.

Now, I’m not saying that it’s easy to be the CEO of a business. Getting to that mindset takes a lot of personal growth and a lot of willingness to face your fears and perceived limitations and move past them.

But, until you embrace that your business is, in fact, a business and, as such, you are the CEO of your business, you’ll never see the success you want to see. 

(And, by the way, this goes for those of you who want full-time, on-staff jobs as copywriters, too. You are the CEOs of your own careers and you have to act accordingly!)

When you come up against something that makes you uncomfortable or that you don’t feel like doing, ask yourself “What would a CEO do?” And then (here’s the challenge) do THAT.

Average people give in to their fears, insecurities, and laziness, and let all that keep them from doing what they want to do. You have to be stronger than that internal desire we ALL have to be average and stay in our comfort zones.

You have to step up and be the CEO.

Pro Tip: Asking your copywriting clients this one question will double your income. What is it? Read all about it here >>

Watch More

On episode 141 of the Build Your Copywriting Business podcast, Nicki and Kate dig further into what it means to treat your business like a business. Watch for more tips on how you can make this mindset shift that will help you increase income. And, if you’re just starting, they will help you get your business off the ground.

Your Turn

Are you willing to commit to treating your business as a business and being the CEO of that business? Let me know in the comments below! 

The post Use an Entrepreneur Mindset to Double Your Copywriting Income appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

As our students can attest, when you land your first few clients you feel elation followed very quickly by panic. (Which, by the way, does subside and occurs much less often as you land more and more clients.)

The reason for this panic is that it’s now time to walk the walk as well as you talk the talk—to actually do the work you’ve been practicing and preparing for. And that’s natural; once you’ve gotten through your first few projects and have proven to yourself that you can do it (spoiler alert: you can), that nervousness will abate.

Embrace Your Expertise

But that panic also comes up for another reason: You’re forgetting that YOU are the expert. When we’re trying to pitch and land clients, it can be easy to focus on what we want (the work) and forget that we are actually offering them a valuable service.

In other words, they’re not doing you a favor by hiring you; they’re hiring you because they need your valuable help.

Your client is not a marketing or copywriting expert.

(Unless you’re working for a creative director, of course, but that’s a slightly different scenario. Even then—you were hired for a reason.)

Because your client is not a marketing or copywriting expert, they have HIRED a copywriting expert to help them: you.

They need that expert (you) to guide them when it comes to their projects.

Pro Tip: Ask Them Why

When your copywriting client says, “I need you to rewrite my website,” you ask, “Why? What are you hoping to accomplish?”

Getting at your clients’ wants and needs helps ensure you craft copy that actually meets those wants and needs!

Just the way a homeowner may have a general idea about what projects done but looks to a construction contractor for advice and guidance, your clients will look to you.

When you’re discussing a project with a client, don’t be shy to share ideas or recommendations. That insight you offer is incredibly valuable to your clients because they don’t have that same insight or expertise themselves.

Even when you haven’t yet landed many clients, your studying and practice give you insight into best practices that your client doesn’t know and key marketing opportunities that your client doesn’t know to look for.

For example, a client may have been told by their business coach that they need a “sales funnel” but they don’t necessarily know what that entails, how many emails that should include, how to get people into it and where to send people after it.

Just because a client tells you “I need a sales funnel” doesn’t mean they actually have a full and complete understanding of the project.

You’ve done the studying and the practicing and the honing of your skills to get to this point. And, yes, you’ll likely be nervous when you land your first few copywriting clients.

But never forget: You are the expert and they need the expertise that you offer. The only way you can do them a disservice is by not sharing that expertise and insight with them.

Watch This: How To Calm Your Nerves for a Client Call

In this episode of the Build Your Copywriting podcast, Nicki and Kate walk through tips to help you calm your nerves for discovery calls with prospective clients as well as reduce any anxiety that may come before kicking off a project with a client who wants to work with you.

Your Turn

What makes you nervous about landing clients? Have you developed any techniques for getting over the nerves? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Why Your Copywriting Clients Need Your Guidance appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

In any job, you want to earn the trust and respect of your boss. But let’s turn that on its head a bit, shall we? We’re going to explore the things copywriters do that make bosses hate them. 

The easiest tips for making your boss happy with your work are to work hard, stay engaged, and keep learning.

But let’s look at it from another angle: What would a copywriter do to elicit their boss’s “hatred?”

Avoid these five things that drive copy bosses crazy.

Miss Deadlines

Missing deadlines is the height of irresponsibility. You’re given a deadline at the beginning of a project, and it’s up to you and your design partner to build your schedules to hit it.

Now, what if the deadline is too tight? Speak up! Sometimes there isn’t any wiggle room, but often there is. No one can know that a deadline is too much of a challenge unless you tell them.

A tight deadline is no excuse for missing it.

Don’t Ask Questions

If you want to tick off your boss, leave a kickoff, creative review, or any other meeting with unanswered questions. And then, when you need to reflect these things in your work, guess.

No one knows what goes on in your head but you. It’s not up to anyone else to figure out what you’re not understanding—unless you tell them.

You have every opportunity to ask questions, and people want you to ask questions to make sure the work turns out well.

If you avoid asking questions, guess at things, and the work turns out wrong or unusable because of it, you’ve just wasted a lot of people’s time.

Avoid Your Designers

A great way to make your boss and your coworkers angry is to avoid your design partners.

The best work comes from close collaboration between writers and designers. So, if you’re the kind of writer who likes to hole up in your cubicle, send your copy when you’re done writing it, and avoid any human contact, you’re going to pose a big problem.

Get up from your desk, go over, and sit down with your design partner in front of their screen to merge the design and copy.

Don’t make your designer guess your intentions or have to try to cut copy themselves because you aren’t a good collaborator.

Take Dictation

Often in creative reviews, key stakeholders will make suggestions for what copy should say.

And often this is because they don’t know that it’s better to explain why what you have isn’t working than to try to fix it themselves.

A sure sign of a lazy copywriter is one who writes down this suggested copy and always uses it verbatim.

Sure, some times the key stakeholders will suggest copy that’s perfect. And when they do, feel free to use it.

But if you use their copy every time, you’re clearly not putting in the effort to think through a project and come up with the best result.

Phone It In

When you’ve been at a company or working with a client for a while, you get to know the kinds of copy that usually get approved.

When you fall back on what you know your key stakeholders will be okay with, you miss the opportunity to challenge yourself (and your brand) to find even better copy.

It’s a trap that’s easy to fall into, and it’s always the mark of a copywriter that needs to reinvigorate themselves in their job—or to move on.

Your job is always to find the most effective copy, and that’s rarely going to be the easy copy. Stretch yourself to be better instead of going the path of least resistance.

Your Turn!

What other mistakes have you seen copywriters make that get their bosses angry with them or other ways copywriters burn bridges? Let us know in the comments below.

The post 5 Ways to Make Your Copy Boss Hate You appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.