Process

I follow what I like to call the A.W.E.D. process: I ASK questions until I know exactly what you want, WORK diligently on the project you entrust to me, aim to EXCEED your expectations, and ultimately DELIVER content worth consuming. 

This is what this method looks like in more detail:

First, let’s get to know each other.

• In most cases, we’ll start off by emailing back-and-forth a few times about your initial needs and expectations.
• If initial impressions via email are good (i.e. we get the feeling that we could be an awesome fit for each other), we can jump on a free 15-minute consulting call or Skype session to discuss more specifics, like the project scope/objectives, your expectations and vision for the project, your intended audience or market, your budget, and delivery timeline. We can also do this via email if, for example, you’re outside of the U.S. and it’s hard to set up a time to connect.
• If you’re not sure exactly what writing or marketing you want, but you know you need it, you can pay for a one-time audit to figure out what’s best for your brand. You’ll get an hour on the phone with me to talk your audience, your goals, and your hangups. Afterwards, I’ll email you a document covering everything we talked about and the next steps you can take to achieve your goals (even if you don’t end up hiring me to help you accomplish them).

Then we’ll deal with the official stuff.

• I’ll send you a contract to sign digitally or physically so we can get started. You can also choose to first get and accept a proposal from me outlining the discussed project, after which I’ll send you an official contract to sign.
• You’ll send me a 50% up-front deposit based on the fee we agreed to in our contract. This payment secures the earliest available time in my schedule (usually 2 weeks out), and means you can put your mind at ease from worrying about whether or not I’ll actually start on your project (I will, trust me).

Now it’s time for me to work.

• I’ll start researching and compiling as much information as I need to get your project delivered on time and with top-notch quality. This means that depending on the scope of the work, I might: conduct interviews with you or your team; ask for company style guides, materials, analytics, customer demographics, etc.; contact experts in related fields- look into your competitors’ offerings and tactics

• Depending on our specific project, I’ll provide you an outline or summary of what I’ve found before I give my absolute attention to your first draft.
• Next, I’ll prepare that draft, making sure to fully address your customers’ pain points, cover everything you’ve asked me to include, and help make you look awesomer than your competitors. When I send the draft to you, I’ll make sure to note on my end any concerns I think we need to clarify or address.

Next, we’ll review the draft.

• You’ll go over the work I’ve created for you and provide any feedback, questions, or revision requests you might have. Though don’t worry about needing to take a red pen extensively to my draft; I’d say 98% of my clients never ask for revisions, and the ones who do only ever need one more round submitted.
• You give a big ol’ thumbs-up to the draft. Hooray! You pay me the remaining 50% of our contract and I submit the final draft of the project.

The final steps are implementation and follow-ups.

• You take the finalized words and release them to the world. People are in love, and so are you. You might start recommending me to your business colleagues, friends, and even family.
• Depending on the type of project we’ve agreed to, I’ll stay in touch with you to make sure the project is performing as desired. For example, if I’ve created copy for your website, and we agreed to a check-in two months later to see if it’s improved your conversion rates, I’ll initiate that conversation and make sure everything is a-okay.

Savvy? Awesome. Let’s get started.