How to use your copywriting to connect with your audience

Your Dream Business

English - May 18, 2020 00:00 - 55 minutes - 76.6 MB - ★★★★★ - 34 ratings
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This week we have a very exciting interview with the lovely Kira Hug, who is the co-founder of The Copywriter Club and the co-host of The Copywriter Club Podcast! We are going to be talking all about copywriting, particularly focusing on how to get the balance between the right kind of copywriting whilst still being authentic.

KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCASTFinding your voice/identity. Look at your brand – Personality, Values and Advantage.Be honest about your personality, embrace your quirks!Your values (What you care about, what you fight for/against, what you stand for) will reflect in your messaging.Think about your advantage, what is your superpower? Everyone has one, so you need to identify yours!Check out what your competitors are doing – Understand how you fit into the space.Stand out from the crowd by talking about your quirks, they are what makes you, you!Being honest will help to build trust in your community and with your audience, as well as building rapport.You don’t have to be perfect, to be successful.People connect with you for lots of different reasons – give them different sides of you to relate to.Tell a story using chatty language in your emails – this can be the first paragraph or two to show a little bit of who you are and build that connection.Oversharing – there is a fine line! Decide what is important to you and if it is important for people to know more? Set those boundaries for yourself.Aim to build a community of people who do want to know more about you.Make sure you send a mixture of emails talking about you and about your audience and their problems.It is important to put yourself out there and let people know more about you because your audience needs to identify with you. You are allowing them to see what they want in their life, in you.Your audience get to know your brand personality through you sharing more of who you are, and they can then relate to your brand on a deeper level.Every time you share something, it should feel a little uncomfortable!Check in with your customers/clients – have a conversation while providing some value.It is important to know where you are in your sale cycle to see how much personality you should share.Show your customers/clients that you can relate to them and you do understand.Use your first sentence to really grab your reader’s attention – this could be a piece of who you are or something they can relate to.Signing off your emails – Best opportunity to showcase your personality. Keep it fresh and fun!Add your friends to your email list to keep that friendly tone.Your copywriting is one of the most important parts of your marketing, if you don’t have the skills, invest in a copywriter!There are lots of different levels of copywriters out there, with different skill levels and price points.
THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE…Authenticity is key. Many of us are in crowded markets, so our personality is the only thing that can really stand out. If you are putting yourself out there and being authentic, you are going to attract people that you like, and they like you! Remember, if someone doesn’t like you, that’s cool, there are plenty of other products and services they can go and buy instead!HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN'T MISSAn Introduction to Kira Hug – 03:40Being Authentic – 09:03Embracing your quirks – 14:02The “Perfect” online space – 16:32Connecting with your audience via copywriting – 19:25Oversharing! – 23:33Putting yourself out there – 26:26How to get started with sharing more! – 32:20Converting your customers

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the podcast. This week we have an interview, and I was really excited about this one because, basically, one thing that I tell you I am not very good at is copywriting. It doesn't thrill me very much. However, one thing I am really keen on is an authentic voice. So how to get that balance between the right kind of copywriting and still be authentic, can be really, really tricky. Which is why I had Kira Hug come on to the podcast and talk about this. So let me explain who Kira is, so Kira is the co-founder of The Copywriter Club, and the co-host of The Copywriter Club podcast. She's also a conversion copywriter specialist, and has a proven driven launch copy.

So, basically, she's worked with the likes of James Wedmore and [Ritmore Reddy 00:01:25] and helped them write their copy for their launches. And as you know, I have been in some of James's programmes, and therefore, very possibly, read what Kira wrote. She helps small business owners package their weird, following her signature Weird Trifecta Framework. So what I really liked about her is that she talks about you talking in your authentic voice and showing your personality. So often, when you can think about a copywriter, it can sometimes sound and feel a little bit ... almost too perfect, or just like it's been copy written. And one thing that she embraces, is she works with people to help them find their weird, to help them find the thing that makes them different.

So in this episode, we talk about what makes you different and unique. And one thing that's really interesting, that I can't wait for you to listen to, is she talks about the good and the bad, and how the bad could be used for good. Sounds weird but promise it all makes sense. And then she talks about how we connect with our audience through those things, through showing our personality. The other thing Kira talks about, which is really helpful, is to get that confidence when sharing about us.

Now, obviously you're going to share what you're comfortable with, so she's not going to sit there and say, "You have to do this and a have to do that." However, as business owners, and as lots of you listening are solopreneurs, you are your business. So getting comfortable with showing who you are is really, really important. So, that's really helpful as well. I found it really interesting. Like I said, I am not a copywriter. It's not something I'm brilliant at. But one thing I am really passionate about is that authenticity. So, anyway, give it a listen. Let me know what you think, tag us in, I can't wait to hear what you think. So, here we go, here is Kira.

