Service Based Business Society Podcast

Season: 1
Episode: 24
Title: Compel + Sell: Let's talk about transformation

Hello and welcome to the service based business society podcast. I'm your host, Tiffany-Ann Bottcher. At our weekly episodes we will dig into everything you need to know about scaling your service based business without losing sleep. With my experience in creating over seven figures per month, and a passion for marketing, finance and automation, this show will provide tangible tips and techniques for scaling your business. Let's get started.

Hey guys, welcome back to another episode. Today we have a very special guest and I cannot wait to introduce her. She is a story obsessed email copywriter and strategist for heart centered women entrepreneurs and coaches. Those who are on a mission to help others live a more fulfilling life. Joanne homestead joins us and orchestrating words that compel and sell is her magic sauce. So welcome to the show Joanne.

Joanne:
Hi, thanks for having me here. I'm excited to be here.

Tiffany:
So tell me a little bit about your business and how you serve service based businesses.

Joanne:
I am an email copywriter and strategists I work with focusing on email marketing. And my mission is to elevate my clients' stories and voices so that they can make genuine connections with their audience through email and writing email, welcome sequences, sales, launch email sequences, and overall just helping with email marketing.

Tiffany:
Yes, the often underestimated copy part of the business. So how did you get into this specific part of copywriting? What was kind of your journey to becoming a copywriter?

Joanne:
So I was a teacher for 15 years, a primary school teacher slash reading interventionists slash reading specialist slash instructional coach. And so after 15 years, the pandemic hit, and I decided to resign and start my own business. So I started as a virtual assistant. And many of my clients that I worked with were in wellness and well being, and just really found that I loved working with these fields and industry. And I did a lot of their writing, because they said they had just had so much on their plates, they didn't even know what to give me as a virtual assistant. So they asked me, What do you like to do? What do you want to do? I said, Oh, you're gonna let me choose. I'd love to do your writing for you. And I also did content creation, and found that graphic design is not for me, I thought maybe I would like it. But now, I did a lot of content writing and copywriting that was blog posts, emails, social media. And from that I found out wow, I just love copywriting. And I love the emails. And so I pivoted into copywriting, just as a general copywriter, and did web copy and all the things and then eventually I niched into email marketing, email copywriting and strategy.

Tiffany:
Interesting. I always find the transformation journey so interesting, because everyone has such a unique journey to getting to where they are now and how they found their focus. So when you started off as a teacher, did you have any idea of wanting to start your own business on the side? Or was this really kind of stemming from the pandemic?

Joanne:
I had no idea about this online business world and ankling. But really, that was out of my sphere. And I actually did try leaving teaching a couple times just because of the stress and overwhelm that I was having. But I just didn't know what else I could do. Because I love teaching. I love teaching kids. I love the curriculum planning and development and the relationships. And I just, I even went to a career coach. And after our sessions, he said, Yeah, it sounds like teaching is where you're supposed to be. I said that I don't want to be there.

Tiffany:
Like so, this was not an effective session.

Joanne:
Yes, that was not helpful in the end. But it was helpful to know, like we really dug into what my strengths were, what my other skills were. I just didn't know where to go with it. And so when the pandemic hit, I started listening to these online interviews of teachers who left teaching and started their own business online, doing all kinds of things, web design, coaching, copywriting, you name it, just everything and those stories gave me the hope that I needed. That said, Okay, if they could do this, I can do this. And so that's kind of how I got into virtual assistant and then as a copywriter.

Now I realized how much of my skills I had as 15 years of teaching go into copywriting. It's because teaching, it's a lot of things, but one of them is having an aligned message, having a very clear message, telling it in a way so your audience understands and connects, and then taking an action. What action do you want your learner to take next? And that is exactly what copywriting is. And so I see the thread now, now that I can look back.

Tiffany:
That's so interesting. Yes, I had a whole new respect for the teachers after the pandemic, because I have three kids, and so to our school age, and they were attending zoom classes, and oh, my goodness, those teachers and their patients, because I was like, ready to just lose my mind with some of the children. And so I emailed one of the teachers and said, Hey, like you can give my daughter a harder time, the expectation is she said, participate in whatever. And the teacher emailed back and said, Well, I really appreciate knowing where that is, because it's really tough. Now that we're teaching with all of the parents really also in the classroom, not every parent has that everyone has different views. And so it's a whole new dynamic to really be trying to ensure that each parent's expectations are met. And I was like, Oh, I didn't even think Oh, my goodness.

