TCC Podcast #79: Learning while Getting Things Done with James Turner

Copywriter James Turner is our guest for the 79th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast. We’ve known James for a few years now, so we’ve been saving up questions to ask him for a while. Here’s just a sample of what we covered... •  how James went from an English teacher in Japan to copywriter in Canada •  the jobs he took on as he started out in his career and what’s changed since •  his thoughts about retainers—the good and the bad •  his book ghostwriting experiment and what that involves •  why undercharging for work doesn’t serve you or your clients well •  how James gets more done with Pomodoros (and other tricks) •  “The power of asking” and how it got James a new business •  how automation can change your copywriting business •  why he started a podcast and the impact on his business •  how he networks (and his advice to copywriters who need to do more of it) James is the kind of copywriter we can all learn something from. Make sure you download this one to your favorite podcast app, or click the play button below, or scroll down for a full transcript.   The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: Hillary Weiss Laura Hanly Pomodoro Technique SNAP Copy Lianna Patch The Copy & Design Brew Podcast Oli Gardner (Unbounce) TCC IRL Business of Software ConversionXL CTAConf Turner Creative The other James Turner 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, 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 79, as we talk with freelance copywriter James Turner about ghostwriting a book, running a micro-agency like SNAP Copy, why he started a podcast, and what’s he’s learned from it, and what he’s done to manage his done and get everything done. Rob: Hey James! Kira: Welcome! James: Hello! Thanks for having me. Rob: Yeah, we’re glad that you’re here, finally! I mean again, another person that we should’ve talked to months ago; you’ve been on our radar, been in our circle of friends forever, and it’s about time you got here. So, thanks. James: Yeah. It’s a pleasure. I’m glad we waited; I have more things to say. Kira: Laughs. James: If you asked me a week ago, it would’ve been a mistake. Kira: Laughs. Rob: Laughs. James: Life moves fast! Kira: James, let’s start with your story. How’d you end up as a copywriter? James: So, I’ve been thinking about how to tell that story quickly. Long story short, I went from having an English degree to teaching English in Japan to working in HR at an English school in Japan, to being instructional designer in Fredericton, New Brunswick—little Fredericton, New Brunswick—to becoming a copywriter. That’s the story arc. The reason I specifically want to talk about the HR thing is because that was the first time I really, truly used words to their full power, I suppose, like in a persuasive way. If I may go a little bit into the story of that...? Rob: Please do. James: So we worked for this big school in Japan, this sort of conversational English school. My wife and I, we moved there; we lived in Japan for three and a half years. And, I was brought into the, sort of, the personal coordinator role in my last year there. They were sort of shaking up the top level foreign part of the company. Everyone above us was Japanese, so it was like a big Japanese company with all kinds of different arms of business, and the English school we were sort of at the top of...our column, if you will, our business arm. And, the morale was really crappy because the people before us had not done a good job internal communications, essentially. Like,