An Introduction to Kira Hug

So I am really excited today to welcome to the podcast the very lovely Kira Hug. Kira, welcome!

Hey, Teresa. Thank you for having me.

No problem. Not at all. It's really good to have you here. So, Kira, in case my audience don't know you and they've not heard of you before, tell me a bit about how you got to do what you're doing today, because it's a really fascinating subject and I'm really excited to dive in, but just tell us how you got to do what you do today.

Okay, all right. Today, I write personality-driven copy that converts. How did I get into that? I came from a marketing background, so I had worked at various startups and nonprofits, running their marketing team, promoting memberships, promoting events, and writing a lot of copy, plus doing a lot of other things. And secretly trying to start this side hustle, like many of us do, and pursuing all the interests. I started a blog about being tall, because I'm tall and I thought that could be something that stuck. But there are only so many things you can say about being tall. During that time, I got married and so I hated the wedding process. And so I started a podcast and a blog called Bridal Rebellion, and that was like a side hobby/possible business that I turned into a service and had offerings. But these ideas didn't really have the legs along the way, but it was still fun and allowed me to tap into this online world back in 2008.

And so, along the way, as I was working these marketing jobs, writing copy for my colleagues and even writing copy for people who were kind of contractors working with my startup, I had one of my friends say to me, "Why are you doing all these side hustle jobs that don't actually pay money? Why don't you just write copy? Because you're a copywriter." And she had already hired me to write her website copy, other colleagues had have hired me to write their website copy, but it's like I couldn't see it because I was just in it, until she came to me and said, "You're a copywriter, this is your business. You're making money. Do it."

And so from there, it was like that was the light bulb moment and I just went all in. I still continued to work at this marketing startup and kind of just eased out, I didn't take the leap, necessarily. I took a couple of months to scale down and then rev up the copywriting business that just continued to take off. And that was back in 2015, when I started, and then I went full time in April of 2016. And then, ever since then, it's just been growing that business, working on various launches, but all of it has been grounded in, "How can we write copy that reflects your personality and it stands out?" And even since then, I started a second business which is The Copywriter Club, where I get to work with other copywriters and help them embrace their personality and build businesses. So I kind of have these two different worlds that overlap, but allow me to just really kind of allow people to be more of who they are and show that in their business.

That's awesome. I have to ask a question, though, because you said it. You said you wrote a blog because you're tall, how tall are you?

I am 5'10. I said I was 5'11 the other day, and my mom seemed offended. She's like "You're not 5'11, I'm 5'11!" So I guess I'm 5'10, I'll stick with that.

Okay, cool. So, tall-ish. Yeah, I guess-

I'm tall-ish. Tall enough to start a blog about that, but I remember talking to ... Danielle LaPorte, at the time, had these coaching sessions and I had hired her to have as a coach, one-off coaching session to talk about my tall blog. And I remember her saying to me, she was like, "I think you're going to run out of things to talk about." And she was so nice about it! [inaudible 00:07:27] "Yeah, you're right." And she was right, I ran out of things to talk about.

I love it. And also, I love the fact that you did that, then you did the wedding thing, and then you did something else, then you did something else. I feel like there are different entrepreneurs and creators in this world. Where like, for me, I literally was a really good employee and then, suddenly one day, my brain went ... and then, without even knowing, I ended up having my own business and thinking, "What the hell am I doing?"

And then some people like you, who are just like, "I want to do this, and there's this opportunity here, and there's this thing here, and shall I do this?" And to just kind of have those things on the go. I don't remember doing anything when I worked. Didn't have a blog, didn't have a podcast, didn't have anything. So it was obviously kind of inbuilt in you, in terms of this was your thing.

I think so. And I think there was just my ... My jobs weren't satisfying that creative need I had inside, they just weren't. I wasn't satiated, which forced me to keep jumping and taking these side digs, which, looking back, that was good but at the time it was also frustrating, being in a couple ... even a couple corporate jobs where I was like, "Oh, do I really want to be here? Do I want to grow here? This isn't where I see myself."

Being Authentic

Yeah, yeah. Okay, so I love what you talk about, because one of the things I talk about all the time is being authentic and being yourself. And one thing that's happened in lots of industries, and it's happened in mine, is people see something that's working ... So someone comes into the industry with a quirk or with a style or with a something, and they see it working and then everybody jumps on that bandwagon. And what they don't realise is it's working for that person because it's totally authentic as to who they are and they eat, sleep, breathe the way they're being. And the others aren't like that and therefore it's not that it's ... It's not the thing that people like, it's the authenticity that people like.

So I love the way that you talk about celebrating things authentic and how you have kind of addressed that in authentic copies. So tell us ... Explain that, how do I ... ? Because, one, I don't like writing. So probably not a great start. But how do I get that out? How do I get that personality out? If I'm sat, listening, just thinking, "I don't think people know who I am."

Well, it's funny that you don't like writing because I love your headline on your About page-

Okay.

