019. Copy Camp Week 1 - Come to Camp, Learn to Create Compelling Content

Welcome. I am marketing expert and business coach Melissa Kellogg Lueck. And this is the Doing Business Like a Woman podcast where we are exploring and teaching you how women are reinventing the way business is done and money is made to help you create greater impact and financial freedom one business at a time. Well, hello. Hello my friends. I am so excited to be here with you today. Hope you're having a great start to your week. I am at the time of this recording, just wrapping up my week, so. But I am really excited about what I have for you today. And actually over the next three episodes I'm going to really be digging into how to create great copy and great compelling content. This is something that I have been personally working on for the last 20 years and it's been part of my career and my services. I've been a writer for 20 years and so I love writing, I love creating content and I also love teaching my clients about how to create compelling content. And it really has morphed over the years. And so welcome to Copy Camp and our purpose during this camp is three things. Number one, I want to help you to change your mind about writing and your ability to write great copy that allows you to connect and compel your audience. And so that's what we're going to be talking a lot about today. And number two, I want to help you to understand what makes great marketing copy. And number three, to help you to start creating great copy and great content that connects right now with your audience. And so you can take what you learn in these three episodes and go out and immediately up level your copy be getting more engagement, more interest, more comments and more connection and relationship with your audience which will lead to more sales. Right. So how are we going to do that in these three episodes? I'm going to talk to you about and just really give you the download from my brain about all the things that make great copy, all the things that I have learned over the last 20 years as a writer, as a marketer, as an entrepreneur, as a woman building a business. All the things that I've learned I'm going to pack into these three episodes. They're not going to be long episodes though, because what I want to do is really create bite sized tutorials for you. So each week you are going to have a list of three things that you're going to take and work on throughout that week and then come back next week and hopefully you've had time to really practice and integrate as you are writing throughout the week and creating content throughout the week for your audience. Then you come back and you get another download and three more things to work on or maybe five things, I don't know, but a few, a few simple steps that you can take to improve your copy right away. So that's what we are up to for these next three episodes. So I'm really excited and I hope you are too. And so a little introduction, which I've already kind of given, but I really, I've been a writer and a copywriter for 20 years. And how I got started was originally in marketing. I worked in corporate marketing. I have my MBA in marketing and I was working in software and Internet integration, software sales and marketing a long, long time ago, back in the early days of the Internet. And I always loved marketing, but really what my favorite part was the writing. And so when I started my own business, I really focused on that aspect and doing that for my clients. And then in 2016, when I decided to scale and decided to begin teaching and coaching and I had to turn my abilities and talents for marketing on my own business because for the first, I don't know, 10 years of my business, all of it came basically from referrals. And I was doing a lot of freelance writing and writing for newspapers and magazines, which I guess I don't really think of as sales and marketing like I do now. It basically was me pitching ideas to publications and them saying yes and then me writing the, the article and getting paid. So the way I market and sell now is different. And, and so with that, I've had to really turn my turn the tables of focus on marketing myself and growing my own personal brand. And that really, to be honest with you, really humbled me by how hard it is. And, and so if you feel like marketing and writing is hard, I get it. Right, I get it. Because when I was going through this, I was really humbled by how hard it is to write great copy and to market myself. And so I totally understand if you're coming from that way. But today we're going to talk all about how we think about ourselves as writers and as marketing experts for in our own business. Right? And I know throughout my journey as an entrepreneur, I have developed a very different way of marketing and selling than I was taught in my graduate school and corporate experiences. The way I think about marketing and creating copy and content now and the way I teach it is very different than conventional marketing teachings. I really come from the place that what I have seen work tremendously well for my business and for my clients is when we Think about marketing and creating copy as giving value, not getting clients, but really stepping forward in the fullest expression of ourselves, in all of our personality and our uniqueness and growing in our thought leadership and being a real person. Like, we don't have to try to sound more, you know, professional or smarter or whatever. I think I definitely came from, and many of us have, from a corporate background that was very buttoned up. And so when I, you know, in those days when I was writing, it was very, you know, formal. I worked a lot in the finance realm and so in banking, and that was a very. Had a very formal tone. And that doesn't really work now these days. We. Listen to me these days. It makes me sound so old. But. But really the way that the market is now, we really crave as consumers and buyers and businesses, we crave authenticity and people that are honest and genuine. And so if you can bring that forward in your writing, it's going to have so much more impact. And so part of that is just allowing your personality, your uniqueness, your special you to come through and just being a real person. And because what happens is that creates connection. And marketing is all. And writing copy and writing, creating content is all about creating connection with fellow human beings. Right? Marketing is simply creating connection. And so that's what I want to encourage you to just start changing your mind about what marketing is. It's not trying to put together a fancy phrase to lure someone into buying something from you. That is not what it's about. It's about creating connections with fellow human beings, one normal human to another normal human, and offering to help solve a problem. Right? And this is why this connection piece and how I view marketing is really why I don't encourage my clients to delegate their marketing to other people until it's absolutely necessary. I mean, definitely, as we scale our businesses and grow, we get to a point where we need some help. And