Copywriting skills – one of the best ways to bring more value (and make more money) as a Virtual Assistant. Here's what you need to know!
Virtual Assistants bring a lotttt of value to their clients. Admin support, systems implementation, social media management, email management… the list goes on. But if you've found yourself with a full client load without making the income you want, you may need to add a profitable offer to your services.
Enter: Copywriting Skills.
High-level copywriting is a valuable skill. You can charge a lot when you know how to write words that make sales, attract dream clients, and clearly and concisely communicate your client's value.
(PS. You can totally use your copywriting skills to market your own services better, leading to more qualified, high-paying clients.)
But copywriting – the good kind, anyway – isn't something most of us can just decide to do. There's skill and strategy involved.
Today I'm sharing three of the most effective copywriting skills and giving you some pro tips on how to start practicing and using these skills to up-level your VA business. Sweet! Enough chatting – let's do this.
PS. There's a sweet resource (for free!) at the end of this post that will help you develop and practice these highly profitable copywriting skills.
Writing Emails that Get Opened
It doesn't matter how good the content of an email is if no one opens it.
There are two strategies I use to achieve 35-40% open rates on nearly every email I send:
- Subject lines that create curiosity, FOMO, or desire
- History of high-value emails
You can improve your subject lines pretty much immediately, but building up a reliable history of delivering high-value emails can take a while. This is where consistency and patience pay off!
When it comes to subject lines, avoid summarizing or telling people exactly what's in the email. (Caveat: unless you're delivering a freebie or something they specifically requested – then being clear is best!)
Try asking questions – Have you tried this IG hack? – or creating curiosity – Whoa! This is a game-changer – to boost your open rates.
A few rules of thumb though: never lie or trick people… it's icky. There's a fine line between sleazy and strategic. My rule of thumb: the subject line must relate to the content of the email in some way. Sometimes that's a loose connection (subj line: Is butter a carb? and then using a Mean Girls GIF in the email) and sometimes it's more direct (subj line: This will save you $$$ and the email is about cutting overhead costs), but either way, the subject line is connected to what you're actually writing about.
As for the value of your emails, you can improve this by always asking yourself “Why does this matter?” before hitting send. If you don't have a good answer – you're probably just emailing to email… and that's never a good idea. Make sure every email you send helps your email community in some way! (Yes, this even applies to sales emails.)
Website Copy That Connects
There's a lot that goes into writing professional website copy. (I do have an awesome mini-course that teaches you my unique framework and system for writing custom website copy btw.) But you can up-level your website copywriting skills in a few easy steps.
- Stay client-focused
Everything you write (this shifts slightly for about pages) should be written with the client in mind. Instead of telling them what you can do, tell them what they get. It's a small shift that makes a big difference. - Write to one person
When you try to write to everyone, you end up sounding boring, vanilla, and blah. Clients aren't going to pay you the big bucks to write generic website copy. To avoid this, pick one person (preferably a real ideal client) and write to them. It keeps your writing more personal and less vague!
- Be concise
It may feel counterintuitive, but the best website copy generally involves as few words as possible. Website visitors have short attention spans (like 3-37 seconds depending on what report you read), so you've gotta grab their attention and explain things quickly, concisely, and powerfully. Cutting out fluff words (that, so, well, very, etc) is an easy first step to cutting down your word count.
Effective Sales Copy
Wanna know the number one request I get from clients when writing a sales page or email sales sequence?
“Don't make it sounds salesy!”
People are used to all the old tactics. You can't trick someone into buying these days. Your sales copywriting skills have got to be top-notch.
- Lead with value + transformation
Bad sales copy focuses on the product or offer. Good sales copy focuses on the client. Awesome sales copy focuses on the unique value and ultimate transformation the product or service provides. Worry less about explaining what the offer does and more about explaining why it matters. - Ditch the cliches
If you want your sales copy to connect with your potential clients, do everyone a favor and retire the overused words and phrases like: next-level, aligned, one-time offer, strategic, etc. People can tell when you're hyping something with fluff instead of clearly and concisely communicating value.
Improving Your Copywriting Skills
Now you know what skills are most valuable, and I've given you a few key pointers. But if you're serious about adding copywriting skills to your offer suite, you're gonna need to dig in deeper.
That's why I created this Essential Copywriting Skills for VAs guide. It's part workbook/part textbook and designed to help you improve your copywriting skills! And it's free. Whaaat?! I know, I know.
Click here to download your Essential Copywriting Skills for VAs guide!
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