When Brand Designer & Strategist Michelle Clayton rebranded her business, she had neither time nor inclination to write website content for Let Her Fly. She’d already been down the DIY road before and this time around she wanted someone who could make her “word dreams come true” so she could focus on designing her new brand and website. Together we launched Let Her Fly for “smart, successful women who want to step out the shadows, do big things and take their business to the next level with a brand they love.”
Meet Michelle
The first thing to know about Brand Designer & Strategist Michelle Clayton is she doesn’t consider herself a writer, even though plenty of people (including me) tell her she writes well.
Michelle and I met in a Facebook group around the same time we both started our businesses. Over the course of a few years our relationship developed while discussing our business challenges over Skype chats.
I never understood why she felt she wasn’t a good writer, so I asked her about it when she hired me to write her new website content.
“I can write, I guess, but it’s HARD and it takes me forever,” she told me. “It’s not how I want to spend my time and I know you can take my word-vomit and turn it into what I really mean to say!”
Like a lot of entrepreneurs, Michelle started her branding business with what she knew, loved and was good at. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she spent two decades cultivating her design and branding skills, working in agencies and as a corporate graphic designer, but when she started Woolly Wren, she knew she wanted to focus on branding women-owned small businesses.
Two years into working hard to make Woolly Wren a success, she came to a crossroads after completing Jenny Shih’s Make it Work Online program. Her vision for her business had outgrown her previous (albeit beautiful) brand. Not only did Woolly Wren not speak to her ideal client, it no longer resonated with her, so she made the difficult decision to rebrand entirely to match her new vision for her business — and Let Her Fly was born.
Let Her Fly Brand Story
It’s Time to Let Your Business Fly
Remember running your heart out to get your first kite to take flight and then experiencing sheer delight and pride when it finally broke gravity’s hold and lifted high into the sky?
Just like with that kite, you’ve been running your heart out building your amazing business, waiting expectantly for it to lift off.
Well hold on, Lady, because it’s about to soar with a brand you absolutely love and that feels just like you.
No running needed. Just sit back and Let Her Fly.
Straight From Michelle
What problems were you having with your website before you hired me?
I was renaming and rebranding my business, so my website needed to be rewritten and redesigned also. I felt completely overwhelmed trying to do it all by myself. I also knew that I needed to get this done sooner than later, and the copy writing was the biggest thing that was holding me back from moving forward.
What did the frustration feel like as you tried to solve that problem? Or what it did it feel like NOT solve the problem?
I felt like I was writing in circles and banging my head against a brick wall all at the same time. The more pages I wrote, the more confused and frustrated I got. It was utterly exhausting and deflating. I felt like I was never going to get anywhere if I didn’t get some help.
What was different about your experience with my content writing services?
It was like a breath of fresh air! You really “got” me and all that I was trying to convey, but in a clear, concise, coherent way. You made sense of all my word vomit. You knew the right questions to ask to get to what was important.
I was perhaps in a different situation since when we started because I still wasn’t sure what the new business name would be. It was through our conversation in the discovery session that I was finally able to land on the perfect new name.
You were patient, understanding, and completely professional. I wasn’t sure how anyone would really be able to communicate what I was wanting to say and especially HOW I wanted to say it because I really wasn’t quite sure myself. From the very first draft of copy, all that hesitation disappeared as I became more and more excited with each story and each draft I read. It was magical!
What are some of the outcomes/shifts/transformations that have happened in your business as a result of your new web presence?
In a word – CONFIDENCE. Since I was able to let go of the old business name and the old web copy that always felt patched together or incomplete, I’ve been able to confidently talk about what I love to do and who I love to do it for.
In the past 2 months, I’ve been to a dozen live networking events (something I had never done before), totally excited to talk to other women and make valuable connections. I finally feel confident to put my business out there and can’t wait to see where all this will lead.
The other big outcome is that my website is fully DONE! No more half finished pages or sections I’ll get to “some day.” It’s complete and absolutely beautiful.
If you were to tell a friend about your experience with me and/or content writing, how would you describe your experience?
It was amazing! Ericka is a gifted communicator with a talent for writing the right words in the right voice, which was so important for me. I believe authenticity is critical and I wanted my copy to really sound like me, not like I had hired someone else to write it, and it totally does. I’ve had several people ask me if I wrote it. Of course I told them the truth, but it’s a high compliment that it sounded that real! 🙂
From an email she wrote to her audience about her rebranding process:
“So the best decision I ever made in this whole process was to hire a content writer, someone who already knew me really well and has the mad skills to make my word dreams come true … suffice it to say that I hear angels sing when we work together. I got the first round of copy today and literally cried happy tears!”
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