
Starting a business is hard. And having enough runway to get off the ground is a big part of whether you succeed or fail. Content creator and author of the Hey, Freelancer newsletter, Blair Sharp, is our guest for the 416th episode of The Copywriter Cl...
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Blair Sharp
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Rob Marsh
This podcast episode is all about what I like to call Runway and maybe the best way to explain what I mean by that is a comparison of your business and an airplane. It takes energy to get airplane off the ground. The pilot needs to spin up the engines, the aircraft has to accelerate, the wing flaps need to be adjusted to get the lift so that the aircraft actually rises. And because all of that takes a bit of time, you need a Runway to move down. While it all comes together and oftentimes the longer the Runway the better, your business is a lot like that. Most businesses don't take off like rocket ships. They need Runway while you figure a few things out and you get the momentum to take off. It takes time. So having a long Runway can really benefit your business. Hi, I'm Rob Marsh and on today's episode of the Copywriter Club podcast, I'm speaking with content creator, part time psychometrist and author of the hey Freelancer newsletter, Blair Sharp. The way Blair has built her business is the perfect example of using a Runway and time to figure things out instead of just leaping into the unknown and hoping for the best. It's a model that a lot of freelancers could benefit from, so I'm hoping you'll stick around as she lays out how she's made it work for her. But before we jump in with Blair Tomorrow, October 9, 2024 is the day of our next Members Only training on how to create a lead magnet that not only helps you grow your list, but attracts your ideal clients and buyers, not just people who are looking for a free download. Our guest is Kennedy from Email Marketing Heroes and he's going to be sharing a totally new way to create lead magnets that create buyers. That's how he describes it, not how I describe it. If you want to build your own list or you want to be hired by clients who need help with emails and lead magnets for their lists, you need to see this masterclass. And the best way to do that is to join the underground@the copywriterclub.com TCU as a member, you'll have Access to dozens of expert trainings, all focused on helping you attract more clients and to help you get things done. I can promise you these trainings will help you build your skills and expertise so that you can raise your rates and earn the living that you deserve from your copywriting or content writing business. So jump in@the copywriterclub.com TCU today so you can join us for Kennedy's workshop and see all of the other resources that are there in the underground for you. And with that, let's go to our interview with Blair. Hey, Blair, welcome to the podcast. We want to start out by asking how you became a content writer. Actually also a psychometrist, I think is.
Blair Sharp
Yes, you said it correctly. Most people don't know what that is or know how to pronounce it.
Rob Marsh
Okay, so psychometrist. And you're the author of the hey Freelancer newsletter. And so. Yeah, let's dig into that. How did, how did you become all of these things?
Blair Sharp
Yeah, right. Well, it's kind of a long story and whenever I tell it, I don't really know, like, where should I start?
Rob Marsh
We've got 60 minutes here.
Blair Sharp
Possible.
Rob Marsh
Yeah.
Blair Sharp
So I've been a psychometrist, which means I test people's thinking. So I work at the Mayo Clinic. I've been there. I'm in Rochester, Minnesota. I've been at that job for just over 10 years. So I just hit my 10 year mark and I started writing for a local parenting blog just like on a volunteer basis in 2019, and really enjoyed it, just kind of like as a little hobby, you know, was doing a lot of like essays, some things in the community, and it was kind of like a nice, you know, other mom. It was like a mom blog, basically. Yeah. And so I started there and then I slowly started like dipping my toe into other kinds of writing and writing for other places. Just kind of one off things. In 2020. Then I decided to also go into Instagram a little bit more outside of my personal Instagram. And I created an alcohol free Instagram account, which is there's a whole space for every kind of content. Right. Like online, there's. There's a space for everybody. So there's a whole like sober Instagram. A sober section of Instagram, I guess you could say. And so I quit drinking in 2018. That's kind of like the background of that. But I started wanting to tell my story about that and just have it resonate with other people because that's kind of a hard thing to do. So I started Doing that. And that's what led me into more mental health writing. And I connected with different brands and companies and did some essays and did some topics about alcohol and sobriety and mental health and things like that.
Rob Marsh
So.
Blair Sharp
So that kind of got me into that lane, I guess. And I'm still working full time. I'm also a mom, so I'm doing all the things. So it's a very slow, like it felt kind of easy now that I'm looking back at it. I think I was a little stressed at the time when I'm doing all these different things for sure. And Instagram was just for fun, you know, it ended up being. I did make a little bit money, right, with like brands and things like that. Nothing too wild. But I wrote a blog in or an essay, I guess it was an op ed for Scary Mommy, which is a parenting website about my decision to quit drinking back in 2021, I think is when I wrote that. And that was the first time that I was like, whoa, I could really like, like Scared Mommy is a pretty big platform. So I was like, wow, I could really write for these big name brands and things like that. So that was my first like, aha moment. Like, maybe I should try this a little bit more. Like keep going and learn how to pitch places. Learn how to, how, how to be a writer today, you know. And so I did, I did that again slowly, just like one off things. Started making a little bit of money. Told my husband how much money I was making to prove that, hey, I could maybe like, you know, lessen my hours at work. And so I did that again slowly here and there. My supervisor would let me have days off and things like that. And so I eventually wanted to go part time at my work and I put in for that. And it took about a year to actually go part time. In that meantime, I was still kind of dropping my hours and working less. I was still writing and making money off of it. At some point in there too, I started calling myself a writer. Right. Like there's that moment, like I'm not like formally trained. I have a psych degree, you know, which is very good for writing actually. Right. And so I then once I dropped part time, which is about a year ago. So I've been doing almost a year. A year in October. Yeah. So now I kind of, I feel like my day job is now my side gig is kind of what I feel like. You know, I have insurance, of course, like that's a problem for a lot of, you know, small business. Owners, independent writers. So I have insurance through there. I have this dependable work. Just last week I worked an extra day just because I. A few of my contracts ended recently. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna come in tomorrow. And they're like, all right, we can use you. So it's really nice to have that, like, backup as just in those times, just in case, because I'm not very. I'm not very risky anymore in my, you know, old age.
Rob Marsh
Old age.
Blair Sharp
Yeah, I know I was a. I was a little bit more risky, hence the alcohol free story. But now I'm. I'm a little bit more risk averse. You know, a family and bills to pay. Need health insurance, which I could get for my husband too, but, you know, it's just nice to have that, like, background just in case. So.
Rob Marsh
Yeah, I love the way that you've built your story or the way that this developed. Because as we, as we said briefly before we started recording, there are a lot of copywriters right now who are looking for something to augment what they're doing. With copywriting, it's hard to find clients, and AI is a challenge in all of the things. That's not to say that there aren't tons of opportunities out there, because there are. But while you're going after those opportunities, it's nice to have a stable, you know, either a permanent client or an employer who can help with some of those hours. I like to think of it as extending the Runway. You know, if you're going to start a business and you've got, you know, $10,000 in the bank or whatever, that's your Runway. And when the money's gone, if you haven't figured it out now, you've got to, you know, go back to work or you got to do something right. And you've done a really great job of extending your Runway as you built a writing business.