Joanne:
Yeah, those are major props. Yes, Major, perhaps of teachers who have gone through the pandemic, it really was so challenging. Yes, it was so interesting to get a window into all the students' home life, because they were at home learning.

Tiffany:
That's true. Yeah, it's just different for everyone and tough to keep everyone's focus. You've got so many different things going on. Do you still stay the same? You were talking about kind of that singular niche that you were with the virtual assisting work? Do you do most of your copywriting for that single industry? Or have you expanded into other industries? What does that look like?

Joanne:
I am stuck in that industry. I loved it so much that you decided I wanted to keep with that when I pivoted into copywriting. So yes, I work with specifically women entrepreneurs in wellness, wellbeing and mindset. So this can also include coaches, and I've just learned so much I write about mental health and self care, self compassion, all these things I've done so much research on and just have found absolutely fascinating and realize that I needed in my life. So it was research for my clients. But it also felt like personal development for myself to grow in ways to just give myself boundaries. It's okay to have that self care, even like mindset things. I realized, after writing about mindset, I thought, oh, yeah, I have the money mindset. Yeah, sure. And then I'm going no, no, I don't that needs to be practiced. I can't just read about it. And so yeah, it's been really great to work in that industry.

Tiffany:
Yes, very interesting. When you're working with different businesses, and you really are immersed in the business and learning new things about different topics and stuff. It's always these kinds of pieces that you don't necessarily know you'll be interested in. And then it sparks a little interest in passion.

Joanne:
Yeah, I think I also really love it. Because coming from teaching, I just had such a passion for just the service and helping that. This is the reason why I really love writing about what I write about for my clients, because I know it's really helping their clients, and helping them with their personal growth and development. And so it gives me that anchoring purpose that is really important to me. Yes,

Tiffany:
That really helps get through those tough times or doubts, periods of doubt, especially when you're starting out. I mean, that was a pretty big transition for you to decide that you're going to leave what you've been doing for all this time and start out on something new. So was everyone in your life supportive of that? Or was there that piece? So it's always when you're trying to do something new and someone else perhaps doubts what you're doing? And then you think, well, maybe they realized something I don't. And so that can also be an additional challenge as we're making some of these big transitions.

Joanne:
Yeah, it was such a huge transition in a very, very short amount of time. A short amount of time. It was in a matter of a few months that I was teaching full time and suddenly, okay, I have this business and now here I am trying to figure it all out. So definitely for my husband, he was so supportive, and he said, Yeah, you sound like you're excited about it. You should definitely do it. Definitely from some family members. Not so much. Like Wait, no, it's kind of like you can't waste all that. You got your degree in teaching. You got your certification. Should you have 15 years of experience in teaching? There's so many teachers who can learn from you. There's so many students who can learn from you. And you can't just like, give that up. Why don't you try and do something that's still teaching related? Yeah. And so that was hard. Like, yes, that's, that's true, but I'm ready to move on. It's okay to move on and, and fine, use my skills that I still use the same skills.

Tiffany:
Absolutely. It is still, like you said at the beginning, really using some of these almost persuasion techniques as part of learning and continuing along the journey, the students in the learning journey, but realistically, you're still doing really the same in an email. It's still now you're moving customers along the journey versus students.

Joanne:
Right? Yeah, exactly. It's very much the same path.

Tiffany:
Yes. So one of the things I really noticed when I was looking at your website was this focus on storytelling as part of coffee, and sharing, you know, this unique story about yourself or your brand? And so can we talk a little bit about how that came to be such a big focus in your business?