there's a lot of different ways to do that. But I encourage my clients to really think of marketing as a way of connecting with people. So why would you want to give that up unless until you absolutely have to, and then even then doing it in a very smart way. So that's number one. And then I want to encourage you to think about great copy begins with how you're thinking about yourself and your ability as a writer or content creator, what you're thinking about yourself as an entrepreneur and really owning the value that you offer. And I talk with my clients about this all the time, how you have so much value to offer. And especially as women, we undersell and undervalue ourselves and we are socialized that way. And so it really is an uphill battle for many of us to. And it has been for me to really own the value that I offer, own the expertise that I have. And my coach would tell you this, like, this is what she preaches to me all the time. Like, you have got to own your experience and all the value that you have to offer. And, and so really thinking about our copy and content creation as a vehicle to offer that value and connect with other humans. Right? So, you know, I hear a lot of clients will tell me they hate writing emails or social media posts, or they hate writing their blog or they feel like they're such a bad writer. And I want to just invite you to think about, if you're thinking that way about yourself and then sitting down about yourself and your marketing and then sitting down to write something, how do you think that shows up in your writing? Right? That energy is what comes through in your content. And I hate to tell you, but it's not inviting, right? So what I want to encourage you to do is just start to create and consider a different way of thinking and some different thoughts that you can have about yourself and your ability to write, your ability to communicate and your ability to connect with other humans. And that, my friend, will be the foundation for creating great content. First, you have to have these thoughts in place. You've got to have better thinking going on because that is the energy that is going to come through in your content. So how are we going to do this? And this is going to be your work this week. So see, it's a short episode. I have some bite size ideas for you to think about and then this is your work. Okay, Are you ready? If you have a place to take notes, please do so. If you're driving and can't take notes, that's fine. You can come back to this. The podcast will be right here where you found it the first time. So how are we going to do this? This is your work. Number one, I want you to consider taking the focus off of yourself. And we're focused on what we are bad at, what we don't like to do. And you know what I want to encourage you to do is think about who you're writing for, who you are creating content for, and what is the importance, the value, what is the value of the message that you and the value of the impact that you can have with the message that you want to get across okay, so thinking about your client or your prospective client, or thinking about your ideal client, that person in your audience that needs what you have to offer, what are they thinking? What are they feeling? What is the. The problem that you can help them with, that they are struggling with, Right? What is the kind of pain that they are in? What is the. What are their aspirations? What are their dreams that you can help them achieve? And just stop focusing on how good or bad you are at creating content and start thinking about them. Like, really, really think about them and think about how you can help them. That's number one. Number two, I want you to ask yourself, what if you decided that it didn't matter if you were good or bad or did or didn't like writing or creating content? What if it just doesn't matter? You can just decide right now, it doesn't matter what I think about my ability. I'm just instead gonna. Deciding to focus on the impact and that that's really what matters. I'm gonna focus on my message. I'm not gonna focus on myself. And if that were the case, then what really matters? Ask yourself what really matters? And I would offer that it's your message that matters. Okay. And that even an imperfect message can have an impact. It can help one person. So perfection does not create impact. Perfection does not create breakthroughs and transformations for your clients. Right? It's you showing up in all of your imperfection, in all of your struggle, just as you are, that creates impact. And that's what creates impactful content. Impactful copy, not perfection. It's the message that matters. All right? So just consider that. I also wanted to ask you to just think about other areas of your marketing or selling that you really enjoy. So, for example, if you love going out, networking and meeting people in person, that's one thing I love doing. What are the thoughts you have about that? Why do you love it? And make a list of all those reasons why you love it. Maybe you love going on social media and just like commenting and offering value in Facebook groups or having DM conversations with people. Why do you love that? What is it about that? And just make a list of all those things and then consider having those thoughts about writing and about creating content. Because I imagine. Because think about it this way. If you're on social media and you are having conversations, having DM conversations, commenting on people's posts, that's all content, that's all writing that you're already doing. So you're probably writing and connecting with other humans through the written word and you don't even think of it that way. Isn't that cool? So what if you could think about writing your email, your weekly email blast or email campaign in that same way? Or what if you could think about writing your blog or writing a long form post on Instagram? That same way that it's all about creating connections and having conversations. So that's your work for this week. I want to encourage you to really take the opportunity to lay the strong foundation for great writing, which is how you're thinking about yourself, your ability as a writer, and owning the value that you offer and changing your mind and your focus from yourself to the impact you're having on your audience and the person that you can help and serve. So come back next time and we will continue this conversation. We'll continue Copy Camp where you come to create compelling content. Don't you love alliteration? I love alliteration. My kids laugh at me. But anyway, that's the story for another day and I hope to see you next time at Copy Camp. Bye. If you like this podcast and want to take this work deeper, I invite you to coach with me one on one. It all starts with a conversation. Let's get on a call together and I'd love to learn more about you and your business and together we can identify what is standing in the way of creating the business and life you envision. And then we'll create a plan to get you there. So visit my website website@melissamkellock.com and find a spot on my calendar. I look forward to seeing you.