Blair Sharp
I always have the Runway there just in case, Right?
Rob Marsh
Yeah.
Blair Sharp
And I was really careful too about that when I went into writing a little bit more as like writing for work. I call it writing for work. I was kind of writing for fun to begin with, you know, learning how much I should be paid and things like that. But when I first started, I made sure that I had kind of like a. A cushion of money, I guess. You know, I figured out the. The big thing was to figure out, like, okay, if I do drop to part time, how much money do I need? How much is just enough, right, to cover that part time drop and, you know, And I know that what that number is. So as long as I'm getting that every month, like I feel okay. I would like more than that. Obviously, you know, that's the goal. But so I still have, I still have, you know, I have that idea in my head and then I keep. Try to keep that much in that business account, you know, just in case, like for times like this, when I dropped or had I didn't drop clients, I few things ended. I had like a summer opportunity that just ended and then another one also. So there's things in the pipeline, but I'm in this like, weird as most of us, you know, who are doing freelance work here and there, you know, one off things, you have to kind of be ready for that in case, like I say, I get nervous. Like all my clients are going to want to like drop me like the same month, you know, and then I have no money coming in.
Rob Marsh
Right.
Blair Sharp
So it's good to just kind of have that, that background because then you're not stressing. Even though I'm. I'm still stressing.
Rob Marsh
But I. I think that's the freelancer fear. You all feel it because we know we. I mean there is risk here. You know, clients aren't forever. Projects don't always work out and every once in a while it all happens at the same time. And yeah, you panic and if you don't, like we said, if you don't have that Runway, it's, you know, now you're operating from a place of panic and clients can feel that and desperation and it's not a good place to be. So like I said, I love the way you've. You've built this sense. So I am curious. Talk to us about psychometry, being a psychometrist. Like what? Like measuring the way people think.
Blair Sharp
What even is that probably sounds way cooler than.
Rob Marsh
I'm like, I want to be a psychometrist, whatever.
Blair Sharp
Yeah, yeah. Well, we are looking for a few more people. So let me know if you want to move to Minnesota.
Rob Marsh
Yeah, that. Well, maybe after the winter. We'll see.
Blair Sharp
Yeah. Right. Right. So. Yes. So it's in the like the neuropsychology division. And so I work very closely with neuropsychologists. So I don't do any of the interpretation of the results of the test that I give. I just give the patients the test. So I'm sitting in across the table from a patient who comes in who might have like brain fog. Maybe they're, you know, older. It's not always older people there's a lot of people who are younger. Maybe they're. They have cancer or maybe they're going to have surgery. So they need like a before and after testing. So basically, like, it's between two and four hours that I sit with them.
Rob Marsh
Okay.
Blair Sharp
And give them tests. So I'm like, reading a story, and then I'm going to have you tell me the story back, and then I'm writing down everything, you know, keeping track of everything you're saying. You know, I might say numbers and then have you say the numbers back, and then I might say them and have you say them backwards. Things like that. Different puzzles, like putting blocks together to match a design, language. Things like, tell me all the animals you can think of in a minute, and then I'm stopwatch and I'm writing everything down. In the meantime, I'm also keeping an eye on the patient. Like, are there any behavioral things that I need to keep track of? You know, we write behavioral observations, which I think is very helpful. Again with the psychology piece of writing. Like, especially if you're writing to sell. Right. Like, if you're doing copywriting. I've get. I've gotten more interested in, like, email marketing lately, too. And just, like, I love writing, like, conversationally. Like, I'm just talking to a friend. And so I think, like, the emails, really, that's a good place for me to be if I, like, really enjoy it. I have to do work that I enjoy, too. Otherwise it will not. It will not last long for me. I will not want to do it much longer. So I also got. This is a whole nother topic, but I also got diagnosed with ADHD about a year ago.
Rob Marsh
Okay.
Blair Sharp
And so I'm learning a lot about those. Those little things that I just thought were me. Me being weird. Well, it is still me being weird, but so a lot of those. Those things are coming up as I'm, you know, trying to keep track of all my clients. I never had to do that before at Mayo. At my job, my day job, I'm. I'm doing. I'm reading the same story to every single patient, which sounds really boring, but it actually makes it really easy for me.
Rob Marsh
Okay. Yeah.
Blair Sharp
So.
Rob Marsh
So what. What are you measuring? Like, what is the measurement? Like, what's the purpose of the test?
Blair Sharp
So all the tests are different. There's a whole list of tests, and it might be. Usually every patient has, like, similar lists of tests, but it might depend on what they're there for. If they're having, like, a language issue, like aphasia or maybe they have, you know, visual issues. They might have a little bit more visual tests. So we were taught, we'll test like memory attention, problem solving, processing speed, language. We do some mood measures. Like, I don't know if you've heard of like the mmpi. We don't do that as often. It's like a personality questionnaire.
Rob Marsh
Okay.
Blair Sharp
Like that, but just like general thinking.
Rob Marsh
Yeah.
Blair Sharp
Which would be nice if everybody could just like have a baseline, one of these. Right.
Rob Marsh
Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking. It's like, this is why it's interesting to me because obviously you as copywriters, as marketers, we are interested in the way that our audiences think. And so, yeah, if, if everybody could show up and on your, on your, you know, sign up form on your website, they could basically say, yeah, I'm a, you know, my psychometry number is a nine or whatever. That might give some information.
Blair Sharp
Right? Yeah, yeah.
Rob Marsh
So, yeah, so you're. But so you're looking for this stuff so that you can either measure increases or declines over time or just to like set some baselines for different kinds of memory treatments or other functional things that are impacted by brain work.
Blair Sharp
Right. So the, the results, the, the numbers, their scores, I guess, will be compared to like the person's average, the average for that person's age and for education. Sometimes that plays into it too. So. Right. Like, I'm 38. They're not going to compare me to an 85 year old's memory. Like what it should be. Right. Based on like the normed data, you'd.
Rob Marsh
Come out, you should come out pretty good, I hope.
Blair Sharp
Yeah. Right. I always kind of joke with my patients, like to try to. Because it's hard, it's hard to do this stuff. It's frustrating, especially if they're struggling. And so it's also my job to like get them through three hours of testing.
Rob Marsh
Yeah.
Blair Sharp
You know, but it's like, yeah, well, you're 85, you know, like, I'm not going to compare you to a 20 year old. Don't worry. Like, you know, kind of joke around with them a little bit to keep them like, okay, yeah, you're right, you're right. You know, I'll just do my best. They just have to do their best, basically. But yeah, it's kind of frustrating for patients. So.
