Make Your Copy Count Ltd

25/09/2026

So many small business owners underestimate how much of running a business is about sales and marketing.

You need clients.

It doesn’t matter how good you are at the thing you offer. It doesn’t matter how much money you spent on your fancy website. It doesn’t matter how many of your friends tell you how great you are.

You need people to give you money in exchange for your products or services.

Until you make that happen, you haven’t got a business.

You can create a Facebook business page, attend every networking event in town, get 10,000 followers on Instagram, do free webinars once a week, have a thousand free discovery calls with “potential clients”

But until those activities generate paying customers, you have not got a business.

You need to find a way to get leads and then convert those leads into sales.

It might sound harsh, but it’s true.

And until you get comfortable with selling, you’re really going to struggle as a freelancer (unless you can find someone to take care of the sales part on your behalf).

But if the thought of selling scares you, don’t panic.

Selling doesn’t have to involve cold-calling. Or presenting highly-polished pitches. Or sitting in a room pressuring people into buying from you.

Selling doesn’t have to be uncomfortable.

If you genuinely offer something of value, you should want people to know about it. In fact, you’re doing them a disservice by not letting them know it exists.

And that’s where your marketing comes in. Find a way to get your message in front of the right people (your ideal clients) at the right time.

And if you need help with that, book one of my 90-minute strategy sessions here: https://makeyourcopycount.com/copy-consultation/

24/09/2026

If you want to get people interested in your products and services, you need to show them why they need your products or services.

Sometimes your ideal client will already know they need what you offer. Other times you’ll need to show them they have a need.

Take cat food versus cat toys as an example.

People know they have to feed a cat – it’s a given. So if you sell cat food, you don’t have to convince your prospects they need cat food - they already know.

What you’ll need to do instead is convince them they need your cat food. What makes it better than your competitor’s food?

In comparison, cat toys are not essential, so you have to create the need. You have to show people they have a problem or a potential problem you can solve. You need to generate interest in the product itself, not just your version of it.

Why would people need cat toys? What are the benefits? Do they help cat owners bond with their pet? Will they stop the cat from scratching at furniture? Will they stimulate the cat and improve reflexes?

So if you want to generate interest in your products or services, you need to decide whether your ideal clients are need-aware (they understand the need for what you offer) or need-unaware (you have to show them why they need what you offer).

If the need is clear, common or obvious, focus on the benefits of getting the product or service from you over anyone else. If the need isn’t clear, common, or obvious, focus on the benefits of the product or service.

Find me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/

22/09/2026

Offering several contact options on your website means you could end up with enquiries coming in from multiple different channels, which makes it harder to keep track of conversations and follow-ups.

And it’s not great for potential clients as you’re now giving them yet another decision to make on top of all the hundreds of other decisions we have to make every day.

Sometimes we just want to be told what to do next rather than having to think about which option to choose. And the right option for your site will depend on you and how your business works.

If you’re rarely available to take calls, don’t put a ‘call now’ option on there. Otherwise, customers are just going to call and get no answer, and they won’t always leave a message or remember to call back. Put a ‘book a call’ option on there instead so they can schedule a call for a time that’s convenient for both of you.

On the other hand, if you have a team of people in the office who can take calls, a ‘call now’ option allows you to speak to the client while they are primed and ready to take action.

And your call to action doesn’t have to involve a call at all. You might have products or services that people can buy directly through your site. Or you might need clients to complete a short questionnaire so you can provide a quote. Or you might prefer enquiries to come in via email or WhatsApp.

So think about your customer journey. What is the logical next step? Request information? Submit information? Book something? Buy something? Or make an enquiry? Which contact options work best for you?

Find me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/

21/09/2026

People find it strange that I don’t drive and neither does my husband. They can’t imagine being a car-free household. But we manage just fine.

We’re within walking distance of Leeds city centre so most things are easily accessible. We can walk to Leeds bus or train station, which means we can get to most places on public transport.

No doubt there would be a couple of benefits to having a car, but we are quite happy without one. And it saves us a fortune on fuel, repairs, insurance, tax etc.

