I’m in a “pinch me so I know it’s real” mode after hearing news of just how impactful this website copywriting project has been for my eCommerce copywriting client, Bonnie of Archer & Olive.

Before Bonnie’s new website launched, she was averaging around $6,000 per month with her bullet journal-style dot grid journals and sketchbooks brand (that are amazing, by the way).

After working together, her conversion-ready website helped her drive over $300,000 in revenue from October 2018 to December 2018. (That’s in only one quarter, friends!)

Those are some incredible results all on their own, but do you know what’s even better?

Archer & Olive generated $1.9 million in revenue just ONE year after working together!

With a website copywriting investment around $4,400 (not including custom add-ons and product descriptions we’ve worked on since then as her business grows), it’s safe to say this project has been a wild success based on her ROI.

So how did we do it?!

I’m excited to share a deeper look into the strategic decisions we made during the website copywriting project and how her website was intentionally built for this level of growth. Let’s dig in!

(Ready to start your own website copywriting project? Let’s work together!)

The Story of our Website Copywriting Project

When Bonnie first contacted me in July 2018, I was fully booked with other projects during her desired start date. Even though her website design deadline was already set, we both knew we wanted to work together to create something epic.

After adding a little wiggle room to my calendar, I found a way to make it work. And boy, am I glad I did! It’s turned into one of my most enjoyable and profitable projects to date.

At the time, Bonnie decided to outsource her copywriting because she was struggling to keep up with her growth on Instagram (seriously, look how cute her feed is!!) while juggling all of the other hats of running her business. Who else can relate? *raises hand*

Creating a more optimized website was at the top of her to-do list as she set goals for the second half of the year. After hiring the incredible design team at Go Live HQ (and later taking the design in-house while working with The Owls on UX design improvements), she enlisted my help with all things website strategy and copywriting.

There were a few areas on her old website that we immediately wanted to improve:

• The call-to-actions were somewhat hidden and unassuming on her old website, which didn’t inspire people to explore her site.
• She wanted to increase her conversion rate from 1.3% to around 3% (which she has demolished since then!).
• Her biggest product differentiators weren’t highlighted on her Home and Shop pages.
• Her product descriptions didn’t include all of the benefits and features of her unique product.

From there, we talked about bringing her bright spirit and infectious energy into the copy by infusing the beautiful, community-oriented brand personality she’s well-known for on Instagram. Then we geared up for the first steps of my signature website copywriting process.

__________

Bonnie’s Brand Voice

motivational / fun / organized / feminine / inspiring / warm / friendly

__________

Website copywriting case study: Behind the strategy

Before I write a word of copy, I always collect information about my client’s brand foundation (things like their mission statement, core values, and things of that nature), website goals, and brand voice (things like words they love and don’t love).

From there, I translate all of that information into a custom conversion-ready website strategy that fits their business goals. This is primarily done by creating a visual layout of how the content will be displayed once the website design is created. I LOVE when clients give me full creative freedom to create something unique to them.

By using these layouts (which I call “copy wireframes”), I can show my clients all of the strategic decisions that go into each page. After their small revisions, I get to work on creating the actual copy while knowing that we’re both on the same page. (Not meant to be a copywriting pun… oops!)

Here are some of the winning features of each page we created for Archer & Olive.

Home page

After playing around with a few different headline options from the Home page, we settled on “Less Dreaming. More Doing.” We originally tossed around the idea of having the words change so that the headline would show different variations of “Less ___, More ___”, but we decided that keeping it simple would do the trick.

The “Shop Now” call-to-action is much better than her previous website because you can tell it’s a button. Not only that, but it also includes her signature foliage sketches and design, making it stand out even more.

Knowing that Bonnie wanted to be known for the dot grid journals with the ability to branch out into other related products in the future, we found a way to highlight her signature product above-the-fold (meaning before you have to scroll on the Home page) while giving her room for additional products.

A year after our project, she has added more sketchbooks, planners, and other paper goods to her shop that give her audience a variety of options to choose from without becoming overwhelming.

We also simplified her website navigation to make the search process much easier.

One of my favorite features of the Home page is this breakdown of exactly why Archer & Olive’s products stand out. Instead of putting the features and benefits into a typical list format, we decided to create a layout that was visually stunning, easy to skim as you scroll through it, and packed with additional information for visitors who wanted to learn more.

We also included these same differentiators in the Product landing pages on the right-hand side to remind visitors of why they should purchase from Archer & Olive.

Another Home page feature that packs a punch is her email sign up form. We strategically put it toward the bottom of her Home page to ensure it didn’t distract from the main call-to-action of exploring her shop, but it also has been a great way to build her email list.

The header copy that says “Plan your week with confidence” speaks to her audience’s strongest desire when using their dot grid journals or planners. We also had some fun with the sentence “We turn Mondays into your favorite day of the week…” to approach the topic with a casual, fun flair. The brand voice matches the beautiful and playful designs you see here.

PS: Since the launch of Archer & Olive’s website, Bonnie made a small change to the Home page headline in 2020 to highlight the eco-friendliness of her products and the social responsibility of her new packaging. As such, she’s made a few tweaks to the design as well, but the vast majority of her copy has stayed the same. This shows how you can slightly update your design and messaging over time while keeping the foundations intact.

About page

One of the main reasons I decided to make room on my calendar for this project was because of Bonnie’s personal story. On her previous website, there was no mention of the true motivation behind her starting Archer & Olive. Once I heard it in her own words, I knew I wanted to play a part in helping it come to life through ghostwriting.

If this is the first time you’ve heard the term “ghostwriting,” it refers to the act of writing in someone else’s voice and publishing it as if it was written by that person. This describes most of the work I do as a behind-the-scenes copywriter, and I loved putting it into action by telling Bonnie’s story from her perspective.

The main focus of her story was to explain how journaling has made a tremendous impact on her self-discovery and mental health journey, especially in helping her manage a bipolar disorder and general anxiety disorder diagnosis. Summarizing a huge chapter in someone’s life and condensing it down to a small paragraph isn’t easy, but it’s the kind of challenge I really love. We both were so happy with the final product!

But before we launched into her personal story on the About page, we chose the headline “Your journey to self-discovery starts here” to inspire her audience and entice them to continue reading. Since Bonnie sees journaling as a self-discovery tool, it allowed us to put the focus back on what really matters.

We also added a “Customer Care” and “Our Mission” section to address her audience directly, letting them know they’re in the right place and promising they will receive the same quality service they put behind their quality products. At the very end of the page, you’ll see what I call “summary blocks” that include three different page options so people who are browsing through her About page can find what they need.

The Future of Archer & Olive

Since our website copywriting project, Bonnie has not only seen explosive growth in her revenue and pageviews, but she’s also been able to confidently launch new limited edition products and artist collaborations.

I’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with her on creating copy for many of these launches, writing everything from poetry-inspired Instagram captions (like this and this) to email newsletters to new product descriptions.

So, when I say I love being a long-term strategic partner for my clients, I clearly mean it. *wink*

Thank you so much for reading this in-depth website copywriting case study! There are so many more stories I could share from this incredible project that’s continuing to evolve, but let’s shift the attention to you for a moment.

If you have been:

• putting your website copy on the back burner
• struggling to sound anything like yourself
• focusing on the design rather than your messaging

… let’s chat!

