{"id":1513,"date":"2018-05-22T16:19:19","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T09:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecopywriterclub.com\/?p=1513"},"modified":"2018-10-20T08:18:22","modified_gmt":"2018-10-20T01:18:22","slug":"gossip-columnist-copywriter-erica-strauss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecopywriterclub.com\/gossip-columnist-copywriter-erica-strauss\/","title":{"rendered":"TCC Podcast #93: From Gossip Columnist to Copywriter with Erica Strauss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Copywriter Erica Strauss joins Kira and Rob for the 93rd episode of\u00a0<em>The Copywriter Club Podcast.<\/em> Erica is doing something a little different in her business than what most copywriters are doing&#8230; working with a direct sales company to add another revenue stream to her personal business. So far it&#8217;s working, and we wanted to know more. We also talked about:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 \u00a0how Erica started her copywriting career at age 10<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0what she learned about copywriting from working as a gossip columnist<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0why she decided NOT to finish her master\u2019s degree<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0how Erica makes retainers work for her <em>and<\/em>her clients<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0what she typically charges for one of her projects<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0how she started copy coaching<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0the challenges of growing a copywriting business quickly<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0what she did to overcome the burnout that comes with so much work<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0how her business is shifting to include other income streams<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0what to consider if you\u2019re interested in network marketing<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0how Erica connects with clients and gets to know their voice and stories<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0what she\u2019s doing on Facebook Live and her tips for doing it well<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0why relationships are so important as copywriters<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0where her business is going from here<br \/>\n\u2022 \u00a0why she loves rap and EDM\u2014and how it makes her a better write<\/p>\n<p>We also talked about her processes and tips for writing taglines and naming products\u2014and why she offers this service to her clients. And as we often do, we asked her about the future of copywriting. To hear what Erica had to share, click\u00a0the play button below or scroll down for a full transcript.<\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_5437\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-1513-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/thecopywriterclub\/content.blubrry.com\/thecopywriterclub\/TCC093ES.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/thecopywriterclub\/content.blubrry.com\/thecopywriterclub\/TCC093ES.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/thecopywriterclub\/content.blubrry.com\/thecopywriterclub\/TCC093ES.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/thecopywriterclub\/content.blubrry.com\/thecopywriterclub\/TCC093ES.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/thecopywriterclub.com\/?powerpress_pinw=1513-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/thecopywriterclub\/content.blubrry.com\/thecopywriterclub\/TCC093ES.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"TCC093ES.mp3\">Download<\/a><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/subscribebyemail.com\/thecopywriterclub.com\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe by Email\" rel=\"nofollow\">Email<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/thecopywriterclub.com\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>The people and stuff we mentioned on the show:<\/h3>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wetpaint.com\/party-etiquette-from-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills-lisa-vanderpump-640768\/\">Lisa Vanderpump<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marieforleo.com\">Marie Forleo<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/ericaleexo.com\">EricaLeeXO.com<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/erica.lee.strauss\">Erica on Faceboo<\/a>k<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/kirahug.com?utm_source=thecopywriterclub.com&amp;utm_medium=shownotes\">Kira\u2019s website<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/kaleighmoore.us11.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=7bdb50a2eb0d5b0a501cd1bf4&amp;id=9bf46b3e1d\"><br \/>\n<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.brandstoryonline.com?utm_source=thecopywriterclub.com&amp;utm_medium=shownotes\">Rob\u2019s website<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/kaleighmoore.us11.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=7bdb50a2eb0d5b0a501cd1bf4&amp;id=9bf46b3e1d\"><br \/>\n<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/thecopywriterclub\/\">The Copywriter Club Facebook Group<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/thecopywriterclub.com\"><br \/>\n<\/a>Intro:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/fauves\/content-for-now\">Content (for now)<\/a><br \/>\nOutro:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/album\/gravity\/id304219081?i=304219099\">Gravity<\/a>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Full Transcript:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 <em>The Copywriter Club Podcast<\/em>is sponsored by Airstory, the writing platform for professional writers who want to get more done in half the time. Learn more at Airstory.co\/club.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 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\u2019s what Kira and I do every week at the Copywriter Club Podcast.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019re invited to join the club for episode 93 as we chat with copywriter and communications strategists Erica Lee Strauss about her stint as a gossip columnist. Helping entrepreneurs communicate their stories, burning out and finding a purpose, copy coaching and her love of EDM. Welcome Erica.