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Audrey JoAnn | Content and Copy Writer

Compelling Copy for Female Founders

ATTRACT YOUR PERFECT CLIENT BY CHANGING THIS ONE THING

May 20, 2019

When I started freelance writing, I took whatever I could get. I began by freelancing part-time when we lived in Nashville, and most of my work came from friends who work in marketing with clients in every field imaginable. I was writing email content for healthcare, regulatory compliance, and event businesses and blog posts for electric vehicle, nutritional supplements, and home security companies. I copy-edited for a local magazine and wrote an assortment of stories for them in lifestyle, design, and local talent realms. Like I said… I did it ALL.

It was honestly thrilling at first to be able to research all of these random industries that I knew nothing — and I mean nothing — about and turn that information into content that informs, educates, and converts. I just felt lucky that people wanted to pay me to put some words together as best as I could, especially given I had no real marketing background or legitimate insight into the random businesses I wrote about, other than what research I could conduct online and questions I could ask the clients. I accepted every project I was offered, and that allowed me to begin building a solid copywriting portfolio.

I kept on keeping on

When I moved to Austin and threw myself into freelancing full-time, I figured I’d do the same old thing I’d been doing: everything. I started using UpWork, a platform for freelancers to find projects, to market myself to potential clients. My bio on there said something along the lines of having experience writing digital content for brands and businesses of all kinds, including technology, real estate, design, healthcare, beauty, lifestyle, wellness, events, marketing, blah, blah, blah. I went all in and included everything I’d ever written about since college.

Why not cast a wide net and see what you can get, right? I thought by showing my range and flexibility, people in all these various industries who needed content would be knocking down my door. After all, I had some vast experience to showcase, man. An interesting thing happened with that approach, though. I didn’t get a whole lot of leads. And the ones I did get were extremely hit or miss.

Work and I have a funny relationship

Luckily, the first two regular clients I snagged were ones that I LOVE and still work with to this day. One is a leadership consultant, and the other (Emily Perron — she’s incredible!) is a career and entrepreneurship coach and hiring specialist.

I began writing content for them, mostly blogs and some social media stuff, and felt that thing I’d often heard about but never really experienced for myself. The work they assigned to me didn’t actually feel like work. I was compelled by the subjects they wanted me to write about and would lose myself in the hours I’d spend curating content for each of them.

And y’all, I’ve NEVER been a person who gets lost in work. I was the person who would nap in the stairwell when I was a manager at my college’s recreation center. I’d take three-hour lunches at the magazine I worked at a few years ago to catch up on Real Housewives episodes and play with my dog. I’ve always counted down the hours until it’s time to go home at every desk job I’ve had. Only five hours and 47 minutes left until happy hour, woo-hoo! No wonder freelancing suits me so well. Happy hour all day! (TOTALLY kidding. I wish. Sorta.)

Something felt different about these projects

So, to get a couple clients that I immediately clicked into synch with and understood their visions so purely from the jump… It was a game changer and an absolute joy, to say the least. But still, two clients weren’t enough clients to fill up my workload and income goals, so I continued applying to all the remote writing jobs in all the industries.

I ended up getting a few more clients over the coming months. I worked with a healthy dog food company for a while, until my contact there left. I worked with a meat and cheese interlever company for a while… until my contact there left. (Interleving. You know those little papers that go in between sliced deli meats and cheeses? Yeah, that’s what that company did. There’s your fun fact of the day! I learned a lot about big machines and how fast it takes to prep hundreds of bags of meat with that one. It was… meaty.) I completely rewrote a wedding musician’s website, a Bible education website, and a plastic surgeon’s website.

And let me just say, there’s nothing wrong at all with any of those projects. I am so grateful they trusted me with their stories and words I got to share. I am honestly floored and humbled any time a new client chooses ME out of all of the many options and talent out there. But I started to realize that all of the projects I was doing didn’t give me that “I’m so into this that I forget I’m working” feeling.