Rob Marsh
Yeah, well, that's, that's really interesting. So, I mean, you kind of started answering this, but what do you take from that that is directly applicable to your writing and to the way that you connect with your audiences.
Blair Sharp
I think just a big thing is just working with humans and, like, understanding people. I've always had jobs in that mental health psychology kind of area. You know, whether it be working with kids with autism. I worked. I ran a group home for adults with mental illness before this job. So I've always worked in that area, which kind of how. That's how I started in the mental health writing area field space. And so, yeah, I just think knowing what people think hard, not what they think, how they think, and kind of like, what kind of things would they want? Because I try to put myself too, in other people's position. Like, especially if I'm writing about a new topic that I don't really know much about, like, well, what would I want to know about? Like, as the person who's actually reading this, you know?
Rob Marsh
Yeah.
Blair Sharp
Or, you know, just making salesy things. Not salesy. I feel like that's very important these days, especially, like, people know when they're being sold to. Right. Especially with, you know, influencers and Instagram and TikTok and all that kind of stuff. Like, we know when you're just trying to sell me something versus, like, oh, you really like it and you want to, you know, share about it. So.
Rob Marsh
Yeah, yeah, it seems like you have. You probably have an advantage over a lot of content writers or copywriters where you, because of this experience and trying to understand people deeply and connecting with them, that, you know, that that may be a superpower of yours that a lot of us ought to be picking up on, are doing more things to develop.
Blair Sharp
Yeah, I should probably run with that a little bit more.
Rob Marsh
Well, I mean, if you were going to, you know, if I was going to say, blair, I need help with that, like, what would you say to me to help me develop that kind of empathy, connection with my audience?
Blair Sharp
As a writer, you mean?
Rob Marsh
Yeah, as a writer or, you know, for the people that I'm trying to connect with. You know, when I'm writing a sales page or an email or whatever.
Blair Sharp
Right. I would try to focus, kind of think about, like, the stuff, the kind of content that you like, you know, what makes you stop and read something or what kind of. I'm kind of thinking, like, I'm like a video Instagram sort of brain lately. But, like, what reels or what videos or blogs are you sharing with your friends? Like, what are you. What are you sending? And keep that in mind because that means like, okay, you're. You're picking up on that. You're. You're I don't know how to say it. Like, what are your likes? And then think of other people. That's probably the people that depending on the audience, right? Like if you're not the audience, then it's different. And of course, if you're just writing something like a how to and you just have to do bullet points, I would, a big time. I would keep in mind that people are. Have a short attention span these days. So just keep that in mind and talk to people, right? Like just talk to people. Connect with people. Like real life people in, you know, day to day have those conversations, friends and family. Just try to, try to put yourself in other people's shoes when you're just like in your day to day. And I think that helps me with writing.
Rob Marsh
It's interesting that you mentioned paying attention to what you connect with. Last week's episode of the podcast, I was talking with David Deutsch, a list copywriter, and that's one of the pieces of advice he gave as far as like improving your copy. He's like, you know, notice what you notice and then try to figure out why. Like, why did it connect with you? What is working? What made you curious about it? How does it hold your attention? You know, and, and that's, you know, a great way to start picking up on the stuff that works.
Blair Sharp
Was it, was it funny? Was there a joke? Did you, you know, what part of the. What, what part of your reading, let's say it's a blog at what or an article. What, what part of it did you kind of lose interest?
Rob Marsh
Exactly.
Blair Sharp
Yeah. And then why, like, why did it get boring? You know, I love again, like I said, like, I like to do work that I like. That should be obvious, right? For everyone, but it's not. So I love using humor and sarcasm and jokes. Not necessarily like pop culture references or anything like that. I like that. But I don't think that hits with everybody, especially you never know who's going to read it. But. So I like to add those kind of things in there, just that conversational too. Like it's people like being people like attention. They like when you think that they care that you care about them. So if you're talking to them in a tone. And again, this isn't going to be general overall writing, obviously, like not technical writing. You're not going to write like conversational maybe, I don't know, but I don't, I don't do that for that reason. So. But you know, just like saying things like, you know, what's the good. Or we have good news for you, or saying a sentence and then being like. Right. Like. Like those kind of like conversational. And I think reading out loud. I always read my stuff out loud before I am done with it a few times to make sure it just sounds. It flows Right. And doesn't sound too. Too stuffy or too much like a robot, I guess, these days.
Rob Marsh
Yeah. You've mentioned a couple things I think are really important to touch on. Like, number one, significance. So this. This psychological principle that we all need to feel important.
Blair Sharp
Yeah.
Rob Marsh
And so as a reader of something that a content writer writes or a copywriter writes, we have to feel seen and heard. And that is, you know, you can't just. You can't just be telling all the time. Right. There's that connection that you're talking about, which I think is really critical. And then the other thing, you know, as we talk about, like, noticing where people drop off, that is so hard in your own writing. Because when we're writing things down, everything is important, everything is good. We wouldn't put it in if we didn't think it was good.
Blair Sharp
Right, right.
Rob Marsh
And so having that second reader or something that can tell you where that drop off matters.
Blair Sharp
Yep. And yeah, definitely, like a second set of eyes that's totally even coming back to something a day or two later. I really try to avoid writing, editing, turning in something all in one day. Sometimes you just have to. Right. So you might have to take a break and come back. But it's wild sometimes, like, I will turn something in. It'll be like two weeks later. I might read it when it's published or whenever. And I'm like, oh, that was awful. No, I thought it was, like, no good. I'm like, oh, good. Or like, I'll read it out loud to my husband. And he's like, oh, pretty dang good.
Rob Marsh
Like, sometimes I'll have the opposite. Where. Yeah. Where I'll pick up something not. Not that's been published, but I've picked up something that I've written a few days ago. I'm like, oof, yeah. Wow. That's got to be way better than what I've got down on paper.
Blair Sharp
And that's. That's why the second, you know, glance at it, I try not to do too many glances. Like. Right. You could sit there all day or all week and go over and over and over it. At some point, it's just got to be good enough. But that's another. That's a problem of mine of, like, what's good enough? You, like, don't need to, you know, make the Mona Lisa here, but, you know, you try Picasso, maybe.
Rob Marsh
Yeah. So let's, let's turn the conversation just a little bit. You know, as you, you had this job that was, you know, your Runway basically allowed you a little bit of freedom to start building a side hustle as a copywriter or as a content writer. And I'm curious, okay, as you sort of figured that out, that's what you were going to do, what did you do to start connecting with your clients? What kinds of pitches were you doing or how were you connecting with people in order to, you know, get gigs later on?