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Hey Erica.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Hi guys. Thanks for having me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019re stocked to have you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, so Erica, let\u2019s start with your story, how did you end up as a copywriter?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Oh my gosh you guys. Okay, so honestly I was one of those annoying little kids who always knew what they wanted to do. I was sending out manuscripts and God knows what they were like. I was sending out manuscripts at age 10. Actually started an online magazine back in the days of like AOL and CompuServe, and kind of had my first mailing list back then. Had a little mailing list of like, I guess it wasn\u2019t so little, it was 2000 people.<\/p>\n<p>I had a little online magazine and just always knew that I wanted to write or like wanted to do something. I thought it would be with editorial basically, I thought I would do something in magazines. I actually wrote my first article for a magazine at age 10, because somebody at Girls Life Magazine got wind of the fact that I was this 10 year old having this, writing this online magazine. They contacted me to write an article for their reader\u2019s issue, and as soon as I saw my name in print, I was completely hooked. I just knew that that was going to be the thing, like I definitely was going to go down the magazine journalism path.<\/p>\n<p>I did. I went to college for that, and it was kind of during that weird time where everyone wasn\u2019t sure really what was going on. Like Facebook was just becoming popular, social media was becoming a thing and people were like print is dying and like newspapers are going to die and magazines are going to die and this whole sorts of things. I kind of switched gears and I decided, well I\u2019ll just be an English major, and I\u2019ll write poetry, because that\u2019s clearly a better career path.<\/p>\n<p>I made the switch and ended up graduating with a degree in English, but after that, I still was like okay, so I really did, my whole life I\u2019d imagined I would do something with magazines, so I ended up just applying for different jobs through Craigslist. I found this job that was a work at home job as a celebrity gossip reporter. It was like some $15 an hour, nothing crazy at all, but I got to work from home and it was all online.<\/p>\n<p>I ended up doing that. That was like my first big girl job, but because it wasn\u2019t really like paying enough, I started looking in other areas. Like this is cool, I\u2019m getting paid from this one company. How else can I expand this and maybe make more money? This was like when E-lance, I think maybe it had just popped up, and so yeah. I got on E-lance and started finding a couple other clients, and so I was juggling a couple of clients. I didn\u2019t really even understand what copywriting was at that point, I just knew that I could write and I knew the editorial side of things. I took on a job like a side gig is like a fashion blogger and copywriter, because they wanted me to do their product descriptions and their email blasts.<\/p>\n<p>I kind of like was earning as I learned about it and granted none of that really paid that much either. I eventually ended up taking a job in-house at a beauty brand and that\u2019s where I really kind of learned what copy actually was. Started doing my research into it and kind of went from there.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 I want to back up and talk a little bit more about being a gossip columnist. I have this sense, that to do that really well, you need to be at the club scene, and you need to be hanging out with the paparazzi.\u00a0 How did you do it working from home? What did that involved and how did it make you a better writer?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>You would think that, that\u2019s what it was, but actually what a lot of these, even like TMZ and stuff. What we would do particularly at my website is, TMZ would actually go out there and get the story. Then we would re-report. I would have Google alerts for like, I had specific niches, so the Kardashians was one of mine and it was probably one of my favorites, because they had a lot going on and they always do. Keeping up with them is hard.<\/p>\n<p>I would have those Google alerts and then literally just have to re-report that story within like a certain time frame. It was very like, yeah, I could work from home, but I was kind of, I had to be like on my phone. I had to be like in the know, so it wasn\u2019t as cool as like going out and talking with celebrities and stuff. Although, I did have a couple celebrities re-tweet my stories. Sometimes they weren\u2019t happy about them, but I think the thing about it and how it made me a better writer, which is a great question, is that, because I was writing about the same people and kind of the same things over and over, I had to find different ways to describe things and different ways to drop people. In like, how do you make people care about, I don\u2019t know, Kim Kardashian\u2019s hair for like five days in a row, if that\u2019s like what people are reporting about? How do you do that?<\/p>\n<p>It forced me to get really creative and it forced me to make things that maybe like weren\u2019t necessarily that interesting, sound super, super interesting. Which I think, not that, that\u2019s what we do as copywriters, but we want to make sure that things are intriguing to people, right? We want to entertain them in a way, and so I think it really taught me how to entertain people basically.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 You mentioned it, so who re-tweeted your gossip?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Lisa Vanderpump.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Oh nice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Yeah, she\u2019s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Very cool.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 What was the best gossip that you ever reported that you were proud of today?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m proud of any of it, to be honest.