“Every product has a unique personality and it is your job to find it.”

— Joe Sugarman

Let’s keep it simple.

Your brand comes down to two things. The first is personality.

As copywriting legend, Joe Sugarman, says above, every product has a personality. And those personalities compose the personality of your brand. What kind of person do you picture when you consider a brand name like Nike? Is it different from Prada? Trader Joe’s?

Your brand has a unique personality.

I came to college with hopes of being an ethnographer — according to Oxford, someone who studies another culture’s habits, people and traditions. It’s a copywriter’s job to become the customer ethnographer, capturing the smallest nuance and detail.

Let’s keep it streamlined.

The second piece of your brand? One adjective.

Luke Sullivan, another copywriting legend, says that when it comes to product categories, brains have space for one brand per category. What adjective would come to mind when people think of your brand?

Think of product categories. Which car is the safest? Which clothing is sustainable? What handbag signals luxury?

Copywriters filter every piece of copy through these two elements — the personality and adjective — to contend for that coveted 1st-place spot in the brain.

Do you see a pattern? Your brand comes down to people.

“Your customers have the most important opinion about your brand. Listen to them.”

— Luke Sullivan

Copywriters should be neighborhood organizers in the world of your customers.

But let’s not pretend…

Selling can be tricky, especially in an online world. Grifters, tricksters and hucksters abound.

The only “-ster” I want to be is a master copywriter. (Sorry.)

People-first copy means you sell to serve. Sell to solve real problems. Sell to put the actual, sweat-and-smiles people first.

Selling is part of business and part of life. But how we sell matters. And I want to sell with respect to people’s intelligence and well-being in full view.

That means I try to avoid appeals to fear, false claims, and other general advertising trickery.

And it means I work hard to expand my creative processes to speak to people’s intelligence, courage, wit and dignity. I value elevating the quieter and less-platformed voices.

I write because …

I’m on a mission to help people feel seen and heard.

Every ad. Every web page. Every subject line. Every blog. Every article. Each is a chance to help people solve a problem, give language to their experience, learn something or find a moment of joy.

Clear is kind, as Brene Brown says. Here’s what you can expect from me.

Insatiable curiosity.

When it comes to your project, I will ask a lot of questions to get to the heart of the matter. I will dig deep, comb Reddit threads and mine customer reviews to understand every detail about your customer.
Honesty + Focus

You can trust me to be kind but kind of ruthless with reality. If I can’t do something, I will figure it out if possible. If it’s beyond my scope, I’ll place your project lovingly in the hands of a trusted freelancer I know. We’re partners in this. You deserve honesty and focus.
Results

You and I will work together to track the results of the project. Trust, but verify — especially when it comes to comparing our expectations with the lived experiences of customers. Listen closely to customers. Pay close attention to data. Results!
Hospitality + Joy

I’m an introvert, so I’m not the loudest person in the room. But you can count on me to create a professional-but-fun vibe. We’re a team building something together. I believe in taking the work seriously, but not myself. I’ll show up with excellence for the project — but perhaps with some memes to boot.