Copywriting for Creatives: Is it for you?

No doubt writing copy for your business is hard work. Whether it’s your website, email newsletters, blog posts, or instagram captions, writing good copy is an essential skill! I wanted to learn to do this better, quicker, and with more impact, so I enrolled in Copywriting for Creatives. Today I’m sharing my full honest review of the course!

When it comes to writing for your business, maybe you're like me: you’ve spent waaaaayy too much time staring at the blank page, wondering when the inspiration will strike for the perfect words to pour out. Whether it’s an email newsletter, a blog post, or an instagram caption, some of us know all too well the feeling of watching that cursor go blink…. blink… blink…

I’ve been there too often, wasting time and energy to craft the perfect words. And that’s exactly why I enrolled in Copywriting for Creatives, a course that taught me everything I need to know about writing for my business so I never have to stare at the blinking cursor again.

Copywriting for Creatives is an in-depth course by Ashlyn Writes, who is pretty much the queen of copywriting for creative entrepreneurs. She’s the real deal, and it’s clear she doesn’t hold anything back when sharing her wealth of knowledge, experience, and guidance along the way. And one of the most amazing parts about the course is the generous, personalized feedback and one-on-one attention you can get from her. Her expert eyes were on my website copy to provide specific, honest, actionable feedback – twice!! That alone was probably worth the entire value of the course.

Now I’m not one to just throw money at any course out there, especially the ones that have a higher ticket value. So when I do finally hand over my credit card deets, you better be sure it’s for something good. Before enrolling in Copywriting for Creatives I did my fair share of research, including watching a pre-enrollment webinar to make sure it felt like a good fit. And I’m 100% happy with the investment I made and can wholeheartedly say it was worth every penny – and here’s why.

Why copywriting is important

First up, a quick run down of the basics. Copy is the industry term for anything you write for your website, email newsletters, Instagram captions, Facebook ads, product descriptions, lead magnets… basically it’s all the words you put into the world to grow your business. Copywriting is the act of writing those words. And while just about anybody who is reading this blog post can write copy, it takes a little more to write effective copy. You don’t need natural talent or a knack for writing – you just need to learn a some fundamental techniques, plus a few tips and tricks to make it easier.

Some people will tell you that copy is more important than design – in fact, I’ve heard the statistic that copy is 90% of what sells your products and services. Which means design, imagery, photography… that’s only 10%! And while I’m not entirely sold on those particular numbers (I am a designer, after all), I can attest to the incredible value of good copy. The words you write can either draw your audience in or send ‘em away.

Copywriting for Creatives Lessons & Cirriculum

Copywriting for Creatives is broken up into five modules, plus a few bonuses for those that jump in early. Here’s how they break down:

Module 1

The CfC Blueprint

The first module preps you for the entire course: planning out your strategy to complete everything and shifting your mindset into “yes I can do this” mode. The big actionable thing here is setting up a “copy bank,” which is where you start to keep track of the words you use often, phrases you like, and other pieces of copy that you’ll refer back to again and again throughout the course.

The concept of a copy bank pretty much blew my mind, and it’s been so useful for my business! It helps me generate words when I’m feeling stuck. And when I do hire a copywriter (it’s rare, but it does happen!), I can just hand them this document so they can write in a way that really does sound like me.

Module 2

Excavating Your Brand Message

This is where most of the heavy lifting occurs. This part is soooo critical to everything that follows. Here’s where you have to dig really deep to get clear on what you do, why you do it, who you do it for, and more. This part is actually really similar to the strategy and clarity work I do with all of my branding clients, with more of a focus towards your own message.

In Module 2 you also are tasked with creating your “Onlyness Factor,” which is a statement you write that succinctly describes what you do, who it’s for, and why you’re the only one for the job. Sounds simple enough, but in the Facebook group for my cohort, this was definitely the piece that gave people the most difficulty. It’s hard work, but worth getting right!

(Which leads me to this little aside: the Facebook group for the course is pure gold! You can get tons of feedback on everything you write. People are super supportive and amazingly helpful. Getting feedback from others was huge for me and was a super valuable part of the course!)

The most useful thing I learned was how to do “client voice hacking.” Ashlyn shares strategies and tips on how to basically pull words right from the brain of your ideal client, so you can craft copy that speaks directly to them, in their own words. This is definitely something that I’ve returned to again and again since I took the course!

Module 3

How to Build Your Custom Brand Messaging Style Guide

Another heavy lifter, Module 3 is all about finessing what you learned in Module 2 so you can be consistent in your words. One of the keys to effective copy is to know your brand voice and stick to it, and this is where you solidify all of that. Taking your time in this module will bring you to that point where the words just flow onto the page!

If you’ve got a team that helps you write or if you outsource some of your copywriting, Module 3 is going to make all of that so much easier, too. With a clear style guide and key messaging points in place, you’ll be able to hand off your Brand Messaging Style Guide to other writers so they can craft blog posts and social captions that perfectly fit your brand.

Module 4

Package Irresistible Offers Like a Copywriter

Now that you’ve done the work to get really clear on your messaging, it’s time to put it all together and get down to business. Here’s where Ashlyn will guide you through writing your website. For literally each and every page on your site, you’ll find a step-by-step template to help you write the most effective words. Whether you’re writing your Home page, About page, Contact Page, Services page, or even your 404 page, Ashlyn has some great tips and plug-and-play prompts to make every word on your page sparkle and shine.

Sometimes the templates can feel overwhelming because they are so jam-packed with prompts, sentence starters, and idea banks. I found that I really needed to set aside time to focus and commit to a couple of hours of distraction-free work time in order to get these done. But once you’ve put in the time to complete the templates, most of the work is done! It’s a good idea to do a little editing so the copy feels smooth and natural.

The best part of the course, in my opinion, is that once you get a draft of your website, people in the Facebook group are happy to put their eyes on it to give you lots of great feedback. You can even get Ashlyn to review it on the weekly live calls! Personally, this sort of collaboration was key to keeping me motivated.

Module 5

Edit, Install, & Keep it Up for Sales Success

The course doesn’t stop once you’ve written your website. In the last module Ashlyn presents her checklists and tips on editing, how to clean things up a bit, and even how to track your success. There’s some really cool tools you can use to see how people are interacting with your website, which can give you insight into whether your copy is doing its job.

My Final Thoughts

I honestly and truly believe Copywriting for Creatives was one of the best investments I’ve made in my own business. Not only did it teach me the fundamentals of how to best sell my services, it taught me how to speak directly to my target audience and how to identify and address their actual pain points and aspirations, and not just what I thought they were struggling with. It’s helped me to be more focused in my offerings and to really get specific in my language. All of that through pure, simple, honest communication – not sketchy marketing tactics!

And you get lifetime access. I enrolled in this course in 2020, and three years later I’m still referencing some of the worksheets and blueprints!

If you’re curious to know more, she usually offers a webinar before the doors open, and I really recommend watching it. At first I was hesitant to drop so much on the course but this webinar is really what sold me. She generously offers up tons of practical, actionable tips on how to make your words shine. Even if you don’t take the course, you’ll learn a ton – and walk away with tools you can start to use right away!