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Sed ut perspiciatis unde.
We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rafael Meneses a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rafael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share a customer success story with us?
Absolutely!
So, about 4 years ago I got pinged from one of my now-best clients. He’s asked to remain anonymous, so I’ll call him “Tom”.
Tom started his business with a close friend selling a handcrafted item that was truly one-of-a-kind. Their product was gaining traction all over Reddit and social media before Tom’s friend abruptly decided he could do better on his own. He opened his own competing business and now both Tom and his friend were selling the same exact product to the same target audience and neither had a unique brand tone or unique value proposition.
They both knew they had a winning product. Neither wanted to back down. But they were both hitting a wall. How do you compete against your own product?
Tom reached out for some copywriting for a holiday sale. He wanted to boost sales via Facebook ads but just couldn’t find the words to stand out. What Tom didn’t know was that I was passionate about his product niche. So much so, that you could probably consider someone like me to be his target audience! Not only did I already have a good handle on the lingo and trends in his industry, I knew exactly what and where to research to make sure his ads got clicks and sales. I also helped him find a baseline for his brand tone (i.e., what words to use and what words not to use) and how to differentiate his product using those words.
His ads performed better than expected, and soon thereafter, Tom was back in my inbox looking for more copy — this time for product descriptions, sales emails, and more. The message became clear to his audience… THIS was the product to buy.
Four years and over 40 projects later, Tom is the #1 bestseller in his industry, beating out his ex-business partner and the dozens of copycat products that have emerged since. Tom is now selling out months in advance and plans to expand his operations while also venturing into other products within the same industry.
I get so many frustrated business owners (from both big and small companies) who just don’t know how to communicate why their product is so great. And I get it… Writing about yourself and selling yourself/your business is hard! And seeing businesses like Tom’s grow after facing that challenge is the reason why I do what I do.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I started freelance copywriting shortly after dropping out of my Doctor of Clinical Psychology program in 2014.
I aspired to help college-aged students in our community cope with anxiety and depression. But going to grad school was expensive and, after depleting my savings and accumulating a 6-figure student loan, I had to call it quits. I took my consolation prize (the master’s degree I earned for completing half the program) and worked as a case manager for a year before becoming an academic advisor at Florida International University. While I enjoyed these roles, they weren’t paying the bills.
So, I attended FIU’s MBA program in 2016 while working full-time in the hopes that a dual psychology/business degree would pave the way for a more fruitful career.
In the meantime, I began looking for ways to bring in additional income. Copywriting on Fiverr popped up on my Google search and I thought I would give it a shot.
Turns out I had a knack for it.
Clients loved my ideas and the emotion I brought to their brands. What began as a few odd jobs here and there on Fiverr in 2018 turned into more than 1000 projects by 2020. In 2021 I quit my 9-5 and opened my own agency, Ink Ribbon Writing and Consulting, where I specialize in copywriting that is influenced by my education in business and human behavior. I’ve amassed over 4000 projects since I started, and have been writing copy for all kinds of businesses, from small businesses looking to differentiate, to huge businesses like Fiverr and Colgate. Let me tell you, getting hired by Fiverr after freelancing on their platform for years was a true full-circle moment!
I attribute most of my success to my unique approach as a “word psychologist” who writes killer copy that sticks. The Ink Ribbon brand name refers to the ink-soaked strip found in typewriters — because no matter how old and outdated the typewriter is, the iconic machine’s click-clack-ding sound still lives on in memory and pop culture. I help my clients achieve this same iconic status so that their business and legacy stick around the same way the typewriter still does.
My clients enjoy several services including: 1-on-1 copywriting consultations (this is where the real magic happens), website copywriting, email copywriting, landing page copywriting, ad copywriting, social post copywriting, and more.
The 1-on-1 consultations work best for businesses that need a clear direction for their brand and overall message.
My other services go beyond just writing the “buy this now because you need it” copy. I dive deep into every project to ensure that my clients get copywriting they can’t find anywhere else. And that’s good for business! Because if my clients have that unique “it” factor no one else does, then they become more irresistible to their target audience.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I think parts of my story echo a lot of peoples’ frustrations with the current WFH and RTO policies worldwide.
I took a huge risk in 2021 when I decided to leave my full-time job and pursue life as a full-time business owner.
When COVID sent everyone home, I found time to do so much more. I was working full-time as an academic advisor when WFH mandates began and, honestly, it was life-changing. I could finally balance all of my responsibilities at work, home, and my side hustle at the time, and still have plenty of time for family and self-care.
It wasn’t without hardship, though.
At the end of 2020, my grandfather was entering the final stages of cancer. He had been doing well a couple of months before, but COVID put a strain on our local hospitals and he couldn’t get the care he needed. I took time off to spend as much time with him as I could during his final week of life.
To this day, I’ll never forget what my supervisor texted me the next day while I sat next to my grandfather, “Are you going to call your students to reschedule your appointments?” To which I replied, “You know that I’m on time off because my grandfather is dying. Figure it out. It’s your job now.”
That was my tipping point.
Just a few months later in early 2021, we were called back to the office on a hybrid schedule.
WFH gave me the opportunity to achieve the emotional and financial freedom I craved. It let me spend more time with family. It kept my bosses out of my hair because I was more efficient than ever. I wasn’t going back.
So, I decided to turn my side hustle into my main hustle and put in my two weeks notice. It was scary. I had no prior experience in copywriting, but my business was growing. And it let me not only work from home, but also be my own boss.
Things have been incredible ever since. I can never see myself going back to an on-site work environment.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
Yes. My local library!
Folks, don’t sleep on your local library. They sometimes have incredible and unexpected benefits.
I found out late into my copywriting career that my library offers free LinkedIn Learning courses. I took advantage of that to take as many marketing and copywriting-related courses as I could to make me a better copywriter.
Since my educational background was in business and psychology, I never had any formal copywriting training. And these courses let me bridge that gap from amateur to professional copywriter.
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Rafael Meneses
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