Issue #36

Hi everyone,
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It's that time of year where 2024 is roaring toward us like a tsunami, and we'll finally be able to give the middle finger to 2023 and let out a big sigh of relief.

Which means it's also the perfect time to reflect on any crappy client projects you've dealt with this year, so you can avoid them in the future.

For many of us, that will start with getting really really clear about who our ideal clients are.

Because...if you don't know what your ideal client looks like - how can you find them?

Remember that scene in Terminator 2 where Robert Patrick gets a photo of John Connor?

Having a photo helped him get laser-focused on his target so he could find it - and he could now tell other people who he was looking for too.

And this is exactly how you should think about getting clients.

Without all the weird stalking and attempted murder, of course.

You'll be putting a lot of work into cold pitching, content creation, and getting referrals in 2024.

So to avoid a huge amount of wasted time, you need to be intentional about the clients you want to work with:

• What industry are they in?
• What do they sell?
• How big's their company?
• What's their annual revenue?
• Do their values and mission align with your own?
• Do they have a brand that you admire for a certain reason?
• Will you be working with a sole founder, or do you prefer working with big, fast-paced teams?
• How will they find you?
• How will you find them?
• Do they know and appreciate what copywriting is?
• How hands-on will they be when you work with them?
• Are you thinking too broad? Could you niche down even smaller to become the go-to expert in a tiny niche?

Once you've got polaroid-clear on what your perfect client looks like, create 3 primary offers that are irresistible to them.

Solve their big problems. Take a bunch of tedious work off their plate. Save them a bunch of time. Make them more money.

It's a lot easier to figure out great service offerings when you know exactly who your ideal client is, and what they're most likely to need.

For example:

Startups with initial funding might need a quick-but thorough website overhaul to improve their "I wrote it myself" or "I stole it from our competitors" copy.

But they probably don't have a ton of money to spend on a full conversion project (yet).

So you could offer a:

• VIP week where you overhaul a set number of website pages.
• VIP day where you create a brand new homepage.
• Small website package where you run some basic customer research and overhaul 3 core pages of their site.
• Valuable lead magnet to help them attract new users.

Before you write any posts on social media, or send any cold pitches out, or say yes to working with a new client next year - refer back to your ideal client profile.

This will help you (mostly) avoid working with crappy clients that aren't a great fit for you, and ensure the effort you put into your outreach and content isn't going to waste.

It's also the fastest way I know to steer your business in the direction you want it to go for the coming year.

To recap:

• Identify your ideal client in detail
• Create targeted offers that they want and need
• Pitch accordingly
• Repeat until you have too much money

This week in the Slack group:​
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• I recorded a Q&A with Blair Sharp about how to authentically show up on LinkedIn, how to post consistently, how to create relatable posts that get engagement, and how she grew her followers from 0 to 12,000 in less than 2 years. We also chatted about the concept of "natural niching" - which is something we should all be paying attention to.
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• Merav shared her expertise in UX writing, plus recommended courses and resources to get started. With many copywriters looking to diversify their skills next year, she discussed how to break into UX writing, and the differences between a UX Writer, Content Designer, and Content Strategist.
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• New walkthrough by Becky on how she uses Moxie for her client and project management
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• New walkthrough by me on Google Keep, and why I've ditched my free ClickUp plan to use this for my project management tasks instead. (And how I created a new month called "Deemebr" because typing actual words while you're recording your screen is surprisingly hard)
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☕ Stay caffeinated out there! ☕

Rachael

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