\u00a0 Some of it was fun, and you know, part of the reason I started looking for these other gigs, besides just the fact that it wasn\u2019t like paying my rent and doing all that is that, I did feel like I needed some deeper meaning in what I was doing. Right, I\u2019m like, this is cool and this is fun. It was fine for fresh out of college girl, but then I was like, there\u2019s got to be more.<\/p>\n<p>If I\u2019m going to do something, I have to really believe in it, so I think that\u2019s kind of where the disconnect was for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 That makes a lot of sense. I noticed on your website you talk about how you also have half of a Master\u2019s degree. I love that you say that, because I think so many copywriters get hung up on credentials and needing to get the Master\u2019s Degree or finishing things. You\u2019re sort of out there saying, \u201cYou know what, I started it and it wasn\u2019t the right direction and a retooled.\u201d Will you talk a little bit about that, about not needing credentials and how you\u2019ve gone forward using your skill set and just developing your career serendipitously in some ways?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Yeah. Yeah, half a Master\u2019s degree, so that\u2019s when I was in-house actually at the beauty brand. I was working full-time and decided I\u2019ve just started working full-time. I\u2019m like why don\u2019t I start a master\u2019s degree too, so I don\u2019t know what I was thinking first of all. Second of all, it became this thing where I felt like I was really learning so much more, doing the actual work not only in-house, but I still did dabble with like freelance clients on the side.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m like, I\u2019m learning so much more doing my own independent research granted, it gave me a very solid foundation. There were some things I probably never would have done. I took like an analytics class and things that I probably like needed to learn that I wouldn\u2019t have on my own. I really felt like I was learning so much more just being in the trenches, working with clients, doing my own research online and like just finding my own resources.<\/p>\n<p>I just think there\u2019s so many ways to kind of self educate in that way with the Internet, that I couldn\u2019t justify spending 20 grand every year on this master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 I want to go fast forward to when you went out on your own and your business, in those early days, how did you gain traction and find clients and get some consistent income in your business?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>What happened was, this was kind of when I think Facebook groups had just become a thing, and I have no idea how I found these Facebook groups, but somehow I found Facebook groups. This is what, 2012, maybe 2011, 2012 and just decided that I was going to talk about how I was a copywriter in these different groups. I feel like I got lucky in that I don\u2019t think there was a ton of competition in this particular niche at the time.<\/p>\n<p>There were a lot of women business coaches and I work primarily with women. I didn\u2019t know that\u2019s the route I was going to go, but when I found these Facebook groups, I kind of realized like oh this is like this whole world, like the Marie Forleo world opened up to me. I had a lot of people, actually business coaches, take me on and bring me into their packages they had already created for their clients. Their clients hired them and then as part of hiring them they got like copy from me.<\/p>\n<p>I mean I wasn\u2019t like charging a ton, I felt like I didn\u2019t really know what I was doing, but I had a couple different coaches just take me under their wing and introduced me to their clients. When that happens things can kind of spiral pretty quickly, so I would meet a client through the business coach, and then I would continue working with them in some capacity afterwards. Then they would refer me to people and it just kind of snowballed. I feel like I was really lucky in that I really didn\u2019t have this, oh I\u2019m struggling for clients, whatever. I felt like it took off really quickly. I feel like that can also be challenging too when you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Erica, tell us a little bit about your business today, what kinds of projects you work on, how much you charge for those projects, just how you stay busy during the day.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Right now I\u2019m doing, I actually have retainer clients, which make up, I wouldn\u2019t say the bulk of my income, but they make up like the amount that keeps me feeling very like steady. I write sales pages and I write Facebook ad copy for any agency, so I have like a partnership with an agency. That keeps me pretty busy and pretty like steady.<\/p>\n<p>Then what I also do is, I actually do a lot of website copy for people who are either brand new to business or especially people who are rebranding. I kind of take them through the whole process of like really discovering what their message is. A lot of them are yeah, they\u2019re rebranding. They\u2019re not quite sure what they\u2019re about now, maybe they\u2019re like three to five years into business and they\u2019re like okay, I really need a new website. They come to me to kind of get that clarity on, who am I now and what do I need to be saying to attract the right people now.<\/p>\n<p>I think that, the retainer clients and then the project based work, which is mostly web copy, that\u2019s pretty much the bulk of my days.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 How do you make retainers work for you? I hear so many horror stories about retainers, where it feels like all of a sudden you\u2019re an employ and it\u2019s an abusive relationship. Retainers can also be really beneficial to certain copywriters. How do you make it work for you?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Yeah, that\u2019s a great question, I was really resistant to them for a long time for that exact reason. I was like, I really don\u2019t want to feel like I am someone\u2019s employee. I didn\u2019t want all that, so what I do is, I just have really clear terms about what exactly the deliverables are every single month. They get like a very specific number of deliverables from me, and anything above and beyond that, we would have to like renegotiate.