We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Taylor De la Fuente. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Taylor below.

Taylor, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

The difference between Corporate America and Small Business America (and the reason why Corporate America will never be able to succeed creatively the way that Small Business America does) is vulnerability. True connection comes from intimacy, and you can’t gain intimacy without vulnerability. But large corporations rarely want to be honest, and even when they are, they do it as a last resort rather than in earnest. This is where small businesses will always have a leg up, if they’re brave enough…. people want to work with people, not companies, and small businesses have vulnerability, bravery, and trustworthiness in spades.

Taylor, 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?

Copywriting, in its simplest form, is writing words that sell. But to sell in the creative service space, where purchases are luxuries rather than necessities and often make a huge impact to someone’s life or business, it’s not enough to just sell, sell, sell. You have to show off your head and your heart; approach your work with an attitude of service; and be vulnerable. This is what I really do, as the owner and copywriter behind Lemon Tree Editorial: I *see* creative business owners, and tell their stories in a way that helps their customers get to know them, begin to like them, and form trust with them. I give them confidence in their messaging and remind them why they do their work. In turn, this helps them do their work with even more conviction, and brings new, enthusiastic clients through the door. This is mostly done through website copy, but our team also writes email copy, social media copy, blogs, and more. We’re successful at writing sales copy because we eat our own dog food: we are vulnerable, brave, and honest, just as we encourage our clients to be.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

2022 was the worst year ever in my business. We closed the year at a loss, and I had to pay myself through my personal savings for the final three months of the year. And it’s all my fault. I had hired a team earlier in the year, but didn’t realize until many months later that I was paying them too much; I had structured their pay based off of running a one-person business, rather than a small agency. Despite lowering their pay rates and increasing our client-facing rates, my savings were quickly depleted and I had to end my maternity leave early just to try and financially rescue the business.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

When I first started my business (and for several years after), my best referral source was through speaking on podcasts and at online summits. I think this worked for several reasons: first, I gave away many of my best tips for free. The people with experience in copywriting knew that I was legit, and the people who didn’t saw how legit I was. In both cases, my generosity fostered trust. Secondly, because I gave my tips away for free, people attempted to DIY them and realized just how damn hard they were, and often hired me as a result. Lastly, speaking helps me get my personality across and helped people see what makes me different (how straight-forward I am).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lteditorial.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/lteditorial

Image Credits
Photos by V The Photographer.