Do You Have a Retainer Base Business?

Hollie Tkac joined The Copywriter Club Podcast for episode 289. Hollie is a copywriter for coaches in the online space who has built her multiple six-figure business on DFY copy. She shares her experience in creating sustainable income without the 50+ hour work weeks and how other copywriters can build a business that works for them. Here’s how the conversation breaks down: The importance of building your network and how it can translate into 50% of your income. How Hollie transitioned from coaching into copywriting for coaches. The benefits of hiring a coach and how to find the right one for you and your business. Transferring skill sets from coaching to copywriting. Steps to developing self trust and stepping into your sense of worthiness. Having 6 coaches at once and determining which coaches could help you get to where you want to go. How to get the most out of your coaching programs, so you see a return on your investment. Hitting six-figures in the first year of business – How did it happen? Should you add retainer clients to your business model? How to hire junior copywriters and how to effectively work with them. The wrong way to charge for your copywriting services. Creating a strong client relationship and building trust can lead to this. Where do most coaches struggle and how copywriters can help them. When are business owners ready for a copywriter? Systems and processes to use when working with a team and keeping things organized. Client work vs working on your own business – Where’s the balance? Creating financial projections and how to plan for the future of your business. If you’ve been thinking about adding retainers to your business or hiring a team to help scale your business, be sure to tune into this episode. The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: The Copywriter Think Tank Copywriting Income Survey Kira’s website Rob’s website Hollie's website The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground Sign up for Typeform Episode 253   Full Transcript: Kira Hug:  If you've ever questioned whether or not you could make six figures as a copywriter without creating and selling products, courses, or group programs on the side, this episode is for you. In this conversation, we'll speak with copywriter, Hollie Tkac, about how she niched down and grew her Done For You copywriting business with just that; copywriting. We talked about Hollie's approach to retainers, hiring, and working with junior copywriters, and a few best practices for running a successful copywriting business. Rob Marsh:  Before we jump into our interview with Hollie, this podcast is sponsored by the Copywriter Think Tank. That's our mastermind for copywriters and other marketers who want to think outside the box, build new offers, and add revenue streams to their business. We've recently added a mindset coach and assistant coach to help members of the Think Tank make more progress than ever before, and it's not cheap, but given the results that Think Tank members experience after they join the program, it is absolutely worth it. If you are earning three, four, five thousand dollars or more consistently in your business, go to copywriterthinktank.com to learn more. Kira Hug:  Okay. Let's hear from Hollie about how she got her start as a copywriter. Hi, Hollie. Well, let's kick off with your story. How did you end up as a copywriter for Coaches? Hollie Tkac:  Yeah. Really, it all came down to networking actually, and I still think to this day that's one of the main ways I've built my business. What happened was originally I wanted to be a coach myself, and this is in like 2015, so I joined a bunch of programs and things like that and just took that leap to invest in my business. From that, I ended up making connections and people were liking what I was putting out for my own coaching business I wanted to start at the time and they asked me to write copy for them. I ended up saying yes to that because I was having such a hard time with the selling piece of having a coaching business. I'd write the copy, but getting people on the phone was a little bit scary for me at first, so I wasn't really having a lot of success with that, but for some reason, the copy was easier for me to sell and say yes to. Then it just kind of started snowballing from there. I ended up getting some key clients, even two clients I still work with today, from being in some masterminds and programs initially back in the beginning, and they've been like almost 30 to 50% of my revenue over six years, just those few clients alone. Those connections I made have really grown into something cool. It sort of started that way through community. Rob Marsh:  Yeah. I love that. I actually want to talk a little bit more about the whole pulled into coaching, because I think copywriters, in at least a pretty major way, we are all coaching our clients in some things and how to sell themselves, that kind of thing. What was the draw to coaching? What was it that you wanted to do there that initially got you started? Hollie Tkac:  It was definitely my own journey. Actually in 2015, during this personal development program that I did in LA, I just realized I had worked in corporate at that point. I ended up working a total of seven years at an accounting firm as an operations manager, and I was in the very tail end of that time at that point. I just knew I always wanted to do something else. It started back when I first changed into a role where I was working from home and I wanted to stay home all the time and never have to report anywhere, so I started to think of how could I do this? Then by the time 2015 rolled around, I had decided that I really wanted to be a coach because I was experiencing such a transformation in my own life through getting coached, so that's kind of why I went forward with that. I figured it was something that I could do from anywhere and work from home more and just have that freedom, so it just seemed like a natural next step. Rob Marsh:  As you were thinking about being a coach, how have you applied that in your copywriting business? Hollie Tkac:  Tons of ways. One of the things that I like to think back to is my own story and I try to think about who, because all of my clients are coaches, and they have always been. I think I've only worked with one person in six or seven years that wasn't a coach, so I always try to think about what is the person going through that would attract them to get the transformation. Of course, knowing that they don't use those languages themselves to describe what they're going through. They're not seeking out a transformation in their mind, but they're going through some kind of pain or something like that that would make them... or they want a certain outcome that would make them candidates for my clients' services. I just really focus in on what is that and why would somebody want this person's offer? Being a client helps you to realize those things and helps make you better. I've had lots of coaches in different areas and it's always helped me be better at writing copy for coaches. Kira Hug:  Can you talk more about that, the coaches that you've worked with directly who have helped you personally, professionally? How do you look for a specific coach? There's so many different types of coaches you could work with. How do you know when to find a specific coach that could help you with the current problem and when it's time to leave? How do you approach that? Hollie Tkac:  Awesome. I love that question because I feel like I've done everything wrong in that area in the initial few years that I was starting to take on coaches and do different things. Mostly as a client, so what I have found lately is that I've also invested in some things recently that have really been fruitful. I'm thinking, what's the difference between now and then? I would say back then the most important thing to think about when you're looking for support is to assess your motivations behind getting the support. How that looked for me before, like five, six years ago, is I just didn't have a good sense of my own worthiness and identity. I was actually trying to solve my problems by putting out money and hoping that would fix whatever issues. I worked with a health coach for a year and I worked with a love coach for a year and other types of coaches too. What I realized was that I was just trying to fix something with them that they couldn't fix. Long story short, I realized I needed to just get clear on the fact that I'm basically a worthy human being with or without a coach. Then now that I've reached that place through some spiritual stuff I went through in the last couple years, I've been able to feel like when I hear about opportunities, I have a gut instinct about them and I know that I should dive in or not and I can trust it more. I've developed this sense of trust for my own instincts that I didn't have before. It's led me to make decisions that were better for me and have been able to definitely produce fruit without having a lot of stress in terms of... at one point I had like six coaches at once. Kira Hug:  Oh, wow. Hollie Tkac:  It was a little crazy financially, and also just like so much input from different people. There were all kinds of different areas of my life, but it was a little crazy. Now it's like, I know I can pick something I know that will be fruitful and go with it. Kira Hug:  Can we talk more about this, because I think this is a common challenge for many of us as writers and humans; feeling worthy. You mentioned you went through some spiritual stuff that helped you feel worthy and I feel like we skipped over it, but I'd love to know what you did during that time to really shift from not feeling worthy to feeling worthy and trusting yourself.