TCC Podcast #404: A Great Practice Resource with Wendy Ann Jones

To get better at copywriting, you need to practice. But how do you get the right kind of practice (and perhaps a few portfolio samples in the process)? Copywriter Wendy Ann Jones joins us for the 404th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast to share a new resource that helps you get the practice you need. We covered a lot more than that... you're going to want to stick around for this episode. Click the play button below, or scroll down for a full transcript.   Stuff to check out: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson The Copywriter's Workout by Wendy Jones The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground   Full Transcript: Rob Marsh: There’s one thing that all writers have in common… that is we write. We write for ourselves and our clients. It’s writing every day that helps us get better at the craft. But if you’re not working with a client, you might be wondering what do I write? How can you use your writing time to create writing samples that read as if they are real and help you get good writing practice?  Hi, I’m Rob Marsh, one of the founders of The Copywriter Club. And for today’s episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast, Kira Hug and I talked with copywriter Wendy Ann Jones. Wendy quit a corporate job in order to start her own business, but when it came time to practice, she realized there weren’t a lot of resources out there to help. So she created that resource—a book of practice clients and projects you can use to get better at the craft of writing and perhaps even create a few portfolio samples worth sharing with potential clients. If you’re looking for ways to build your portfolio, you’ll want to listen to what Wendy has to share… Before we jump in with Wendy… We have a new gift for you as a listener to The Copywriter Club Podcast. We went through the past 400 episodes of this podcast looking for the ideas that our guests have shared over the past couple of years related to finding clients. We pulled out a bunch of our favorites and compiled them into a new pocket sized guide that will inspire you as you look for ways to attract the right clients to your business. It’s a bit like having a couple dozen of the best copywriters in your pocket advising you on how to find your next client. To get your copy, visit thecopywriterclub.com/pocket and download this new guide. And with that, let’s go to our interview with Wendy Ann Jones. Kira Hug: Hi, Wendy. Let's just start with your story. How did you end up as a copywriter? OK. Wendy Ann Jones: So about February 2021 I was really super disillusioned with my job. I was working in corporate and I loved it. I did love it and it was very fast moving, very motivating and then the company took a turn and it was a bit boring. It was a bit boring, a bit dull, and there wasn't anything to learn. And I'm quite a lifelong learner. I'm always obsessed with learning things and like to be occupied and busy. And I was also going through the start of the perimenopause, which, you know, I'm sure a lot of women, women similar age to me will be like, yeah, nodding their heads. And I kind of thought, oh, I need to change, to do something different. I found a copywriting ad. It popped up on my Facebook, and it was like, oh, would you like to work the hours you want to work? And would you like to live wherever you want? And would you like to, you know, all these things? And I was like, yes, yes, that's exactly what I want. Yes, please. Yes, yes. And I've said this a few times before, but it was just that hook was my introduction to copywriting, right? Because it was like they were talking. exactly to me at the time that I needed them and I went on to like a free webinar it's like a five-day little mini training course and I loved it and then I signed on straight away obviously for a full-on copywriting course there and then and yeah just took part in that and obviously the key to that was find yourself a client and And you kind of do a big gulp at that point when they say, oh, you need to find a client pretty much straight away. And you're like, oh, can I do that? But I was lucky. I had a couple of people I knew that were business owners who agreed to let me write some website copy for them. And that's how I got started, really. And that was, yeah, that was back in 2021. Early 22, I went into my business full time, quit my corporate job, took a big deep breath. and jumped in and I've been doing that ever since. Rob Marsh: So as you started to build your business, you know, those first clients that are people that you know, sometimes those are the easy ones. And in what I've seen with the copywriters that we've coached, even in my own experience, that first initial transfer of clients dries up pretty quickly. So how did you take the next step from the business owners that you know, and move into other clients that maybe were outside of that immediate circle. Wendy Ann Jones: Okay. So the first thing I did was a complete leap of faith. I went on to LinkedIn, which I'd got about 10 followers from my corporate job. and kind of redid my profile. I don't even want to look at what that looks like now when I go back, but made it look like something. And I saw someone advertising for an actual full-time copywriter. And I thought, well, I don't want that. I've just come out of a full-time job. But I dropped them a message and said, do you work with freelancers at all? And they said, yeah. And I went, oh. And then he sent me a document like, oh, can you write this test document thing? And it was writing articles, actually, so it wasn't pure copy. It was more article writing. But they said, can you write this? And it was a mock-up. They were never going to use it. And then he came back and said, yeah, great. And they ended up being my first client. I worked for them for three years, pretty much every week for three years. So that was my first jump in.  Then I thought, oh, this LinkedIn thing might not be too bad. And that's when I started kind of trying to post on LinkedIn and engage with people a little bit. And that in truth, that's probably where most of my clients came from, was that. So yeah, it's harder now on LinkedIn because there's more and more people at that time, two years ago. It wasn't so competitive in the copywriting arena. There weren't so many people using it. I see a lot of people now jumping onto LinkedIn that I knew as copywriters before, but they were using different platforms and they're all coming across now. So it's very, very competitive now. So it is about finding new strategies and just keep reinventing yourself really, isn't it? Keep looking out and seeing what else you can do. Kira Hug: Yeah, it is amazing how quickly it changes, right? Where LinkedIn's working, you kind of stand out and then two years later, it's so competitive. So what is working now or how do you think about reinventing yourself? You know, maybe there's a way to think about it that could work on any platform that starts to become crowded. Wendy Ann Jones: Yeah. I mean, I am looking more at building my own kind of putting more into my website. I've put a lot of effort now into reading, that's probably on the fourth iteration of my website. And I've had, I've got to give a note out to Dani Paige, who's gave me a lot of help with that and gave me some amazing feedback. So my website now is looking better than it's ever looked. And I am putting myself, it doesn't sound like a lot, but I am making sure I put a blog on every month. And so I'm building, you know, it's sometimes difficult, isn't it? When you've got a lot of things, a lot of balls in the air to make that digital estate and make, you know, a place where people will come to all the time. Um, but trying to put one blog on a month, trying to reach out to people like, I mean, you know, business owners, people that are running podcasts and things like that, and speaking to people and saying, you know, here I am, what what can I give what value can I give to your business on a podcast or something like that I think that works as well as well I mean again it's a competitive arena and it just takes some time to find people that want you to to actually go on but if you find the right fit that can work really well as well. Rob Marsh: So, Wendy, one of the things that I know you've done, because you shared this with me, is this book that you've put together, this Workout. It's a workbook, but a workout. Tell us about where that came from and how, like, what are the, not just the origin story, but how you would use it today. Wendy Ann Jones: Okay. So, when I started out with copywriting courses, I'm from, an operations background. So I've always worked back office, that kind of thing. I've put together a lot of training, I've trained a lot of people, you know, my kind of role in enterprise before was work out how it works and then teach other people how to do it. And I think that why I'm suited to copywriting is because I'm super nosy and I have to understand all the nuts and bolts of everything so that I can get it clear in my head. So that works really well for me from a copywriting perspective. But when I was learning, I was looking for something that would give me a process to improve my copy. So I had lots of amazing courses, resources, obviously there's thousands of youtube videos out there and things like that but then everyone says go away and practice and i was lucky i was in a course that had um editing included copy copy editing included as part of the course so that that's amazing resource but what i was doing i was making up products So I would make like an example, I made up this product as a hit, right? What would I really love? And I don't know if you're gardeners, but I'm a gardener. And every time you buy a hose, a garden hose, and you plug it onto a tap, faucet,