7 MOVES THAT DOUBLED MY BUSINESS
7 MOVES THAT DOUBLED MY copywriting BUSINESS
the decisions that moved the needle and increased my income.
As we inch closer and closer to Christmas (it’s honestly hard to believe I’m even writing that?!), I thought it a good time to sit back and take stock of where No. 13 Collective is.
Aside from the biz hiatus as a result of birthing my beautiful baby daughter, I’ve had a good great run in the past couple of years.
I refined my services.
I upped my prices 5 times in as many months.
I worked with several dream clients across a range of industries.
Unable to cope with demand, I morphed from a one (wo)man show to hiring my first team member.
This success, while still working in a full time job and having a baby, prompted me to sit down and really think about what decisions have actually made a difference in my business.
And now, in the spirit of sharing, I’m passing all this lived experience onto you, in case it helps you decide where to focus your efforts in 2023.
This one’s a little longer than normal, so go and pour yourself a glass of Prosecco (It’s the festival season, after all) and settle in.
I REBRANDED
Also called ‘the best thing I've ever done.’
Huge thank you to Rebekah at Studio Kanuka, who absolutely nailed my brief of bold, editorial, and high-end. Let me tell you, this rebrand, which included a whole new website, completely changed the game for me.
She was confident in telling me what would and wouldn’t work for my ideal client, and we came up with something that I felt emotionally connected to, while still being strategic for the long term growth of No. 13 Collective.
Now, I have clients who come to me and tell me they want to work with me, just from looking at my website.
This is proof that your visual identity matters… a lot. This is a hill I am willing to die on.
2. I IMPLEMENTED SYSTEMS & AUTOMATED MY PROCESSES
A spreadsheet and manual tracking is fine, if your consistent and diligent.
Which turns out, I am not. By doing everything manually, I realized that I was wasting so much time on non-billable admin.
Custom copywriting quotes and proposals. Manual invoicing. Tracking clients on Excel. An adhoc onboarding and offboarding process.
It all felt fine at the time, but honestly - it was a big fucking mess. So, I invested in a Dubsado specialist and moved everything over to the platform.
It felt like a big chunk of money and it was a HUGE time investment, but it’s paid off ten fold. Now, I never miss a lead, sending proposals is easy, I know exactly how much I’m making, I have my canned emails ready to go, and my client experience is *chefs kiss….
I could go on, but you get the point. #dubsadoforthewin
3. I INVESTED IN 1:1 COPY MENTORSHIP
Since starting my business in 2020 I have prioritized investing in learning. After an initial comprehensive copy course, I’ve read lots of books and listened to countless podcasts on copywriting… but in 2022 I realized that if I was serious about scaling and raising my prices, I would need to round-out my knowledge and invest in some 1:1 copy mentorship.
When we’re in business, we only have ourselves (and our clients) providing feedback. Aside from happy clients, I had no idea if what I was writing was hitting the mark. So I got serious, paid a professional to work with me every week for 2 months. Not only did we go through his exact framework from 40+ years in the marketing industry, but we also reviewed every single thing I wrote to see where I was thriving, and where I was falling flat. Now, I strongly believe the 1:1 mentorship is the fastest way to propel forward.
* Update: In 2024, after doubling my business I decided to help other copywriters structure their copywriting businesses too. Check out my copy mentorship packages to get 1:1 help from me!
4. I CUT DOWN MY copywriting SERVICES
When I started my business, my copywriting services consisted of ‘whatever the client wanted.’ That meant I was writing blog posts, Facebook Ads, social media captions, web copy, emails… you name it - I wrote it.
This was SO inefficient. Not only was I wasting so many hours on non-billable work estimating and quoting for every single project, but it also meant that I was doing work that I just didn’t love, or wasn't particularly experienced in. As time went on, I realized that I loved and was good at a few key services.
So, I refined my services to my top 5. In 2023, I’m cutting them down even further to just 3. This streamlines my back-end work and simplifies my message for my audience.
Let's be real…. Life is fucking complicated. I want to make my business as simple as possible.
5. BUT I INTRODUCED A NEW ONE… THE VIP DAY.
Oh my god, the beauty of the VIP Day.
I did my first one of these back in October 2021. Since then, they’ve become my most popular service offering.
So many clients have booked a VIP Day for their web copy, and come back for more because they couldn’t believe how great the experience was.
With the VIP Day, everybody wins. The client gets their project done super fast, and I get remunerated well for my time.
6. I STARTED SHOWING UP
If you follow me on socials, you’ll know that I’m no social media Queen.
Let’s be honest… I made my first reel 2 years after reels were introduced.
And even though it’s safe to say that I still feel actively uncomfortable showing up on stories or making reels, I realized that I was missing out on a huge opportunity by not doing so.
And deep down I know that in order to succeed in business, I have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
So, I’ve started showing up. Not as much as I would like, but a lot more than I used to #progressnotperfection.
And honestly, the results speak for themselves.
Need more proof? Read my post on the importance of showing up.
6. I RAISED MY RATES - 5 TIMES.
If you read my post on the phrase ‘Charge Your Worth’, you’ll know that I don’t believe in raising your rates just because some random business coach on IG tells you to. I DO however, believe in raising your rates to match the value that you can provide your clients.
I had heard that if more than 80% of your discovery calls are booking you, your prices are too low. I was booking nearly every discovery call I had, so I knew it was time to take the leap.
One coach told me to double my prices, but honestly? That didn’t sit quite right with me, so instead, I did it my way. I up-leveled in many other areas of my business, and slowly raised my rates client by client. Let’s call this ‘slow and strategic rate rising.’
Now, my prices are double what they were… but I did it in a way that felt comfortable for me.
I could justify my price rises because I knew that I had put in the time and work, which meant I was offering:
Better quality work - because I had invested all that time + money in becoming a better writer.
A better customer experience - because I had set up my client process to be extremely professional, on brand and streamlined.
And the story continues…
In 2023, I’ll continue to invest in the things that really move the needle, and help get me to that fat, juicy 5-year dream of mine.
I’ll be working with a business coach (who has the experience and the track record to get me where I want to go), and a social media manager to help me show in an even more consistent way.
Small moves. Big changes.