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s honestly, it\u2019s great for me, because I have everything set up where like they get, I have two retainer clients right now, so they both get invoice on the same day every month. It\u2019s automatic. I don\u2019t even touch it. They pay and then I know exactly the due dates for their projects at the beginning of the month. It just really helps me to even just plan my entire month.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah. Are you comfortable sharing just what is included in one of those retainers as an example? Even just ballpark number of how much you charge for that retainer?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Yeah. I do know of $1000 retainer with one of my clients, and that\u2019s for about eight emails. Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Cool.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 No that sounds really cool. Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 You also do some copy coaching. Will you tell us a little bit about what you do for that and the package that you put together for that?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Yeah, so that was kind of one of those things where the client is asking for it. I had a lot of people come to me like, \u201cHey, could you just help me with my writing?\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cWell, that\u2019s not exactly what I do, but sure, I could figure out some way to do that.\u201d I just had so many people ask me over the years if I could just kind of mentor them and kind of like &#8230; They were going through a launch or maybe they wanted to write their website, they wanted to have that creative control. They also wanted to have my eyes on it.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m like, okay, there\u2019s got to be some way to make this work and it actually sounded fun to me. I\u2019m like, all right, I can do that, I could get down with that. What I ended up doing is putting together, it\u2019s like normally a four to six week package and we meet like every other week, so that they have time in between to write things. It does vary client to client, because everybody\u2019s different and what they\u2019re working on normally is different.<\/p>\n<p>I try to work with people who have a very specific thing about they\u2019re working on. Either a launch or a website, and then what they get to do is, they get to email me in between and ask me questions. When we\u2019re on calls together, I\u2019m basically just reviewing whatever they wrote that week. Sometimes it might be like, we\u2019re looking at a sales page for like 90 minutes or making that we\u2019re looking at like three emails for 90 minutes. It really does just depend.<\/p>\n<p>They love it. I mean, and it\u2019s fun for me too, because I get to be there and help them, but not actually do the entire thing for them. I think they walk away knowing how to do things too, they don\u2019t just get this deliverable, but they really now understand why I do certain things and the strategy behind it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, I think that\u2019s a great service. It makes a lot of sense. I could see where that could be really helpful for team members too, if maybe it\u2019s not necessarily the business owner, but you could work with their communications manager to help them learn how to write better as well. If a copywriter is listening and wants to test out a similar offer, what would be a great first step, a baby step to help us test out a similar offer?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>That\u2019s a good question. I mean I think you have to ask yourself, I don\u2019t think this would be right for every audience. I think because my audience is a lot of times solopreneurs, they really like that, you know that really high touch and they want to know how to write copy. I mean I feel like, kind of where I\u2019ll get off for a start, I feel like I would survey and I would find out of this is something that people are even interested in, within your particular niche, because they might not be. They might just be like, \u201cHey, I really want you to just do this for me.\u201d I just had noticed over the years that a lot of people were like, \u201cNo, no, no, I want you to help me do this too.\u201d I think that\u2019s definitely where I would start.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Right, well that\u2019s a good point. I want to backtrack. You mentioned something about how you grew fast and how that\u2019s a challenge in itself when you grow fast. I want to hear more about that for you, because it does sound like you had early success and the stars aligned, and you had clients. That\u2019s a great problem to have, but what happens when it hits? How do you manage that flow of work without going crazy? What do you do?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Yes. I mean I do feel like I was lucky. I feel like things took off pretty quickly for me. I feel like pretty much any copywriter who experiences any kind of success, is going to get to this point where they\u2019re like, I cannot do this alone anymore. I have to figure out something else.<\/p>\n<p>For me I was very resistant to the idea of starting an agency, that was suggested to me. People were like, \u201cJust bring more people on. You\u2019ll be able to be the CEO. You can still look over everything,\u201d and all that. I just was really, really resistant toward that and it took me a while. I was in this space of just being really overbooked, trying to do everything myself and it eventually led me to some serious burnout.<\/p>\n<p>When I got there, that\u2019s when I realized, okay, so I really do have to do something now. If it\u2019s not going to be an agency, and if I\u2019m not going to go that route, what can I do? There are so many things that you can do actually and this is when the ideas for like the copy coaching. I actually have a group program, that\u2019s when those ideas started to kind of come to fruition. I realized that, not only did I want to do those things, because I had been thinking about them for a while.<\/p>\n<p>I felt like I had to do those things. I was just at the point where there was no possible way for me to take on any more work, and so I had to figure something else out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Let\u2019s talk about that burnout for just a minute, because I think this is something that a lot of copywriters deal with. We tend to try to satisfy our clients and maybe work on our own things, and oftentimes copywriters are working a second job. Or a first job and copies on the side. How did you deal with overcoming the burnout and getting past that? What was the secret for getting really to the level where you are now?