Blair Sharp
Yes, I am of the mind of just throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Right. Like, it kind of goes back to when I was on alcohol, on Instagram, posting about alcohol free life and things like that. So I one day just DM'd like 14 different brands that I knew either, like, had a blog or a newsletter or, you know, obviously a website and was just like, hey, wondering if you need any help with writing because I am available. There's a very short, like, even places that I hadn't ever even, you know, just cold DMing them.
Rob Marsh
Yeah.
Blair Sharp
And one of the first people that responded was a treatment center. And the person was like, oh my gosh, you have excellent timing. And I was, was like. And so then I went and got a call from them like, you know, a few days later, a week later, and she's like, oh, when you DM'd me, I was like, in the going away party for our content person.
Rob Marsh
Wow.
Blair Sharp
When I.
Rob Marsh
That is good timing.
Blair Sharp
Isn't that crazy? And things like that happen all the time. Like, I don't know if it's just me or just. I really notice those universe. The universe is doing the thing, you know, that it does. It's good to, good to recognize when that happens because it does happen. People just don't recognize it. But anyway, so, yeah, I started writing for them and then, you know, building up like sort of a portfolio with that volunteer mom blog role, I guess not really a job because I wasn't getting paid, but I had a lot of, like, published clips. You know, no one else didn't know that it wasn't my job. I just put it in a portfolio. I made a website. People say you don't need a website. I prefer to have a website because it's easy to just, here's my, here's my website, right? Here's my links. My website's pretty basic. It's not anything too extravagant. But I just started getting on all the newsletters that send out freelance jobs or pitch places that want editors, you know, editors that are looking for pitches for certain topics and just started pitching, started making connections. I had a lot of connections with that Instagram account, so I grew it to like 18,000 followers in like a couple years. So I was, I was kind of like known a little bit in that space. So I would, I would, you know, reach out to certain beverage brands and I did some articles for them and things like that. So just like little by little, really.
Rob Marsh
Yeah.
Blair Sharp
Making connections with other writers. I started posting content on LinkedIn in like 20. I wrote all this down. I don't remember where, but about two years ago, so about 20, 22 is when I started posting stuff on LinkedIn, connecting with other writers and just like becoming friends with people that are in my ear. My, you know, writing community, I guess. And so when I'm even just like a couple weeks ago when I was looking for some more clients, I would send out a message like, hey, let me know if any of your clients are looking for more writers or if you see anything that you think would fit. And so I've gotten jobs from that. Like, people will say, oh yeah, hey, here's the name of my editor, here's the editor's email. Like just giving me those kinds of things. Because, you know, the whole search of trying to find an editor's email or a content lead's email, like, which can be kind of fun. I feel like I'm pretty good at finding the information, but I have no problem just like sending a cold message out like, hey, or a cold dm, hey, you know, I'm available. Here's some of the stuff that I've done. Let me know if you need any help. Super, super, like short. I might throw in like a. I know you're busy, so I'll keep this short so that they.
Rob Marsh
And that is that usually the initial contact that you're sending out is just that, that real brief pitch.
Blair Sharp
Yeah.
Rob Marsh
And then how do you follow up?
Blair Sharp
I'm not great at following up again.
Rob Marsh
So typical of us as copy all. I'm not sure that I've met more than a handful of writers who are like, oh yeah, I am the cop. I'm the follow up person. King or queen, whatever.
Blair Sharp
I usually don't actually, unless it's like something that I know they're looking for people. Maybe like if it's just like a cold message, like, hey, I See, you have a blog that you haven't, you know, updated in six months. Do you need any help with that? I might not respond back. I don't want to, like, bug people because I. I hate when people bug me like that. So I don't want to be that person. But, yeah, just a lot of it is just making connections with people online on LinkedIn. I know, I know they say, you know, you don't need to have a personal brand or you don't need to be on social media. I think it's helped me a lot. I think it's helped me a lot being on LinkedIn and posting on LinkedIn regularly, meeting people, making those connections.
Rob Marsh
And you do have. You do have a brand. Like, you've got brand colors. You show up, you know, the same way, you know, in everything that I see, particularly with your newsletter and the assets around that. Talk about, you know, how you went about developing that choosing. I mean, it's. It's a kind of a bright pink color. It really stands out.
Blair Sharp
Yeah, all of my stuff that I have is so random. Like, I have a picture. I took some, like, branding photos, I guess is what they're called, a few years ago, and I was wearing this dress that I wore for our, like, our wedding. What is that? The. The rehearsal dinner.
Rob Marsh
Right.
Blair Sharp
This pretty flowery dress that some of my. I'm in some of my pictures, but it's old at this point. It's old. My hair is shorter, but. And I went to Canva and I was just, like, looking, you know, the dropper that you can use to find the colors. And I was like, oh, that's a nice pink. And it was like one of the pinks that was on the dress. And, like, that's just the pink that I started using. And that's how it works.
Rob Marsh
So random, but it works.
Blair Sharp
Yeah. Isn't it random? And then. Yes. So I just did that. And all this. I mean, like I said, I'm not trained in any of this stuff. YouTube is my best friend. I have learned how to make a banner, make a newsletter, make a newsletter header, things like that. Like, all that branding stuff, I've really just learned by YouTube or Googling, like, Google. Google's actually my best friend. Probably just learn on the go. Learn as I go. Whatever I need as I need it. Right now I'm kind of trying to figure out how to use Cap Cut to make videos for Instagram. I'm back on Instagram again. I'm back on Instagram again. But I'm back On as myself. Just a person. Not, not a freelance writer, not a alcohol free person. Just posting whatever I think is funny and, and having fun now.
Rob Marsh
Very cool. So what does a typical project look for you once you connect with that client? They come back to you. What are you doing?
Blair Sharp
Yes, so I am. I like to be really organized. So I want to make sure first like that I know exactly what they are expecting. You know, whether or not they give me a brief or some. Some of my clients just give me like a title and that's what they, you know, and depending on whether or not they want SEO, they want me to use, you know, SEO in. Keep that in mind or not. Some of my clients are just like, just write it.
Rob Marsh
And they just want the words.
Blair Sharp
Yeah, yeah. So I make an outline first. First, always an outline. I have to have an outline. I can't just go for it, but I usually will. So I do an outline and then I will just kind of. Let's just say it's a blog or an article. I'll just kind of pick a spot that I can just start like what, what, what's the easiest place to start versus starting at the top. And it might be the top, it might be the introduction. I don't know. It depends on the day, depends on my mood. Right. And I just start writing and then eventually I just, it just comes together. It's like magic because I just pick a spot and then I, and I pick another spot and I write that section and then I write, you know, and then I'm, I don't do a lot of like upfront research necessarily. I will research as I go, which maybe isn't the most time effective thing, but it works, it works for me.