I had to hone in on what the real problem was

In fact, many of the projects that weren’t necessarily in my wheelhouse of natural interests were the ones that I ended up procrastinating or pushing way down on my list of tasks. I am a huge deadline adherent, but it was all I could do to finish some of them without wanting to crawl into a hole.

Anytime I had tasks for those two clients whose missions I really believed in and whose messages were near to my own heart, I could crank those out in much less time and with much more enthusiasm. I had this realization a few months ago and decided maybe it would be smart to specialize myself and brand myself in a really specific way.

Instead of being a writer who could write anything for anyone, I changed my UpWork and LinkedIn profiles to say I specialize in writing content in the personal growth, health and wellness, career development, and mental health fields. Still broad enough to capture a lot of different types of companies’ interest, but more targeted in aligning my work with the things I care deeply about and enjoy learning and writing about.

It’s crazy what happened next

I wasn’t necessarily even seeking out new clients at the time that I changed my professional bios. I had a comfortable amount of work but was open to opportunities that did align with my newly realized vision. One night, I saw that Jenna Kutcher, a major marketing mogul and super-smart digital educator, posted that she was looking for a remote content creator. I applied via LinkedIn, and we chatted the entire next day before she offered me the job.

When we finally spoke on the phone, she said “some things” on my profile really stood out to her. The night she posted the job, she said she selected five of her favorites, and I was the only person she remembered the next morning. I have no doubt one thing that stood out was the simple and small, yet direct, pivot I made to my content focuses that caught her attention. I know she had several hundred applicants within a few hours of posting the job, and I still think it’s wild that she selected me.

I’ve also recently, unexpectedly begun working with some other soul-centered, empowering brands that I simply adore. This isn’t to toot my horn or say I know it all, but I do think there’s something powerful about boldly stating what you want, whether you’re a writer, like me, or a different kind of creative, or you’re in another field entirely.

When we intentionally specify what we’re seeking, it makes that thing a whole heckuva lot easier to find. I never wanted to be a writer for every industry, but I felt like I had to. And I probably did, at first. But once I had the experience I needed and the understanding of where I’d like to be and who I’d like to work with, getting specific with those goals has led to some incredible outcomes.

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Welcome! I'm Audrey, and I adore connecting with female founders and telling their stories in a way that matters & lasts for years to come.

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audskelton

Me, trying to figure out what to do with my hands Me, trying to figure out what to do with my hands without a bump. 👐🏼 Wallace, trying to figure out what we’re doing out of the house. 🤨

First family walk in the books! All of 10 minutes. 🤪 (Also, does anyone else notice the rainbow over Wally?... My heart. 🌈🥺)
1 week old. 🤎 The hardest, most emotional & mos 1 week old. 🤎 The hardest, most emotional & most rewarding week of my life. Babies’ sleep schedules, y’all. They are not for the faint of heart.

Wallace is hitting all his milestones, has learned the alphabet, and is picking up Latin. Just kidding. But he CAN poop 3 times in an hour and a half 😎, and he eats like a champ, is so strong that we prefer to tag team diaper changes for now, and makes the sweetest, cutest noises all day long. (And night.) Like even his cry is cute. 😩

One of my friends called this time the “wet weeks”: urine, breast milk, spit up, night sweats, tears, blood, more tears. It’s a lot, and it’s temporary. So even in the hard moments, we are reminding ourselves that the hardest things are often the best things. 

And this really has been the best thing.

So, so thankful for a hands-on husband who’s been so involved in everything... there’s something indescribable about watching your partner care for your child and step into a big, new role like this so gracefully. And we are thankful for ALL of the support, near and far (... mostly far), from our family and friends and coworkers. What a week... here’s to continuing to figure it all out together as a family. 😌
At 5 a.m. my water broke and at 3:44 p.m. our worl At 5 a.m. my water broke and at 3:44 p.m. our worlds and hearts were changed forever. Everything in between was a gritty, fast-moving tidal wave of emotion, pain, instinct, and a kind of love I never could’ve imagined.

Welcome, Wallace Ronal Skelton. 🤎 You kept us waiting until you decided, very quickly, you’d like to be here. I’m still in disbelief that you are ours. 

January 4, 2021 • 7 lbs 4 oz • 20.5 inches • Sweet as can be.
Well, this baby friend doesn’t exactly have our Well, this baby friend doesn’t exactly have our sense of punctuality which realllly threw me for a loop after thinking & saying for months that I was certain he/she would get here early. I’ve drank 3 boxes of raspberry leaf tea in 3 weeks, walked dozens of miles, eaten way too many dates, done hundreds of squats and bench step-ups... and now I’m surrendering. You come whenever you feel like it, little one. I’m comfy enough and can still sleep through the night (minus a bathroom break or two) so we will just keep on waiting and letting you teach us our first lesson of parenthood: PATIENCE. I knew I could always use some more of it. 😉 #40weekspregnant #pregnancy
scenes from our blissful, muddy, much-needed morni scenes from our blissful, muddy, much-needed morning hike. ☀️🍂 in a year that’s felt like 5, getting outside whenever we can has been my favorite way to reset. so thankful to live in such gorgeous surroundings!
our first and probably only christmas just us thre our first and probably only christmas just us three! quiet and simple and a little sad but mostly filled with hope and gratitude. hope yours is special in all the best ways. 🤍
the most freeing parenting advice i’ve heard so the most freeing parenting advice i’ve heard so far? (and i’ve gotten a lot this year!) our children NEED to see us to mess up. they need to see us walk through mistakes, fix our messes, apologize, learn, and readjust.

as someone who very much realizes i’m nowhere *near* perfect but is also terrified something i’ll do might mess my kid up for life... hearing this advice has stuck with me so profoundly. i think about it every day, especially as we get closer and closer to becoming parents.

we don’t need to get it right. in fact, we’re serving them better when we get it wrong AND course correct openly. when we can admit our faults and say we’ll do better next time.

i had a friend tell me a few months ago she apologizes to her baby all the time. she’ll say, “i’m sorry that i really don’t know what you need right now, but i’m learning... i’m sorry that you’re upset, let’s figure this out together.”

and i thought that was a beautiful way to own and lean into the truth that parenting isn’t having the answers all figured out—at all. it’s guessing and learning as you go and being able to be humble enough to apologize to your infant when you don’t get it right (and then your toddler, and then your kid, and then your teenager).

these next 18+ years are going to be an adventure, i can already tell. lots of mess-ups. lots of sorry’s. lots of goodness. 🤍

oh, and... can we all agree that the worst parenting advice is “sleep when the baby sleeps”?! as the lightest sleeper ever, i don’t need that pressure in my life. 😅 

photo by @jilliangoulding
the body of the grinch but the heart of cindy lou the body of the grinch but the heart of cindy lou who. ♥️

(wrong holiday, i know—but let’s not pretend 90% of us don’t already have christmas stuff up already okay?)

however you’re celebrating & whoever you’re celebrating with today, i hope it’s special. happy thanksgiving, friend! 🦃🍂💛 #thanksgiving #35weekspregnant
simple joys today: 🍂a pecan praline almond mil simple joys today:

🍂a pecan praline almond milk misto in the @starbucks holiday cup.
🍂early monday morning grocery run with my husband for simple thanksgiving ingredients for our 2-person party (well, 3 technically i guess 😜) on thursday.
🍂cool mornings.
🍂fall colors.
🍂the charlie brown christmas album on repeat. (i honestly think this is my favorite album of all time. 😂 we even got it on vinyl this year. i listen to it from end of october through january every single year.)
🍂random fall-y at-home manicures.
🍂2 short weeks in a row.
🍂phone calls with family.
🍂baby hiccups, kicks, and rolls & starting to distinguish between knees, hands, and a booty sticking out of my stomach. 😂
🍂sleeping in.
🍂finishing up home projects. (y’all, WE FINISHED THE FLOORS. praise.)
🍂a clean home.
🍂daily walks & clean air.
🍂soaking in the joy of our last childless vacation/staycation.

so much to be grateful for. and this year it’s really the little things that are the big things. what are your simple joys you’re hanging on to right now?
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