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>It was in December of, I think it was 2015, where I really was like, you know what, something has to change. I really took like two to three weeks off and I think that\u2019s the first thing. We get so afraid to do that. I think any business owner is like, I cannot step away, everything is going to fall apart. I had that feeling so bad, but I knew that, if I did not take that step back and kind of look at what was actually going on in my business and kind of rearrange some things, that I was just going to get worse.<\/p>\n<p>First of all it was just taking that pause and really kind of looking at, okay, what do I actually want to do? What do I want my days to look like? What do I want to work on, and who do I want to work with? Really going back to those basics, because I had just got caught up in that, like yes, I\u2019ll just say yes to anything and I\u2019ll work with anyone. It was all exciting at first and then after a couple years you\u2019re like, but wait, now I can\u2019t actually work with anyone or everyone. I really do have to be more strategic and intentional about the work that I take on.<\/p>\n<p>Yeah. I literally took a couple weeks off and I was in bed the whole time out. It was not very pretty, but it was very necessary, and I just had to really think, what do I actually want to offer? What do I want my days to look like? Who do I want to work with? I think for me at that point too, I just wasn\u2019t charging enough. I really needed to adjust my prices. I was still charging what I was charging at the very beginning of my business, and I was several years in and I had worked with tons and tons of clients. Helped them make a lot of money and I just knew that, yeah, I had to look at all the different pieces of my business and just be more intentional.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Where are you today in your business? I know the catalyst for this conversation I believe was a video you posted on your Facebook page, a couple months ago, where you were announcing this big change in your business. I really want to talk more about that big change.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Yeah, let\u2019s talk about it, all right. I actually, and this is still mind blowing to me, I actually partnered with a network marketing company. Even to say it out loud I\u2019m like oh God, because I know I was such a hater of anyone who was in direct sales or network marketing. I would see friends from high school posting on Facebook, trying to sell their candles or like their whatever, and I was like, I will never ever, ever do that. I just thought that would never be something that I would do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Famous last words.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Right? Then I saw some people who I really respected, online business coaches and people that I looked up to. I could tell that they were doing network marketing, but they weren\u2019t doing it in the traditional way. They were actually doing it in the way that I would teach my copywriting clients to market and to position themselves. They weren\u2019t thrown out sales graphics, they weren\u2019t constantly, I don\u2019t know, being like, \u201cWill you host a party for me?\u201d Or like whatever the thing is.<\/p>\n<p>They were doing it from a place of really creating a personal brand, and giving value, which is what I feel like that\u2019s what I preach to my clients. That\u2019s what your marketing should be based on, and that\u2019s what they were doing. They were kind of taking these principles from this other area and applying it to network marketing and it was working really, really well. It looked really professional and cool. It didn\u2019t look spammy and I was just really surprised, I was very surprised by all that.<\/p>\n<p>This was yeah, I mean this was a year or two after my whole burnout thing. I think part of the burnout to, going back to that just a little bit, because I do feel like it\u2019s all connected, is that, part of the burnout came from the fact that I was working on my client\u2019s work all the time without developing my own brand at all. I think it\u2019s so easy for us, especially us copywriters who work behind the scenes and usually okay with that, to not work on our own businesses at all and to not put thought into our own brands.<\/p>\n<p>I think I saw the network marketing as a way for me to kind of get my own message out there, and start building my own brand, because I really still even to this day, I run a lot on referrals. I run a lot on having JB partnerships with business coaches and other different people. I don\u2019t do a ton of marketing for my copywriting business, but what\u2019s funny is that, once I started putting myself out there with network marketing, which is primarily actually through live video, not through writing, my copywriting business has also been exposed to a new audience and really taken off.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know, I was shocked that I even did it, but it\u2019s actually been really creatively fulfilling and it\u2019s been really fun. It\u2019s been lucrative, so can\u2019t complain.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Can you talk more about that piece, I mean how it\u2019s impacting your bottom line so far?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>With network marketing, I don\u2019t know a ton about it. I actually knew nothing about it when I started, but especially at the beginning, a lot of them have front loaded bonuses for getting your business off the ground. I\u2019ve been able to replace projects. Like I said, I have a baseline of retainer clients, but then I\u2019ll take on projects on top of that.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes I can still, because it is just me, stretch me a little thin in just creative energy department. Whereas now, when I have this kind of, especially the way this business is set up, it\u2019s set up so that every month people are ordering from you basically. You get this \u2018passive\u2019 which we know wasn\u2019t really passive, because I still had to work to get these customers. I have this passive income coming in that can replace at least one project every month, which I just think is pretty cool. It\u2019s pretty cool.