Joanne:
Yes, that was something I kind of had to reflect on after the fact, because I just kind of went this route. And I'm going, why is it such a passion for me? And I realized, growing up, I love to write, and I loved creative writing. But I never saw myself as a writer. That wasn't my identity, my identity was as a teacher. But really, when I look back, I can see the thread now. Because I, in seventh grade, my mom said, I could sign up for summer camp through the local college. Yes. And she said, I could pick anything and out of everything that I could pick from my summer, I picked a creative writing course. So that kind of was the memory that I have of really seeing, Oh, this is something that I had a choice to choose anything from that local college due for that summer camp. And he picked creative writing. And then I can see along the way, you know, in high school, I did the same thing. I had an elective, and I took this creative writing course. And then, in grad school, I took a memoir course, that I almost didn't take, because I was thinking, Well, I'm getting my master's in education, I should take something more related to maybe culturally diverse literacy or something like that. Yeah. But

I had a few friends who wanted to take the memoir course, who were also in the education program with me. And I said, Okay, I'll take it, and I'm so glad he did, because it just totally filled my soul. And I loved it. And it was just amazing to see everyone crafting their memoirs. And then at the end, sharing them, they're just vignettes pretty short. But just that short, five minutes, they read their little vignette from their memoir, just connected all all 20 of us in that room at such a deeper level, then I would have ever imagined, like, I felt like I knew these people deep soul, like you know, all these graduate students that were coming from all different departments, you know, that we started out not knowing. And at the end felt like we were all best friends at the end, because of these memories we crafted. And that's where the storytelling comes in is that you get to share your stories, and connect it at such a deeper and emotional level that it makes that bridge kind of builds the bridge from you to the other person on the other side of that email.

Tiffany:
Right? Yes, the connection, really through the email. And because email is one of the most impersonal forms of communication, bringing that personal connection and story to such an informal, really communication channel.

Joanne:
It's true, I kind of say, Take whatever you learn from formal writing in school and just throw it out. Because it's really like having a conversation and how do we have conversations with each other? How do we connect with people? We share stories with each other like, oh, that happened to me one time when that happened. And that connects to them going, Oh, that reminds me of this time that did that. And you just go back and forth sharing stories. And so it's just a great way to connect. For sure.

Tiffany:
Agreed. When someone's starting on their business, where should they start? They're wanting to get into email marketing. Maybe they've been building their business for maybe a year or so but haven't dabbled in the email. Where do they start?

Joanne:
Usually, what happens is everyone's saying you got to have an email list. You don't have an email list. Do you have an email list or your email list? It's like okay, well, first of all, note, you don't need to have any bias but the benefit is that you own your list. So if you move to a different email platform, you can take all those email addresses with you for He says on social media, if they close your account, which happens, you have no communication with all your followers that you had. And so that's why people are saying, start your email list Have you started. And so a lot of people start their email list. And then they just don't write, they don't do anything. They just have it. They're collecting addresses, and they don't know what to do. Or say,

Tiffany:
I've seen this many times where the list has been building, but nothing, nothing has happened with it.

Joanne:
Yeah. So it's great, you've got a good start, you got some subscribers, it's really great, you can start emailing them, you don't have to make it super awkward, like, hey, sorry, I've been emailing, you just start emailing them, and then they'll respond, they'll engage. So I would say the first thing when you're starting, is to really know the purpose of your email list. Even if you've started one, you can still go back and do this. Just think about what is the purpose of your email list? Is it to build brand awareness? Is it to get more sales or revenue? Is it to generate leads? Is it to direct people to your social media platform where you're more active or your podcasts, if you're more active on that, you want to direct people to your website, whatever it is, just really think about, what's the goal of your email has that fit into your business goals, because if you have the purpose of your email, it's going to help you write your content is going to help you know who to attract to your email. So you're not just attracting any random person off the internet, you really want to attract quality leads, so that it's not really about the numbers, you don't have to have a huge list. If you have quality over quantity, you don't need that many because you already know how to help them. Because you have already figured out what's the purpose and your content will be aligned with who you're attracting to your email list.

Tiffany:
What are different ways for someone to start an email list? You know, there's for so long, it was the freebie the giveaway. And I think that it's really tough. People are more protective of their email addresses than ever before. Because there's so much email. And there's these freebies that people like, well, I'll post it on my website. But does anybody even like it's it's no longer really facilitating the customer journey? And so what is your recommendation when someone's coming to you and saying, Hey, I really want to get started with email. I have no list. But I know I want to do this. Do you have a recommendation for them?

