Reading time: 8 min.
Her wide-eyes open, my new friend went toe-to-toe with me.
“Copywriting won’tactuallysell my product any better … or will it??”
We were speakers atInspired Retreatlast fall, working through an exercise in a session all about how to write product awareness campaigns for our little small businesses, challenging each other on the doubts we had about the other’s business.
So let’s explore that question today.
Can copywriting ACTUALLY make you more sales?
Well, if I didn’t believe yes, I’d have a hard time getting clients now, wouldn’t I?
So I’m goin’ lawyer on you: laying out the evidence that I’ve seen from dozens of clients and hundreds of students.
Read on to find …
- 4 quick-win ways to ramp up your creative biz copy in the next hour to make more sales
- How Kat sold out her conference in 12 hours with copywriting
- How Kadie got booked out for 6 months & grew her list to 600 with copywriting
Now, like I said this is an age-old question I get. When it comes to figuring out WHERE to spend money as a creative small business owner, I get asked a lot if copy is worth it, especially by those newer to business. How do you DIY it if you don’t have the funds to hire it out, etc.
But, I want to put a twist on it: in fact, I DON’T think you should hire it out right away. You’re the CEO, and you need to be able to communicate!
Let’s dig into how you can leverage copy to make you more money.
Don’t forget to grab your seat inside my FREE training, Separate Yourself from the Pack: How to Write Website Words that Sell! We’ll dig into a bit less of the “why” and a bit more of the “how” in my masterclass.????????????
The first and foremost way that you can leverage messaging and copy to make you more money is to figure out a brand value proposition that stands out from the hundreds of others in your saturated niche.
One of the absolute most common mistakes I see on creatives’ websites is the same meaningless phrases crop up over and over again: “passionate about your wedding day.” “obsessed with photography.” “going above and beyond.”
30% of the American workforce is freelancers (source). You’ve got competition.
Spending time considering and writing out your unique selling proposition CAN take some of the marketing hustle out, and make you more money by letting your copy do the heavy-lifting for you.
Put copy that talks about your onlyness factor (as students in my signature program know it)/unique selling proposition/value proposition on your homepage and/or about page.
Homework: Put copy that talks about your onlyness factor (as students in mysignature program know it) unique selling proposition/value proposition on your homepage and/or about page.
A “call to action” button—your CTA—is that click-y, pretty, colorful button you want to press with your finger but need to use the mouse for.
Turns out, we humans actually do best when websites TELL us what to do.
Likewise, you can switch up your CTA copy to be more direct.
Want some examples? Swipe these 3 crowd faves:
Get + _______ // “Get My Free About Page Mini-Course!”
Show Me + ______ // “Show Me the Suites”
Command Verb + Offer (+ Urgency) // “Get the Calligraphy Kick-start Kit Now”
Homework: Go through your website and change all your “contact me” or “shop packages” hyperlinks to buttons, and shift the copy to more conversion-focused copy. Update the call-to-action buttons on your website to be first-person and benefit-oriented to increase your conversion rates. Time? 30 minutes.
Mastering the art and science of eye-catching headlines and interesting copy ultimately means your visitors will stay longer, read more of your goods, and hopefully, buy more of your products and services.
Related:How To Write Headlines That Sell on Your Homepage
Your headline has one job: get the reader to read the subhead (or, crosshead/teaser if you’re nerdy about copy vocab).
The subhead has one job: get the reader to read the content.
The content has one job: Get the reader to take an action.
Get it?
As a bonus, your headline CAN also screen potential clients who may not be a fit, like corporate clients if your focus is brides, or family portraits if your focus is boudoir.
Those who resonate will be nodded their heads, sticking’ around … and the rest of the not-so-Cinderella-fit pack will self-select themselves to move on along with their day.
Homework: Watch this video to learn more about how to write a better headline! 8 out of 10 people read your headlines. 2 out of 10 people KEEP reading. Solution? Write ultra-short first sentences. Such as: Imagine. /// I admit it. /// It’s an easy mistake. Time? 10 seconds.
Saved my favorite for last!
We buy things when we think they’re about to disappear.
“Scarcity is the phenomenon where, when a product or service is limited in availability (or perceived as being limited), it becomes more attractive.” -ConversionXL
Find some HONEST ways to communicate scarcity in your copy.
My copywriting client Shay of SC Stockshop does this beautifully as she lets us know how many images are left:
Homework: How can you start implying scarcity? Do you need to scoot-your-booty on over to your services page and remind clients that you don’t just take on 365 clients a year? Update your shop so folks know that 42-page Instagram ebook you made only has 5 more available, because you’re pulling it down to re-do it and charge $10 more?
I admire my girlKat Schmoyerbeyond words. She’s dynamite: the kind of bubbly blonde that’s equal parts dig-in-do-the-work and grace-filled-rest as a business woman.
