Are your words connecting with your ideal audience? As you sit down to write posts for Instagram, newsletters, or website copy, finding the right things to say is tough, especially with writer’s block. Jess Jordana of Jess XO and the Promptlate Shop joins us to share the secrets to writing words that people care about. Listen in as she highlights how you can connect with your audience, batch your content, and get the most out of your time and work.
Called to Both is brought to you by Joy Michelle, mom of two and multi-passionate entrepreneur who’s on a mission to help others find balance between the worlds of motherhood and business. Called to Both is the podcast for women who have big business ambitions and also want to be intentional and present moms. At Called to Both, we truly don’t believe you have to choose between these two worlds tugging at your heart You can be Called to Both.
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Becoming a Mom as an Entrepreneur
When Jess Jordana first started her business, she wasn’t a mom yet. She left her teaching role to pursue entrepreneurship as a copywriter for creatives. Then last year, she entered the world of motherhood and being called to both. As she prepared for motherhood, she also prepped her business for a three-month maternity leave.
Preparing for Maternity Leave as an Entrepreneur
Considering that the majority of her marketing happened on social media and in her newsletter, Jess’ priority in preparing for maternity leave was content creation. She knew that she could continue to show up online without having to be present in order to continue selling shop products through Promptlate.
The content Jess created consisted of three Instagram posts per week and one email per week for four months—three for maternity leave and one to ease back into posting when she returned. How did she manage this? Essentially she created a batching rule where anytime she wrote something, she had to write two or more since she was already in the groove of the task.
In addition to creating this content in preparation, she also decided not to take on clients while she was on maternity leave despite having an associate copywriter. Inside Jess’ business, she prefers to be inside projects with clients even when the associate writer is helping.
With that decision in mind, she save four months of expenses in case the Promptlate shop made zero dollars so that she could continue to pay her team, expenses, etc.
You can read more about Jess’ preparation for maternity leave in her blog post here!
Coming Back to Work as a New Mom
Right as Jess went on maternity leave, the iOS changes came out that impact Facebook pixel tracking, which was a larger avenue the Promptlate shop used for driving traffic to their brand. this left her sales stagnant while she was on maternity leave and she struggled to determine if it was due to these changes or to not being present in the business.
As she returned, she had to revisit and re-evaluate her marketing plan, because the systems she had in place were not creating momentum in her business. Now that she was coming back into business in a new routine with limited, set hours, she knew something had to change.
When it comes to finding productivity, especially as a new mom, it’s important to know your brain and how it works. This mean giving it space to think, decide, and develop. You have to separate those processes in order to succeed. This is relevant, especially when it comes to creating copy that stands out.
Writing Words People Care About
While many entrepreneurs believe they’re terrible writers, most of the time it’s simply a mindset thing—where you’re holding yourself back. In order to become a better writer and write words that people care about, you have to first stop calling yourself a terrible writer.
The writing style that we learned in school is in complete contrast to the style of writing that actually converts or sells in business. You have to give yourself grace in knowing that no one has taught you how to write in the way your business may need.
In addition to mindset, the other thing that is holding most of us back from being really great copywriters is the fear of getting really specific in our copy. There are phrases that we get caught up in using that are supposed to problem solve, but instead leave us stuck in the generic sales copy.
Rather than using a phrase like “Are you overwhelmed…?”, consider better describing the feeling that your ideal client is struggling with. What’s happening during the process of overwhelm? Consider the fact that if you were to capture people on video, you can’t capture overwhelm, but you can capture the specifics of how someone is reacting.
Saving Time While Writing Copy
While you’re reworking how you approach writing copy that connects, you should also consider an approach that works better for your business and time constraints. The first way to do this is to remember to be kind to your brain and know what it’s capable of—break tasks up in a way that allows you space to think and focus on one task at a time.
In the copywriting space, we like to encourage a spit draft for your copy, which is essentially where you sit down and just write out what you want to convey to your audience. Once that’s done, you can come back to it and write the official copy that connects with your audience and drives them to convert. Jess goes into more depth in her free video series here!
Rapid Fire Interview Questions
Within our interviews on Called to Both, I’ll be asking each guest a series of rapid fire questions about being called to both! Check out Jess’ answers to my rapid fire questions below:
What does called to both mean to you? Called to both means that we have room and our hearts and our schedules for multiple avenues of impact.
What is one thing that has surprised you about motherhood: Jess has not been bothered by things that come out of a baby. She’s also shocked by the lack of right answers in motherhood.
What is one tool/tip that has helped you thrive? You need to give your brain a chance to breath and think as she mentioned earlier. Additionally, sleep is important.
What is the last book you read? The No BS Small business Book by Casey Graham.
What is something that you’re excited about? Jess has her first brand photoshoot in two years coming up soon!
Get to Know Jess
Jess Jordana of Jess XO is a copywriter for creatives who believes in drinking iced coffee all year long, and is a new mama to an almost one year old named Parker Jane. She’s worked with everyone from solopreneurs to organizations like the Rising Tide Society, The Guide Culture and The Social Bungalow.
View the Important Sections:
Get to Know Jess (2:43)
Taking a Three Month Maternity Leave (4:48)
Finding Productivity While Working From Home (13:28)
Copy in your Business Exercise (17:25)
How to Get the Most bang for Your Buck and Save Time When Writing Copy (22:01)
Rapid Fire Questions (25:56)
Mentioned in this Episode:
jessicajordana.com/writersblock
The No BS Small business Book by Casey Graham
Connect with Jess:
Website: jessicajordana.com
Shop: jessicajordana.com/shop
Instagram: @jessjordana
Connect with Joy:
Instagram: instagram.com/joyymichelle
Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UC-Ou6jRKxcjMrVMxWxLO_fQ
Facebook: facebook.com/joymichellephotography
If you decide to use any of the links above and buy through them, I’ll receive a small commission back. All of those affiliate income commissions really add up over time and help generate revenue to help support this podcast.
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