Simple Copywriting for Your Holistic Business

Copywriting is an area that I used to struggle with, it was one of the main things I would spend hours procrastinating over. Having started my working life in a design studio with brilliant and creative writers, and proofreaders, I was the brunt of many jokes about my skills in that area.

I believed that I couldn’t write and had nothing interesting to say. This held me back for many years. I eventually worked through my fears (and quashed my inner perfectionist) and finally found the motivation to start writing.

Working with practitioners, I discovered many suffer from the same writing ‘demons’ as I did. They struggle not only to find topics to write about but also how they should write.

Now, the ideal situation, if you struggle to write, is to hire an amazing copywriter who can bring your ideas to life. If you don’t have the budget to do this, it’s down to you to create copy for your holistic business.

I have reviewed many of the lessons I’ve learnt over the years and compiled a list of steps to follow to help you write your copy.

Create your brand voice guide

This is a simple document that captures the essence of how you want your brand to sound. It provides you with a reminder of how to describe what you do, the tone to use, topics to discuss, etc.

Here's a blog and podcast on how to find your brand voice 

Create a format

Creating frameworks or templates makes it simple to work out what you need to include in each piece. You will find they vary slightly depending on what you are writing so your blog post template will be slightly different to your newsletter one.

Here are a few examples of what you can include:

Title

• Sub-title
• Introduction
• Bullet points (to make it easy to read)
• Call to action – what step do you want your client to take next
• Inspirational quote
• Links to relevant information (blogs, videos, podcasts)
• Feedback from clients
• Dates and events coming up
• Photos or pictures

Inspiration for your topics

Spend 10 minutes writing down all the topics you can think of, that your ideal clients would be interested in reading about. Consider what questions you are frequently asked about – these will provide great topics.

When you’ve finished your idea dump, circle the top few ideas – you now have your topics. Keep the big list as you can add to this as you are inspired going forward.

Here’s a blog with 11 ideas to find inspiration for your marketing to help you.

Who are you writing to?

Who’s your favourite client? Create a client avatar and give them a name, describe them - their personality, their lifestyle, their struggles etc.

Now focus on writing directly to them, as if you’re having a chat together. Don’t worry, this won’t stop others from reading your information, but it will certainly help you to write easily.

Write as you speak

When it comes to building relationships, it is about getting your personality across so start by writing as if you are speaking with your client.

Keep your language really simple and avoid big or technical words which will only confuse the reader.

And just allow the script to flow without getting caught up in editing your words at this point.

Read your piece out loud

This may sound a little mad, but it is a great way to find out if your piece flows, or if it needs some adjustment.

Does it sound like you? Are you using your language and phrases?  The idea is to let your personality shine through, and let people get to know ‘you’. Your copy is all about building relationships and showcasing your knowledge and approach.

Proofread

Start by taking a break from your copy before proofreading it. This way you are more likely to pick up any spelling or grammar mistakes. Use spell and grammar checks to help you but don’t rely on them totally.

There are certain things that require extra care, for example, your website copy or a printed leaflet - so ask a friend to proofread it as a second pair of eyes often spot the things you miss.

Blog posts are a little more forgiving and free-flowing. If the content is good, people will overlook an occasional miss-spelt word. Your speciality is helping your clients, not writing copy.

Writing is a skill and the more you practice it, the better (and faster) you will become, and you never know, you may even start to enjoy the process.

If finding your voice is something you struggle with, book a chat and find out how I can help you.