Rob Marsh
So. So yeah, I mean, I'd love to step through an example of how you do this. Yeah. Because it doesn't sound like you're using a template or that you've got a framework that you're writing to. You're just, you're just, you've got the idea and it's going to come out. Right. So I mean, you don't have to use a real project if you want, but let's say that you're writing, you know, an article about psychometry. Right. Yeah. Which you, you probably actually don't have to do a lot of research on that because you know it. But you, you start with whatever feels comfortable. You go back like what is. Yeah, I would, I'm trying to outline the process for you.
Blair Sharp
Sure. Like. Yeah, right. Thank you. Something relatable. Right. In the beginning to kind of get people to know that they. Or get people to think that they need to keep reading. Like, oh, this is for me, you know, maybe a question.
Rob Marsh
Great.
Blair Sharp
I write for a women's health website called Rescripted. And so same with. Same with that. Like, I do a lot of, like, we're talking symptoms of something, right? So, like, I might say like that, you know, tummy bloat, for example. Just like the last one I wrote, you know, something that's like, relatable to get people like, oh, yeah, I do that. I do have that problem. I need to. I need to keep reading. I need to know what the fix is. But, yeah, psychometry. I don't know who's going to read that.
Rob Marsh
That's a hard topic.
Blair Sharp
What is a psychometrist? That could be a good. Yeah, but then, yeah, relatable something in the beginning, like, depending on if you're writing to someone who has memory issues or if you have a person who's a family member has memory issues, like, how to deal with that. So it might be like this, you know, question of, like, does your dad keep forgetting, you know, where he put his keys? And you have to make a lit. You know, just like something really relatable. And then going to like. And then I usually start off with just like, the basics, like, what would be like, what is a psychometrist? And then very, like, maybe dry, but make it. Make it fun because, like, that would be a dry.
Rob Marsh
Sure.
Blair Sharp
I'd really have to really give a lot of. Put a lot of oomph into that one. And then I really like to have my headers, like, picked out from the beginning. They don't have the words, don't have to be exact. Like, I'll change them up a little bit. But as far as, like, organizing it, I really like to have it organized first and see it not necessarily what I'm going to put in each area, but, like, what the areas are. Like, what are the different headers? Like the H2s, you know, that you're going to put.
Rob Marsh
It's like you're signposting for yourself as you're writing. Does that make sense?
Blair Sharp
Yes. Yep. So I do that. And then I usually save the ending for, like, the end, just to see how it ends. But. And then I always try to make sure that it flows, you know, from one to the next so it's not choppy and like, in block form, like, it kind of flows into the next section.
Rob Marsh
So, yeah, I mean, it makes sense. I write very Similarly, I tend, because I write so much sales copy, I tend to. It's not necessarily a framework or a template, but I kind of know the 10 or 14 things that need to be included at some point. But it's almost never in the same order. Right. You know, it's like, well, sometimes this goes first and sometimes I want to start with the personal story, whatever that is.
Blair Sharp
So yeah, and it all depends too, like on, on who I'm writing for. Like, what do they want? You know, I was writing some emails for a silver brand. This person had a podcast or has a podcast and a silver membership. And so I was writing these emails. Those were super easy to write because that was like me, right? Like my quitting drinking and things like that. So that was a lot more like putting emotion into it, getting people to feel seen for sure. In that stuff. A lot of the mental health, getting people to be like, oh, I'm not the only person that's going through this. Like, oh, I did, I did that too. I didn't realize that other people did that. Like those kind of things, like those aha moments like, wow, I really need to like keep reading this or I need to share this with someone that I know. Things like that.
Rob Marsh
So as you figured this stuff out, you've built a business. You next, you launched a newsletter to help other freelancers do the same. Tell us about, hey freelancer, why you launched it and what it, what it's about.
Blair Sharp
Sure. So everything kind of always goes back to like me starting on Instagram. I did start like an alcohol free newsletter when I was back on Instagram. I just knew that I liked to write and so that was a way to write. And Instagram, you know, is very visual, visual platform. So I got into writing there. I kind of like lost the love for that topic. So I only did it for maybe four or six months or something like that. But then when I got to LinkedIn, I started talking about freelancing and creating and writing online and all that kind of stuff. And people really were resonating with the stuff that I was posting on LinkedIn and stories and you know, I would say how I did something and people like, oh my gosh, like I never even thought of that or something like that. And so grew my following on LinkedIn. I started a newsletter called the Relatable Create. The Relatable Creator. That's what it was called. First, I didn't want people to call me the Relatable Creator, but that's ended up what people are having because people always Say like, oh, you're so relatable. You're so like normal, you know. And it wasn't, it was very vague. It was, you know, you have to niche down if you want like to grow. And so as soon as I decided to switch to just freelancers because that was what a lot of my subscribers were anyways. So I was like, okay, this is easy. I just changed the name to hey, Freelancer. Started writing just about freelancing. And that's when I really saw it take off. Because that's where all the freelancers are, right? On LinkedIn. Everybody's on LinkedIn trying to get jobs and connect with other people. So, yeah, I started writing about freelancing and it grew and I did my real. It's not a secret, but like my, the way that it grew, I think the fastest was that it goes out on Tuesdays and on Monday on LinkedIn, I would write a post. Every Monday I would write a post that related to the topic of Tuesday's newsletter. And then it'd be like, if you want to hear more, subscribe to the newsletter. It comes out at 6:00 tomorrow morning. And then that's when I, that's how I got like so many subscribers. I'm. I haven't been sharing. I have like 1500 right now. I haven't been sharing it any really anywhere else as much. Just LinkedIn. I can't do two platforms at once. It's just like too much for my brain. It's. I can't do them.
Rob Marsh
Well, I'm right there with you. I, I struggle, you know, I, I know I should be posting on Twitter. I should be on LinkedIn. Pinterest should be a thing, right? My Instagram account is a mess. You know, it's. Yeah, yeah, it's, it's hard to do more than one or two things. I will say, you know, for me, I do email really well. Like, we have a daily email that goes out and you know, like, that happens. So that's our one thing. Everything else is sketch. So I totally get what you're saying.