I take on a selective amount of custom website copywriting projects each quarter so I can give clients my full attention. You can start by learning about my services or telling me more about your project.

The post From $72k to $1.9 Million: A Website Copywriting Case Study appeared first on Sindie.

Any time I had a new business idea during class, I’d write it down in a special notebook so I could spend my nights outlining my thoughts after speeding through my homework.

I may not have realized it then, but there was always one thing my mind envisioned before anything else: the new brand’s website.

I never went on to start any of those businesses (which is a relief after looking back at some of those early ideas!), but I channeled that initial entrepreneurial passion into a website copywriting business I still run today.

In the last four years, I’ve worked with nearly 150 website copywriting clients. As such, I can confidently say there are a few website copywriting tips that are true for most Home, About, and Services pages.

As I open a new round of my website copywriting program for entrepreneurs—taking my former custom copywriting process and turning it into a guided program—I wanted to share some of my favorite recommendations that you can quickly implement into your own website. 

My primary aim is to make website conversion and SEO strategies more user-friendly (and a lot more fun!), so let’s dig into the basics of why each page is important and the simple updates you can make that will make a world of a difference for your lead generation.

Improving your Home page 

I like to think of Home pages as the “central hub” of a business since it’s typically the most viewed page on a website. When someone types in your domain name in their search bar, they’ll be greeted by your Home page. 

Making a positive first (and lasting) impression on this page is your top priority.

Here’s how to make sure you properly welcome new visitors into your brand’s website.

Start with a clear headline

Wow, a website copywriter telling you to write a great headline. Shocker! (I’m not usually great at sarcasm since it goes over my head, but I think I nailed it this time. Right?) But seriously, your headline is really important. It’s one of the first elements of your Home page that a new visitor will notice and (hopefully) read.

There’s a science to creating a great headline, and it goes a little something like this:

• Do introduce what you offer (specialization) and who you offer it to (ideal audience).
• Don’t forget to include your differentiators (what makes you unique).
• Do include a targeted SEO keyword (but not if it makes your headline hard to read).
• Don’t make it overly wordy because it needs to be concise and clear.

You will most likely need to write multiple headlines before you write one that feels like a great fit for your Home page. I usually write 10 on the lower end and 20-30 on the higher end when I suggest headlines to my clients. That may seem like a lot, but your first headlines aren’t always the best options (trust me!).

I also like to keep a list of headline options on my phone’s notepad app so I’m able to write them down whenever I have inspiration. When you’re ready to determine which headline you want to use, ask a few trusted friends for their favorites and, if needed, test a couple of variations on your website with tools like Hotjar and Unbounce.

Give a direct call-to-action

It always surprises me when I go to someone’s Home page and I don’t see ANY information about what action I should take next. I see this most often with massively talented photographers and designers who feature beautiful slideshows of their work BUT they don’t include information on how to contact them or what to do if you’re interested in booking them.

Your Home page NEEDS a direct call-to-action. This isn’t a nice-to-have element; it’s an absolute must-have. An example of a call-to-action would be to visit another page on your website, fill out your contact form, sign up for your email list, or anything else that fits your strategy. You get the idea!

Your Home page is one of the only pages where having multiple calls-to-action makes sense. However, you’ll want to include them in a strategic order. We talk all about this inside my website copywriting group program, which you can sign up for and learn more about here.

Include visual interest

Now that you have a headline and a call-to-action that fits, you’ll most likely want to pair them with a stand-out image, graphic, or illustration that draws your audience’s eye and gives it that extra oomph.

I’ve recently been a HUGE fan of custom illustrations on client websites like NY Book Editors and JETLAUNCH. It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that I hired my brother Zach Hollatz to create icons and illustrations for my own website redesign in late 2018.

You can also create your own graphics inside free tools like Canva or use free stock photos from sites like Unsplash. If you’re looking specifically for diverse stock photos, I have to plug my friend LaShonda who does amazing work with Eye for Ebony.

When possible, I recommend budgeting for brand photography and lifestyle sessions. They’ve increased my professionalism and complement my copywriting oh so well. I’ve worked with Carly Lavigne Photography, Kristen Dyer Photography, and Meghan Swanson Photography—all of whom I adore!

Add pathways for each offer

Each person who comes to your website will have a different set of goals, priorities, and problems they’re looking to solve. With this in mind, you’ll want to use your Home page as the main place where people can easily find where they need to go next.

Most of us offer more than one service or product (which I highly recommend so you can diversify your business model), so linking to targeted landing pages will help you better connect with each ideal segment of your audience. Then people can self-identify what they need help with as you direct them to the website page that best fits their needs.

When you create this pathway strategy, think about what services you want to offer and who is the ideal client for each one. What do they need assistance with? What pain points are involved? What kind of solutions are they interested in? What does solving this problem ultimately do for them? All of these answers can help you create better pathways on your Home page.

Offer a lead magnet (or freebie)

Many people like to use their Home page as a way to build their email list. Once someone becomes an email subscriber, you can directly communicate with them and provide educational content that helps you build brand trust. While your website captures your audience’s attention for a few seconds or minutes, your email marketing will keep it for the lifetime of their subscription.

It may seem like every brand is trying to grow their email list, but that’s because this strategy works! In order to stand out, you must give your subscribers something of immense value before signing up. You can do this by including an email sign-up form on your Home page that connects to a lead magnet. These freebies can include worksheets, ebooks, quizzes, email courses, video trainings, and more.

If you are looking to offer lead magnets and start your email list, I recommend Flodesk for beginners who want to design beautiful emails and increase their open rates, and ConvertKit for experienced content creators who want access to advanced features. I have used both products and LOVE them!

All of these tips will give you a great start on your Home page, but let’s talk about your About page next. 

Refining your About page 

Most people will say About pages are the hardest to write. 

This is usually because they hate talking about themselves, but in a minute, I’ll tell you why this no longer needs to be a fear.

About pages give us difficulty because it needs to somehow tell your entire brand story in a memorable way while staying incredibly concise and clear. Oh, and it has to grab your audience’s attention and get them excited enough to explore the rest of your website. That’s no easy feat!

If you have been struggling with your About page, here are a few website copywriting tips you’ll want to follow.

Don’t make your About page all about you

This same website copywriting tip is true when you write content for the rest of your website pages, but it’s especially true for your About page.

Let’s visualize this for a second. Imagine that someone just heard about your brand through a conversation with a friend. They don’t know much about what you offer, so they visit your About page to learn more about your brand. If all they see is a close-up headshot of you with a long bio that only includes personal facts about you, your audience won’t know how that information relates to them. 

It’s better to begin your copy by addressing your ideal audience member directly. Then, you can focus on sharing the bigger “why” and mission behind your business in a way that deeply connects with their values. At this point, they’ll resonate enough with your messaging to be interested in learning more about you through a personal bio.

Add at least one headshot of you

People want to work with other people, not faceless logos. Don’t be afraid to show your face (and smile!) on your About page. I recommend selecting a personal headshot where you are looking directly at the camera. This instills a feeling of trust, authority, and confidence.

If you want to add other lifestyle or branded photos to your About page, you have complete freedom to do so. Lead with a close-up headshot and then sprinkle the other images throughout your page. It’s a great way to infuse your personality.

