Your #Crafty Guide to Working with Me

First of all, thank you for considering a collaboration with yours truly. 

Secondly, never worked with a copywriter and consultant before? Then it’s totally normal not to know exactly what to expect.

And, to be honest, while some passages are pretty universal, not every single copywriter out there follows the same onboarding process.

So, to save you time and set the right expectations, here’s a breakdown of mine. 

1. I only work with clients who’re ready & excited to collaborate with me

As you’ve probably figured out by now, I’m a self-employed copywriter (duh). 

This means that, to be able to pay the bills and keep my coffee stash stocked up, I must do one thing: write—and research, and strategise, and everything else that comes with it, of course. 

Unfortunately, copywriters are often expected to give away both their time and expertise for free.

Personally, I don’t find it fair nor sustainable.

This is why I’m NOT:

1. Writing free test pieces

2. Offering free discovery calls

Now, before you light your torches and grab your pitchforks, let me tell you why:

1. You can already get a taste of my writing through my portfolio. And guess what? That’s entirely free, too

2. Free discovery calls take up time and energy that could be channelled into copywriting work for my delightful paying clients. Plus, many prospects book them with multiple writers, expect them to spend hours drafting a custom proposal, and then… straight-up ghost them 👻

So, decide whether or not I’m “the one” for you first. 

I’m the copywriter and consultant turning female-founded businesses into THE go-to solution in their dream client’s eyes. I specialise in website copy, brand messaging, and blogging strategies.

• You can find out ALL about my services right here on my website, including my pricing starting points (no surprises!). My core offers are the 🧲Magnetic Website & Web Copy Makeover✨ and the Blog Business Booster🚀

• In my portfolio, you can browse my samples and case studies to see the results I’ve achieved for other female-founded businesses

Once you’ve decided that I’m indeed the copywriter and consultant for ya? Get in touch, you legend!

2. We’ll start with a strategy session with blueprint

As you can see on their own page, some of my services (like my website copy audits) have a fixed price. So, you can just apply for them by following those instructions.

While you’re more than welcome to have a drink (and notepad) with you, this Zoom session will not be a traditional and directionless 'virtual cuppa'.

So, how will it work and what do you get out of it?

I’ll ask you specific questions about your business, current situation and challenges, and future goals.

After reviewing your answers, I’ll prepare a #crafty blueprint that identifies and maps out the scope of the right project for you, detailing exactly what it must include (and how) to take your business to the next level.

For instance, this could involve: why your website copy hasn’t been generating sales and how to fix that, what website pages you need to prioritise ASAP, how to simplify the buyer’s journey with your new copy, what to blog about to attract your target audience, how you can integrate these blog posts with the rest of your marketing and content, and all that juicy jazz.

This blueprint will be yours to use however you please, whether that’s by investing in one of my core offers or giving it to a different writer and consultant.

If you decide to use your #crafty blueprint with me? I’ll knock the initial £99 off the price of the 🧲Magnetic Website & Web Copy Makeover✨ or the first month of the Blog Business Booster🚀 (or the custom quote included, if we’ve discussed extras and add-ons). Sweet.

And if, for whatever reason, the session reveals that this wouldn’t be the right investment for you at this stage, you’ll also get the entire sum back immediately, of course.

Once again, as for the actual quote, no surprises: you can already find my pricing starting points on each service page and a handy recap on my contact page.

3. Booking my availability

While this might change slightly depending on the project, the next steps will always be detailed in the blueprint for you.

In most cases, they’ll involve:

• A contract that protects both of us

• An invoice for the 50% deposit (or the full amount for projects up to £500)

• A briefing document to fill in

• A Calendly link to book a 1:1 session to clarify/add to what’s already been covered in the brief

4. ‘It started it out with a BRIEF, how did it end up like this.’ Mr. Brightside, semi-cit

The brief is one of the most important steps in this entire onboarding process. For real!

That’s why you can’t just tell me ‘write a blog post about this keyword’ or ‘create a new about page for our company’.

I need to understand both your business and target audience to write about the former in a way that compels the latter to take action.

Because here’s the thing: you’re not paying for pretty words. You’re paying for the right ones to sell your USP to your dream customers. 

The ones that will help you generate more leads via Google. That will make your website visitors think “OMG, she’s just read my mind”. The kind of words that will make them fangirl over you and want to stick around, converting more of these visits into leads and sales.

So, at the cost of sounding like an annoying child, I will ask you lots of questions in the brief, from your USP to your dream customers and how your products/services solve their problems.

And trust me: this will make for a fruitful investment and save us a ton of time. It’ll mean that I won’t need to keep on chasing you via email to ask more questions and that my first draft will be at least 95% there.

5. I’ll work on the first draft and send it within the deadline we’ve agreed upon

This is the stage when I put my thinking cap on but won’t type a single word yet.

Because the job of a copywriter starts well before writing.

To give you words that work, here’s what I do first (once again, some steps might change and additional ones might be included depending on the project):

• I study the brief you filled in

• I look at your main competitors to see what they’re doing differently and how I can help you stand out against them

• I perform keyword research (if included in your project) and analyse the top results to figure out how I can give your pages or blog posts higher chances to rank

• I check the most common questions and doubts about your industry/products/topic to see what your audience actually wants to know about them

• I do some brainstorming and experiment with different ideas

Now, this should give you a better insight as to why I don’t charge per word or per hour: because the bulk of the work happens before I even get a chance to type a single letter!

Then, I start working on the first draft. 

And I’ll tell you a secret: it’s only a ‘first draft’ for you. In reality, before I actually send it, it’ll go through tons of rounds of edits and revisions (but you don’t want to see any of that).

6. We’ll work on edits, if requested 

There’s a reason why I said that my first draft is usually 95% there when you give me a clear brief: because a few tweaks are usually needed and—in all honesty?—encouraged from my side.

That’s why I offer two free rounds of revisions with all projects.

At the same time, you should always keep in mind that the aim of your new copy is not to stroke your ego. It shouldn’t be about whether you personally like it or not: it needs to appeal to your specific audience and get them to take action.

So, if any of your edit requests would compromise the efficiency of your new copy, I will let you know and explain why. That way, you can make an informed decision.

7. You’ll have your spanking new website copy or blog posts

You’ll then get your final draft (or, with a blogging retainer, you’ll keep on receiving them as frequently as we agreed on).

And, while the project itself might be over, this doesn’t have to be a goodbye!

I actually love following the journey of the female entrepreneurs I’ve helped grow, so we should totally connect on LinkedIn.

And, if you want to be an absolute star, you could write a Google review to tell the world about our collaboration and help me find new fantastic clients like you.

There you go.

Now that my process is clear, you know what the first step is.

So, are you a female entrepreneur looking to become THE go-to solution in your dream audience’s eyes, and you’ve realised I’m indeed the copywriter for you?

More #crafty blog posts on this topic: