Copywriter and calligrapher Ashlyn Carter joins Kira and Rob for the In 68th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast and wow, does she deliver. In just a couple of years, she's built a six-figure business that is growing like crazy. In this interview, she shares:

•  how she went from agency consultant to PR publicist to freelance writer

•  what she learned from working with companies like Delta Airlines and Chick-Fil-A

•  the difference between working with corporate brands and personal brands

•  her struggle to do everything right, the repercussions, and how it led to the work she does today

•  the process she used to break away from the negative behaviors that tied her down

•  what happened when she chose a niche and had to fire some of her clients

•  how she had to adapt new processes as a business owner (as opposed to being a freelancer)

•  when she knew it was time to create a digital product

•  the questions she asks to keep her team focused on getting things done

•  how she organizes her time to get more done

•  her onboarding “magazine” that sets boundaries and outlines processes

And as we often do, we also asked about a couple of her non-copywriting hobbies. She sold us why she does calligraphy in addition to working as a copywriter, and the lessons she learned from dancing that have made her a better copywriter. To hear Ashlyn tell it, click the play button below. Or scroll down to read the transcript.

 

The people and stuff we mentioned on the show:

Toggl

PowerSheets

Strengths Finder

Rest by Alex Pang

Jenna Kutcher

James Wedmore

Todd Herman's 90 Day Year

HoneyBook

Amy Porterfield

Anne Lamott

Chuck Close

Malcolm Gladwell

AshlynWrites.com

Kira’s website

Rob’s website

The Copywriter Club Facebook Group

Intro: Content (for now)

Outro: Gravity

 

Full Transcript:

The Copywriter Club Podcast is sponsored by Airstory, the writing platform for professional writers who want to get more done in half the time. Learn more at Airstory.co/club.

Kira: What if you could hang out with seriously copywriters and other experts, ask them about their successes and failures, their work processes and their habits, then steal an idea to inspire your own work? That’s what Rob and I do every week at The Copywriter Club Podcast.

Rob: You’re invited to join us episode 68 as we chat with copywriter Ashlyn Carter about what she learned managing crisis communications for brands like Delta and Chick-Fil-A, how choosing a niche has affected her business, the process she used to break her own negative behaviors, and how dancing has made her a better copywriter.

Rob: Ashlyn, welcome!

Ashlyn: Thank you so much! So excited to get to talk to y’all today.

Rob: We’re excited to have you!

Kira: I know, I know! All right, so, Ashlyn, I think a good place to start is with your story, of course, and how you ended up getting into copywriting!

Ashlyn: Yes, so it turns out that if you chronologically file magazines under your bed growing up, you’re a shoe-in for a journalism major, so I went into college, like, no doubt what I wanted to be. I wanted to work in magazines. I wanted to do editorial stuff. So I was a print major in the journalism school in 2009, which, I’m sure all of us who work in this industry—that was a tough year for publications. So I promptly went back from my senior year, switched to the publications track, and knew that that’s what I wanted to do. Right out of college, I worked as a traveling consultant for a women’s organization. I worked the ultimate dream of working in—I grew up in Alabama so the big city of Atlanta is where I wanted to be—I wanted to work an agency life in Atlanta, so I did that! And was in agency for about four years all together and worked as a publicist as well for a chef and his slew of restaurants and then I moved on to working on my own! There are a lot of ups and downs and valleys but that, in a nutshell, is what happened.