Joanne:
Yeah, definitely. Free lead magnet is great, I had a few things to say about that. If you create a free lead magnet, make sure that it's really valuable. And not just fluff. And what I mean by fluff is it just stays in the conceptual in the why, instead of getting down to the tangible, the how. And if you can get down to something that will give your ideal client a small win, then they have that connection with you like wow, their freebie gave me a win. So if I work with them, what could they do for me? So that's one thing is making sure you have a lead magnet that is really going to give that win for them. It doesn't have to be a how to or tip. It could be like a checklist or even like a checklist of your favorite tools that you use. Maybe you have some kind of systemized float workflow that you have on Asana or Trello, you can share that as a template.

Even if you have a course just share your course outline. And they can see the steps that they need to make in order to reach your goal and then see from there if they want to work with you further. So it doesn't have to be to create something new, you could just take something that you already have in your business that's working really well and share that as your free lead magnet. And so yes, a lot of people create their free lead magnet. And then they do a little pop up on their website. And then they kind of like, set it and forget it and they're thinking why is no one signing up for my email list. And so it takes a bit more work than just putting the link in your Instagram or putting the pop up on your website.

I recently wrote a blog post about it and created three tiers for how to grow your email list. Beginning intermediate and advanced and the beginners one is the Hansel and Gretel. I caught it, you're leaving breadcrumbs for people to pick up. And so that's kind of where most people start is they put the link in their Instagram, they put the link in their LinkedIn. They put the signup form on their website. You can put it on your booking form when you're scheduling someone in and it does the thank you you can put it there Hey, do you want my relief back they'll help me you with XYZ.

You can just place that link in all different places throughout the business. So that's kind of like the bread crumbs and then the intermediate stage is the pied piper. Adding this one takes a little more active strategy. When you create marketing content, you make sure you have a call to action that tells people to sign up for my freebie. So you really want to be promoting talking about it, making sure people know mention it in your lives and your videos and your podcasts wherever you are. So those are strategies there. And what I say about these strategies is don't do them all. Because you'll burn out, just pick the ones that resonate with you that work for you, one or two, just like that, and just be consistent with it right.

And then the third tier is the advanced level. This is the big leagues, I call it the magic beans. And here it takes the most effort, but you can reap the most out of it. So this really has to do with visibility. And so the more eyes you can get on you, the more you can promote your freebie and the more people will sign up and sign up for your newsletter. And so this could be collaborating with other entrepreneurs that could have complementary services to you. So for me, the copywriter complementary services might be web designer, and collaborating with them. You can do an email swap, you can get on their Instagram, live LinkedIn live show up in places and Facebook groups to do training, your membership groups where people are paying and ask if they need a free training around whatever your expertise is. And usually you'll get more quality leads that way.

Because usually the membership ones that people are paying for, they're going to be more active, right in gaining the knowledge that you want and actually following through with the strategies. So that is the magic beans, that one takes the most effort, but really helps your visibility and just remembering to talk about your free lead magnet and talk about why it will help your ideal clients.

Tiffany:
Yes, I was recently speaking to someone and I have been working on a collaborative project now. But I have been in her Facebook community on her Instagram, Facebook for over a year. And we were talking and we were setting up some systems and processes and stuff. She starts talking to me about this ebook. And she has an e book and I say you have an ebook that's like, how do I not know about this ebook? And she's like, Oh, yeah. And so she brings it up. And I'm like, Oh, my goodness, this is really good. I said, I have been on your list in your community on your Facebook page on your Instagram, for over a year. And I'm gonna tell you, I don't know anything about this ebook.
I just like you, Joe. How do you not know, but I was like, I don't know when that memo came out. But I didn't read it. And so you know, it was kind of like this. Oh, my goodness. But sometimes I think as business owners, we feel like we've said it already. And you don't want to be annoyed that I hear that all the time. Oh, I don't want to be annoying. And it's like the Internet is a busy busy place, the inbox and the internet. And so sometimes in order to get to multiple people, I mean, how many things of hers have I read in a year? And I literally did not know about this really high quality book?

Joanne:
Yeah, yeah. There's just so much noise. And yes, ebooks are really great free lead magnets because they provide so much value. If you can just take a day to slam it out and make it into a lead magnet. It's a great one. That's so funny. A whole year, huh?

