I can’t say I’ve ever been nervous about an inquiry before — but when I first read this one, I was a little bit apprehensive.

A copyeditor needing a copywriter? Is she sure?

Of course, I understand the role of a copyeditor, but ur gurl specializes in ~conversational~ copy. Not perfect-grammar-make-your-English-teacher-proud copy. My goal is to write conversion-friendly copy, engaging the reader on the other side of the screen, and inspiring them to take action.

That doesn’t always include prim and proper language. Personality, though? ALWAYS included.

(And my punctuation, and my text styles, because Lord knows my website copy would be dry as hell without those helpful elements of emphasis.)

So, when I scheduled my discovery call with Sam, I went into it hoping I wasn’t too casual for her (and that she wasn’t too professional for me).

Turns out, we were the perfect match. She is sweet, respectful, kind, and extremely knowledgeable, and I am so happy to have had the PRIVILEGE of writing her website.

*clears throat* AHEM – I think hers was my favorite website project of 2023.

🤯

I was absolutely obsessed with the level of specificity we were able to use in her website copy, because we had such a clear vision of exactly who her ideal client is. More on this later. For now, let me introduce you to Samantha Holloway, Founder of Frances House Co.

About The Client

Sam offers copyediting, proofreading, and researching assistance to new and aspiring fiction authors hoping to publish the next unputdownable, top-of-everyone’s-TBR-list novel.

Now, let me tell you: if I were an author and I saw her site? I’d SPRINT to her inquiry form. Probably break my ankle from running there so fast.

Go ahead and find me a better copyeditor website.

You literally can’t.

About The Brand

Sam chose to name the brand Frances House as a way to reclaim a part of her that she had grown up feeling embarrassed about.

The rest of the story goes like this:

“(I distinctly remember practically sweating through my cap and gown at graduations, drowning in stress, worried about the teachers potentially announcing my full name when calling me up to accept my diploma—the horror! Thankfully, they never did.)

But now, like most childhood embarrassments, I’ve had the amazing realisation that, ya know what, this name is actually pretty cool. Because it’s part of ME. 

And that’s how I want Frances House to make you feel.

Like all the pieces of you matter. Here, you can always be yourself without ever censoring your thoughts, words, or who you are—or worrying about the dreaded playground laughter. 

Here, you can be you.“

I love sharing what I call a “Name Story” on a client’s About page when it’s necessary — aka when the brand is named something different than the person, or when the meaning behind the name isn’t easy to infer — because it adds a nice layer of additional context, storytelling, and connection.

About Her Services

I’ll let her tell you herself:

The Project Goal

Unlike most of my clients, who typically reach out to work with me on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, sometimes even 10th iteration of their website copy, Sam reached out to collaborate on the website copy for her first-ever site, for her brand-new business.

This isn’t a decision that new brands come to lightly, so I’m suuuuper happy with how much Sam loves her site.

She initially reached out to me because she liked all of the storytelling-related elements in my website copy (thanks to the “concept brand” I have — all about books / novels / reading / storytelling, because I specialize in what I call “sales-focused storytelling”).

Sam mentioned that she felt connected to me because of the language that I used, and said that she was drawn to the personality I shared throughout my site, and she hoped to do something similar while still keeping the personal details to a minimum.

Let it be known — it IS (!!!) possible to have a personality-packed website WITHOUT sharing a ton of your own personal details, and Sam’s website is an awesome example of that.

The goal was simple: attract ideal clients.

And here’s how we did that.

The Ideal Client Attraction Strategy

It all comes down to one thing: being willing to trust yourself — and your understanding of your own ideal client — enough to be wicked direct, specific, and, in some cases, polarizing.

(Or, in this case, to trust your website copywriter enough to do it for you.)

The goal of your website copy should be to inspire the right people to take action. You are actively trying to ATTRACT your dream clients, and REPEL your version of “red flag” clients (aka the people you don’t want to work with).

As I mentioned above, Sam’s ideal client is a new or aspiring author, getting ready to publish their first fiction novel.

Here are a few places on her website where I loved our level of specificity:

Like, come on.

I can practically SEE the authors reading through this website, nodding their head in agreement, and immediately booking Sam for their next project.

The Best Part

One of the most difficult pages of website copy to write is always the Contact page, because, for whatever reason, people always neglect it.

…which is why I love writing them.

I love proving that every single page of your website — even your 404 Error page! — is an opportunity to “wow” your reader.

& that’s why the best part of this project, for me, is the Contact page.

It was important to Sam to make her future clients feel super comfortable with her, because she knows it’s highly likely that they, like her, are introverted, prefer to keep calls to a minimum, and may have unique preferences about communication styles.

So, on her Contact page, we went rogue and offered lots of different ways for her leads to have that initial “discovery” chat, and I really liked how Sam was willing to do things her own way on this page.

The Review

“Before working with Sara, I was nervous that it wouldn’t sound like me, that the website I was dreaming of wouldn’t become a reality, and the investment would put me in debt for years to come.

The cursor is aptly named. I felt cursed as I sat at the computer screen staring at it for weeks waiting for my website copy to write itself.

Now? I feel IN LOVE with my website.

Sara freed me when she took me on as a client and the stress of the project was lifted away. I was able to spend that time focusing on other areas of my business knowing my website would still turn out exactly how I dreamed it would.

Before YOU invest in her, be prepared to want to elevate your business. It isn’t just about website copy, either – Sara inspires you to want to improve all of the other elements of your online presence, too.

The resources she offers, the advice you can soak up, and the group of people you can meet is so beneficial to your business.

Sara makes you feel like you’re more than just a client, or simply more than someone putting money in her pocket.”

The Full Website

To stalk Sam’s entire site, visit her online at franceshouse.co.

The Acknowledgements

Getting to work with my best friend on website projects never gets old — Sarah Kleist will ALWAYS show up and show out for a Showit design project. I will happily tell you every chance I get that she is THE best Showit designer available for hire right now.

I also had support from my mentee, Kristie, on this project, who was such an invaluable resource, and really grew her strengths as we worked together to create an awesome end product for Sam that we’re both extremely proud of.

Sometimes, when I’m writing a client’s website, I’ll offer one of my mentees the opportunity to walk through the process with me, attend my client calls, and see the drafting process firsthand, so they can grow their own business using actual hands-on skills and seeing what really happens in a one-on-one client relationship as a website copywriter.

As a mentor, it’s important to me to provide as much real support AND real experience as possible, and I feel so lucky to be able to serve them in this way.

Kristie has been one of my favorite people to work with in 2023, and I have loved watching her grow as a business owner and thrive as a copywriter. Check out her new website here!