Blair Sharp
Yeah. And so I also, you know, there's this like, thing that's always happened to me is like my social accounts or whatever will following will grow, grow, grow, grow, grow. And then I have my friends who are like, oh, you got to do something with that. Like, you have to leverage that. You have to make money off of that. And I'm like, oh, I know. Like, I feel like I'm leaving money on the table. So, like, the plan was to always make products, digital products, like, make, you know, freelancing, roadmap, or here's whatever. That was always the plan. And I had, like, weeks where I would go, okay, I'm gonna sit down, I'm gonna brainstorm it. You know, I wrote it all out, like a big mind map on my whiteboard, and I was like, yeah. And then I just, like, never would finish it. So now I'm kind of in this, like, weird space. I'm like, you know what? Just do what you like to do. Like, just do what you like to do. Because if, for me, if I don't do something that I enjoy, it becomes a chore and then I quit, which is fine. Like, quitting is great. I love quitting things that don't make you, you know, energized. But with content, we know that if it becomes a chore and it. And it is something that you don't actually like doing, it's going to show up in the writing. Like, people are going to know that. It's just like, yeah, I chat GPT, like, five ways to start freelancing. And then I just put it in my newsletter. You know what I mean? People are going to know. So I'm trying to figure out how to. So I've taken a little break on the newsletter. Just a few months, just randomly was like, I'm going to stop doing it because it's become a chore and I'm going to figure out what I'm doing. So right now I'm, like, in the figuring out stage, and I think I'm just going to start writing about stuff that I like to write about related to freelancing, related to work, versus these, like, tips and tricks and advice. I mean, it's advice, but it's more experience advice and, like, storytelling, because that's how I'd rather write. I'm not like, this, like, guru, this LinkedIn guru, you know, like, here's how I made $10,000 in. In two days as a freelance writer. And I just started like, you know, those. Those. I'm just not that person. And I think it took me time to realize I've always known that I'm not that person, but it took me time to realize I don't have to try to be that person either.
Rob Marsh
I have a feeling, too, if you started writing that, your newsletter audience would be like, wait a second. This isn't the Blair we signed up to hear from.
Blair Sharp
Yeah. So that's what I'm worried about. That's why I haven't Done it yet. It's like on my list. But I think I'm gonna try to, you know, give sort of a, Give me a chance and like stick around for a little bit. And then if you don't like it that, like, I totally understand. There's tons of people who do educational type writing. Right. Like, here's how you make a website. Here's how you, you know, DM somebody. Which I, that's. I can write about that too. But we don't all have to be the same thing. And we, and we don't all have to have the same people who are interested in reading our, our, our work either. Right. Like, I think we get hung up on that too. Like, I don't like every writer. I don't how they write. You know, I don't. We don't resonate. But there are people that do. There are people for that person. We don't have to be everybody's person. So it's hard to, especially if you're online and you're seeing everybody else's posting, you're like, oh, look at all those comments and those likes. You know, like, maybe I should do more of that. But then I'll do it for a little bit. But then, you know, I don't want to after a while.
Rob Marsh
So it's not authentic.
Blair Sharp
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I really just like want to be myself.
Rob Marsh
Yeah.
Blair Sharp
So.
Rob Marsh
Well, yeah. Okay. So. And when you're, when you are writing the newsletter, like what is that process? Are you. Do you spend like all day Friday researching, writing? Is it, you know, two hour thing, pretty easy to do? What is that?
Blair Sharp
That one is templated.
Rob Marsh
Okay.
Blair Sharp
I gave a template for that. So I have a Google sheet that has topics listed. You know, I wrote all the weeks out and I just wrote, put in topics kind of as placeholders. I'll move them around a little bit. It might depend if I get like a sponsor or something like that. I might have to write about something else. But I just, I don't have a specific day. So my weeks are Mondays and Tuesdays. I'm at my day job at Mail as a psychometrist. And then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, I'm at home. So I have three days to do writing or any of those other things. And so I just kind of fit it into my schedule. I don't always feel super creative every single day. I don't know about you.
Rob Marsh
Yep.
Blair Sharp
No, it's your personal stuff. It's different for like if you're, if it's a client and they're Paying me. I can sit down and.
Rob Marsh
Yeah, you got to crank it up. Right.
Blair Sharp
I can do it. Yep. But I might wake up and be like, oh, shoot. You know, I didn't fall asleep till midnight last night. I couldn't fall asleep. I'm so tired. Just can't do it today. I have to do this or that. So I. I just kind of fit it in where I fit it in. And to be honest, towards the end of before, I just took this little break of the newsletter, I was doing it last minute. And I also hate that I don't like doing that. I want to, like, sit down in the morning. Okay. This is, like, every writer's dream, right? To sit down in the morning with a cup of coffee and the sun is shining in. And, like, you want that, but, like, that's, like, not the reality sometimes.
Rob Marsh
Very rarely, though. Very rarely.
Blair Sharp
Those, like, two days a year are great.
Rob Marsh
Yeah, exactly.
Blair Sharp
You know, but, gosh, I love those days. I just wish I could, like, bottle those days up. Like, okay, what did I do? What did I eat that made me feel that way?
Rob Marsh
Yeah. The day before, how did I. How did I fall asleep on time?
Blair Sharp
Where did I go for a walk? Let's retrace. Like, that would be ideal, right, to, like, wake up and sit down. But. But it got to be where I was doing it last minute. I didn't like that. I didn't like rushing it, because then it felt like it wasn't really me giving my full, like, energy to. So I'm. I'm trying to figure out. I think this is a thing for a lot of people, just constantly trying to figure out the best way to. To do good work, especially their personal projects. It's hard when you have personal projects.
Rob Marsh
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Balancing client work with. With your own business is one of the biggest challenges that freelancers face. Yeah, for sure. For sure. So I want to ask you about your sober story, your, you know, the alcohol story, which is part of your origin. What led to that and, you know, how has it impacted your life?
Blair Sharp
Yeah. So I'm a pretty open book with that. I've written about it a lot. I've been on, you know, over, like, 20 podcasts talking about it. So this short version, I was always, like, a binge drinker with no off switch. That's what I. That's what I say once. And this is, like, for anything, like, if I have caffeine, like, if I drink something now, like, I need to have it make it count. Like, it needs to have caffeine. In it. Like, I'm not just drinking some bubbly water. Like, I need caffeine or something. So it's definitely, like, my brain. That's just how it's wired. That's just how some people's brains are wired.
Rob Marsh
Yeah.
Blair Sharp
When I. When I would have, like, one drink, I'd be like, what's the point? I still don't see the point of one drink. Like, I would want to buzz. Like, I want something out of it, you know? And the problem with me was that, like, I wouldn't ever want it to stop. I was never a daily drinker. I didn't, like, lose my marriage or, you know, I did get a DUI when I was, like, 25. I'm 38 now, so I did have that happen. But, you know, I'm in Minnesota or the Midwest. Like, I could name off, like, five or six of my friends who also have DUIs, you know? Like, it's. So that was kind of, like, normalized, too, this binge drinking. It's not as much anymore, and I think social media has to do with it because people don't want their. I can't imagine having, like, Snapchat when I was in college. Like, the things that would have gotten sent without me knowing, you know? So, yeah, I had a blast in college. Made tons of mistakes, tons of memories. But then when I got out of college, it was like, okay, now you should calm down. And I. I got good jobs. I was functioning right. I wasn't, like, waking up drinking. I wasn't drinking every day like I said. But on a Friday night, I would go, you know, go out with friends or whatever, and I would just get super drunk. Like, I would be a bin. Like, binge drinking, which is what most of us did. And then eventually it just got hard to keep up. Like, the hangovers got way worse. You know, I was having to drink more just to, like. I don't know. I guess I was just drinking more and more. And then I became a mom when I was 30.
