TCC Podcast #179: The Platypus Model for Client Work with Helen Tremethick

Copywriter and former cookie maker, Helen Tremethick, is our guest for the 179th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast. Helen has an interesting approach to working with her clients, so we asked her all about it... and we asked her about these things too: •  the path she followed from R&D director at a cookie company to copywriter •  the common thread running through the jobs she had before she became a writer •  her “complimentary relationship” tactic for finding clients •  the “platypus model” for working with branding and copy clients •  how to create, sell and deliver a workshop for clients (and the economics of it all) •  the mistakes you’ll want to avoid if you want to hold workshops •  what her Clarity Sessions include—getting the underlying brand values right •  the questions she asks her clients in her consulting work •  how she prices her introductory offers in order to attract clients •  the tactics she uses to “do brand voice” better—this is an idea worth stealing •  what she includes in her roadmapping sessions •  where things go off the rails with style and brand voice guides •  the other unique things she’s doing in her business that other copywriters aren’t •  her experience as a blocker in roller derby •  Helen’s and Kira’s copywriting lessons from roller derby •  where she thinks copywriting is going in the future To hear everything Helen shared, click the play button below, or scroll down for a full transcript. Or, even better, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher so you never miss an episode.   The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: The price survey Tanya Geisler Helen’s website Kira’s website Rob’s website The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground   Full Transcript: Kira:  This episode is brought to you by The Copywriter Accelerator, the 12 week program for copywriters who want to learn the business skills they need to succeed. Learn more at thecopywriteraccelerator.com. 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 179 as we chat with copywriter and brand voice strategist, Helen Tremethick about how to position of business so you attract the right clients, creating more than one revenue stream in her business, how she creates balance and ignores the hustle and her experience in roller derby. Welcome, Helen. Helen:          Hi, thank you. Kira:  Kick this off and let us know how you ended up as a copywriter and brand voice strategist. What's your story? Helen:          Oh, yes, thanks. The short story is that I went to school for radio and television broadcasting. Then I went to school for International Development. Brand voice strategy is really about communicating who you are, and really understanding that deeper motivation. It's really hybrid of both of those educational channels that I took along the way in a very formal way. But the truth of the matter is, if you get a little bit deeper and uncover the story, there are a lot of hats that I wore along the way from being a research and development consultant for a cookie company, to being an executive director of a nonprofit, and even being a purple tea apprentice at a farm in central Ontario. All these experiences allowed me to really see business owners as they are, what works, what doesn't work, and really start formulating a way of communicating that connects to the people that we want to connect to, but still maintains this really genuine and authentic, not authentic TM, but this really authentic way of communicating who you are. Rob:   Did you just say you were an R&D specialist in a cookie company? Helen:          Yes, vegan cookie company in Toronto, also a baker. Rob:   Okay, let's hear more about that. Because I can imagine waking up as an R&D person thinking, okay, chocolate chips been done, pumpkins been done, snicker doodles been done. What am I going to do today? What do you do as an R&D person in a cookie company? Helen:          A lot of it was really testing out recipe ideas that came from the owner. I got to tell you, a lot of it was taste testing. Baking cookies, taste testing, seeing if they'll fly and then... Also not just seeing if they'll fly with the audience, whether they taste good, but if they hold their structure. I suppose we could apply a really good business metaphor here as well. It's not just what lands but what works well for you as well as the audience involved. Rob:   Okay, what was the weirdest recipe that you developed there? Helen:          Gosh, we did a lot of spicy chocolate stuff for a little while, which can go... Yes, absolutely. Spicy chocolate done well is very delicious. Spicy chocolate done not well, is it honestly... Kira:  How do you ever leave a job like that? It sounds like you dream job. You made it in life at a cookie company? Why would you ever leave? Helen:          I'm a terrible employee. I mean, that's really what it comes down to. Kira:  Got it. Makes sense. I want to hear more about your time at the farm too, you said as a tea apprentice. Tell us a little bit about your farm time and even just some business lessons that you learned from your apprenticeship at the farm. Helen:          Oh my goodness. It's so funny we're digging up all old history here. I was a medicinal tea apprentice at this farm that does herbal teas, and does a lot of wild crafting and stuff. As an aside, I also live on a farm currently so I have spent a lot of my life in urban settings, but really currently have come back to my love for plants and plant medicine and really sharing that with people. I do that on the side. This foray as a medicinal tea apprentice was part of that learning about botany and the plants around us. Not just the plants that we see in our grocery stores, but what we would call weeds and really how they help us. I think in terms of business metaphors, that's really one real crucial lesson about running a business is that you don't always have to be the apple, be the orange, be the banana, be the thing that you find in grocery stores. You can actually also just be the dandy lion. Be the chickweed, be the plants that is not for everybody but is perfect for the right person at the right time with those right needs. Rob:   I think I'm probably the chickweed of copywriters as I think about that. Helen:          Delicious and nutritious. Rob:   Absolutely, but often overlooked. Is there something, maybe a theme that runs through all of these other jobs that you did as you're making your way in life that then led you to be a copywriter? I know you mentioned the research understanding customers but anything beyond that? Helen:          Oh, absolutely. Every single job that I found myself in, no matter what it was, I was rewriting the operations manual, writing of the press releases, rewriting the marketing materials, really getting my hands in how that business was communicating themselves to their people. I would wear these hats that said, medicinal tea apprentice or you don't... There was a time that I did fine furniture building. But all of those experiences, I found myself really just tinkering around with their messaging, and getting back to my roots, radio and television and in international development. Wanting to build that business up based on who they are and showcasing them in a way that's true and impactful. Kira:  What is your first few months or first six months in your copywriting business? As you started to focus on messaging and building out your copywriting business, what did it look like? How did you get clients? How did you build that momentum early on? Helen:          Thank you. I first... A little known fact is that the communications distillery started as sunrise editing. Kira:  Oh, cool. Helen:          That's how I got my first clients, is people... I was doing a lot of writing, earning some traction on my blog, and a lot of people started asking me to start editing their blog posts. My first clients were editing clients, where I was helping them indirectly with their message, but primarily with their punctuation. Fairly early on, it became very clear that I don't care nearly as much about punctuation as I do about people's message and whether they're making the impacts that they want to make. I made a pretty natural pivot from editing into writing blog posts for people, then from there into writing website copy. It was a pretty easy pivot each time. Just opening myself up to more and more opportunities that way. It naturally progressed into writing website copy. Then I realized that in writing website copy that there was really a way that people were communicating online. A way that was a bit more genuine and a bit more authentic, versus this very templated style that the gurus were telling us that this is what had to happen. There was something else, this undercurrent that was happening and that's what I started paying attention to. That's what really led me into brand voice strategy, which I feel is really key to everything that we communicate to our people. Rob:   We definitely want to talk more about brand voice but tell us first, how did you find your first clients as a copywriter? What kinds of things were you doing? Helen:          Well, again, I was writing blog posts. People were coming to me because they wanted somebody to write their blog posts for them. That happened primarily through word of mouth. In fact, the vast majority of my business over the near decade that I've been in, comes through primarily word of mouth. I tend to make relationship partners where we refer people back and forth.