This post was written by TCCS member, Lucy Berry
Look, I’ll level with you. I’m a Kate Toon fangirl.
Kate’s the founder of The Clever Copywriting School.
She got me in her (sales) funnel way back through her popular free SEO Nibbles course. Since then I’ve completed her big Recipe for SEO Success course and joined both her paid communities: The Clever Copywriting School and The Digital Masterchefs.
And it’s all been so very toe-tinglingly worth it.
I won’t go into the SEO of it all in this blog post. Let’s save that for another day because today I’m talking templates. As in Kate has copywriting templates available for all your freelancing needs.
If you’re not sure where to start or how to structure a piece of copy, these templates are for you.
And how do you actually use the TCCS templates? Well, here’s a case study on how I use them for your enjoyment.
The project: update the copy for a software startup’s website
My wonderful client Canyou is a rising star on the Australian software scene.
Founded to solve an employee paperwork challenge in a family member’s small business, the company now provides flexible workflow software to a rapidly growing community of business owners, administrators, and bookkeepers.
Canyou makes it a breeze to sort crucial but repetitive tasks such as employee onboarding and license management.
One of Canyou’s challenges is they operate in a crowded SaaS (software as a service) market. So their website really needs to spell out their point of difference quick smart.
Getting to know each other
After an initial video chat with Canyou co-founder Frank, and him accepting my work proposal, we completed a project brief and terms using TCCS templates I’ve adapted.
And then I got stuck in.
Reviewing the existing website
The product is great, and the team is skilled and passionate. The original website itself was clean, fast, and responsive. (It definitely helps to have skilled developers in-house.)
But as a newcomer to the business, I couldn’t tell from reading the copy what the software does, or who for.
Think about the audience
What was missing? People.
Software is created to solve someone’s problem. The key is knowing who that someone is, and the specific problem they need solved.
The website needs to make that clear in the first few seconds.
And then it needs to take the reader on an emotional journey of how signing up to this subscription will fix their dandruff, freshen their coffee and – seriously now – make their life better.
Tip: work with great clients
Frank understood the existing copy needed to be reworked to hit this goal. That’s why he’d posted a job for a copywriter on the TCCS job board in the first place.
Craft copy that converts
I used my adapted version of the website copy deck template to draft the copy, including the titles and descriptions that will appear in Google search results.
We identified the main audiences for Canyou: business owners, administrators, and bookkeepers. Each has different needs and priorities, and tends to use Canyou in slightly different ways.
Kate’s sales page checklist was immensely useful for reviewing the landing page’s key elements. The updated site now articulates the key differences I’ve mentioned and makes the case that a low monthly fee for unlimited use of Canyou is exactly what their business needs.
I’ll be honest. This project took an extra round of copy amends for me to really hit the mark. So I’m grateful that Frank and the team at Canyou took the time to give me useful feedback.
I think the result is pretty great. But only time – and sign-ups – will answer the question of whether the copy actually converts.
TCCS templates I used
You can access templates in the TCCS Shop. As I’ve mentioned, over time I’ve adapted the ones I’ve purchased to match my own branding and approach. I usually tweak them individually for each job as well.
Here are the templates I use all the time.
- Project brief
- Terms and Conditions
- Website copy deck
- Sales Page Checklist
- Tone of Voice and Media Kit (I didn’t use these for this particular job, but I still recommend them)
And once this website update is done, you can be sure I’ll use the Copywriter End of Project Sign Off Template. It includes a super useful outline for requesting a testimonial.
Be a clever TCCS template user
Before you go off and grab individual templates, take a moment to check out the bundles. You can get great deals.
And remember that many of these templates are included in TCCS or Digital Masterchefs memberships, along with stacks of video training and masterclasses on how to use them to their full effect.
About Lucy
Lucy Berry is a Melbourne-based copywriter and SEO specialist who works with people and brands that make a difference.