Rob Marsh
Okay.
Blair Sharp
And that's really when, like, there was no. It was. It was a problem, but it was, like, the same problem, like, everybody had, right? Like, oh, got too drunk last night. What happened? Right.
Rob Marsh
Yeah.
Blair Sharp
And then I became a mom. And then I'm like, oh, shoot, now I am responsible for another human, not just myself, you know? And so I. I had no problem quitting drinking when I was pregnant. Didn't miss it. Which is kind of interesting. Like, you know, there's.
Rob Marsh
Yeah, there's some psychology there that it Was almost like.
Blair Sharp
It's a. It was like a. Here's a break that you didn't know you needed. Right. But I did get back into drinking, like, after I had him. And there was one night it was super. Like, this could have been any night. Like, this could have just happened where my husband was away and I was home with him, with my son. He was sleeping. Like, I was just, you know, having some wine, because that's what mom's are supposed to do after a hard day, you know, like this whole mommy wine culture.
Rob Marsh
Yeah.
Blair Sharp
And I, like, tripped over the baby gate, just, like, ran. Like, this isn't like, a weird thing. Trip to the baby gate, dropped the wine glass, shattered the wine glass, and I'm, like, cleaning it up. And my husband gets home and he says, like, you can't. I don't think you should drink anymore. Like, with him. With him at. In the house alone. Right. He had put on, like, little. Little, like, rules for me to. He doesn't drink, by the way, which is interesting. He has, like a. He's like a bad stomach. So it's like a physical thing. It's not like he. He didn't have, like, a drinking problem, but he had put on rules, like, okay, if you're gonna go to so and so's house, just stay overnight. Like, I don't really want to be around you, you know, because you just don't stop talking and then you stay up all night and all this stuff. But he said to me, I think you should stop when you're around him alone. And I was like, oh, so, like, that kind of, like, made me think a little bit differently. And that following Monday, I was at work and I read an email from Scary Mommy and a blog about a mom who doesn't drink. And I was like, oh, there are people that just, like, decide to not drink anymore. Not. Not because they went to rehab or because they live under a bridge or they went to jail. Like, they just decided alcohol is not serving them anymore, so they decided to quit. Like, I didn't even know. Like, it was almost like I got the okay to just don't do it.
Rob Marsh
Yeah.
Blair Sharp
You know? And so I actually looked up the author of that blog on Facebook and sent her, like, this 900 word DM.
Rob Marsh
Wow.
Blair Sharp
Like, telling her what happened that night before. Like, what do I do? I don't even know where to start. What should I do? And she said, you don't have to drink anymore. I was like, oh, never thought about that. Like, I just didn't think it was a thing. All my friends drink again. I live in the Midwest. This is what we do. Sunday football, right? It's Bloody Mary's after you go out the night before. Like, it's all these things. Alcohol is. So it's everywhere. Right. It's not just the Midwest. But I was like, oh, my gosh. So she gave me a bunch of resources to give me, like, books to read, podcasts to listen to, and I dove headfirst into all that stuff, and I did not drink again after that day.
Rob Marsh
Wow.
Blair Sharp
So I count that day. It's February 26, 2018. I count that Monday is the day that I decided I don't count, like, the last time I drank, even though it was a few days prior, because I didn't think about not drinking forever until I talked to that or until I read that blog. And that's where that op ed kind of came in for Scary Mommy is. The op ed is about me reading the Scary Mommy article and then deciding not to drink because of that article. So it's kind of like full circle the universe.
Rob Marsh
Yeah, well. And I mean, you didn't. This isn't the point of your story, but how important content is in our lives. And content writers, we don't always see the impact that we have. I mean, you know, not all contact, all content is going to change a life, but there's an opportunity there where we can make a real difference when we do our jobs really well. So, again, I know that wasn't really the point of your story, but as you talking about this.
Blair Sharp
No, but it's true. That's so true. Because then when I started posting on Instagram and sharing my story, I would get these messages, just like the message that I sent. And whether it be like a post or a reel or maybe I used to write on medium a little bit. So I would write blogs on medium and then share those, and people would be like, whoa, I just read that. And that was me. How did you start? Here we go. I'm telling you the resources now, and I'm giving you the books and the podcasts to listen to. And yeah, it's pretty cool because I just wrote. Earlier this year, I wrote an article for Expectful, and it was about being a mom who doesn't drink, and it was the whole story. And like, as soon as that story got published, I was getting emails from people, readers, saying, wow, it's exactly like, what. That's exactly what my life looks like right now. Like, I don't know where to start, you know, like, how do you go out with friends? How do you survive the world without having, you know, wine at 5:00 after your long work day, you know, so it has to get bad enough. I would say it has to get bad enough for you to want to change it. You can't. And that's why it's so hard for like family members to try to get people to either quit drinking or, you know, doing drugs, things like that. Like, the person has to like, realize like, oh, I could live a better life. And honestly, I call it, I call it the secret to my life. Like, everything is different. Like, oh, what's different since you quit drinking? Everything. Like everything. Like, I probably, I wouldn't be talking to you today if I had. You know, like, it's just wild.
Rob Marsh
Yeah. So, yeah. And here's another copy lesson, right? Like you can't give your, your reader or your, your prospect desire, which is why we have to tap into where they are as opposed to try to convince them that they need to move to where we are. Which, yeah, basic copywriting skills. So, yeah. And just very life. Lifelike demonstration of it.
Blair Sharp
Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Again, the universe. I always think of the universe. I'm not very like, woo woo crystals and like birth charts or anything like that. I'm just like, things happen. Like if you put good stuff in the world, if you connect with people on a real life basis, like, things will happen.
Rob Marsh
Yeah, I'm the same. I'm not a woo woo guy, but I believe the universe gives us back what we put into it. So, yes, so much. Well, Blair, this has been great. Learning about you, your business and basically how you've built it on the side as you've been employed with an employer. And maybe you'll end up going full time. Maybe. Who knows what the future happens.
Blair Sharp
We'll see.
Rob Marsh
If people want to find out how that story ends though, or they want to connect with you, where should they go?
Blair Sharp
So everything's on my website. It's just BlairSharp.com also, you can find me on LinkedIn. I have a little cheese emoji next to my name. That's just because I like cheese. Really. It's not the sharp cheddar or anything like that. It's not the sharp pun. It just so happens. But yeah, I'm on LinkedIn. I'm also, again, like I said, I'm starting on Instagram, which I'm kind of having fun there. So that's called the Blair Sharp Project. That's my handle.
Rob Marsh
Amazing.