Tiffany:
I know. And she was so surprised that I didn't. I was like we were both kind of like, well, I feel like something didn't connect to there. Yes, yes, ebooks are a great one. What other kind of lead magnets? Can you suggest for businesses that don't have such an online focus? I think when we're in the online space, we think of all these digital products and whatnot. But what about for a business that is more a local business where they're trying to build their email list, but they don't necessarily their web presence isn't as strong? Yeah,

Joanne:
That's a great question. I mainly work with online businesses. So I haven't actually really thought about it in person. But I think that you can also create an ebook that has a physical copy, that they can sell a physical copy of it by self publishing. Usually what I see is just giving it an incentive to sign up for an email is just having exclusive deals or you get to know the first thing about them or just making sure people even know you have an email list. But just right at the cash register, have it right there. I feel like I've signed up for a lot in my local community here. Just because at the cash register, they have a little sign that says, Hey, you want to sign up for our email list and I feel like for an in person business, because I know their brand already, because I'm physically in, store their business that I want to sign up because I really love what they do and their whatever, whatever it is that they're selling.

Tiffany:
Yes, I think that that is the shift at the beginning of the pandemic that really had businesses that had no web presence. All of a sudden, were you know, it was like, fast forward, everyone needed some form of e-commerce, you know, we were going to be curbside delivery and online this and, and whatever. And so there's kind of this initial shift that businesses have been online. But I would say that still maybe an underdeveloped piece, these local businesses and the email list and being able to talk to your customers, and in order for them to remember that you're there.

Joanne:
Yeah, email is a great way to stay top of mind . I have signed up for an email to a paper store in my city. And I just love arts and crafts and paper, and I signed up for their email list. They only email once a month, but it's just I love hearing from them. It's almost like hearing from a friend to me, because I just love what they do. And I get to see what products or new things or sales that they're having. And so people don't have to be afraid to email their email list like they are annoying them, that they're bothering them because people are signing, they're voluntarily giving their email address to you so they can hear from you.

Tiffany:
Right, if something has changed for them, they can unsubscribe at any time. And you know, no harm, no foul. Really.

Joanne:
Yeah, yeah. You don't need to take it personally. If people unsubscribe, it feels that way. It feels really personal. Like, oh, they don't they don't like me what happened? Did I say something, but it's just it's just not a good fit for them. They just don't have the time. And it's actually better if they unsubscribe instead of just keeping on your email list and not actually engaging because it helps with your email deliverability if you have a higher open rate, or click through rate,

Tiffany:
yes, for sure. It's an email deliverability I could talk about, you know, a whole nother episode on email deliverability. Because that's a big one at the moment. But it's not being afraid to remove some of those people that are you know, someone who hasn't opened your email, you know, in the last however many and how many is that for you? How many would you suggest if someone is no longer opening your emails they're not actively purchasing from your business? How long would you say before we remove them,

Joanne:
Usually three to six months. And you'll definitely want to create a re engagement email or a sequence of emails to save, they might have just forgotten, they're very busy, they get a lot, again, just a lot of noise. And you might have a lot, they might have a lot of emails. And so they might just need a reengagement to say, Oh, hey, I noticed you haven't been reading or engaged. And here's, maybe provide some resources, like, here's some blogs or a video tutorial that can get you going again, or even just a simple email, just checking in,

I want to see how you are doing. How's it going with X, Y, and Z? Do you need my help with this? Or that? It can be very simple like that, and that in itself will reengage Yeah, a lot of subscribers that say, Oh, wait, no, I do want to be following and engaging with you. Thanks for the reminder, I do want to stay on your list. And if they don't, in the re engagement email, you can have an option and a hyperlink that says, you can unsubscribe, no hard feelings totally get it.

Tiffany:
Yes. So we've got kind of this nurture sequence on the way in, we've got our emails that are going out, whether that's monthly or weekly, or however suits the business. And then the possible reengagement sequence on the way out or to retain. Are there any other sequences that is like a must for the service based business,

Joanne:
It's very helpful to have an onboarding sequence. It's so helpful because it saves you time and energy and effort. If you have a sequence for onboarding when someone buys your course, or program, or they hire your services, to have a sequence that welcomes them into your business, and then goes through some logistics and that way, it helps them to orient them within your business. So that one's a really great one to have, too.

