Owning a business in today’s world is a many-faceted endeavor for women. It’s not enough to simply be a great fashion designer, an excellent yoga instructor, or a terrific photographer. The modern world also demands an engaging online presence, ongoing lead generation and follow-up, building a personal brand, and being great at your specialized skill.
But this is what it takes if you want to grow your business and achieve your financial and professional dreams. One female professional that’s taken this modern approach to heart is Tarla Makaeff, often known as the ‘Copy Queen.’ She’s a top-level copywriter known for feminine, warm, and engaging copy, but she’s also grown her business to seven figures. Her latest endeavor is coaching other creative women to do what she’s done with her Iconic Copy course.
Here are her top five heartfelt pieces of advice to other female founders and entrepreneurs looking to scale their businesses.
Building a Brand
You must build and maintain your personal brand to engage your audience and allow them to get to know you outside of your work. The Copy Queen suggests using your personal or professional social media to showcase your hobbies, pets, vacations, and more.
Now, that’s not to say you should always present a flawless facade to the world. On the contrary, Makaeff encourages female founders to show vulnerability as well. How you cope with an economic downturn, a challenging project, or a difficult life situation allows followers to see your human side.
“People are drawn to photos of other people — and, so naturally, they are also more drawn to engage with posts that include photos. I encourage you to not only add your photos as well as fun and light topics to your social media but also incorporate deeply authentic and vulnerable personal story posts as people want to relate to the person behind the brand in a real way,” she advised.
Grow Your Contact List
Email lists are still one of the best ways to keep in touch with current — and prospective! — clients. Never stop growing this list, and ensure that you capture emails through your lead magnet and website to nurture the relationship.
“While most people today think that social media is the end-all, be-all, I don’t agree,” said Makaeff. She compares social media to a home you lease from Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. But your your lead list is property that you own forever.
Keep in touch with your list subscribers regularly and make sure that each email you send them adds value in some way. Yes, tips, tricks, and advice are helpful; but personal stories with a business-relevant twist offer entertainment that keeps your subscribers opening your emails with enthusiasm.
Offer Digital Products
Makaeff says that nearly every female business owner has some well-developed skill that others want to learn. Are you an expert makeup artist? An award-winning interior designer? A restaurateur with incredible recipes? Whatever your skill, share it with your audience by creating a free or low ticket digital book, template, workshop, or mini-course.
For free items, these work in two ways. You can collect people’s email addresses when they sign up to receive the download, possibly converting them to clients in the future. The second way this works is that you can explain that these items are simply a taster of the content in larger, paid items such as complete courses, business coaching, and more.
When you opt for a low ticket paid version as a more advanced strategy, this allows you to secure a customer from the get-go through a micro commitment. If you deliver massive value, they will then trust that you must have much more to deliver in your high tiered paid products, and be compelled to keep ascending through your product and service line.
Document Your Thoughts
Above, the Copy Queen referenced posting about your life on your social media pages, Reels, and Stories. These public posts might include new restaurants you visit, where you’ve recently traveled, or the fantastic new art gallery in your neighborhood — but you don’t have to stop there.
Makaeff suggests sharing your personal opinions as well. For example, if you feel passionate about world issues, climate control, or humanitarian initiatives, sharing these feelings with your audience is more than ok.
While it’s true that these might keep people with differing views from using your services, Makaeff says it’s a blessing in disguise since those potential clients are not likely to be the best fit anyway. “Always have a community that genuinely resonates with all of your values and the real you — in all of your entirety — as this not only creates immense trust and a close bond for them but is also more enjoyable and liberating for you,” shared Makaeff.
Become An Expert Writer
Everything that leaves your desk on behalf of your business — from emails to social media posts and sales page copy — needs to be written and crafted with a strategy in mind. Makaeff suggests you learn how to do this from an expert or pay a professional for direct response copywriting that incorporates the best of traditional offline and modern online principles.
Her advice is to learn the writing craft yourself since you will need ongoing copy in your business and you are in the best position to explain your business. You are also always going to be the most passionate person to explain why you started your endeavor and how you can help others, which, in turn, translates to sales.
With these words from the iconic Copy Queen, we can’t wait to get behind our desks and try these tips ourselves.