Blair Sharp
Blair Sharp the Blair Sharp Project so that's just fun stuff like funny, millennial mom, introvert, adhd, whatever I feel like writing or creating over there.
Rob Marsh
So we'll link up to all of that in the show notes so people can check you out. Thanks so much for being here.
Blair Sharp
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Rob Marsh
Thanks again to Blair Sharp for sharing so much about her business, her newsletter, and educating me on exactly what a psychometrist does, as well as her story about getting sober. I had a lot of fun and more importantly, I learned a bunch of stuff this interview. You can connect with Blair on Instagram at the Blair Sharp Project. She's got all of her links there and be sure to jump onto her newsletter list in case she starts sending that out again, as we talked about just a few minutes ago. You'll also see her popping up on LinkedIn quite a bit, and she's worth a follow there as well. That's the end of this episode of the Copywriter Club podcast. The intro music was composed by copywriter and songwriter Addison Rice. The outro was composed by copywriter and songwriter David Muntner. If you like what you heard, please hop on to Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever it is that you listen to your podcasts and leave us a review. I'd love to hear what you think about this episode or the show in particular. It really helps us to know what you like, and I've heard rumors that it helps other people find us as well. But even more important or even better than leaving that review, if you like this episode, think of somebody who, like you, could benefit from the things that Blair shared and copy the link from your podcast player or from Apple Podcast. Shoot off a quick email to them with the link and invite them to listen as well. I promise they will appreciate your thoughtfulness. And again, that's the end of this episode. We will see you next week. Copywriters coming together to help the world write better copy and make more money.
Blair Sharp
Kira and Ro Copywriters Club can make.
Rob Marsh
You lots of money.
Blair Sharp
Listen to it.
Rob Marsh
Kira and Rhaps Copywriters Club can make.
Blair Sharp
You lots of money as long as you listen through the whole damn episode.
The Copywriter Club Podcast #416: Extending the Runway with Blair Sharp
Release Date: October 8, 2024
Hosts: Kira Hug and Rob Marsh
Guest: Blair Sharp – Content Creator, Psychometrist, and Author of the "hey Freelancer" Newsletter
In episode #416 of The Copywriter Club Podcast, hosts Kira Hug and Rob Marsh delve into the concept of "Runway" in business with their guest, Blair Sharp. Blair, a multifaceted professional juggling roles as a content creator, psychometrist, and newsletter author, shares her journey of building a sustainable writing business alongside her full-time job. The discussion offers invaluable insights for freelancers seeking stability while growing their ventures.
[03:28] Blair Sharp opens up about her diverse career path. With over a decade of experience at the Mayo Clinic as a psychometrist, Blair ventured into writing in 2019 by contributing to a local parenting blog. Her passion for storytelling and mental health led her to explore various writing opportunities, gradually turning her hobby into a thriving side business.
Blair Sharp: "I started writing for a local parenting blog on a volunteer basis in 2019 and slowly dipped my toe into other kinds of writing."
Rob Marsh introduces the "Runway" metaphor, likening a business to an airplane that requires time and resources to gain momentum before taking off. Blair exemplifies this by maintaining her full-time job while steadily growing her writing endeavors. This approach provides financial security and flexibility, allowing her to transition smoothly into part-time work as her writing income increased.
[09:44] Blair emphasizes the importance of having a financial cushion to mitigate the uncertainties of freelance work.
Blair Sharp: "I always have the Runway there just in case."
Blair recounts her proactive strategy in acquiring clients, which involved reaching out to multiple brands simultaneously. Her persistence paid off when a treatment center responded to her cold messages, leading to her first significant freelance opportunity. Building a portfolio through volunteer work and leveraging her Instagram presence with 18,000 followers further solidified her reputation.
[25:13] She describes her outreach method:
Blair Sharp: "I DM'd like 14 different brands... and one of the first people that responded was a treatment center."
Transitioning from Instagram to LinkedIn, Blair launched her newsletter, initially titled "The Relatable Creator," which she later rebranded to "hey Freelancer." By aligning her LinkedIn posts with her newsletter content, she effectively grew her subscriber base to 1,500 within two years. Blair shares her templated approach to newsletter creation, ensuring consistency and relevance for her freelancing audience.
[37:46] Blair explains the evolution of her newsletter:
Blair Sharp: "I started a newsletter called the Relatable Creator, and then switched to 'hey Freelancer' because that was what a lot of my subscribers were anyways."
A pivotal moment in Blair's life was deciding to quit drinking in 2018. This decision not only transformed her personal life but also influenced her professional trajectory. Sharing her journey openly, Blair found that her authentic storytelling resonated deeply with her audience, fostering a strong connection and expanding her reach.
[47:12] Blair recounts the catalyst for her sobriety:
Blair Sharp: "After tripping over the baby gate and seeing my husband's reaction, I realized I needed to make a change."
Her story underscores the power of genuine content in creating meaningful engagement and demonstrates how personal experiences can enhance professional writing.
Blair imparts several key lessons for copywriters and freelancers:
Empathy and Understanding: Drawing from her psychometrist background, Blair emphasizes the importance of understanding how people think to create compelling content.
[17:12]
Blair Sharp: "I try to put myself too, in other people's position... to understand how they think."
Authenticity: Maintaining an authentic voice is crucial for building trust and connection with the audience.
[18:54]
Blair Sharp: "I want to be myself. Authenticity prevents the writing from feeling like a chore."
Consistency and Organization: Utilizing templates and maintaining an organized approach helps in managing multiple projects without feeling overwhelmed.
[44:34]
Blair Sharp: "I have a Google sheet that has topics listed... I just fit it into my schedule."
Leveraging Personal Stories: Sharing personal experiences can significantly enhance the relatability and impact of content.
[53:46]
Blair Sharp: "People can connect with your story, and it can change their lives."
Blair Sharp's approach to extending her business runway by balancing a stable job with her freelance passion offers a blueprint for freelancers aiming for sustainable growth. Her emphasis on empathy, authenticity, and strategic networking provides actionable insights for copywriters seeking to build meaningful connections and a resilient business.
For those interested in following Blair's journey or connecting with her, visit BlairSharp.com or find her on LinkedIn and Instagram under the handle The Blair Sharp Project.
Notable Quotes:
Blair Sharp on Runway:
"I always have the Runway there just in case." [09:44]
Blair Sharp on Authenticity:
"I want to be myself. Authenticity prevents the writing from feeling like a chore." [18:54]
Blair Sharp on Personal Impact of Content:
"Content can change lives when we do our jobs really well." [53:46]
This episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast provides a deep dive into building a sustainable writing business, the importance of personal storytelling, and strategies for connecting authentically with an audience. Whether you're a seasoned freelancer or just starting, Blair Sharp's insights are both inspiring and practical.
For more episodes and resources, visit thecopywriterclub.com.