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s really exciting and I do feel like I recently worked with a network marketer who\u2019s similar to you, as purpose driven and as changing the whole industry. It feels like there\u2019s this resurgence, where it really, network marketing is changing. It has changed and it will continue to change. I think it\u2019s really cool to see that as another opportunity, especially for copywriters, because this is what we do so well. What would you say we should think about if we\u2019re considering this or just want to explore the network marketing industry? What should we be aware of? Then what should we pay attention to even as we explore different companies?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>I think the thing for me was, because my first thought was, I can\u2019t do this. I\u2019m going to break my brand. I\u2019m going to ruin everything. My audience is going to see me differently and they\u2019re going to think that my copywriting business is failing, all these sorts of things. What I had to do was, I had to find a company that first of all I believed in the products.<\/p>\n<p>This is the thing, as copywriters, a lot of us have dabbled in affiliate marketing right, and it\u2019s really not any different than that. You find a product and a company that you believe in, you find a way to weave it in, like I have been able to find a way to weave this which it\u2019s luxury hair care, which seems so out there. Because I have this beauty copywriting background and because I still work with some people in the beauty and wellness industry, it really just kind of made sense.<\/p>\n<p>Finding maybe a common thread between the company that you potentially could represent and your own brand and what that\u2019s all about, I think that\u2019s kind of the place to start.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 I want to step back just a little bit and talking about your process for getting to know a client and getting their story and then communicating that out. I\u2019m sure that, that\u2019s applicable in what you\u2019re doing, in your new venture as well. What does your process look like? What do you do to get to know them, to find the stories and to share that with their customers?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>I actually have something called a brand beat sheet and my clients have joked and they now call it the beast sheet. I\u2019m really big on having conversations with my clients, but I\u2019m also really big on making them sit down and answer some questions for me in writing. I mean it really comes from what I believe is that, they need to know their customers and they need to know themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Like I said, a lot of people I work with are solopreneurs, so they\u2019re telling very personal stories. I ask them about both of those things. I ask them about their clients and their customers, and try to find that common thread between what they have been through and what their customer has been through, and start from there.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Then how do you pull out additional stories? It\u2019s easy to identify say the problem and talk maybe about the solution, but how do you get them to share personal stories with you?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Honestly I just come out and ask them. For example, my retainer client, and I think maybe this is part of why I like retainers is because I do get to know them. I like to, as an introvert, I like to get to know people on that deeper level. I\u2019ll go and do for example, something like I\u2019ll write an outline for an email and then I\u2019ll be like, \u201cHey, do you have any experience that you can tell me about, that relates to this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s surprising, I mean people like to talk about themselves and I never really have encountered someone who was like not been willing to open up and talk to me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Right, it\u2019s almost like you just have to trigger those stories and ask them the right question, to pull out the best stories that you know your client has, that they don\u2019t necessarily know which ones to share with you until you ask those questions. About like, \u201cHey, tell me about one of the best concerts you\u2019ve ever been to? Or tell me about your first date with your partner, what was that like?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then all of a sudden you get these incredible stories that you\u2019re like, oh that\u2019s the perfect lead for that sales emailing in each, right?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Yes, exactly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 All right, so I want to ask a little bit more about the building your brand piece, because that\u2019s a big part of what I\u2019m taking away from your network marketing experience is that, now you\u2019re kind of forced in a way, but it seems like something you\u2019re excited to do, to jump on Facebook live, to build your brand and like you said, a lot of copywriters just, we don\u2019t do that at all. What have you learned from this experience jumping into Facebook Live now, really rebranding yourself and putting yourself out there in a way that maybe you weren\u2019t doing a couple years ago?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Yeah, so not only was I resistant to network marketing, I was definitely resistant to Facebook Live. I feel like I\u2019m a lot better in writing than I am speaking, so I was very nervous to do that. Actually it\u2019s funny, it\u2019s just been, I help my clients figure out what their voices or what their messages and what they want to share with people, and what their brand is all about.<\/p>\n<p>I feel like that\u2019s exactly what me doing Facebook Live has forced me to do. I\u2019m kind of being forced to like walk my talk a little bit, so it\u2019s really had me take a step back and be like okay, what are the exact things? Of course just as kind of a type A person, I have a list of different buckets of things that I want to talk about, that either relate to network marketing or to copywriting or to both.