TOC #165: This isn't the right place to start
(February 20, 2024) INTRO TO THE BACK TO BASICS SERIES: where to start 😏
The most common questions business owners ask when they want to sell something:
What should I say?
What do I write?
How do I talk about this?
How can I make people listen?
What's gonna inspire my audience to take action?
…but that's not where you should start.
The other day, I was asked to talk about copywriting in a designer's group coaching program.
This is something I do a lot — something I love to do — because, as you damn well know, I love to talk, and because, as you damn well know, simplifying copywriting and marketing is practically my love language.
(Well, that and thoughtful gifts. I'm still crying over you-know-who getting Woo hot wheels and a monster truck as a valentine. But that's a story for another day.)
So0o0o! When she asked me to come chat with her group over a casual, Q+A style Zoom meeting, I was aggressively down. Educating live = <3.
I logged onto the meeting, chatted with her for a bit, and we got started.
“Everyone has been asking this,” she said. “It's the number-one question people want to know.”
(I was on the edge of my seat, obviously.)
“Everyone's curious how to get started. Figuring out what to say is so hard, whether you're writing a caption, or an email, or website copy, or anything, really.” she continued.
“So, how do you know WHAT TO SAY? What to write? Do you have any advice?”
Damn right I do.
But those aren't the right questions.
Where To Start 😏
🤠 WELCOME TO MY BRAND NEW SERIES THAT MY SUBSCRIBERS HAVE BEEN BEGGING ME TO CREATE FOR TWO YEARS! 🤠
…but really.
Back in 2022, after I'd completed my first year of weekly newsletters, I sent a survey to my email list asking them what they liked about the TOC and what they wanted to learn about.
They said BASICS.
(I ignored them.)
…and then I sent the same survey a couple times in 2023.
They said, “Sara, we SAAAIIIDDD teach us the BASICS.”
(I'm not ignoring them this time.)
So, here we are — at the beginning of BTL's Back To Basics Series, where you and I will be traveling back to Marketing 101, so I can teach you the basics of copywriting.
And I'm fucking pumped. I have big, fat, basic plans for this series, and I hope you're ready to freshen up on (or develop!) your copy skills. 🤪
LET'S GET STARTED, SHALL WE?
Remember how I said “what should I write?” isn't the question we should be starting with?
That's because I've found, most of the time, people ask that question before they've even figured out any of the other key information about their own brand, their own offers, and (most importantly!) what their target audience wants.
When you don't know any of that shit — or when you're not crystal clear about it — of course it's gonna be hard as hell to figure out what to say or how to say it.
So, that's not where we start.
Instead, we start with defining what we do, developing our offers, and making sure we know our target audience like the back of our hand.
(We can talk about your brand and your offers another day — for now, I'm assuming you know enough about that, but LMK if you want a deep dive on those things later, too.)
HERE is where you start — with target audience development. 👇
→ Who are they?
And, no, I don't mean how old are they or where do they live or any of those other boring, basic demographic questions. While sometimes those can be helpful (depending on the nature of your business and what you're selling), they're not always necessary to define.
Instead, think about who your ideal client or customer is at their core.
What type of person are they? How do they spend their time? What do they do for work? What is their personality like? How do they make decisions?
→ What are they dealing with?
What is their current life situation like right now? How could that be improved?
→ What do they want?
And how does what they say about what they want align with you think they want? Are you speaking the same language?
(Context: are you thinking about their “problem” at too high a level, because you're so well-versed and immersed in your industry? Are they using the same words as you to talk about their problem / need?)
→ What do they really want?
What our ideal clients and customers actually WANT isn't our service or our product, but the benefits our offerings provide.
Sure, my clients want website copy, but what they really want is a website that works for them while they're offline, effectively turning it into a 24/7 salesperson working 'round the clock, bringing in leads and sales, so they can be on a beach somewhere, unbothered.
BONUS: How can you give them what they want?
What's the thing you're providing that will get them from point A (where they are right now) to point B (ready to invest in your offerings), so they can be confident that you'll bring them to point C (achieving that specific “true want” — a signature BTL basics concept my students are very familiar with — that I mentioned above).
—
And once you've answered that, THENNNN you can start thinking about how you can present the information to them — aka start considering how to approach the “what should I write?” question.
(Because, hopefully, you'll have a lot more context about what your audience actually wants to read, how they'd react / respond to certain ways you could describe a topic, and what you can say to motivate them to take action, based on what you know they want and need.)
The more you know about your target audience, the easier it becomes to write copy for them.
If we haven’t had the chance to *virtually* meet yet, hi! I’m Sara Noel—website copywriter and marketing mentor for creatives, copywriters, and all-around cool people. If you like my content and you want even more BTL in your life, here are a few ways you can connect with me:
Subscribe to my newsletter! I send one marketing tip, once a week - and, according to my subscribers, it's "the best marketing newsletter on the Internet" and "the only reason to wake up on Tuesday mornings." So... yeah. You'll love 'er. 😏 Click here to subscribe!
Check out my services. I write website copy, sales pages, email sequences, blog posts, and brand messaging guides for entrepreneurs of all kinds! Maybe you’re my next favorite client.
Read my blog. It’s home to everything from copywriting tips, to marketing education, to freelance advice, to portfolio-worthy projects… if you like this post, you’ll love the blog. Here’s a quick roundup of my most popular posts.
Sign up for my email marketing course. Learn how to grow your email list full of loyal, ready-to-buy readers with this self-paced course teaching you how to write the best lead magnets, opt-in copy, welcome sequences, and newsletters.
Enlist me as your mentor. I have an entire in-depth blog post about my one-on-one consulting process for new and aspiring copywriters, if you’re interested in having a big-sis-style mentor to help you grow your freelance copywriting business & get results.
To get in touch with me directly, send me a DM or email sara@betweenthelinescopy.com. Have a great day!