"What's your copywriting process?" A detailed look at my EASE Framework
If you’ve ever hired copywriters to support your marketing, you know the process of working with creative service providers can vary wildly from pro to pro. You need words that convert, and someone you can rely on to deliver them again and again. But the process of finding that perfect marketing partner? That’s where things can get a little hairy.
Because the copywriter you’re hiring needs to understand how to connect with your audience, pinpoint their needs, and guide them toward a confident buying decision. And anyone can say they’re up to that task, right?
You need more than claims to choose the right copywriter for your business. You need a deeper look at what that copywriter’s process will actually look like after the project kicks off. So today, I want to share a deeper look at my EASE Copywriting Framework.
This simple, 4-step process makes getting high-converting copy feel straightforward and stress-free for you. So you can focus on your zone of genius and let me knock out epic copywriting assets to hit your marketing goals.
In this article, I’ll walk you through each step of my EASE Framework (Explore, Assemble, Serve, Exhale). This will give you a clear picture of how we can work together to create copy that not only resonates with your audience, but drives serious results. Let’s get into it.
First, why is your copywriting process called the EASE Framework?
Great question. The reason behind each decision I make in my business comes down to one idea: EASE.
I want the process of getting the copywriting assets you need to feel clear and easy for you. I want your audience to have all the trust in your offer to make buying decisions from a place of nervous system-level ease.
And perhaps a tad selfishly? I want our projects together to feel smooth and easeful for me, too!
So I’ve laid out my signature copywriting process around this feeling of EASE. But don’t get me wrong. This is strategic work and I put my absolute all into delivering outstanding results for you. Let’s take a look at exactly how the process works.
The EASE Framework, summarized
Here’s a summary of the steps in my EASE copywriting process.
Step 1: Explore: Kickoff & Info Gathering
Step 2: Assemble: Prep & Outline
Step 3: Serve: Write & Deliver Draft 1
Step 4: Exhale: Finalize & Launch
Now, let’s dig a little deeper into each of these steps, so you have complete clarity at each touchpoint of our work together. This may feel like a lot of info, but I’m providing as much context as possible here to give you the understanding you need of how this works. In practice, the process is as lean and seamless as possible for you.
Step 1: Explore
Kickoff & Info Gathering
All of my copywriting projects start with a questionnaire and kickoff call, where I gather all the info I need from you, access your offer (if possible), and develop an action plan for your project.
This phase is all about exploration, and it’s crucial because it lays the groundwork for everything that follows. To create copy that truly resonates with your audience and drives them to take action, I need to understand your business, your goals, and your customers inside and out.
This is the only phase that will require a little “work” from you. But don’t worry, I keep everything as streamlined as possible, and only request the information I need to create high-performing copy for your business.
Your onboarding questionnaire
We start with a comprehensive questionnaire that helps me gather essential info about your business, your products or services, and your target audience.
This questionnaire covers everything from your brand’s unique selling points to the specific challenges your audience faces. The more detailed your responses, the better equipped I’ll be to craft copy that gets an enthusiastic “yes” from your ideal client.
Important note: I totally get that you’re strapped for time, and that’s likely a big reason you’re outsourcing copy! So, I build accommodations into this phase depending on your needs.
After you book your project, I deliver a questionnaire as a Google doc with written questions. But you have a few options for providing answers:
Answer directly in the Google doc (I’ll indicate a few questions I need answered in writing, like login credentials to access your product, or a URL linking to a folder with testimonials, for example.)
Record yourself answering in a video: If you’re a verbal processor, let’s leverage that. You’re free to record yourself answering my questions via Zoom, Loom, or your favorite app. I’ll take care of transcribing your video for my purposes.
Share answers with me on our kickoff call: The more info I have in advance, the better. But you’re free to leave answers blank and we can always walk through specific questions together on our call.
I need your questionnaire at least 24 hours before our scheduled kickoff call, so I can review everything and show up with any clarifying questions before diving into your copy.
