A business class for writers who want to stop screwing around with $5 articles—
—and start making real money.

Take Class Now | On Demand

SURE, YOU COULD WRITE FOR PEANUTS.

You could run yourself ragged, barely making ends meet.
You could take sh*t writing jobs in the naming of putting food on the table.
You could take on clients you hate, feel a constant sense of dread, and pray
that your big break comes along…soon.

Or, you can learn how to build an in-demand
writing business…the smart way.

Introducing
Sentences & Money

A class for aspiring professional copywriters who want to stop screwing around writing $5 articles—
—and start making real money

Want to start a writing business?

Save yourself the head banging & all those months (years?) of being a broke joke, and work toward 6 figures your first year…zero apologies.

Give yourself a cutting edge …without having to cut your teeth, first.

Recently started a writing business?

Struggling to pull it all together? Feeling like an imposter? Have no idea how to get clients? Sweat through thy armpits not.

You’ll stop making common mistakes & put your success on auto-pilot.

Experienced vet,  but feeling stale?

Consider this a strategic reboot, if you will. You want to do it YOUR way this time, taking on the kinds of jobs you *really* want to be doing.

Let’s rework your business from the ground up. No punches. No quitting.

Writing services can be the easiest sell in the world, or the hardest…depending on how you do it.

This is why so many talented writers end up as “starving artists.” Not because they aren’t good at writing.
But because they aren’t good at the business of writing.

There are two big, ugly, hairy, slightly schizophrenic mistakes most well-meaning writers make when they go into business for themselves:

• The first is not understanding the business value of words.
• And the second is not understanding how to translate that value into the one thing that drives every profitable writing business:

Surprise.
Running a successful writing business isn’t about writing.
It’s about business.

This is a business class for writers.

From strategizing your brand positioning, to structuring your offerings; from setting your fees (the smart way) to learning how to make clients come knocking down your door, and ultimately, how to stand out in a sea of writers all bidding for the same job.

You’ll learn how to pitch prospective clients like a pro (including exactly what to say), how to develop proposals designed to get the “YES,” how much to charge (flat fees or hourly or retainers or percentages?!), and how to present it to your client in just the right way.

Once you land the gig, we’ll talk about walking your client through a hyper specialized process so you don’t end up doing triple the amount later, how to keep yourself organized, what to do and say when a client tries to “scope creep you” (and other uncomfortable situations), how to present deliverables so clients will love you, and how to stick to a schedule that won’t have you wanting to stab yourself in the neck with your pen.

What You’re Going to Learn

Class #1
Writing as a Profession, The Art of Finding Your Edge & Setting Up Your Sales Offerings

“This class was worth it’s weight in gold.”Jacqueline Fisch

• Clients will pay you anything you ask—as long as you set up your brand positioning the right way, first
• A process for differentiating (and elevating) yourself from every other writer who can write a decent sentence and wants to get paid for it
• Nailing your own brand message in a way that feels fresh and relevant and will bring clients knocking at your door—instead of the other way around
• Strategically structuring your copywriting offerings in a way that makes sure you’re doing the work you love (not resenting it), deciding how much to charge (and why), and presenting your services in a way guaranteed to make people say, “YES.”

“I would recommend this to other writers regardless of where they are in their career. I am almost two years into freelance, and the Sentences & Money systems, processes, best practices, kicks in the pants, etc. have all been amazing learning and re-learning points in my writing journey. Plus you’re just too damn legit and anyone/everyone who cares even a lick about making their writing biz work should get on board. It’s a no-brainer.”Jessica Robson

Class #2
Learning How to Get Your First Clients in the Door & Proactively Market Your Writing Business from Scratch. (Without Getting Itchy or Spending Any Money—And That’s a Promise)

• Market yourself the right way and you won’t have to convince anyone to hire you for the rest of your life—they’ll line up
• The most important, non-negotiable components of any writing business…from a marketing standpoint (Hint: If you simply build it they will not come—you’ve got to learn how to attract them the right way.)
• The #1 marketing activity you can and should do if you’re just starting out and have no portfolio & no professional experience (don’t worry—this can actually be a strong advantage if you play your cards right)
• How to get early-stage traction & make the phone ring off the hook—even when you’re still “a nobody”
• Where to find the big fish clients—and how to get them to beg you for a meeting

Class #3
Somebody Inquired! Sound the Alarm! On the Art of Not Becoming a Melted Pile of Stuttery Mush the Moment the Dreaded Words, “How Much?” Are Spoken

• Once you’ve got your marketing engine in place, something exciting happens: People start calling you. But none of that matters if you can’t close the deal.
• Learn the right way to handle inquiries like a copywriting pro without scaring them off or making them smell your amateur status
• How to prevent the dreaded RADIO SILENCE that happens when you email them back and then hear nothing (and what to do if this does happen)
• What to do when they want to get on the phone and ask you point blank: “How much?” (This is the #1 thing that sets every writer on edge—especially if you’re shy)
• Learn how to ask for what you want without flinching, lowering your fees as a knee-jerk response, or worse—shooting yourself in the foot and not responding at all because talking about money makes you queasy

Class #4
Project Proposals & Sales Quotes, Oh My! What You Need to Know, What You Need to Do, and What You Need to Say.

