We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Heather Martin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Heather thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I run a for-profit copywriting business, but I’m driven by my mission, anchored in strong values. I’ve freelanced at points in my life where I’ve been verbally abused and mistreated. This includes clients not paying what they owed me, and blaming me for their business failures. Many freelancers, especially women, have experienced things like this.

My goal is to empower the women writers, both copywriters and authors, who work for me by giving them flexibility (work from anywhere), paying them on time so they don’t have to wait for money, and cultivating an environment of respect and kindness. This encompasses encouraging my copywriters to pursue their personal goals of writing books and expressing themselves in other creative ways. Being a steward of a profitable copywriting business allows me to step into a bigger vision to encourage women to step into their power. So I view my business as a vehicle to improve the world, one small step at a time.

I’m driven by my mission to empower women to fully express themselves and live in financially abundance, and I operate my business by these values.

To grow the business thoughtfully with ease and grace while adhering to our core values:
· Excellence in quality and customer service
· Responsiveness
· Transparency and clear communication
· Honesty and integrity
· Reliability
· Financial discernment
· Healthy boundaries
· Shrewd, thoughtful decision-making
· Free-time, flexibility, supported, valued and respected
· Joy, growth and enjoyment

Heather, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Of course! My name is Heather Martin and I have been writing since I was a young girl. Now I run a copywriting business and I write novels on modern women’s healing stories.

In 2017, I changed my career from sales/marketing to copywriting, working as an employee of a large company. When the pandemic hit, my fiancé and I wanted to move out of Los Angeles to have a quieter, more peaceful day to day life. I am originally from LA – a Valley Girl – and I was ready for the change. We moved back to Nate’s state of origin, Arkansas, into the hip and rapidly growing area of Northwest Arkansas. Fayetteville’s motto is “Keep Fayetteville Funky.”

When I told my employer we wanted to move out of state, they said: “That’s fine, but we’ll transition you from an employee to a contractor.” It required a leap of faith as I created contracts to sign going into the unknown. They retained me for copywriting work 1099 and from there, my business was born. Working in a larger company with a small marketing team and Product Managers meant that I had exposure to a range of professionals who knew my work ethic, creativity and meticulous nature. When people left for other companies, they would think of me for copywriting services and reach out. About 8 months after moving to A.R., I established an LLC. and signed my second official corporate client.

I became very busy and that’s when I started hiring freelance writers to work with me, establishing a company playbook that articulated my values, standards, and how writers would invoice and get paid. I am very proud to say that I have a writer who has been with me for two years and another writer who is going on about one year with me. I have harmonious relationships with them and I am grateful I’ve been able to cultivate that, as it did take some time to find the best writers for my business.

My copywriting company, HRM Communications, serves mostly B2B organizations in manufacturing, technology, SaaS, and cloud services. We take highly technical information and turn it into easy-to-understand marketing and sales copy for our clients. By focusing on quality while being fast, delivering on time every time, and keeping our customer’s goals in mind, we are able to deliver what they need. By taking a leadership role in the process, we give them peace of mind in addition to well written copy.

I’m proud of my persistence and visibility. It’s important to see representation of a successful businesswoman who is consciously abundant and driven by her values.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

My clients are B2B companies with a highly technical product or service who need an adept copywriter to translate it into quality copy that speaks to their prospects and clients. Because of this, I focus my marketing efforts on LinkedIn where many of my clients, co-workers, and prospects are. LinkedIn is a rich location for B2B connections and impressions that has helped me get new clients. I have a pre-planning process for each month that includes preparing two posts per week with images, and then it’s pre-scheduled one month ahead in Buffer. This enables me to be consistent no matter how busy my days and weeks are. There have been times I thought things weren’t working, but my consistency in messaging caught the eye of buyers and has helped me close 4- and 5-figure contracts. 

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I moved from Los Angeles to Fayetteville, AR, during the pandemic in 2020 and I was able to negotiate a contract with my employer to turn freelance. I REFUSED to sign my exit letter until I had a fully signed and executed contract for freelance copywriting services. It was not a guarantee, but it was the one thing I could influence. You should not be doing work unless you have a signed contract! It was possible that they would not continue to give me work and it was a HUGE leap of faith. It turns out  they continued to have me write the weekly blogs, social posts and more, and eventually I gained respect in the organization as a strategic consultant. I have worked with them since 2020 and my contract continues. Business requires a commitment to what you are doing even when it feels hard. Successful businesses I’ve worked in and with have one thing in common – absolute, resolute determination to succeed. You have to choose this every single day.

I’ve had writers that didn’t work out for one reason or another (low quality, bad attitude, not meeting deadlines) and I’ve had to persevere when that was emotionally hard. Because of my persistence, I’ve developed a small but mighty team of the right copywriters for my business. Less drama means more emotional energy to build what you want.

Despite paying my writers in a timely manner and negotiating the best payment terms I can, I can’t always control how quickly I receive payments from clients. I’ve had to be nimble and plan ahead so that I have the right buffer to handle when payments are late while still meeting all obligations. And my business is bootstrapped, meaning the funding comes from the profits of the company, not from a loan.

I’m grateful for my business and my team of women writers who help me deliver great services, support my dreams, and give me back some time to write my books.  

Contact Info:

• Website: https://heatherruthmartin.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathermartinwrites/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/msheathermartin/
• Other:  https://www.heathermartinauthor.com/

Image Credits
I own all these photos. Photographer for formal headshots = Autumn Abeyta https://www.autumnabeytaphoto.com/?fbclid=IwAR3sP5O0e-DfAw5XUkx__nKuUEnPeVIt9syGyDqoylVRVeL8ZViFMpE8d78