We recently connected with Jenny Roth and have shared our conversation below.
Jenny , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?
I didn’t start my business to build a legacy.
I just wanted to earn an extra $200 per month for my family so I could pay for my daughter’s dance lessons or have extra wiggle room in our grocery budget.
Legacy?
I was 28 with three kids, ages four and under.
I just wanted to work from home while still being a full-time mom to our daughters.
So, I made a list.
I wanted to work, but my work had to:
Be something I could do from home (check)
Make a difference for others (check)
Involve writing – the only subject I was naturally good at in school (check!!)
Armed with my tiny list and what in hindsight I now recognize as delusion, I started pitching myself to write article for local magazines.
I only made $50 per month as a writer.
Then $200.
Then $800.
Then …
I got hired as the managing editor for one of those magazines. They let me work from home.
Suddenly, I was making a part-time income and all the boxes were checked: Working from home, making a difference, writing.
It grew.
If I can make $800/month with my writing … can I make that much per week?
I could.
Pitching myself, applying for jobs, getting referrals … it was a slow claw to the top but within two years I gave my notice to my magazine job because my business, Jenny Roth Copywriting, had 7x that income.
Legacy.
I don’t feel comfortable with the word. My husband looks at the spare room that I turned into my office and says:
“You realize how cool it is that you just decided to do this one day and then built a business out of thin air, right?”
I don’t think it’s the business that is my legacy, though.
I hope my daughters instead look at me someday and say:
“She decided to do things and just DID them. And – she always loved us.”
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m a copywriter for female-founders with epic and goals and heart.
My job is to connect business owners with the clients they can help so they can do more good work and change more lives.
I become a partner to my clients.
I see their business and services and how incredible they are – and then I write words that make everyone else see it, too.
I see what they do for their clients that no one else does – and then I position their uniqueness in the market.
I mainly write sales page, website, and email marketing copy because those are the pieces that I see driving the biggest results for the business owners I work with.
I was raised by business owners. My parents started a company when they were 18 years old and they still run that today. So, I know what a business means to a family. I feel honored that I can help business owners grow and reach more clients with copy.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Three things …
#1 – A strong referral system
When I started my business, even though I was new and I wasn’t charging ‘premium’ rates – I still treated all of my clients like ‘premium’ clients. I gave them the best work I could. I over-delivered. I exceeded deadlines. I asked my clients “What would delight you in this project?” and then I did exactly that.
To this day, almost all of my clients come from referrals.
#2 – Relationships
I spend one day a week on building relationships. This includes pitching myself for speaking and collaboration opportunities, getting on phone calls, responding to messages, and helping promote my colleagues and friends. People buy from people. One of my best business coaches told me, “You don’t need more clients, you need more FRIENDS.” At the time, I didn’t agree with her. But she was right. Make those relationships without any expectation that it will lead to anything. Just treat people well, and you will be so surprised at what comes back.
#3 – Sticking to my strengths
I am a good writer. But, for a long time I tried to make myself use Instagram and other forms of social media and short-form video to market my services. It never worked and I never stuck with it because while these things work for a lot of people, they just aren’t my strengths or what I enjoy doing. Instead, today, I use email marketing and podcasting to reach clients. I enjoy both and have seen way better results because I’m working in my strengths. Your clients can tell when you love your marketing and what you’re selling and when you’re ‘dragging’ through it. So, you are always better off doing marketing activities you enjoy.
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
There was one time when I tested this model of “I get paid when you do copywriting.”
Basically, I pitched myself to a client and said I’ll write X, Y and Z for you, and you don’t have to pay me upfront. Instead, you can pay me a percentage of the sales we generate from this campaign.
It was risky because I was essentially working for free until their campaign ended.
The copy was in my control, but a lot of other variables were not.
In the end, the campaign worked and I made my highest income month ever. But, it isn’t something that I’ve done again.
I realized that while the pay out was nice, this was not a scalable or predictable business model, and not something that I want to build my company on or be known for.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jennyrothcopywriting.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennyrothcopywriting/
- Other: The Email Marketing Podcast: Www.jennyrothcopywriting.com/podcastOr find the show on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you get your podcasts
Image Credits
Bridget Samson Photography