Giving me access to your product
If possible, I like to get hands-on with the offer we’re selling. Whether it’s a digital course, a membership site, or something else, experiencing your product firsthand helps me get to grips with the true benefits of your offer from your customers’ perspective.
So, if we’re writing about an info product, you can provide temporary login credentials for me to access it. If you have unique materials you use as part of a service, seeing those will help me understand how you serve your crowd.
I take great care with any IP you give me, and my usage of it is clearly outlined in our contract before anything changes hands. I’ll delete any files you share and if we don’t have more work planned together, you can remove my access to your product as soon as our project is complete.
Your deep-dive kickoff call
Next up, we have a recorded, 1:1 call via Zoom that kicks off our project together. This is a casual conversation that allows us to dive deeper into the details you shared in your questionnaire.
It’s also a great opportunity for us to align on goals, timelines, and expectations, so you feel great about the work I’m about to produce for your business. This call is not just about me asking more questions; it's a collaborative strategy session where we set the direction for your project.
After our call, you have a thorough understanding of the action plan for your project. At this point, we’re on the same page and we’ve set clear expectations for what will happen next. Depending on the timeline for your project, I’ll check in with you at least weekly, so you always know where I am in the process.
Step 2: Assemble
Prep & Outline
Maybe you’re wondering if the next step is writing? Nope! Research is THE most important step when it comes to high-performing copy, so it gets a whole step to itself in my process.
I’ve named this step Assemble after this quote by copywriting legend Eugene Schwartz: “Copy is not written. Copy is assembled.”
Because I agree — copy is so much more than pretty sentences that sound good. It’s about compiling research, digging into the data, finding patterns, and assembling those building blocks to form the marketing angle that makes the most sense for your business.
So that’s what I do. I conduct customer interviews, dive into deep voice of customer research, and begin to assemble the pieces, angle, and flow of your copywriting project. Here’s how that looks.
Voice of Customer (VOC) research
Voice of Customer (VOC) research is fundamental work to understand the conversation going on in your ideal customer’s mind, related to the problem your offer solves. Without this research, writing effective copy is a guessing game. And it’s best not to guess when it comes to something as important as sales, right?
Here are the ways I might conduct VOC research depending on your project.
Market research interviews with your ideal customer
Customer interviews are the gold standard for getting strong, relevant voice of customer data directly from your audience. I’ll hop on private, 1:1, 20-30 minute calls with at least 3-5 of your past clients to hear their challenges before they worked with you, the reasons they chose your solution, and how it helped them.
Don’t have past clients who fit your current ideal client persona? I can find a few people who meet that description to speak with, even if they haven’t worked with you yet. They’ll still have useful info to share about where they are right now when it comes to the problems you can help solve.
Feedback surveys
Sometimes, it might make more sense to send out a survey to collect feedback from your past clients in writing. In that case, I’ll write strategic questions to ask, an email to send with the survey to get more responses, and share other tips for getting the most useful feedback to inform your new copy.
Your existing research and feedback
There may be cases where you already have great data from your ideal client to get me started on your copy. This could be from testimonials, intake forms, feedback forms, or even DMs and comments you get about your work. Here’s what I look for to be sure the research you give me will work for our project:
It’s relevant: It comes from folks who fit your ideal customer.
It’s recent: I try to use insights from the past 12 months or so.
It’s unbiased: Compliments are great, but I’m looking for the true transformations your offer helped people get. (This is why it can be easier to get those authentic thoughts when I conduct interviews. Folks may be more honest about their experience when talking to a third party.)
Indirect voice of customer (iVOC) research
Another great source of market research insights is good old-fashioned internet sleuthing. I put on my detective hat and dive into Facebook groups, forums, Reddit threads, comment sections, and more where folks who fit your ideal client share their thoughts freely and candidly.