<\/p>\n<p>I now use the Facebook Live as a way to talk about my copywriting too. I just kind of pick and choose what I want to talk about that day and I\u2019ll talk about like either or, but I have a list of different topics. I just had to take that step back and go back to okay, who am I talking to, what are their problems, what did they ultimately want. Yeah, I\u2019ve just kind of had to take a step back and do that basic work all over again.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019ve talked about doing Facebook Live on some previous podcasts and Kira and I have tried to do a few. I have to say, every time I do them, I think they are awful. Are there&#8230; Kira is good, but I like look at what I do and I\u2019m just like wow, I\u2019m just, I am not meant for video. Are there some tips or some lessons that you\u2019ve learned as you\u2019ve been doing Facebook lives that the rest of us could maybe learn from?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>I think honestly it comes down to practice. I still get so nervous. I actually did one the other day and I deleted it, you guys. I went back and I was like, no, the Internet is not seeing that. That\u2019s not going out there, but I really think for me especially, I have to have some notes, I have to have some things to go off of, because otherwise I will either just ramble or basically all just yeah, I\u2019ll just end of rambling.<\/p>\n<p>I think having those notes, knowing who you\u2019re talking to, taking a breath and being willing to just be imperfect and suck at it for a while before you get good at it. Maybe for some people it\u2019s just not right for them. I think that\u2019s definitely a possibility, it\u2019s just something that it\u2019s never going to be a thing that they do. I think that\u2019s totally fine, because we have the Internet and we have other ways to market ourselves. Such as copywriters, we have the written word and that is usually where our strength lies. I think it\u2019s maybe a rare breed who can do both and I think I mostly I\u2019m doing the Facebook Live, because it is something that takes me out of my comfort zone and because it is something I felt like I needed to kind of get better at. I felt like I needed to get better at the speaking part, and rather than get up on stage, doing it on Facebook Live is actually easier for me. I think just being willing to suck at first is where to start.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Beyond Facebook Live, if you were a new copywriter and you were starting today, what would you do to put yourself out there and to find those clients that could really propel you forward?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>I was thinking about this and I just really think and I think this is a mistake I made at the beginning of my business when I was so, so, so busy, and just honestly churning through clients, because I didn\u2019t know any better. I didn\u2019t know any different, but I really feel like just making quality relationships, looking within the network that you already have now and nurturing the people that you already have now. On your mailing list or that you\u2019re already conversing with on Facebook groups or that you\u2019re already I guess these are different places that you can hear different things you can be doing to.<\/p>\n<p>Just really starting with who you know and deepening those relationships and asking for referrals. Just really putting the efforts into the relationships honestly that you already have, because so much can spring from that. I still have clients who I worked with at the very beginning, who come back to me. Since I\u2019ve really put this focus on relationships over the last year and a half, once I realized, hey, hey, hey, after the burnout and stuff, and I\u2019m like I can\u2019t keep just going through client after client. I really need to focus. The quality of my relationships is better and just everything I feel like in my business overall is better.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, and that\u2019s been the opportunities pop up to right, for you to write copy for your clients, customers and their members that comes from those strengthened relationships with their clients. Where they\u2019re like, \u201cHey, now I can see that you could help me in other ways. Let me bring you into this project, maybe you could speak at this event.\u201d That doesn\u2019t really happen when you churn through clients, like you said, which I have definitely done.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Right. No.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 I want to hear more about where you go from here, especially because you\u2019re kind of in this transitional stage and building out and selling these products, and working with retainer clients. Where do you want to go? Where do you see your business a year from now?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Yeah. That\u2019s such a good question. I am in a very weird transitional period, the network marketing thing is very, very new to me. Like I said, it\u2019s kind of like affiliate marketing, which was already on my plan of things I was going to look into this year and really put a focus on this year. I love my retainer clients. I just imagine honestly this time next year, I still have my retainer clients, because I do like to go deep with a couple clients. I really do like that.<\/p>\n<p>The project-based stuff from time to time is okay, but I do actually really enjoy, like I did a group program in the fall. I learned a ton. I was probably an epic failure, because facilitating a group and working with clients one on one is completely different. I love this idea of kind of being a teacher and a mentor, rather than doing that, just being a wordsmith or doing the one on one client work all the time.<\/p>\n<p>Not that I don\u2019t love it, because I do, but there are so many other ways to make money and to use our skills as copywriters. I just want to keep exploring, like yeah, what does that look like? I\u2019m not entirely sure, but I think it means experimenting with other ways to work with people and help people that is not just one on one client work.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 I want to switch gears just a little bit and ask you about one of the products that you\u2019ve offered your clients. You\u2019ve done some taglines and naming for some of your clients and you offer package in this. I\u2019m curious what you\u2019ve learned as you\u2019ve worked on these kinds of projects. Are there frameworks for taglines and for naming? Are there processes that if we are doing the same kinds of things, that we could learn from what you\u2019ve got together?