“You’re teaching this in a way that’s fresh and not really known out there. You’re helping writers run away from the “starving artist” mentality!”Bianca Filoteo

• A process for developing a sales proposal that’ll sell itself—and avoid one of the biggest mistakes new writers make when quoting their rates
• How to get clients to spend double, triple or even quadruple the investment that they were going to otherwise—all with this little tweak
• Getting the YES on the spot—no waiting weeks to hear back, meanwhile you’re biting your nails and eating Ramen (there will be no more Ramen for you)

“I would recommend this class to every single person who ever wants to make money from copywriting. Because there is so much stuff I haven’t learned elsewhere about how to manage the client onboarding and work delivery processes. Life changing. Honestly.Soozi Baggs

Class #5
NEW CLIENT 101: Setting Expectation the Right Way, (Smartly) Kicking Off Your Work Together & Doing The One Project Management Thing Upfront That’ll Reduce Your Workload by 50% Later

• When you’re first getting started, you just sort of wing everything with your project and hope it goes alright. Bad news bears: This is the quickest way you’ll sink your new writing business.
• How to run an expert client onboarding process involving specific steps and measures to prevent you from having to do double the work later (this almost always happens with inexperienced writers, which can be the death of your profits)
• Ask the right questions to get the right answers—and ensure you’ve got the maximum chance at nailing the project the first time around
• Tricks to getting the information you need to ace the project, without having to become your client’s naggy babysitter
• Setting the tone for the project ahead, and making sure your client doesn’t disrespect your mutually agreed upon timelines, expect you to slave over the weekends, become the client from hell, or make unrealistic demands

Class #6
How the *@&! am I Going to Get All This Done? Or, Managing Your Projects Like a Pro (And Not Ending Up With Egg All Over Your Face. Or Chickens. That Would Be Awkward.)

• The art of estimating timelines, deliverable dates and other deadlines—without overpromising in an anxious effort to make the client happy (this is all too common an error)
• Pacing yourself, and learning how to tap into your own rhythms to ensure your project goes according to plan
• My own writing process, and how I’ve optimized it to make sure that everything gets done in the right order and stays organized, without me having to run around like a chicken with my guts spilling all over the place
• Systems for organizing your project work in a way that doesn’t only keep you sane, but helps you look like a pro
• Learning how to present your work to your clients the smart way—and avoid the dreaded “meh” response
• An early-stage practice that will help you better gauge the real voice and tone of the client—before you do all the work
• The right way to ask for feedback to make sure you actually get what you need—and not vague comments like, “Great, but could you add some punch?” or “Looks good, but I need it to be more…modern.”

Class #7
“I Hate It.” “Is it Done Yet?” “Could We Do This TOOOOO?” Managing Your Clients Like a Pro (And Not Ending Up With a Homicide Charge)

“We literally almost cried when you started showing those emails. If we would have known about that process sooner, it would have saved us so much stress. That class, out of all of them, gave us the most confidence.”Amber Hargroder

• Tricks to making sure the copy is exactly what the client was hoping for—because there is no quicker death sentence than the client who was let down on the first draft
• What to say if and when you DO completely miss the mark the first time around—and how to handle it most gracefully
• How to handle sticky situations, like when the client decided that they actually want to go in a completely different direction…after you wrote the copy already.
• The professional way of managing scope creep—when a client keeps adding to your pile and a seeming disregard for your time and current project commitments you have together
• Dealing with nightmare clients—and knowing when it’s time to cut someone loose. (There are signs! And there are also ways to do this effectively and from a place of good intentions.)
• What to do if and when the entire project flops. What do you say? What are the ways to handle this professionally?

“This course way, way overdelivered. Seriously. Was worth WAY more than what I paid.”Kimberly Houston

Class #8
When You Really Want to Go to the Beach, Target, ANYWHERE BUT YOUR COMPUTER–But Have Work to Do.