I pull relevant desires, challenges, hesitations, and descriptors into a document and begin dissecting the patterns I notice when it comes to your ideal client and what they’re looking for most right now.
Okay, but what do you do with all this info?
VOC research is vital because it ensures the copy I write speaks directly to your audience's needs, desires, and pain points. By using the exact language your customers use, I create copy that feels personal and relatable, which is key to driving conversions.
And bonus! Depending on our project together, I may compile my findings into a handy research bank document for you. Many clients like using these findings to inspire things like social media posts, podcast or webinar topics, and other marketing ideas for their businesses.
What about research for quick turnaround projects?
You may wonder how I could possibly conduct all this research for quick turnaround projects, like my 7-hour Copy VIP Days. The answer is that VIP Days are specifically designed for folks who don’t need my full research process. Maybe this is because:
You already have VOC data that’s recent and relevant to share with me
You just need solid “MVP” copy at this stage - you can optimize later
We’ve worked together before, so I’ve already conducted voice of customer research for you
If one of these describes your situation, a Copy VIP Day may be a great fit for our work together.
From here, I assemble your marketing angle
With fresh customer insights in hand, I start to assemble a compelling marketing angle for your project. This involves identifying the one big idea that will run through your copy, as well as the unique mechanism of your ideal client’s problem, and the unique mechanism of your solution.
The goal here is to craft a narrative that not only highlights the benefits of your product or service but also addresses any objections or concerns your audience has. Depending on the project, I may share a document summarizing this info with you for approval before I move on to writing.
Step 3: Serve
Write & Deliver Draft 1
With the foundational work behind us, it’s finally time to put pen to paper (ahem, fingers to keyboard) and start writing. This is where all the research and strategic planning come to life in the form of compelling, high-converting copy.
The Serve phase is all about writing and delivering copy that serves your audience what they need, and serves your marketing goals.
The actual writing process
My copywriting style incorporates a few key ingredients that keep you and your people at the forefront:
Conversion copywriting frameworks: I use proven copywriting frameworks and strategies as the skeleton for the copy I produce, while bringing all my research and your uniqueness into the fold to ensure your copy is “uncopyable.”
Your authentic voice: I have a thorough voice matching process to ensure the copy I write sounds like you could’ve said it, just with more sales strategy woven in.
Your audience’s language: I speak to your people with the same language they use to describe their problems, so they trust that you understand what they’re going through and your brand is the right one to help.
RESPECT: I don’t believe in writing copy that “convinces” folks you’re the only solution for them. I believe real trust develops when we give people agency in their buying decisions, and respect them enough to support those decisions with truth and empathy. Folks can feel that respect coming through in copy, and it helps the right people feel more comfortable saying yes to your offer.
The result is copy that engages your audience from the first headline to the final call to action. Plus, it feels true to you (read: not salesy), so you feel proud to have it represent you and your business.
Throughout the writing phase, I keep you in the loop, usually with brief weekly updates on my progress. This means you’re never left wondering where things stand and can feel confident that we’re on track to meet your deadlines.
Wireframed copy, delivered via email
Once the initial draft is complete, I deliver it to you in a wireframed format in Google Docs. This means you’ll see your copy laid out as it might appear on your website or sales page, giving you a clear picture of how it will look and feel to your audience.
Here’s an example of what a wireframed copywriting deliverable looks like:
Wireframed top section of a sales page, as delivered to the client.
Final designed top section of the sales page.
This approach also facilitates easier handoff to your designer. It gives them clear sections to work with and image suggestions to pair with the copy on the page, so you can feel confident you final copy is written and designed to convert.
I’ll likely provide variations of key aspects of the copy, like options for the primary headline, or a few different subject lines for emails, so it’s easier for you to A/B test and optimize from here.
Your delivery email usually comes with a recorded explainer video of me walking through your copy. This way, you can hear my reasoning and get oriented inside the documents before you share your feedback.