For professional brand photography, I recommend looking at Laylee Emadi Photography and Julia Mary Photography (who is local to Minneapolis) for inspiration. They do a fantastic job of capturing the person behind the brand while visually communicating their brand story. For another example, my About page features a personal headshot with a few Polaroid-style photos toward the middle that’s a perfect fit with my style. 

Make sure your mission statement is clear

Much like your Home page, your About page will need to address the mission of your business. A mission statement is one of the most important pieces of copy you will ever write because it acts as a short brand summary.

You can use your mission statement on your website, digital and print marketing materials, or even edit it for your social media channels. It can also be used as your elevator pitch at networking events.

Here are a few things you’ll want to include in your mission statement: 

• Who you are (brand development)
• Who you serve (audience)
• How you help them (positioning)
• What you offer (specialization) 
• Why they should care (differentiator) 

If you want to learn more about creating a mission statement, I’ll teach you exactly how to write one inside my free CopyCPR email course, which you can sign up for by clicking here. I even give subscribers the opportunity to send their mission statements to me for personal feedback. It’s so much fun!

Internally link to your core Services pages

This is a BIG opportunity that many creative entrepreneurs are missing. It’s usually because they don’t know how beneficial it is to use this easy yet effective SEO strategy.  

Internal linking simply means that you are strategically adding links to key pages throughout your website. It tells search engines like Google that this page is important and relevant to your audience. (You can see how I did this by looking at my About page which links to my Website Copywriting and Content Creation services. Just promise me you won’t go crazy and link to every page on your website after reading this. Only choose one to three max links for your About page.)

I’ll save you from confusing SEO jargon (you’re welcome!) and briefly end this section by mentioning that internal linking will ultimately help you strengthen each page and your overall website’s performance in search. If you want more SEO tips, you can read this beginner’s guide to SEO.

Include some personal fun facts

Your About page is the perfect place to infuse more of your personality into your copy. What you decide to share as a “fun fact” totally depends on your brand. Some fun facts may be more of a fit than others, so I recommend coming up with a master list of commonly known (and little-known) facts about you that will dazzle your website visitors. Then you can narrow down your favorites to feature on your About page.

Are you obsessed with binging crime documentaries on Netflix? Do you volunteer at an animal shelter in your local community? Do you always have a stash of candy by your desk? Do you know how to clap with one hand and want to tell people about it? (Just me? Okay…)

The best part about sharing these fun facts is that it will personally connect you with your audience. I’ve received emails from people in my community who really liked learning about my self-published poetry collection and the bible verse that guides my business among other things on my About page. Start collecting those facts and enlist your friends’ help if needed.

Strengthening your Services page

When written in a strategic way, your Services page will become one of your best money makers as a service-based entrepreneur. Inside your Services page, you’ll need to outline the packages you offer and who they are the best fit for.

There are also a few more things you’ll want to include, which we’ll talk about now with these easy-to-implement website copywriting tips.

Mention the benefits before the features

It’s cool if you talk about how each client will get three 1:1 coaching calls with you and access to a private Facebook group, but no one cares if you haven’t talked about what they’ll actually get from working with you. This is the difference between leading with a feature and a benefit. 

What is it that your audience wants? Is it more clarity, confidence, rest, peace, or something else entirely? Once you understand the benefits that you can offer new clients, make sure you create specific messaging around what results you can help your audience get through your services.

For example, if you help people gain more clarity, is it the kind of clarity that will revolutionize the way they set health goals or will it help them clarify their roadblocks to creating a healthy routine? The more specific you can be, the better.

Re-introduce yourself

There might be people who come to your Services page who haven’t seen your Home or About page. You can’t assume that people know all about who you are and what you offer. 

Here comes the tricky part. You need to give a brief summary of this information on your Services page in a way that adds something new for the people who have already visited those pages BUT doesn’t alienate the people who have only seen your Services page.

As a website strategist, I help my clients understand where they should introduce themselves and how to do it in a meaningful way that doesn’t distract from their message. When you get it just right, everything flows so smoothly.

I handle this inside the group program for my clients, but for now, I’ll say that it’s usually best to re-introduce yourself between the intro copy and your service package breakdown. (To see an example, you can look at my Services page.) This is an especially good idea for people who are writing longer Services pages. 

List every deliverable inside your service package

This list should include all of the tangible features and intangible benefits as we talked about in a previous section. You want to make sure that every visitor understands exactly what’s included inside each package. 

When listing these deliverables, it’s usually best to put them in a bulleted-list format so it’s easy to scan. You might want to emphasize the important details by bolding or italicizing them in the list. You can play with how this looks on your own website. Make sure you adjust your deliverables list if you make changes to your package later on.

You can also assign a monetary value to each deliverable that adds up to an amount that’s higher than the total package investment. This makes your audience feel like they are saving money while getting access to really valuable add-ons. This is by no means required, and sometimes people take this way too far (like saying something is worth $4000+ but they’re selling it for $97…), but it can be a good tactic for some entrepreneurs.

Make it easy to contact you

This might feel like a simple recommendation, but you’d be surprised how many people launch a Services page with no mention of how to contact them. We can’t let that happen to you.

There are a few different strategies you can take, depending on the call-to-action you choose:

• Fill out a contact form and receive a personalized email reply (what I personally use)
• Schedule a free discovery call through a calendar scheduling tool 
• Sign up for an email list and receive an investment or pricing guide

If you choose the first option, you can include buttons to your Contact page, but you may also want to embed a contact form at the bottom of your Services page. This is so people don’t have to click another button in order to give you their information. It takes one more step out of the process which is optimal when we talk about website conversions!

Make sure you’ve completely outlined your sales and onboarding process so you can thoughtfully choose the best call-to-action for this page. 

Highlight your most important FAQs

Even the most well-written Services page won’t answer every single question your audience member has. When this happens, it’s best to include a frequently asked questions (FAQs) section. You can include questions about your process, timeline, project calendar, work philosophy, and so much more.

If your Services page is already pretty long, I typically recommend putting a FAQs section on your Contact page or a separate page you can link to. This is where it helps to have a website strategist on your side to help you make these kinds of decisions, hence my group program! (You knew that was coming, huh?)

If you want an experienced website copywriter and strategist to guide you through a proven process to write website copy with better results, apply to be a part of the next round of my group program!

The post 15 Expert Website Copywriting Tips for Every Page appeared first on Sindie.

With a winning SEO strategy and personality-infused writing, Allison of AllieMarie Design and I created website copywriting that sells Allison’s visual branding services an autopilot while connecting her with ideal clients that are pre-qualified and willing to wait nearly a year to work with her.

Since Google now generates 80-90% of Allison’s client leads through targeted organic search (which means we haven’t used ANY paid advertising dollars!), she is able to book visual branding projects 9-12+ months in advance after implementing her new website copy.

In short, her website SEO is definitely working for her!

Allison went from feeling burned out as she tried to constantly attract new leads (some of which didn’t fit her ideal client profile) to creating a full client waitlist. Her client projects are more rewarding than ever, and she’s never felt more secure, confident, or respected as an independent designer.

The results sound wonderful, but how did we get there?

That’s what I want to dig into for the rest of this client story. I thrilled to see how Allison’s website copy has increased the profitability of her business while giving her more time to focus on partnering with ideal clients she loves. I know the same results are possible even beyond the graphic design industry. 

Here is an in-depth look into how we approached Allison’s website copywriting.