... about, "I love tea. And by tea, I mean gin." I was like, "Well written." Yeah, I help people figure out what makes them weird, because this is such a big struggle for all of us, and this isn't even easy for me. I oftentimes get assistance about what makes me weird too. So I've worked through this process because I've gone through an identity crisis that forced me to ask those questions like, "What am I doing? How can I show up at home and how can I show up in business?" So I've kind of worked through that personally and business-wise, but I think it really starts off with looking at three core areas of your brand and I call it your Weird Trifecta Framework.

And so these three core areas are based in your personality, your personality is a huge piece of that. And within your personality is your voice, how you talk. How you write is all about how you talk. That's where your quirks show up, what makes you unique, what makes you different, the good and the bad. And so personality isn't just the positive things, which I think we often think it is. It's like, "These are the best qualities of my personality." Also, these are the darker qualities of your personality, these can be some of the aspects of your personality that maybe you aren't excited about, maybe you're working on them.

So I think that's where your honesty comes in, and you had mentioned earlier, you like to be honest. And so being being honest about your personality is key, and that's where most of us kind of mess up. We don't get really honest about who we are. The other two areas, one is values. So your values reflect your messaging, what you care about, what you fight for, what you fight against, what you stand for. And those really strong viewpoints, basically, it's like your why behind everything you do.

So it's personality, values. And then the third area that I focus on in the Weird Trifecta is your advantage. What is your genius? You could call it superpower, secret sauce, whatever you want to call that, but what is that for you, because everyone has it. It's really hard to see it when you do it naturally, so this is oftentimes where I focus the most time working with clients, to figure that out. And also, part of that is looking at your competition. Because sometimes you don't see your advantage until you do check out your competitors, which I'm always surprised that more business owners I talked to don't really do that well or don't pay attention to it because we want to get in our bubble. But looking at the space to understand how you fit into it, is key.

So those are the three core areas, personality, values, advantage, that we work through. And part of that process is just asking questions that pull that information out. Questions are the most powerful part of that exercise to get that information.

Let me touch on that for a little bit, because I think this is really interesting, because I love the way you talk about weird and yet ... I should imagine there's some people out there going, "Well, I'm not weird," and if they do think something's weird they're like that, "I'm not showing that! Because I don't want anyone to see that I'm weird." I think that's really interesting, and I think what you started off by saying, in terms of personality, in terms of the voice, and those quirks, the good and bad. Honestly, I just think, "Who would want to show the bad stuff and why? Why would I want to show up some of my bad things?" And you have a great line on your site that says something like, "Even if you're a jerk and people still buy off jerks," or something like that, which I just thought was fascinating. Tell me a bit ... how do you mean? How does that work?

Yeah. I mean, there are definitely some qualities in your personality or in your life that might not be ... might be a bit darker, that maybe you don't want to lead with. So there could be some ... If you're like, "I have visions of stabbing people in the back!"

Probably don't do that!

Embracing your quirks

I mean, that could be a really ... Through the email copy, because I would read that email, but maybe you don't lead with that. But the reason to do it is because it makes you, again, real authentic standing. You'll stand out because most people don't talk about this stuff. We honestly don't trust so good, fast way to build trust with your community and your audience. It also is a great way to build rapport because people will relate to that, because people will ... They understand their darker side and those traits in them, and if they see it in you, that builds a connection. And maybe they don't feel connected to everything in your personality, but if you can share more of your personality, they'll start to connect to bits and pieces of it, rather than if you just share one facet of your personality that you feel like you should be sharing. Maybe it's like, "Oh, I'm so creative! I'm going to just show my creative side."

Sure, you'll attract creative people but there's so many other facets to who you are, that you could connect with more people and kind of grow your community that way. So I would look at things that are more relatable, that aren't as dark. Like for me and my business partner, we often joke that I'm super sensitive and he has no feelings, and when we talk a lot about that in our marketing messages. And you could say either one is negative. Being too sensitive, I don't necessarily feel proud of that, and I don't think he feels proud about like, "He has no feelings!"

He ha no feelings.

But we joke about it and we turn it in, and we talk a lot about those sides to us because that's how we connect with our audience, by sharing those pieces. And all of that has its upside and downside. Being super sensitive has a downside, it can immobilise you, especially in my audience, a lot of copywriters can relate to that so I talk about it often. But it also has a superpower, it allows you to build empathy and to see things other people don't see. So I think if you find other qualities that maybe you think you're not proud of or maybe you're like, "I don't like that about myself all the time," you can find the upside in everything and that becomes your advantage. Like if you told me three of your top weaknesses, I bet we could figure out how each of those three weaknesses actually has an advantage for you.

The “Perfect” online space

And do you think that's a lot to do with this perfect online space that we're in? That we are so tired of seeing the perfectness in the world, and the beautifully quaffed hair and the lovely