Blog Home

+ Categories

design

content marketing

lifestyle

systems

copywriting

Lifestyle

The Monthly Recap: June 2019

July 5, 2019

I had a feeling that when I decided to launch this “Monthly Recap” series, that I’d feel like the time in between them went by in a flash.

And the end of May to end of June most certainly did…

In case you missed last month’s recap (and the first of this series), check it out at the link above.

The idea is that I’ll be pulling back the veil a bit and sharing what’s happening around the CU office each month!

So, let’s get to it…

June 2019

May’s momentum continued through June (most likely aiding the fact that it flew) with a full client load and preliminary work on new digital product offerings.

The positive feedback around the rebrand also continued and I’ve never felt more at home with it!

Lead Sources

Because I find this interesting, Dubsado (my CRM tool) now offers lead source tracking, meaning you can automatically track where your leads are coming from. We received leads from just about every source listed – Instagram, Facebook, Google, Word of Mouth, and the ambiguous Other.

If you asked me, I would have said Instagram and Word of Mouth, so it was cool to see how it was slightly more diversified than I realized.

Latest Content & Offerings

The CU Shop

The Shop had a great month, booking a couple of Website Copy Reviews and selling an encouraging amount of the Social Media Caption Kickstarters PDF with great reviews like this one!

I also announced to the Copy Cru via email and in a weekly #CUat5 Instagram Story , that I’m working on the first ever Copy Uncorked mini-course on a highly requested topic – planning and writing your website content!

I ran a survey to obtain audience insights and ensure that what I’m creating is spot on and meeting a real need!

There’s been a solid response so far with 100% of respondents saying they’d find it helpful. Respondents have also offered other valuable data like how much they’d be willing to pay for it, how long they’d spend on it, what their biggest pain point is, and more.

Research like this goes a long way in ultimately yielding a much more aligned and therefore successful product launch.

I was hoping to get this thing launched f a s t, but I’d rather get it right – so stay tuned!

Blog

I posted the following blog posts:

I also love this blog post by Kadie of Drop Cap Design on Crafting Your Brand Vision. She shares a bit about the Copy Uncorked vision throughout it, so check it out! 🙂

Also, let’s talk about something for a sec…

There’s a lot of chatter lately about how content marketing is dead, hurting your profitability, a waste of your time, and blah diddy blah blah blah.

Can I just say, FALSE.

Creating pointless content will always be pointless. But creating purposeful content will always have a place.

Churning out content at the speed of light just to say you did isn’t helping anyone. BUT showing your audience that they can rely on you to CONSISTENTLY (buzz word) produce VALUABLE (buzzz buzz buzz) content WILL ABSOLUTELY aid your credibility, instill trust, and build an engaged community.

You can also produce LESS quantity with MORE quality. There is no hard and fast rule about the intervals at which you need to be publishing.

A few other rules of thumb:

If you hate doing something that you know is necessary…outsource it.
If you hate doing something you have no idea if it’s necessary…find out.
If you hate doing something you KNOW is unnecessary…drop it.

Want proof and an example of someone who leverages consistent content creation really well? I give you Whitney Ryan.

I rest my pencil.

Video

#CUat5 Instagram Story videos have gotten a bit easier with each passing week! If you want to watch the progression {laugh-crying face}, check out the Highlight reel here.

Except, I can’t figure out why when I upload videos, after splicing them into 15-second segments, they get shuffled out of order after hitting ‘Share’. Womp. If you have any insight or tips, I’m all ears!

In other news…I finally pulled the trigger on a legit DSLR camera – the Canon Rebel T7i. I’ve been eyeing it literally forever, and with our upcoming July travels and content creation efforts, I knew it was time.

It felt like the perfect beginning DSLR without shelling out thousands, as I have no intention of becoming a pro photographer. And still, lots to learn in this area.

Podcast Interview

I had my first podcast interview, led by the impressive Mahi Kolla of the newly created TMB Women in Business show.

She is SIXTEEN, you guys. She’s been an entrepreneur and the founder of a planner company since she was 12. Amazing.

The podcast episode airs this August so I’ll be sure to share it when it does!

Giveaway Winner Launch

As I shouted from the rooftops pretty much all of June, the Dream Site Giveaway winner, Emma Hicks of Camp Climb, officially launched her new site in record time.

I shared all about it in this post. Really, I felt like the lucky one to get to collaborate with sweet Emma and her team. So much so, that I decided to head to Iowa this August for the 2nd Annual Camp Climb retreat. There’s just a few more spots left, so snag a registration and let’s hang!

Clients

On the client front, there was tons happening behind the scenes like this landing page for Collective Confidence, these updated product descriptions for Love’s Legato, revisions and blog writing for Maui Beachside, and lots of brand messaging in the works for Drop Cap Design, A Mindful Method, Craft+Curate, and more.

Phew!

If all goes according to schedule, there should be a couple of client launches this month with more planned for August!

Learning Moments

I feel like I did a good job this month of staying head down, confident, and in my lane. What did come up is the necessity of project management – something I don’t feel lacking in per se, but that I was able to identify areas where I could be more proactive and precise in moving a project forward.

It gets tricky when you start to have unanticipated client projects that are overlapping and you begin feeling a bit crunched.

Knowing we have a full calendar of travel headed into next month, I’ll be working diligently to get as much done as I can before leaving.

And in the meantime, I’ll continue to assess my pricing, timelines, and target number of clients I take on each month.

I think this aspect of being a service provider is always a work in progress.

Lastly, I ‘graduated’ so to speak from Copy Hacker’s 10x Freelance Copywriter program and couldn’t be more grateful for the experience. Joanna Wiebe is a copywriting genius and a killer mentor. Up next on the education front: Working my way through an arsenal of courses inside of Joanna’s Copy School. #bettereveryday