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Yeah. I have, as any copywriter does, I have a huge slide file of different tagline formulas and different ideas for naming conventions and things. I really think, I don\u2019t know, I\u2019m kind of conflicted about the whole naming thing and offering that as a service, because I just think that a lot of people use that as, it holds them back in a way. That\u2019s kind of why I created it, is because I feel like a lot of people are like, \u201cI don\u2019t know what to call this thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I wanted to give them a quick win, and honestly the way that I do that though to give you guys some tangible tips, is that I\u2019m big on idioms. I go to the idiom dictionary. I start there most of the time. I look up other names and taglines within the industry. I have them brainstorm ideas that represent their brand or their voice or those things, and then I literally go and look up synonyms and antonyms. I love playing with words and I love that whole thing, so it\u2019s really fun for me.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, the whole idea behind it is just, I don\u2019t want that to be the thing that holds them back from launching whatever it is that they have, that they want to put out there.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Erica, I want to ask you a big question about the future of copywriting. What do you think the future copywriting looks like?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>That\u2019s a good question. I really think that we don\u2019t know, because I think there\u2019s like, obviously the basic principles of copywriting that don\u2019t change. That\u2019s why we can keep reading some of the classics and all that, but I do think in this online landscape and if that\u2019s where you work in particular, that we have to really be adaptable. We don\u2019t know exactly what\u2019s going to come next and we don\u2019t know what platform is going to come out or whatever, and there\u2019s all kinds of different ways that you can communicate on.<\/p>\n<p>Say you would communicate differently in a Facebook post than you would maybe in an Instagram post. It\u2019s just a tiny little tweak, right, it\u2019s not anything crazy. I really think that being adaptable and being open to not knowing what\u2019s coming next, is actually a really good quality for a copywriter right now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Okay, I want to ask this because I teased it in the open, tell us a little bit about your addiction to rap music and EDM.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:<\/strong>Oh man, I love it. I wrote a Facebook status the other day, I was like, \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure I\u2019m useless without two cups of coffee, rap and EDM in the background,\u201d and I don\u2019t even remember, oh the Pomodoro Technique. I don\u2019t know, I find it really, really inspiring.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not going to lie, even just the lyrics, the lyrics of rap music, especially the ones about making money and be on your grind, like that stuff really motivates me. Having it on the background, it really is a little Kickstarter, it\u2019s like its own little cup of coffee.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 I need to listen to more rap music, that\u2019s what I need.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, turn it up.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Where can our copywriters find out more about what you\u2019re doing if they want to connect with you, where should they go?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:\u00a0<\/strong>Right now, I\u2019m over at Erica Lee, E-R-I-C-A, L-E-E-X-O.com, and I\u2019m also big on Facebook. I pretty much add anybody and until I get to my friend limit, which is actually coming of course, which is Eric Lee Strauss.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 All right.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Get there quickly if you want to be Erica\u2019s friend, yeah, otherwise, yeah, you\u2019re at the limit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kira:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 All right, thank you Erica. We really appreciate your time and your willingness to just share everything about this transition and exploring network marketing for the first time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Thanks so much.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erica:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah, thank you guys for having me.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ve been listening to <em>The Copywriter Club Podcast<\/em>with Kira hug and Rob Marsh. Music for the show is a clip from Gravity by Whitest Boy Alive available on iTunes. If you like what you\u2019ve heard, you can help spread the word by subscribing in iTunes and by leaving your review. For show notes, a full transcript and links to our free Facebook community, visit the copywriterclub.com. We\u2019ll see you next episode.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Copywriter Erica Strauss joins Kira and Rob for the 93rd episode of\u00a0The Copywriter Club Podcast. Erica is doing something a little different in her business than what most copywriters are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[117,3],"class_list":["post-1513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-podcast","tag-erica-strauss","tag-podcast"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>TCC Podcast #93: From Gossip Columnist to Copywriter with Erica Strauss - The Copywriter Club<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Copywriter Erica Strauss on starting a copywriting career at age 10, how she makes retainers work for her AND her clients, the challenges of growing a copywriting business quickly, why she loves rap and EDM and how it makes her a better writer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thecopywriterclub.com\/gossip-columnist-copywriter-erica-strauss\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TCC Podcast #93: From Gossip Columnist to Copywriter with Erica Strauss - 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