Related: What I learned Speaking at the Creative@Heart Conference
I met Kat about 2 months after I started Ashlyn Writes: seated next to me under Austin, Tex. twinkle lights at my first creative conference dinner, Iprobablysaid 3 words to her: Kat in her hot pink jumpsuit, 1 business, and 6 rounds of a conference she founded under her belt (oh, and a year younger than me) wasn’t the LEAST bit arrogant … but I was intimidated to pieces.
Little by little, my nerves chipped away as I got to know her, and by the end of the conference, I was a die-hard Kat fan, chiefly because how I watched her, like so many other women I look up to, model her business with gospel-truths and a missional-mindset.
SO, when it Kat was test driving someCopywriting for Creativesmodules for me, we decided to put the sales & services page module of my program to use on one if it’s biggest challenges yet:
A live launch to sell 75 seats to theseventhCreative @ Heart conference.
No big deal, just like, a HUGE part of her business model.
I was PUMPED to help Kat, because sales pages & pricing pages are.my.jam. I’m head-over-heels for how they give the RIGHT person for the offer a peek at the value that awaits, shoo off those who may not be a fit, and then … the best part … magically make your HoneyBook account cha-CHING like gangbusters.
“Before the Copywriting for Creatives program, I thought my message wasn’t THAT important,” Kat said. “But C@H Round 7 sold those 75 seats in 12 hoursbecauseof the sales page I wrote through Ashlyn’s course,” Kat said. “WHAT!? I still pinch myself! That’s a BIG ONE. Ashlyn was amazing.She was like my copy-fairy-godmother in my back pocket!”
Hurrah!
The Copy Makeover
Kat had an audience primed for her offer, so she & her team knewexactlywhat she wanted to do.
She set her launch schedule in place, opened up the sales page we co-wrote on right before the launch, whipped it into a gorgeous Showit design With Grace & Gold made, and not even 12 hours later, it had generated more than $105,000 in conference revenue.(Click here to shop WGGShowittemplates, and enter ASHLYN10 for 10% off!)
There was a LOT of back-and-forth editing and psychological copy hacks that went into the website page, but Kat really got it. She wrote copy that connected with her audience and outsourced any questions she had to me, which I loved.
Another key to Kat’s copy was shuffling it into a copywriting formula that lead with the problem first, so we could then introduce the solution.
I *still* love this page & website!]
I first metKadieway back when we were both scrawny & awkward in our teen years: my Samford college roommate picked her up after school when Kadie couldn’t even drive yet … who. stinkin’ knew that she was going to become this elegant, WAY-cooler-than-I’d-dream-of-being, minimalist designer in Texas with more style in her pinkie finger than most of us have in our entire wardrobe.
Kadie’s the coolest.
Seriously, visit herwebsitefor proof.
She’s also as nerdy as I am about random resources, learnings, and factoids, so there’s that (wink).
We started working together right before her website rebrand (moving from her name to DropCap Design), we had some work to do.
And now, DropCap sounds every bit achingly cool as the editor-in-chief herself.
It’s hard to believe she said this:
“Before I joinedCopywriting for Creatives, I had put off copywriting for a really,reallylong time. If I’m being honest, I always thought I was a ‘good writer’ but would blankly stare at my screen every time I wanted to write an email or a blog or even a description of my services and draw a complete blank. It felt like this dark cloud that was hovering over the growth of my business and keeping me from genuinely connecting with my audience”
launches website designs for a living, but cobbler’s-children-have-no-shoes syndrome is a thing.
Through the 10 Modules in the Copywriting for Creatives program, she pulled out her brand voice and personality, as she says “I finally figured how to explain what I do clearly + quickly, and how to infuse that mission and MY voice throughout every aspect of my business.”
After we got THAT nailed down, we started partnering on her website copy to go alongside her visuals.
And then she launched the website.
Oh, but girlfriend launched *the* website … I want to like, print it out in a buttery smooth magazine for my desk.
And booked out for 6 months immediately … but that’s not all …
“I started writing blog posts and emails again, and now I get between 10-12 direct replies to every newsletter with heartfelt responses. I’ve genuinely connected with a larger portion of my audience and gotten to know them on a personal one-on-one level. I’ve grown my team from 3 to 10 designers and maintained consistency in our communication and message. I’ve never felt happier to be doing what I do (and knowing exactly what to say at a co*cktail party!) Oh and my email list grew by 600 people in the first 2 months of launching my website without ANY other marketing efforts.”
Touchdown!
So, there are 4 ways you can leverage copy and messaging to make you more money in your business. There’s the big way—figuring out and writing down a unique selling proposition, your onlyness factor as my students call it!—and other ways, like learning to write and test better button copy, headline copy, adding in scarcity, and more.
I hope you’re realizing how IMPORTANT copywriting is when it comes to hitting your sales goals, and if you are, click below and join me as I dig into this a bit more in the masterclass!????????