The story of our website copywriting project

After meeting Allison on Instagram in 2016, we became fast friends over hot chocolate (for me) and a vanilla latte (for her) as we talked about our experiences in running a one-woman business.

At the time, Allison had been in business for over three years and was working her way toward sustainability. She enjoyed some of her ongoing design work, but after seeing her wide grin and high-spirited expressions when she talked about her visual branding projects, it didn’t surprise me she wanted to shift more of her attention toward brand design.

When we decided to work together on new copywriting for business, there were a few things to consider:

• Allison didn’t want to work with only one industry in order to be successful. Without a traditional niche, she struggled with how to create targeted messaging that would still speak to her ideal clients.
• Allison is one of the most attentive, organized small business owners I know, but there was nothing in her copy that articulated the time and care she put into her client process.
• With her focus being on the website’s design (and rightfully so!), she hadn’t thought about which keywords would give her the most SEO value before we worked together.

Our solution was to create SEO-optimized website copy that felt like a having a casual conversation over coffee with a friend. We wanted to highlight Allison’s welcoming and warm personality while weaving thoughtful keywords into her copy in a natural way.

__________

ALLISON’S BRAND VOICE

warm / welcoming / collaborative / knowledgeable / understanding / friendly

__________

Website copywriting for graphic designers: Behind the strategy

I have a pretty unmistakable love for all things website strategy! I love bringing it to life with the tangible result of copywriting, but my mind totally geeks out in the strategy stage.

As I prepared Allison’s new website strategy, we agreed to pull inspiration from two of her taglines that still felt like a great fit for her brand. Because she likes working with “small businesses with big hearts” and creating “happy, thoughtful, inspired designs”, it was easy to find a place to fit these taglines into her About page and Services page.

Speaking of her website pages, here’s an inside look into how we wanted to utilize each page of her new website (which you can see has been brought to life here):

Homepage

Our primary goal with the Homepage was to keep the copy concise yet powerful. We decided on a two-column layout so it would match Allison’s minimal design.

We used Allison’s tagline in the header and all of the body copy points to the main call-to-action, which is a button to learn more about how to work with Allison. Since we want every Homepage visitor to land on her Services page, this was an easy choice!

About page

I usually recommend writing a more client-focused introduction before introducing the business owner on About pages, but we tweaked out strategy a little because Allison didn’t want to target only one kind of entrepreneur. Instead, we decided to create a bulleted list of the types of businesses she likes to work with so they still feel like they are in the right place.

We collaborated on a proper bio for her About page, detailing the heart behind her business, how she got started, and a deep look into her professional experience.

To give the page even more personality, we added the “On a Personal Note” section so visitors can get to know Allison before they hop on a consultation call. She laughs now about how much clients ask her about her study abroad trip to Paris and mutual love for Gilmore Girls.

My favorite part of her About page is absolutely the Core Values section. With short blurbs of copy, we set the tone for what prospective clients can expect from the collaboration while infusing some of Allison’s inviting, fun personality in between. Concise copy is my jam, so this was a really fun section to put together!

We ended the About page with “My Promise”, which builds the visitor’s confidence in Allison as a designer, collaborator, and business owner. It’s the perfect final touch before directing people toward the rest of her website.

Services page

Our main goal for Allison’s Services page was to not only highlight her visual branding skills but also educate visitors on the true value of quality brand design. Letting incoming client leads know that building a brand encompasses more than a logo design was incredibly important for Allison.

After educating visitors in the introduction section, we decided to reintroduce Allison on this page in case someone came to the Services page before they visited her About page. Since Allison’s business is named after her and she is the main point of contact, it was crucial for us to highlight the face and personality behind the business.

Before digging into the specifics of Allison’s signature design process, we wanted visitors to self-identify themselves as a good fit or not by setting expectations in a casual, light-hearted way.

Then we introduced her offerings along with a more in-depth look into her process. Clear call-to-actions were placed throughout her Services page so people could easily find what they needed (like the contact form, investment guide, or other materials).

After almost two years, we haven’t had to make ANY tweaks to this page and it still drives the majority of her contact form requests, meaning that it is successfully converting visitors into client leads.

After our website copywriting project

Not only does Allison feel more confident in her messaging and website than ever, but she’s also been able to create a waitlist of clients who are willing to wait almost a year to work with her.

Even though Allison is in a highly saturated industry with other brand and website designers, she can confidently stand out in the crowd, knowing her website copywriting educates and sells her visitors on why she is the right choice.

Investing in website copywriting gave her a solid foundation that she can build her business on for years to come. With every new offering she launches, she returns back to the strategy and copywriting we created in early 2017 to guide her overall messaging.

Here’s what Allison had to say about our website copywriting partnership:

“Working with Kayla on my website copy was nothing short of dreamy. She gracefully led me through her thoughtful process from start to finish, taking the time to listen to my needs and dig into the heart of my business, and then turn everything into beautiful writing that speaks directly to my ideal clients and has a clear strategy behind it. My brand voice has never been as strong, polished, and “me” as it is now, thanks to Kayla’s brilliance and love and talent. Since working with Kayla, I have received inquiry after inquiry from small businesses who found me via Google – talk about marketing on autopilot! When you work with Kayla, you’re in the best of hands.” – Allison of AllieMarie Design

Are you ready to invest in website copywriting to attract and convert the right kind of leads while keeping your brand voice intact? Let’s talk today about your vision and see if my signature website copywriting process is a good fit for you!

The post Website Copywriting Portfolio Spotlight: AllieMarie Design, Graphic Designer appeared first on Sindie.

I hardly even knew what it was!

My website was more of a passion project than it was a business at that point. When I decided to leave my full-time job three years ago, I had to approach my website differently.

Instead of just writing as a creative outlet, I became more serious about my own website copywriting. I had done some copywriting work for Fortune 500 companies at a PR firm for a while, but this was a whole other beast.

When I transitioned into offering only website copywriting and content creation services, I decided to redesign my website and rethink my own keyword strategy.

Just shy of two years later, I cleared my browser cache and searched for my top four keywords. To my surprise and delight, I was the top result on Google for ALL FOUR of them. No wonder I was getting most of my client inquiries from Google.

All of this is to say that SEO has revolutionized my business (and no, I’m not just saying that because I’m a website copywriter). I know it can do the same for yours.

Let’s talk about why SEO matters for your business too.

Why your website needs to be optimized for search engines

The great thing about optimizing your website for organic search engine traffic (which refers to traffic you don’t have to pay for – score!) is that people often go to Google when they are making a purchasing decision, or at least are considering to make one.

Visitors who turn to Google for answers have a higher probability of converting because they are already actively searching for a solution, so you have an opportunity to provide them with one.

You’ve probably focused more of your time as a small business owner crafting the solution you want to offer rather than optimizing your website to better display and provide that solution.

Don’t worry, that’s why I’m here!

As a creative entrepreneur myself, I’ll break down this seemingly confusing topic in terms we can all understand. While knowing the jargon of SEO can be helpful, it’s better that we put it into language that helps us take action on what we’re learning.

What is SEO?

You’ve probably heard this term a dozen times before, but what does it actually mean? SEO, which is short for search engine optimization, simply means improving your website in order to increase its visibility in search engines.

Let’s use a real-world example. When you type in a keyword or phrase into a search bar, you expect to be provided with a list of the top resources on your topic of choice.