Tiffany:
Yes, automated, any kind of communication that's going to help the customer transition and give them the information that they need in that timely manner is always going to improve their experience. So what is one tangible tip that someone can implement in their business today from a copywriting perspective that will show them a benefit tomorrow?

Joanne:
I would say for email content, too. To this is sir has to do copywriting has more to do with formatting. Yes. So if you have your email list and you're sending emails, check the formatting of your emails in the mobile version. And on the desktop, you can send a preview test email to yourself, check it on your mobile and check it on your desktop and just make sure that the width of the email is around 600 pixels. Because as it gets wider, especially on a desktop, your email is sent, it just seems like it just goes on and on and on. And people's eyes will just lose track. And they don't want to read anymore because their eyes can't track anymore.

So just check the width. And then make sure your font is a very readable font, usually a Sans without the little tails and frillies is a lot easier on a digital screen for your readers to track. So I would say check your font, check the width. And check what it looks like on mobile and desktop, this is a very easy thing you can check and do and that helps with readability of your emails,

Tiffany:
absolutely such great tips. If no one can read the beautiful copy that you've written, it's, you know, it's all lost ultimately. And so you know, that functionality is so key. And those test emails and sending them to yourself and checking on the mobile and the desktop and making sure that you've really done that thorough review is really important.

Joanne:
Yes. And also, I just thought it this one, but having some bold lines throughout your email content is very helpful just to anchor the eyes to help them it's there's no bold, usually the eyes will start to just start to glaze over, I know you're looking at a screen, it gets difficult, but if there's bold, it helps the eyes to anchor to. So definitely after doing that check on mobile and desktop and reread it to see how the flow is. Maybe you need to just tweak a few things. And that really helps to even just like even content wise, I give it 10 minutes to sit. I will look at it and go oh, that's not exactly the message I wanted to convey here. Let me rewrite a little bit here and there. And that makes such a world of a difference. Just an extra few minutes to reread and just tweak a little bit. Yes.
Tiffany:
Well, thank you so much, Dan, I really appreciate all of your insight into copywriting and emails in general formatting all of these different pieces and the importance of bringing that story and people getting to know you a little and using your email list to really helped with that brand awareness and understanding of you as an entrepreneur and your business.

Joanne:
Yeah, thanks for having me on. Really appreciate it

Tiffany:
to you. And thanks so much for being here today. So if people want to connect with you, where can they do that?

Joanne:
So you can come connect with me on Instagram at DESC plant creatives. I'm also on LinkedIn, I'm using that one more. So come stop by and say hi there, and Joanne homestead copywriter. If you just look up Joanne homestead, apparently, the last name homestead is pretty rare in the States. And so there's only one of me who is easy to find. And then also I speak of free lead magnets to get on an email list. I do have a free guide. It's called Three simple steps to irresistibly entertaining emails that sell and is a really great practical guide. I've had a lot of people say I use it as a reference all the time when I'm writing my emails.

And it helps you figure out what stories you can tell how to hook the reader into your email with the first line. And then how to segue into talking about your task or your takeaway or your business seamlessly without having it be random and very strange. It just kind of flows. And it all circles back. And so he's a really great guy to help you write your email newsletters, and you can even use it for your social media content too. And it's just a great way to as we talked about to connect more deeply with your audience. And it also comes with examples for each section, the story prompts. And then there are examples of actual hooks you can use and then examples of segues. So it's just a really great reference guide. And I'm gonna say it does take practice. But once you get into the groove, you're gonna find it easier and easier to write and hopefully you have fun with it.

Tiffany:
Awesome. Well, that sounds super valuable and I'll be sure to link that in the show notes as well.

Joanne:
Great. Thank you so much. Awesome.

Tiffany:
Well, thank you so much for being here.

Joanne:
Okay, thanks.

Tiffany:
Well, we are all out of time for today. If you guys have not joined the service based biz mySociety Facebook community make sure you head on over to Facebook and we can continue the conversation be sure to also follow the show by going to any podcast app and searching surface based business society click subscribe click the fifth star and leave us a written review Have a great week and we will see you soon