• The writer’s biggest obstacle is always himself—isn’t that the truth? I’ll teach you how to manage your own head so it doesn’t become your own worst enemy
• Learn my number one trick for dealing with overwhelm and staying on schedule—even when I’m stressed
• As a professional writer, you can’t just write when the muse strikes—you’ve got to stick to a delivery schedule. Learn how to overcome creative blocks and that feeling in your brain when you just don’t f*cking feel like writing
• What do you do when self-doubt sneaks up on you and you suddenly feel like nothing you write is brilliant, and maybe you should have stuck to a career at Starbucks?
• And how to make sure you’re keeping your word to yourself. You didn’t start this business to suffer like a slave to yourself—you started it because you wanted freedom, and you wanted to do what you loved, and you wanted to make six figures doing just that. Let’s make sure you stay on track and don’t fall into the common trap of working yourself to death. Because dying young is really quite awkward.

“Ash, you writing wizardess, you maven of marketing, you purveyor of personality, you unstoppable force of nature, I LOVE you.



This week I used the client on-boarding and project proposal process you taught us in class. As a result, today I had a prospect accept a proposal for some advertorials, and he’s going to pay me $300 an hour. (Well, to be specific, he’s paying me the flat-rate equivalent of $300 an hour.) We’re doing the first advertorial as a paid trial and if that goes well, he’ll be sending me one every month.

This is a whole new level of business success for me. 6 months ago I had only two clients. One was paying me 10 cents a word. The other was a content marketing agency paying me about $40 an hour. I’ve built up a decent client base for myself now, but up until this point the most I’ve ever been paid is $100 an hour. So I just TRIPLED my rate. Plus, this ONE job is going to pay for 75% of the cost of the course. (And it would’ve paid for the whole course if not for the low Canadian dollar. Stupid oil exports not holding their value.)

If there’s anything I owe you, simply say the word.”Mike Straus

How It Works

Connector.

4 Bonus Q&A Discussions

Included are four hour-long bonus discussions with past Sentences & Money students who, like you, had questions! Download the MP3 and listen on the train, while taking a jog, while falling asleep...you name it.

Connector.

8 Classes, 2 Hours Each

There is A LOT of material here - you won't be disappointed! This online version was created in response to a high demand for this class. Because it is usually only given live once per year, students had to wait...and wait...and wait. But, not anymore! In response to that demand, this adaptation of this past year's live class was created, so now you can ante up your writing business...today.

Connector.

100% On Demand, Online

Purchase the course, and you'll set up a log-in & password to access all of the class materials immediately! You can watch the classes from your computer, or download the MP3 audio version to listen on the go. Prefer to read? No problem. We've got class transcripts & Evernote cliffnotes for every class, for your convenience.

SNAG THIS COURSE
FOR YOURSELF

Turns out, writing can be very profitable.
If you know how to run a writing business.

$199

PURCHASE ACCESS NOW

More Praise & Props

“The proposals class is really awesome! How to present it, use it as a sales too, talk a client through it… that was information it might have taken me years to figure out! As a writer, you know you have ability in the words-department, but the business side doesn’t come naturally. This class was awesome as a crash course in how to make the biz-side of things run smoothly. I will definitely recommend it to others. Worth every penny.”

-Kimberly Bischoff

“I really REALLY appreciate the PERSPECTIVE you’ve given on the thousand ways we can each grow our own unique writing business. The creative ways you have suggested and shown us to approach our presentation and presence online, the market in client and even client proposals. That was a big eye-opener for me. YES YES YES I would recommend this!!! Without question! I’m even recommending it to my partner who’s a graphic designer because I think so much of your ideas and material apply to ANYONE trying to start a business and escape the ‘freelancer’ trap. I’m positive I will make all that money back and then some as soon as I start proposing clients in the way you’ve shown us. Worth even double what we paid!”

-Julia Melymbrose

“Seriously, I don’t think I could pick a favourite part because it was all gold! I wish that I had this class when I started out; there would have been a lot less tears!

-Amy Lambert

“My favourite part was the newfound confidence I’ve discovered in my ability to run my own dang business! I feel like I’m ready to blow the socks off of my future clients, and now I actually have a process in place to help them see exactly how I can do that. I honestly couldn’t imagine a more rewarding course. In my opinion, it has already paid for itself. I’ve already signed on a new client that I may not have gotten had it not been for this class, and I have a few more waiting in the bullpen. I have no doubts this class will continue paying for itself over and over again. It’s funny to think back of how scared I was to make that investment and register in the first place, because this course honestly paid for itself in class one.”

-Carly Ottawayl

Forget learning how to fish.
I’m going to teach you how to hunt.

PURCHASE ACCESS NOW