Have you ever wondered how Google decides who gets the top spot? It’s all through SEO!

You’ll often hear people talk about SEO when they say their goal is to get to the #1 spot on Google. This is the most coveted spot in all the land so it should be a goal for all of us.

As you climb toward the top of the SERP (which stands for search engine results page), you increase not only your website traffic but also your credibility. Google is very committed to giving its users the best suggestions and recommendations which is why they take website optimization so seriously.

Anything Google cares about, we should care about!

This is also a good time to say that while Google is not the only search engine out there (I’m looking at you, Bing, Yahoo, and Ask Jeeves… which is somehow still around), it’s the one I’ll be using throughout this series. The other search engines work similarly so rather than constantly say search engines, let’s keep it simple with Google.

Okay, back to the good stuff. Now that you know what SEO is and why you should care about it, let’s talk about the kinds of things Google is looking for. It’s the best way to make sure Google hooks you up with the right visitors.

What search engines like Google are looking for

Before we dig in, remember that Google exists solely to create a great user experience for the people who use the tool. The better their experience is, the more likely they will be to come back and use Google.

This is important because Google depends on traffic to their search engine for advertising. Seeing as they are the number one most visited website on the internet, I’d say they are doing a pretty great job at providing a good user experience. #understatement

Since we are focusing on what search engines like, let’s talk about a few key factors you will want to include in your own search engine optimization strategy.

Relevant evergreen website content

Jargon alert! This definition is thankfully really simple to grasp. Evergreen content is content that stays relevant no matter what time it is consumed. It’s not time-based, like an event recap blog post or a special limited-time offer, so you don’t have to worry about your content going out of style in a few months.

Your website should be built on the foundation of evergreen content. Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t create short-term website pages (which are often called landing pages) with specific timing in mind, but you won’t be focusing on building SEO value with those. Why is that?

SEO is all about improving your website’s performance for the long term. This is why we want to focus on creating evergreen website content that is strong all on its own. We can do this in a few ways, namely by introducing keywords which we’ll talk about next.

Sprinkling keywords into your content

We’ve talked about the beauty of reaching the first page of Google results, but how do you know if you’re doing this whole SEO thing right? It starts with keyword research. Without the right keywords, you’ll be spending time on optimizing for the wrong things.

I have a much more in-depth blog post on keyword research in this blog series, but I’ll give you a little teaser for now. When we think about keywords, let’s assume that you’ve chosen an industry you want to work in and people you want to work with.

Once you have done your own keyword research, which sounds a lot more difficult than it actually is, you can start to weave those keywords into your website copy. Here are a few good places to weave them in:

• Title tags: Before you click into a website from a Google SERP (stands for search engine results page), you’ll often see the website page title tag first. This is because it is the largest text shown on the SERP and is usually colored in blue (unless you’ve clicked on it already so it’s purple).
• Meta description: Underneath your title tag in the SERP, you’ll see a small summary of text describing what the visitor will find on your page. This is what we call a meta description. Place relevant keywords into your meta description, but make sure to weave them in so you don’t get close to keyword stuffing territory.
• Headers: In your website building platform, you’ve probably seen the Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3 options. These features aren’t there just to make your website look pretty. Headers are also a great place to squeeze in some extra SEO value with your keywords. Make sure you have one in there, as long as it is readable and easily digestible.
• Body copy: This refers to all of the content you create in the body paragraphs of your website and blog posts. Instead of listing them all in a row, try spreading them out throughout your content. It may take a little time to get used to it but you’ll start including them in your content instinctively in no time.

Good user experience

There’s that “user experience” term again. It just keeps popping up everywhere! The more you dig into SEO, the more you’ll hear about this term so it’s a good one to understand early on.

User experience refers to, you guessed it, the overall quality of a visitor’s experience on your website. To make a lasting impression, you’ll want to create a good user experience from the get-go.

Here are a few factors that go into a good user experience:

• A well-organized website navigation and overall website structure.
• ONE clear call-to-action (like subscribing to your email list, buying a product, signing up for a consultation call, etc.) on every website page.
• Easy-to-read text formatting with headers, styles, etc. (because no one wants to read a wall of text… not even Google bots)
• Big, bold images to break up your text and add more visual appeal to your content.
• Making sure you don’t frustrate your audience while they are scrolling through your website (like making all of your internal page links open up in a new window… that drives people nuts).

A good user experience doesn’t stop there but this list gives you a good starting point. If you’re still unsure of where to begin, think about the kinds of things you like on other websites you regularly visit. Chances are those things are also appealing to your audience.

If you want your blog to be focused on your quality content, keep the design minimal with no sidebar. If pop-ups turn off your subscribers more than they convert, don’t have them on your homepage.

It’s worth it to continually improve your user experience, so your website traffic and conversion will keep climbing, thanks in large part to Google when you do it right.

Understand how SEO can improve your website traffic

Naturally, there are more than three things that search engines like but this gives you a good foundation. If you are still interested in learning more about SEO, more power to you! This will be an incredibly influential area of your business marketing because the tweaks you make today could provide you with lifetime value.

SEO is all about the long-term strategy so don’t worry about getting it all done in one day or even one month. Any website copywriter and SEO strategist will tell you that it takes time to optimize your website.

With that in mind, here is the next thing you can learn about SEO: Keyword Research Tips from a Website Content Writer

The post What is SEO, and Why Should I Care as a Small Business? appeared first on Sindie.

While I adore blogging (heck, it’s how I got my start), I decided at the beginning of Q2 to pour all of my energy into my copywriting and content creation clients. After transitioning from brand strategy coaching to copywriting, I owed it to my clients and myself to streamline and perfect my workflow.

I fell into what I’m calling my “perfect flow” of client projects pretty quickly. Much of the credit goes to my incredible clients who have given me the opportunity to work on some remarkable projects.

Rather than simply updating my copywriting portfolio, I thought I’d highlight some of my favorite projects of the quarter and tell more of the story behind each. Let’s dive in!

Website Copywriting: Tribe Photo Co.

The story behind our website copywriting project

After Richard, the founder of Tribe Red Leaf Studios, found me on Instagram (no, seriously!), we immediately connected over our love for poetic content and intentional community building.

I had the opportunity to collaborate with Richard and his team to create copy for the new tribephoto.co website, which launched last month as a brand extension of the renowned Tribe Red Leaf. It’s been one of my favorite projects to date! Since then, we’ve also created some blog content and additional copy for their marketing materials.

What I loved most about our website copywriting project

I’ve never had so much creative freedom in a single project, something I am deeply honored by and grateful for. Richard believed in my poetic voice from the beginning and gave me full reign to craft website content around the adventure of being an indie photographer intentionally lost in the woods.

Oh, and I wrote all of the copy on my patio looking out at the lake while surrounded by trees. Can you say dream job? I was in the zone the whole time.

Blog Ghostwriting and Content Creation: ConvertKit

The story behind our ghostwriting project

Continuing with projects I’ve been honored to work on, the Product Creation Masterclass project I worked on with ConvertKit was no different. I’m not shy about my love for ConvertKit, my long-time email service provider and now copywriting client.

When Darrell, the previous lead of Business Growth at ConvertKit, came to me with a ghostwriting project that would become their biggest affiliate driving offering yet, I said a huge YES to working together. Together, we created 20 full-length lessons (we’re talking 1.5-2k words each) for subscribers who wanted to learn exactly how to build their first digital product in 30 days flat.

