Copywriting Notes from Sarah Turner’s YT Channel
Free Course, “6 Months to 6 Figures,” Parts 1-4:
copywriting involves the art of persuasion
blogs should be no shorter than 1,000 words, for SEO
example goal: $100,000/yr. $400/day x 5 days/wk. 2 blogs at $200 each, & say each blog
takes ~ 2 hrs. to write that’s ~4 hrs. of work/day 20 hrs. of work/wk.
you should have a package price, rather than an hourly one, to account for the time costs of
running your business
kinds of copy:
o blogs
o e-mail
o e-books
o ad copy
o website copy
o whitepapers
o sales pages
how do you earn the right to charge (for example) $200 per blog?
o thorough professionalism
o empathy, knowing your audience, solving their problems
6 steps to building a copywriting business:
o 1) pick a niche: find your audience, know their needs, learn how to write the content;
how to find a niche?: what do you love, know a lot about?; find a respected authority in
your niche & study their work by hand copying examples of it (e.g., Gary Halbert letters)
o 2) learn copywriting basics: (why not content writing? It easily gets lost in the online
noise); 5 rules from Blair Warren about how to write with your audience in mind:
encourage their dreams, confirm their suspicions, calm their fears, validate their
failures, throw rocks at their enemies (but don’t write clickbait)
o 3) start writing: persuasively reach out to established copywriters, keep their pain points
in mind, offer to take some work off their hands, but don’t do it for free; use your
contacts & ask if they need copy; find a local content-based marketing agency or local
business; job boards: good place to start for practice, but don’t spend a lot of time on
them [job board names]
o 4) learn SEO basics: SEO = search engine optimization; things to improve SEO: keywords,
formatting, article length, quality (educational sources: Moz, Neil Patel, Backlinko)
o 5) build a professional website showcasing portfolio pieces targeted to your ideal client;
use their pain points, underscore how you can help them
o 6) continue to make yourself valuable by digging into your niche, learn about things like
SEO, invest in yourself through courses, reading, etc.; break up skill development into
small daily steps
How to build your client base:
o aim for 10-20 clients to give you a solid income
o contact prospective clients via cold e-mail, addressing their pain points, using your SEO
knowledge (e.g., point out the length of their blog posts, if they’re too short or too long
for SEO)
o 1) identify ideal clients: locally, at conferences, and/or using LinkedIn; batch your work:
make a spreadsheet with names, websites, e-mails (use [Link]), note what they could
need help with, what you noticed about their websites
o 2) make an e-mail template & send out a personalized version to each client on your list,
focusing on their pain points, goals, what they’re trying to achieve on their website –
focus on what they (seem to) need, not on who you are; send out 20 emails/day if
you’re really trying to build up quickly
o this business is scalable: you can adjust the amount of work to your needs/desires
Copywriting goals (“Goal Setting in Your Copywriting Business: What You SHOULD Be Focusing On”:
[Link]
spend 30 min. to 1 hour a day on learning
reverse engineer your time and income goals
e.g., if you want to make $4K/mo., you would want to make $200/day (based on a 5-day
workweek); then decide how much time you want to spend working and track how long it
takes you to write – say 4 hours to write 2 blogs a day
find clients outside of job boards
copy by hand expert copywriting for at least 30 days (see [Link] and
[Link]); as you copy, ask yourself how the pieces are constructed, what
the underlying principles are
“Let’s Talk: What I Wish I Knew When I First Started My Business” ([Link]
v=9yDRuJPlWE8)
write down specific goals & look at them every day
learn how to say “no”
trust your gut about clients: don’t take on work that conflicts with your values, don’t keep
working with clients who don’t treat you well; referring to goals can help with deciding whether
or not to work with a client
don’t compromise on your goals when working with clients – even if you’re desperate for
money; it is time and energy that you can’t get back, that you can’t put toward developing your
craft
“Self-Taught Copywriting: 5 Exercises to Develop Your Skills” ([Link]
v=uDPYTewkcEU)
hand-copy successful ads ([Link]); “slimy” marketing doesn’t work so well these days; if you
don’t like a technique you encounter, then don’t use it; don’t just hand-copy – ask yourself
questions about sentence length, repetition & why, what emotions is the author trying to
evoke?; benefits vs. features
keep a “swipe file” if you come across an ad you really like & want to study it further; learn from
free e-mail sequences from companies you like/trust & maybe add some to swipe file
practice writing in active voice: use [Link] to learn how
simplify your writing, “open it up,” make it clear, concise, & punchy – use above app to gauge
your writing level
try to get feedback from another copywriter – reach out, but also let them know how you can
help them first
Resource from FB Testimonial Interview with Lauren (c. 1.13.21): [Link]
“My Morning Routine In Comparison (The 9-5 vs Freelancing)” ([Link]
v=Ni1gfXrEABY):
put phone on airplane mode before going to bed
suggestion: have a “morning space”
suggestion: gratitude journaling: 5 things you’re grateful for, really thinking about the things
you’re grateful for
meditate for 15 min. (BrainFM – small fee; isochronal tones)
mindset work: listening to emotional (i.e., convincingly spoken) self-recording of specific, value-
aligned goals in present tense (Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza
recommended here) – e.g., “I am able to quit my job in 3 months with $5K dollars in savings, and
this makes me feel excited” – and written, present-tense affirmations to directly combat fears –
e.g., “I know opportunities are endless, and I work hard to prepare myself for whatever
opportunity may come my way.”
work on business for the 1st hour of the workday, without checking e-mail: cold e-mailing,
Facebook messaging to people in your Facebook group, read a business-relevant book, take a
business-relevant course
