TCC Podcast #158: From Content to Email with Samar Owais

Samar Owais, content expert and email copywriter is our guest for the 158th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast. This one has been a long time coming... this is our fourth attempt to make this interview happen and it is worth the wait. Kira and Rob ask Samar about a lot of stuff from email to being the only person at TCCIRL with a hijab. Here's the list of what we asked: •  how Samar built her content business and charged $1000 per blog post •  what content writers should be doing to build their business •  why she “transitioned” from content to conversion-oriented email copy •  what she does to find clients for her business right now •  what email sequences should use in their business •  the 4 phases of her process and what she accomplishes in each phase •  the things she struggles within her business •  how she storyboards emails to make sure the sequence does what it should •  how she tracks her success—and gets access to all of her client’s numbers •  why she offers to help implement the emails she writes •  how she packages her services and what she charges for an engagement •  her writing process and how she applies her strategy to each project •  the impact of the pivot—from content to email—on her business •  her experience attending TCCIRL last year (and why you should go this year) •  what she experienced as the only hijab-wearing Muslim woman at the event and why we need more people from all backgrounds at all copywriting events •  how she deals with self-sabotage and how we can stop doing that to ourselves •  who she relies on to help her get things done •  her advice for anyone who wants to specialize in email copy •  what’s next for Samar in her business Like we wrote above, this one is worth the wait. To hear all the advice Samar had to share, Click the play button below, or scroll down for a full transcript. Or download the episode to your favorite podcast app (and don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss future episodes).   The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: Paul Jarvis Copyblogger Copyhackers Val Geisler Prerna Malik Eman Zabi TCCIRL The Copywriter Underground Chanti Zak Samar's website Samar’s Twitter Kira’s website Rob’s website The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground   Full Transcript: Kira:   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 and idea or two to inspire your own work? That's what Rob and I do every week at The Copywriter Club Podcast. Rob:   You're invited to join the Club for episode 158 as we chat with copywriter, Samar Owais about going from $5 blog posts to assignments that pay more than 50 times that much today. How she finds good clients, willing to pay her rates. What she did to write for clients like Copyblogger, Men with Pens, and Mercy, and how she stays productive while raising a young family. Hey, Samar. Kira:   Samar, welcome. Samar:           Hi, guys, how are you? Kira:   So good, so good to talk to you. This has been a long time in the making. I think this is our fourth attempt to make this interview happen, but I'm feeling, I think we're all feeling good. This is going to happen and we're really excited to talk to you today. So, let's just kick off with your story. How did you end up as an email copywriter? Samar:           Mostly through trial and error. So, before I was an email copywriter, I was a content writer. I spent about eight years building my business and authority. Wrote for clients like Paul Jarvis, and big brands like Marriott and Intercontinental. Got published in places like Copyblogger and Founder. My business as a content writer was at a pretty sweet spot, to be honest. But then, three things happened. One, I got more interested in pursuing the ROI of the content that I was writing, but my clients weren't. Two,