What I loved about our content creation project

Besides working with a highly-motivated, extremely inspiring team of entrepreneurial spirited members, I loved that the Product Creation Masterclass led to an ongoing opportunity to write for their blog, Tradecraft. Cheesy, I know, but when I work really well with a client, I love having the chance to keep working together. It’s one of the major highlights of what I do.

Launch Sales Page Copywriting: Holly Meyer Design

The story behind our sales page copywriting project

As a copywriter, it should be easy to find words to explain how much Holly Meyer means to me but alas, I cannot. Holly has been my client since the very beginning when I solely partnered with small businesses as a brand strategist. I helped her quit her day job to pursue her visual branding business full-time, and she invested in me when I transitioned from coaching to copywriting. I’m convinced that business owners who grow together, win together.

Back to the project before I get overly sappy. I recently had the chance to write sales page copy for Holly’s preassembled brand suite shop launch, Brand Provisions. We infused her personality into every section of her copy. My words have never looked more beautiful since they’ve been paired with her brilliant designs.

What I loved about our sales page copywriting project

Saying I loved everything probably isn’t specific enough, is it? In that case, I’ll say my favorite thing was how effectively and quickly everything came together. From contract to first drafts to launch, we were up and rolling in less than a month! This must be what happens after working with one another for over a year. #winning

Various Content Creation

One of my favorite things about what I do is collaborating with heart-centered small businesses to create ongoing content for their blogs and newsletters. Nurturing these ongoing client relationships is my greatest privilege.

Looking at the list below, you’ll see there’s a HUGE variety in the topics I cover for clients. And yes, I really do like it this way. Here’s a sneak peek at the work we’ve produced together in Q2:

ConvertKit

You probably noticed ConvertKit made the list twice. It’s been a joy to work with their team on an ongoing basis after finishing up the Product Creation Masterclass.

How to Make Your Freelance Services Stand Out on Your Website

How to Set Your Rates for Your Freelance Services

How to Make Your First $1,000 as a Freelancer

ThinkSEM

Back when I was an online marketing n00b paying my dues in college, I interned with ThinkSEM. The company’s founder, Clint, encouraged my passion for entrepreneurship from the beginning. Now I work with them with them on a freelance basis and it’s so rewarding. The blog content we create together ranges from responsive web design to conversion rate optimization to SEO.

7 Ways to Double Your Website Traffic Through Social Media

Sidebar or No Sidebar: The Battle for Higher Conversions

Pretty vs. Performance: How to Choose a WordPress Theme for Lead Generation

Claire Dobson

Along with Holly Meyer, who I mentioned above, Claire and I have worked together since the beginning of my business. She was actually my first client EVER, and thankfully we’re still collaborating like champs today. Together, we worked on her Insta-Success course sales page and a select few blog posts to beef up her content strategy. We’ll have even more content for wedding professionals coming in Q3 so stay tuned!

5 Quick Steps to Seriously Optimizing Your Instagram Profile

How to Get the Right Brides on Instagram to Book Your Services

3 Ways to Feel More Confident as a Service Provider on Instagram

Courageous Creativity

I met Anung Vilay, the founder and apparel designer behind Courageous Creativity, years ago at the Minnesota Bloggers Conference. She became one of my first ongoing content creation clients when I transitioned out of coaching. We get to create heaps of adventurous content for her introverted audience, including a 5 lesson email course on learning to say “no” intentionally.

Finding Your Footing: An Introvert’s Journey Through Career Building

5 Real Ways to Purposefully Say “No”: An Introvert’s Manifesto

10 Excuses to Overcome in 2017

Kristen Dyer Photography

I had the pleasure to collaborating with Kristen Dyer to create blog, email newsletter, and social media content for the launch of her Motherhood Sessions around Mother’s Day. She graciously leads our local Minneapolis chapter of TuesdaysTogether where we met. Here’s a sample of our work.

…And that’s a wrap!

Can you see why I was okay taking a minor step back from the blog this quarter? I can’t wait to share with you next quarter what other projects I’ve been working on behind-the-scenes. Until then, follow along on Instagram and Twitter for project updates, copywriting inspiration, and some silly Boomerang videos.

The post What Launched in Q2: 2017 Copywriting Projects Recap appeared first on Sindie.

Email marketing is arguably the most effective and sustainable marketing platform for increasing lead generation, connecting with your ideal clients and raising your conversion rates.

If we take out all the online marketing jargon in that sentence, it simply means that your email list is the best way to share content that is going to attract and entice your people to take an action.

While it’s obvious we can’t (and shouldn’t want to) ignore email marketing, it can often feel like just one more piece of content to create.

Because so many of us are creating weekly blog posts, regular podcast episodes, live and recorded YouTube videos, social media content, or all of the above, email marketing can often fall to the bottom of our overflowing to-do list when in reality, email marketing should be your first priority.

Surprisingly enough, I didn’t like email marketing when I first started blogging.

I know, kind of a weird thing to admit now as a copywriter and content creator, but it’s true.

Email marketing and I had a love-hate relationship, and I was experiencing way more of the latter.

So what changed?

After about four months of trying six different newsletter formats and designs as I grew tired of everything I was experimenting with, I decided to go back to what really mattered: the words.

I spent too much time worrying about if my newsletter banner photo was going to look pretty on mobile devices or if I was creating the best roundup of links in my industry, but my audience didn’t care about any of those things.

My early subscribers traded their email address for an inside look into my blog and business through storytelling.

The same is true today.

I thought when I first started my email list that I had to emulate what other bloggers and small business owners were doing.

Maybe you feel the same way starting your own email list as a budding entrepreneur.

As you start to create your email marketing strategy, you’ll encounter countless myths about what it takes to truly grow your email list. Let’s bust those myths together, shall we?

Myth 01 // Your goal should be to get as many subscribers on your list as possible

This is wrong, so very wrong. The problem with the mentality is that not everyone who lands on your site is going to be a great fit for your product or service.

If your email marketing strategy is to get every single person who comes in contact with your brand on your email list, it’s going to be very hard to sustain.

This will become difficult once you grow your email list beyond 1,000 subscribers. Why? Because you’re going to have to start paying to send emails to each subscriber, even those that will never convert.

While I love my extended family dearly, I don’t try to get them to sign up for my email list.

They aren’t entrepreneurs who need help with content marketing and copywriting so they’ll never buy from me. This is totally fine, but it’s better for them to follow along with my journey on other free-to-view platforms like my blog or social media.

When you first start your email list, I know getting to that “sexy” goal number of subscribers seems like the most important thing, but your future self will thank you for being specific and niching down.

Myth 02 // Your newsletter design is more important than your newsletter copy

I used to get SO caught up in design, which was dreadful because while I’m quite gifted at words (if I do say so myself!), my design skills are mostly based around aesthetic, not execution. *face palm*

Because I started in Mailchimp, I felt like I HAD to have a great design my subscribers would ooh and ahh over, but it never felt complete.

When I made the switch to ConvertKit, my current email service provider and one of the loves of my (business) life, I gave myself permission to ditch the design and focus on my strong suit.

Every email sequence, email course, and single newsletter I’ve created since then feels like a perfect fit.