Despite this, some people still struggle to get their head around us not having a car. They’ll try and sell us the idea of getting one. Tell us all the things we are missing out on - all the freedom we’d have.

They’re wasting their breath.

And that’s what it’s like when you try and market your services to the wrong audience.

You can tell them all the benefits of working with you, but you’ll just be wasting your breath.

Part of your sales and marketing process should be learning to recognise when you're flogging a dead horse.

Don’t keep giving your time away for free to people who are never going to buy from you. Focus on the people who will value your help.

18/09/2026

If you’re a small business owner, you do your own marketing, and you don’t have an email list, this book is for you.

It’s a short, concise guide that will show you why having an email list is so valuable, how you can build one without huge investments of time or money, and how to turn subscribers into paying clients.

And I'm giving it away for free here:

PDF Book

17/09/2026

Everyone has an opinion on what you should and shouldn’t do. So how on earth are you supposed to figure out where to invest time and money to get the best results?

Everyone has an opinion on what you should and shouldn’t do. So how on earth are you supposed to figure out where to invest time and money to get the best results?

15/09/2026

When I started my business, I wanted to make sure I appealed to as many people as possible, so I had lots of different service pages and packages on my website. And I had different ways for people to contact me.

Every time someone asked me to do something new, I’d add another website page or section of copy for that thing. My thinking was that other people might also need that thing, so I needed to make sure they knew I could do it.

But I quickly realised that too much choice isn’t always a good thing.

People are coming to me with a problem or need, and they want me (as the expert) to tell them what the solution is. They don’t want me to present them with hundreds of options and expect them to know which one they need.

Imagine if you went to the doctor and explained all your symptoms to them, but rather than them diagnosing the problem, they just said: “Which of these different medicines would you like me to prescribe for you?”

Presenting your potential clients with too many options can cause them decision overwhelm. They now need to put some thought into which option they need, so they might “go away to think about it” and never come back. Or they might be too confused to bother making a decision at all.

14/09/2026

https://youtu.be/zUUPNzcDJGg

makeyourcopycount.comBefore you create any sales copy or marketing...

11/09/2026

A lot of freelancers and business owners find marketing overwhelming.

Thinking up ideas for social media posts, building an email list, writing blog posts, making videos, creating lead magnets and keeping your website up to date - it's a lot to manage.

But you don't have to do it all at once. I can help you break it down into easy-to-manage processes.

Book one of my 90-minute consultations, and we'll figure out what you can do right now, that plays to your strengths, that's manageable, and that will help you attract more of the clients you want.

Make Your Copy Count One-to-One Support for freelancers and business owners who are tired of marketing to a brick wall Whether you want a bit of copywriting training, a full marketing makeover, or ongoing support, my bespoke training and mentoring services are designed to meet your needs. 90-Minute....

10/09/2026

The more I read about the use of AI and LLMs in writing, particularly copywriting, the more convinced I am that writing skills are going to be in demand in the not-too-distant future.

Until now, copywriters (at least the good ones) have studied the “art” of copywriting and the psychology of sales. They understand how to get into your ideal client's mind and create messages that resonate.

Now we have AI, fewer people are investing in their copywriting skills. They aren’t learning the fundamentals. Why bother learning how to write copy when AI can do it for you in seconds? All you need is a few good prompts.

But that attitude is exactly why copywriting skills will be in demand soon enough. Fewer people will have the knowledge, experience and skills required to write copy that actually works because so many people will have become completely reliant on AI to write for them.

Using LLMs to write is like junk food. It’s ok to indulge now and then, but too much of it is detrimental to your health. In the case of using LLMs, it’s detrimental to your cognition - your brain health.

Research is already showing that dependence on LLMs is impacting creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, working memory, and intuitive reasoning.

But there’s another reason you shouldn’t rely on LLMs to write sales copy for you.

LLMs don’t understand the fundamentals of copywriting, and they never will.

You might be able to tell the copy AI has produced isn’t good, but if you don’t understand why it’s no good, you won’t know how to fix it.