Step 4: Exhale
Finalize & Launch
Last step: I take any revision requests and polish up your copy, infusing your voice and feedback so it's ready to go. On launch day, all that's left to do is sit back and enjoy more sales and exhales. :) Here’s a little more info on how we wrap up our project together.
The revisions phase
I’m a firm believer that the best copy comes from collaboration. That’s where the revisions process comes in. All projects aside from Copy VIP Days come with 2 free rounds of revisions to make sure we get each word right before it goes to your designer.
How do revisions work? You simply use the commenting feature in Google Docs to leave me feedback or request changes to the copy. Let me know when you’re finished making changes, and I’ll have them turned around for you within one week.
If you need more than 2 rounds of revisions, I’ll determine what’s appropriate to ensure you get the copy you’re looking for. There may be an additional charge for more than 2 revision rounds. Either way, I’ll stay by your side until you’re 100% satisfied with the copy I’ve produced for you.
Exhale and enjoy the results
And then, it’s time to exhale. You’ve trusted the process, and now you can sit back and enjoy the results of this project. Whether it’s increased conversions, more engagement, or simply feeling proud of the copy that represents your brand, this phase is all about celebrating the outcome.
Launching new copy can be a nerve-wracking experience, but with the EASE process, you can feel confident that every last step is handled with care and expertise. Walk away with high-converting copy that drives results, so you can get back to the stuff you love, while your copy does a whole lotta heavy lifting for you.
Support for optimization
Once your copy has a chance to make an impact, we can have a complimentary optimization call to review data and find any areas we can tweak to improve conversions. I’m here to help you maximize your ROI for this investment, so this is your permission slip to leverage my strategy brain to support results even after our project ends!
Add-on services for more support
Depending on your project, I may suggest other ways I can support you with your project. For example, I can liaise with your designer, or even bring in a designer and manage that side of the project for you so you don't have to deal with that aspect on your own.
If your project is a live launch, I can provide ongoing support via Voxer. This means you get marketing strategy advice on-demand to support you throughout your launch window.
Ongoing marketing help
Our work together doesn’t have to end here. I’m always here for any future projects, updates, or tweaks you might need as your business grows and evolves. I also offer ongoing copywriting and marketing retainers if you need ongoing support for things like email marketing, Meta ads, or marketing strategy in general.
Either way, I’m so thankful to you for trusting me with your copywriting needs. Here’s to many more successful launches and plenty of easeful exhales along the way.
Ready for an EASEful approach to better copywriting for your business?
By now, you’ve gotten the most thorough rundown of my EASE copywriting process that I’ve ever shared. Here’s a summary of the framework again:
Step 1: Explore: Kickoff & Info Gathering
Step 2: Assemble: Prep & Outline
Step 3: Serve: Write & Deliver Draft 1
Step 4: Exhale: Finalize & Launch
I developed this signature process to offer you an easeful way of completing copywriting deliverables. Plus, my approach to copywriting is all about helping your audience make purchasing decisions from a place of nervous system-level EASE.
If this feels like the approach you want to get more sales for your business, I’m confident that we’d make a great match to team up on your copy.
Am I the right copywriter for you?
Since 2019, I’ve worked with over 300 business owners, including leading agencies like Peaceful Profits, to enhance their messaging and boost conversions.
I’ve invested countless hours and thousands of dollars in mastering the art of copywriting and staying ahead of industry trends. My experience and dedication mean you can count on me to deliver copy that resonates with your crowd and helps you nail your marketing goals.
So, if you're ready to get high-converting copy through the EASE Framework, you’re in the right place. The first (commitment-free) step to work together is to submit some quick information about your project through this form.
From there, I’ll review what you’ve shared to get an initial sense for whether we’re a good fit. If so, I’ll reach out with a scheduling link so you can book a call with me!
Got questions for me before we meet? Explore more articles on my blog to get the info you need, or reach out here. I’d love to hear what’s on your mind and chat about your copywriting needs.