My subscribers didn’t care about the typography in my newsletter banner (although Comic Sans is always out of the question).

They just wanted to hear from me, so my newsletters had to reflect that.

I now use what I like to call a naked email template.

I know it sounds a little scandalous, but it just means that there are no design elements (aka text only). Just words and maybe a few links.

While this may not work for every business owner or for every industry (see Free People’s beautifully designed emails), you shouldn’t feel like you can’t get started on email marketing until you’ve created the “perfect design”.

You have what you need to get started right now. The process begins when you put words on the page (or hiring a ghostwriter who can make it look like you did! *wink*)

Myth 03 // You need to have a new content upgrade or lead magnet with EVERY blog post

When I first started blogging in 2013, you were considered an overachiever if you created more than one 500 word blog post a week and had a regular article promotion schedule on social media.

Now it seems like everyone is told you need a blog post, audio recording of the blog post, unique content upgrade, multiple social media promotion images…

No wonder my friends entering the world of online business right now are overwhelmed! I would be too.

One of the most common things I’m asked about content marketing is if you need to have a separate lead magnet for each blog post in order to increase your email list.

My answer is a big “heck nah!”

Don’t get me wrong, having fresh lead magnets like downloadable PDF checklists and mini ebooks is a great way to attract new subscribers, but too often I see this myth discourage business owners from creating content at all.

Instead, when you’re first starting out, create one lead magnet a month around a general theme that relates to your services or products. Then you can intentionally plan your blog content strategy around the content upgrade so it can naturally fit into multiple blog posts.

More bang for your buck!

The post 3 Myths on Growing Your Email List as a New Business Owner appeared first on Sindie.

As a young girl with her journal clutched tight to her chest, writing has always been my first (and most long-lasting) love.

When I introduce myself as a copywriter at networking events, people either (a) say “wait, what’s that?” (b) nod along with eyes glazed over or (c) think I work in copyright law.

After I tell them about what I do and how I help creative entrepreneurs and small businesses primarily in the visual industries, they often say, “Oh my gosh, can I hire you to write all my things?!” #FavoriteReactionEver

The quick answer, yes! Let’s first dig into exactly what us copywriters do, the same explanation I give to new friends I meet at networking events.

Let’s first break down what it actually means to be a copywriter first.

A copywriter is someone who writes custom content primarily for marketing or advertising purposes. They commonly collaborate with other business owners and brands to create any of the following materials:

• website copywriting (Home Page, About Page, Services Page, oh my!)
• blog posts
• business newsletters
• email sequences and email courses
• product descriptions
• social media post copy (hello well-crafted tweets!)
• …and more!

They can also be found copywriting for a vast array of printed marketing materials like brochures, pamphlets, campaign advertisements, client packets, and beyond but today we’ll be talking specifically about online copywriting.

4 BIG reasons why you need digital copywriting

Copywriting is the “meat” of your message

Visuals are for pretty. Copywriting is for action. While visuals are often your first impression, copywriting is your lasting impression. In order to dig in and tell the true story behind your brand (aka what every client or consumer wants to know before buying from you), you need words to seal the deal.

Visuals all on their own are not always clear. Can you imagine if, on my services page, all I did was put a photo of me writing on a sheet of paper and expect visitors to understand exactly what I was selling?

Alright, that may be an extreme example, but you see my point in why words are important. A good blend of eye-appealing visuals with informative but enjoyable-to-read copy results in effective online marketing.

Copywriting connects you with your ideal clients and buyers

Your website exists for one reason only: to better connect you with your ideal clients and buyers to increase conversions. While there are many ways to accomplish that goal, every one will include some form of copywriting.

Here are just a few of the ways copywriting helps you connect with your ideal clients:

• You can share personal anecdotes to emotionally connect you with your target audience.
• It helps them feel seen and understood when you offer what they struggle with.
• It explains your mission, core values, and the full “why” behind your brand.
• You share what’s unique about your business and process to separate you from other competitors.

Copywriting boosts your traffic and email list (when its SEO-optimized)

I can’t tell you how many photographer and designer websites I’ve gone to where their entire homepage consists of one simple rotating photo gallery of their work. While the gallery is big, bold, and beyond beautiful, there’s no copy for search engine bots to crawl, analyze, and swoon over.

With all of the open real estate of a homepage, it’s important to put just as much thought into your copywriting as you do your visual imagery. Not only is it a great place to showcase your work but also to highlight your blog, email list, and other helpful freebies.

Now, I’m not saying to ditch the photo galleries altogether, but I am saying you need SEO-optimized and audience-specific words to tell website visitors at a glance who you are, what you do, and who you help.

Copywriting helps visitors know what’s the next step

Let’s use the previous example again of a homepage that only features a single photo gallery. With no copywriting, there’s no intuitive next step for your audience. This is commonly known as your call-to-action (CTA).

The chances of a visitor clicking out of your website then increase because they don’t know where to click next and usually aren’t invested enough to find the answer on their own so they instead find the exit button. Always have their user journey in mind when building your website.

Convinced your business needs a copywriter like yesterday?

let’s work together and bring your brand story to life through website copywriting and content creation!

The post What is a Copywriter and Why Does My Business Need One? appeared first on Sindie.

I’ve tried many forms of journaling including bullet journaling, dream journaling, travel journaling, daily logging, and dozens more but nothing has helped me as much as my vision journaling practice.

What is a vision journal?

Essentially, it’s a journal you create in order to clarify your vision for your brand, business, passion projects, and life. It helps you set intentions and keep track of your goals so you can break them down into daily action steps.

I’ve been vision journaling consistently for almost 3 years and throughout all of my transitions, it’s been the one thing I’ve kept as a part of my creative process. It mixes some of my favorite journaling techniques with unique prompts I create to fit each area of my life I want to gain clarity in.

I first created these prompts to help myself get closer to my dreamy vision but after sharing some of my progress on Instagram, people were so interested that I’ve decided to talk about it in more depth here.

How can a vision journal help you?

Hold you accountable to your bigger vision

Part of the magic of vision journaling is that once you’ve written something down, it stays on the page as well as on your mind. It keeps you accountable for completing each action step, much like a to-do list. It can almost act as an accountability buddy (but get a human one too because they’re wonderful!)

Assess your strengths and weaknesses

You may have been taught otherwise but your weaknesses aren’t a bad thing.  They actually help you better discover your strengths and cultivate your natural gifts. Why spend mental energy on the things that don’t light you up or make you feel creative and brilliant? Vision journaling will help you focus on what you’re truly great at so you can harness your full potential.

Remember your wins, no matter how small

When is the last time you sat down and thought about all of the things you’ve accomplished this month or maybe even this year? When you’re constantly striving to hit your next goal, it can be easy to lose sight of all the progress you’ve made. Having the progress documented in a vision journal can help you remember how far you’ve come.

How can you use a vision journal?

Set your intentions

At the start of every new month, I sit down with my vision journal and set my overarching goals for the next few weeks. Some prefer to do this on a weekly or even daily basis, but monthly works best for me.

I also like to choose a word for the month to guide all of my actions, almost like how others choose a word for the year. This allows me to have periods of rest, hustle, and anything in between. It helps remind you of your commitments and the boundaries you’ve set for yourself.

When I go deeper as to why I’m choosing each goal, it helps me set an intention. What do I hope to accomplish? What does this look like in regards to my creative process? How do I want to feel? Digging deep will help you discover the ‘why’ behind every ‘what’.

