The FAQs Inside My Head {about Copywriting, Online Voices, & Messy Brands}

Welcome to the FAQs inside my head.

{Yep, I’m both asker and answerer.}

It’s time for your voice & your web copy to meet. And say hello to search engines.

Today I released PHRASEOLOGIE LUXE into the world. It’s a digital copywriting and brand voice development experience for indie online entrepreneurs. Specifically, those who care about voice. And those who care about specificity. {Both of which are obsessions of mine — which is probably one reason writing with voice, and great specificity, is one of my gifts.}

As I spent the past few weeks revamping my copywriting services into what is now PHRASEOLOGIE LUXE — which is the fullest expression I can manifest of my past two years of working with creative entrepreneurs on their copy, their branding and marketing approach, and their voices {oh, those elusive voices} — I caught myself asking questions: who really needs this? should I be this explicit about voice? should I launch this while my own brand is in transition? And, as it turns out, I found myself answering those questions — more easily than ever.

Here’s a peek into the FAQs inside my head . . .

Do smart, creative entrepreneurial types really need an ally to help them develop their online voices?

Uh, yes — and you know they do, since copywriting is where the bulk of your income has come from since closing your shop two years ago.

You know that every time you write someone’s copy, it’s never just about the words. It’s always also about the voice — and the voice is the entrepreneur’s invisible, indelible signature on everything she does in the marketplace.

Every tweet, every headline, every product description. When the voice works, her right people respond. When you’re using your voice in a way that is powerful, vivid, faithful to you, your people respond. Your right people get voice. It’s why they work with you instead of hiring their 16-year old niece who gets an ‘A’ in English every year to write their web copy. Or another professional copywriter, who may have a startlingly powerful voice in her own right — but not be as attuned to her clients’ voices as you are.

Yep, your readership needs and wants this.

Some of your clients are online entrepreneurs with well-developed platforms and beautifully presented visual brand identities. Others have brands in the chrysalis phase. You work well with both. Is voice a good piece to start with if people have a ‘messy’ brand? {In other words, should you be this ‘obvious’ about how you help develop voices when you write copy for people?}

Yep. You know that your own brand is going through a messy phase — a renovation.

You’re launching a new site this year that’s a clearer portrait of who you are with your clients, and what you believe in. You’re in the process of rewriting all of your site’s main pages. You’re so ready to swap out the tagline in your header for your updated one, it’s not even funny. You have an archive full of blog posts that need to be weeded out for currency and relevance, because they’re a reflection of a different time in your own entrepreneurial development. Your free e-course on nichification needs pulled, updated, and re-released as a product. You can barely stand to look at your website right now.

The good thing is — you can now relate more than ever to the phase most of your clients are in: renovation, revamping, rebranding, and giving fresh voice to what is true for them, right now, and like never before. And the best thing about all this is that voice is the through-thread that will connect everything up. Your voice is indelibly with you and it will inform every revelation.

You know this is how it works when you write for your clients, too. Trrr-ust.

Your clients and readers can really grow if you get more explicit about the voice thing. Are you going to show them? It means taking a risk.

Well, this has been a year of taking risks. Why stop now? ‘The voice thing’ is my thing. And that can only mean one thing: lead with it, unabashedly. So here we go. A friend once told me, “I like it when you talk about other people’s brands. You say things like, oh, So-and-So, here’s what I see her doing. And you say, oh, This Guy. His voice is like X, Y, and Z. And you’re right! But you don’t really do that on your blog. It would be neat if you could show people what you really do. It’s your form of genius.”

So true. I haven’t really talked about it extensively and explicitly on my blog. I shared here about how I unintentionally mimicked someone else when I first came onto the indie entrepreneurial scene. And I wrote about how to start noticing when you are sounding like yourself. I also wrote about the difference between unintentional mimicry and collective consciousness {both of which occur frequently in the entrepreneurial blogosphere}.

But there’s so much more. And I can’t think of a good enough reason to hold back any longer.

So, this year, I’m going to articulate what I see online entrepreneurs doing in the realm of voice — how they give clarion calls to their right people, why this tweet landed so well and that one didn’t, and how an indie entrepreneur can create community around her ideas by really leaning into her purest and most powerful voice — the voice that only she can claim.

And back in the day, Abby, you used to do audio — you had a podcast series, and then you stopped. You loved it. You’re bringing that back, but with a different focus. This year, you’re going to interview indie online entrepreneurs about how they use their voice to support their business and embody their brand. Entrepreneurs from all different sectors — coaches, wellness practitioners, writers, designers, retailers. Your people need to hear strong, centered, vivid voices and need to hear you articulate what the voices are doing and how — so that they can hear their own more clearly in contrast.

Today’s the day I start showing you what your voice can do for you. This is PHRASEOLOGIE LUXE — where your voice and your digital copy meet {and say hello to search engines, because they do matter a little}.

I’ve got a commitment going with another online friend that I’ll blog twice a week during March and April. Wouldn’t that be nice for my voice? If you haven’t already, subscribe to the blog here so you don’t miss a drop.

In the comments, I’d love to hear:

What do you know about your own online voice? Notice differences between it and the voice you use when you work with clients, or talk with friends or peers? How do you feel about that difference, if there is one?