Ethical Copywriting can be as simple as giving your ideal clients the information they need to make the best decision for them.
My Philosophy
But simple doesn’t make it easy.
You’re here because you’re not just looking for words to put on your website, and you’re not even just looking for more sales, you’re looking to connect with your clients in mutually beneficial ways that, yes, lead to sales. But also lead to relationships. Because you understand that making a difference and making a dollar are not mutually exclusive. And you don’t believe the ends justify the means.
You might have hired other copywriters in the past and received expensive copy that didn’t sound like you (but did sound, suspiciously, like a used car salesperson or a drug company commercial). You might have taken a high-profile, and high ticket, copywriting course from a certain loquacious crustacean (I meet a lot of her graduates) and realized the copy didn’t reflect your values or convey your essence. You definitely have been on the receiving end of manipulative mainstream marketing practices (we all have!), and decided they didn’t feel good.
If that’s you, you’re in the right place.
On this page, I’m going to make the case that ethical copywriting isn’t just as effective as mainstream manipulative tactics, it’s actually what you, as a service-based business owner, need to build a sustainable, enjoyable business.
Listen,
If you’ve tried writing your own copy, it’s not your fault that it doesn’t end up sounding like you. It’s not even your fault that it’s a little confusing, or not quite as clear or dialed in as you think it probably should be. There’s no such thing as a degree in solopreneurship—nobody teaches you this. Suddenly, you’re a coach, healer, therapist, and you have to figure out how to be a professional marketer, messaging expert, and personal brand manager. Social media specialist, artistic director, accountant. When all you want to do is coach, heal, and HELP your clients.
Naturally, you look around at what other people are doing in their marketing. You remember commercials you’ve watched, ads you’ve read, social media posts you’ve scrolled by, and sales pages that worked on you. And you do what you’ve seen them do.
But something doesn’t feel right.
You also don’t see another way, because you need your marketing to work, and everyone says that these tactics will bring you clients (or, the currently trending “multi-six-figure income”).
I’ve seen clients after they’ve followed the “shoulds” of mainstream marketing for years, and they are exhausted. Disheartened. Burnt out. And so frustrated. They’re not getting enough clients, they’re paying for ads that don’t work, and having sales calls with people who are not ready or able to pay their high ticket prices. And then—the worst part—they blame themselves for not doing it right! So they search for a better sales pitch, they enrol in another high-ticket program to learn how to sell high ticket programs.
Maybe you haven’t gone that far down the road, and I hope you never do. But that’s where the road leads when you believe manipulative marketing practices are the only option.
Here’s the thing: Manipulative marketing practices do get sales. In the short term. Great for high-volume business models that just need a lot of people to come through once.
But when you have a service-based business model that relies on relationships and referrals and repeat clients, you can’t build that kind of trust with an ‘any means to an end’ attitude.
Heart-centered service-based business owners, especially life coaches, healers, therapists, and even tarot readers, lawyers, and corporate leadership coaches—need the kind of copywriting that is based on care, authenticity and values. Because those are the building blocks of long-term relationships that lead to sales, referrals and returning clients who love you and want you to succeed.
How do you do that with copywriting? Before you even get to the words, you need to have these 5 fundamentals in place:
1) Values - know what you stand for, and against, and include that in your website and marketing. This can be part of your point-of-view, it can be a differentiator, it can be a brief values statement in your website footer, but it has to be there
2) Transparency - commit to not hiding the price or other vital details, and give your ideal client all the information they need to feel confident about hiring you before you ask them to hop on a call.
3) Clarity - you need to know who you want to serve, and how you can best serve them. Then, you need to articulate that clearly on your website, which often means setting your ego aside, and asking yourself “how can I explain this in the way they will understand it and see its value?” Clarity is really an exercise in putting yourself in your clients’ proverbial shoes.
4) Deep knowledge - you need to do the work to know your client and their struggles, and the reasons for their struggles, really well. There are no shortcuts. You have to have conversations with them and listen to the exact words they use (these words will show up in your copy).
5) Care - none of this works unless you genuinely believe that the person in front of you is more important than making the sale. You care more about their needs than yours—but you also care about holding good boundaries, because your wellbeing is important too.
Along with practical writing prompts, real-world examples, and an emphasis on “this should sound like you, not me!” From here, every word you write has the intention to be of service to your reader, and that sets up a completely different dynamic, one that is supportive, not extractive.
These are also the values I infuse into every fiber of my business (and I’ve been in business as a solopreneur since 2008). And let me tell you what happens when you run your business this way, with copy that is aligned with these tenets:
Your clients bring you so much joy. Especially on the tough days, because solopreneurship is hard, but then you find an email in your inbox from a previous client saying how much of a difference working with you made, and that’s all you need to keep going.
Working in your business—the admin tasks, emails, writing newsletters, scheduling social media posts—isn’t so painful because your focus is on serving people you genuinely care about.
You don’t have to market yourself so hard, and you might not even need paid ads, because happy clients keep referring more awesome people to you. So you get to spend more time helping, and less time advertising.
Sales calls? I’ve never used a sales call script. I’ve never had to ask for a sale, much less push for it. Because by the time my clients hop on a call with me, they’ve read my clear, transparent, values-driven copy and they’ve made the decision. Calls tend to end with them asking “tell me how we can work together!”
It’s a more beautiful way of doing business. And ethical copywriting is such a big part of making those connections possible.
These fundamentals are the heart of the approach I teach in my copywriting workbooks, workshops and copy coaching.
And it feels good. To everyone.
If this resonates with you,
Check out my DIY ethical copy workbooks and workshops.
The best person to write your copy is you. The second best person might be me.