Create a yes/no list

Once you’ve set your intentions, you can move onto creating a yes/no list for the timeline you’ve chosen. This is by no means a new concept, but that doesn’t make it any less powerful.

Start by creating a simple two-column chart on a piece of paper in your vision journal. Label one side as ‘Yes’ and the other as ‘No’. Gradually fill in each column using bullet points. Then when a new opportunity comes along, you’ll be able to filter it through your yes/no list.

For example, if a business owner reached out to you about collaborating on a joint venture webinar but on your yes/no list you wrote that you wanted to focus your energy on creating your upcoming ebook, it may not be a good fit with your intentions. Instead, ask the potential collaborator if there’s an opportunity in the next few months to team up. The hardest part isn’t making the yes/no list, but sticking to it.

Work through something you’re struggling with

As creatives, we all battle an array of fears: doubt, failure, comparison, competition, shame, the list goes on. Rather than hiding from them, face it head on and work through it to get at its core. Once you get at the heart of the issue, you can overcome the fear.

Start by listing all of the questions that little voice in your head keeps asking you. Work through each question and decide whether it’s worth considering or if it’s irrelevant. Some questions may lead you to bigger “ah-ha” moments.

Determine your next steps

When growing your brand, have you ever felt overwhelmed with options? It can feel like there are so many paths to take but how do you know which one to take? Map them out in your vision journal!

When faced with a game-changing decision, I often make a new column for each path and write all of the elements. This means what taking that path could look like, what I like about it, what I dislike about it, and where it could potentially lead to. Seeing it all laid out can help you make a better decision that’s more aligned with your intentions and thus your vision.

The post A Complete Guide to Vision Journaling appeared first on Sindie.

You’re excited to put your plans into action but aren’t thrilled about tackling the sales page.

Besides, you know much of your launch’s success is determined by the sales page, namely the sales copy.

If your words don’t resonate, visitors won’t be enticed to click the glowing red ‘buy now’ button. Before pressing publish on your sales page, here are a few questions to ask yourself while reviewing your copy.

Do you know who you’re talking to?

Most of us will nod along, thinking we already know who we’re talking to. We may have a broad picture of what our target audience looks like, but do we know the specifics? I’m talking beyond an age range, gender, location, and median income.

I recently shared my in-depth exercise on identifying who your ideal client is that may help. Try this activity before you move forward so you can ensure you know the ins and outs of what your ideal client or buyer wants and needs. Everything gets dreamier when you know who your people are!

Have you introduced yourself?

In order for your target audience to resonate with your copy, they have to first resonate with you and your story. There are many ways to do this.

• State your full name (okay, this is a no-brainer but it had to be said)
• Give your real reasoning behind creating the product or service
• Include an approachable headshot that shows the true essence of who you are
• Be transparent about if/when you struggled with your audience’s pain points too
• Explain why you’re passionate about your audience and the solution you’re providing
• Bonus: add an audio or video clip to explain your product or service

Do you understand their pain points?

The main purpose of the product or service you’re selling is to offer a solution. In order to provide the best solution possible, you must understand your audience’s struggles. These are often considered “pain points”.

If you’re like me, leading with a big pain point can seem rather… painful. Luckily, there is a way to speak to your audience’s pain points without feeling like your copy has to breathe negativity. Hallelujah!

For example, when my community and brand coaching clients work with me, it’s often because they know they’re excellent at creating valuable content but just aren’t attracting the right people or building a strong community. Their biggest pain point then is launching to crickets.

While writing something like “Do you fear to put in months of hard work only to have no interest?“ might be true, leading with “Say goodbye to crickets and hello to your people“ is better because it says the same thing in a much more approachable way. Use your gut as a compass as you review your copy.

Are you leading with the right hook?

You may spend hours writing your sales copy but if you don’t put the same amount of attention in crafting your hook, those hours could be unrealized. It’s similar to email marketing where the subject line often dictates if a person is interested enough to open your newsletter so that small phrase has to be on-point.

If you’re not sure if you’ve got the right hook, do some social listening research to see what people are truly struggling with or answers they are looking for. You can also write a few hooks and then reach out to a few people you’re connecting with who fit your ideal client profile to get their opinion on which one they connect with most. This will give you even more tailored feedback.

Do you know what words they gravitate toward and stray away from?

So you know who your audience is and what their pain points are, but are you using the right words to convey your message? This is when we get into the really good stuff. You have to know what words attract (and repel) your target audience in order to capture their attention.

Not sure where to start? Here’s a quick activity you can do to help you choose the right words. Take out a piece of paper and for 2-3 minutes straight, jot down all of the adjectives you can think of. No editing, just brain-dump them all onto the page.

Then when you’re done, put yourself in your ideal client’s shoes (refer back to your description from the first question) and go through the list. Cross out the words that don’t match your client and circle the words that feel like the right fit. For my clients, I know they love words like ‘ease’ and ‘grow’ but run away from words like ‘traditional’ and ‘supposed to’. Then you can start to fit these words into your sales copy where it makes sense.

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Do you know your target audience?

It’s a question we’ve been asked dozens, if not hundreds of times. Many of us nod along because we know the basics, but how well do we really know our ideal client?

You’ve probably been told your ideal client profile should hit on the following:

• Gender
• Age range
• Location
• Income
• Likes/Dislikes

While following these general practices, I quickly determined years ago that my ideal client was a 20-35-year-old female from the US who makes $50-75k/year. The description felt broad, but I could catch more people that way, right? Not quite.

So why take a deeper dive into your ideal client profile?

You can start working with dreamier clients

You may be attracting the wrong kind of clients right now and don’t even know it. Instead of casting a wide net, focus on casting a deep net. A wide net brings in all types of clients, a few who are dreamy but many who aren’t so dreamy, while a deep net attracts only those who connect with your specific values and focus.

You’ll gain clarity on other parts of your business

Once you have a clear picture of the ‘who’ of your business, it’s easier to reconnect with your ‘why’ and have a better understanding of the ‘what’ and ‘how’. If you’ve been struggling with finding your brand’s niche, this could be the missing puzzle piece.

Writing copy will become easier and more fulfilling

It’s much easier to write when you know who you’re writing to. When you picture your ideal client profile as an actual person, it helps the process. Give him or her a name for an extra personal touch. Your clients don’t need to fit your profile to an absolute T, but I’ve found that all of my dreamiest clients so far have fit 80-90% of my description.

Here is my own ideal client profile. Her name is Autumn, by the way. (Yes, my 500 Days of Summer obsession is getting out of control. No, I won’t tame it.)

The interesting thing about crafting your ideal client profile is that you’ll find pieces of yourself inside. Some details will be different, naturally, but I guarantee you’ll have more of an emotional connection with your target audience after writing your own.

Now let’s put this exercise into action for you. Get ready for some major enlightenment. Here are some questions to help guide your ideal client profile beyond the demographics:

• What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses?
• What does their ideal day look like?
• How do they want to feel? How do they not want to feel?
• What are their core values?
• What are their quirks?
• What are some of their contradictive traits?
• What energizes them? What drains their energy?
• What does their dreamy vision look like?
• What stage are they at now? What stage would they like to be at?
• What is the heart behind their business?
• Where does their motivation come from?

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