TCC Podcast #105: Going from copywriter to consultant with Sage Polaris

Copywriter Sarah Grear is back for a second appearance on The Copywriter Club Podcast. Kira and Rob wanted to learn more about how she is shifting to offer more consulting in addition to copywriting, the tools she uses to land clients and how she structures her business so she gets paid even while on vacation. It this episode (#105 for those who are keeping score) we talked all about: •  how she made six figures last year (and took four months off) •  what Sarah’s accomplished since we last talked with her •  what she does to help her clients have massively successful launches •  the “gift” she gives her clients that closes the deal •  what it takes to create a launch map and feel confident about sharing with her clients •  the five phases of a launch plan •  the ins and outs of a successful “launch debrief” and how she sells the next project •  how she continues to get herself on stage (and what she teaches) •  why she publicly celebrates every win today •  the strategies Sarah uses to create more freedom in her personal life •  how you can leverage your strengths to add consulting to your copy business •  her “mindset” advice for copywriters who want to up-level to consultant There’s lots to love in this episode. To hear it, click the play button below, or scroll down for a full transcript. You can also find it at iTunes, Stitcher and on your favorite podcast app. The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: The first Sarah episode (#32) MindMup for G Suite Abbey Woodcock Tarzan Val Geisler SarahGrear.com/copy Kira’s website Rob’s website The Copywriter Club Facebook Group Intro: Content (for now) Outro: Gravity Full Transcript: Rob:   What if you could hang out with seriously talented copywriters and other experts, ask them about their successes and failures, their work processes and their habits, then steal an idea or two to inspire your own work? That's what Kira and I do every week at The Copywriter Club Podcast. Kira:   You're invited to join the Club for Episode 105 as we chat for a second time with freelance copywriter, Sarah Grier, about what it takes to grow a copywriting business past six figures, her recipe for launch success, why she books two projects at a time and spreads payments over six months, and how to add consulting to the services you offer your clients. Hey, Sarah. Welcome back. Rob:   Hey Sarah. Sarah:  Hey, thanks for having me. It's so fun. I can't believe you guys have done 106 interviews. And you're still standing. Rob:   Barely. We're actually ... I think we're both sitting right now. Kira:   Sitting all day long. Which we need to work on. So why don't you just give us a quick update. What have you been working on and what's happened since last time you were on our show? Rob:   And that was Episode 32, for anybody who wants to check that out, because it was a really good one. So, yeah, check that out. Sarah:  I know. I became the take four months off in your business woman since then. But, yeah, I've done that. I took four months off last year, intermittently. If you listen to the old episode you can hear how. So, I'll leave that as a tease.  Since then, in 2017, I worked on 52 projects for 19 clients, and still managed to take all that time off. Kira:   What? Rob:   Wow. Sarah:   I know. Rob:   It's crazy. Kira:   That is crazy. Sarah:   When you have systems in place it makes a huge difference. But also I had this astronomical launch that stood out from all the other ones. We did seven figures in a single launch. Sarah:    And it was the first time we had worked together. Basically, that changed the way that I was showing up with my clients, because I realized when my clients grow to that level or grow that quickly, they don't always need a copywriter at that point because they usually hire an in-house production team. And so I started doing small percentage of consultant work alongside the copywriting work to really serve the people who needed more than just a copywriter. So that's what happened in the last year. It's been fun and insane. And then I also, just to add to the mix, I also did close to 10 podcast interviews and did at least three live events that I can remember, where I was speaking onstage. So it's been a fun year. Rob:   You listen to that, I'm thinking, 'How in the world did you take four months off?' That's crazy. Sarah:   I had my formula for it and it just works when you have systems and a good team in place. So that's really the short and long of it. Rob:   Very cool. So can we talk about launching and what you've been doing to have so many successful launches? I'm blown away. A million dollar launch the first time you're working with the client. That's amazing. What are you doing to make your launches so valuable for your clients? Sarah:    Well, I definitely helped them with all the components the first round. So from the top of the funnel all the way to the bottom, I was responsible for every asset, from video scripts to Facebook ads to emails to sales page. And I have, I guess, the part that's hard to teach to other people is a gift for finding the right resource at the right time or the right framework at the right time based on who the client is. I was able to put resources in front of them of other launches that ... Basically we had an advantage that the client was a celebrity in their world. And so I looked at other celebrities out there who were having a lot of success with online programs. And I used that as the framework. That's the secret sauce to why the launch was so successful. But the skill in it is learning how to reverse engineer what someone else did and make it work for a new client. And that part is a little harder to teach because you can't copy and swipe exactly what someone else does because you're not going to get the same results because the assets are different in each company. My ability to look at the assets of this particular company and say, 'Okay, how are we going to make this work for you?' Because they sell in a totally different way than most other people sell. So that was the nuance that made the difference. Kira:   Can you talk about how you approach this type of astronomical launch or any launch project in relationship to the client? So you show up as a consultant from day one, with the first kickoff call, and you're asking the right questions. So you're talking about top of the funnel to bottom of the funnel. And not just, oh, yeah, I'm just going to write the sales page and then hand it to you and that's it and disappear. Sarah:    The thing that I do from the very beginning, when we have that initial consultation call, I give them 30 minutes to talk with me. And I always find that no matter what level a company is at, I'd say, 95% of the time, they have a marketing plan in their head and no one's put it on paper. The very first thing I do after I get off the call with them is I get as much information as I can about where they are in their launch plan. And then I actually map it out for them.I use a tool called Mind Map that works inside Google Drive. So inside Google Drive, I create this launch map and it basically shows them what they said to me. And when they see it on paper they're like, 'Oh, my gosh. No one else has done this for me.' Now they can take what I've created for them and their Facebook ads manager already knows what to do. Their designer already knows what's coming in the pipeline in terms of copy production. Anybody on the team, their project manager can work more easily and breathe more easily because they know what components are going to happen. My launch maps are different for every client. They're custom for every client. And as soon as I finish that call, I send it to them as a gift. And I'm like, 'Hey, here's a surprise launch map.' And they immediately hire me after that. But the reason I started doing the launch map is because I realized that if they don't have it mapped out and have a plan, their results will suffer from the launch. So I did that for the client. We ended up doing $1.25 million with a single webinar style launch. It made all the difference for them because then their team knew what to do with it. Rob:   That's amazing. So we just recently did a training with Abbey Woodcock in the Facebook group about launches. And she shared this really elaborate spreadsheet of all the things that she spells out that have to be accomplished throughout a launch. How does that kind of a thing compare to the launch map that you're creating? Does it spell out all of the little pieces and what goes out where? Is it basically just a different format of that, or is it something different from a process standpoint? Sarah:    I actually watched that training because I was really interested to see how Abbey does it. I would call what she created and I hope ... I think, to me, it looked like a glorified editorial calendar. So it showed you all the pieces. I started out creating that for my client as well, thinking that it would be helpful. But it didn't really work for me and our production process. And I found that the launch map worked better for me. In terms of the way that she's organizing these large scale launches, you need something. So I think what she's doing is just as valid as creating a launch map. But the point is, if you don't lay out all the components, then people get lost and you lose time and the lost won't be as effective. As long as you're doing something, then you're golden. And her strength is probably in spreadsheets or ... I don't know who was sitting with her in the interview. Rob:   That's KC. Kira:   That's KC. Sarah:   Are they related? Are they husband and wife? Rob:   Husband and wife, yep. Kira:   They're partners. Sarah:   Okay. I didn't want to assume. Okay,