Darian Chavez is co-owner of Copy Identity, a copywriting agency where they help Makers create a message in copywriting and content marketing that connects with customers and makes sales. They do this in live classes, digital workbooks, and side-by-side copywriting coaching, a new kind of copywriting service that combines the client’s voice with professional copywriting experience and expertise in virtual side-by-side meetings. Darian is also a full-time active duty member of the U.S. military, a coach in multiple e-commerce business memberships, and creator of the Go-Getter’s Club community where E-commerce business owners get help writing for their businesses. Her husband, Julio Chavez, co-owner of Copy Identity, is a nationally ranked salesman, funnel expert, and coach. Together, they’ve been featured on NBC, CBS, The Wall Street Business Network, Manuel “Facebook Marketing Ninja” Suarez podcast, and dozens more publications telling their highschool sweethearts turned business partners story. Over the last decade they’ve helped hundreds of E-commerce business owners find their story, grow their following, and increase their business revenue. If you’re an E-commerce business who wants to tell your story in copywriting and content marketing, join our free Business Community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/copyidentity, and let’s get to work!
Where did the idea for Copy Identity come from?
Darian Chavez: I’ve always loved writing, so it was an easy fit to write for a living, but I struggled with differentiating myself from other Copywriters. More than that I wanted to leave customers feeling elated with the results, but because Copywriting is so subjective that was often difficult and often required several back-and-forths to get right. That meant fewer clients at a time, so scaling seemed like an impossibility. When I started coaching, I stumbled into the side-by-side model. I coach the client through writing the copy themselves right there on the call and then edit it for them after the fact. Our clients LOVED this model. We walked them through the right structure and formula, they were able to insert their own voice right away, and our editing polished it up to perfection. It also cut back-and-forth down by 90% which meant we could add more clients to our pipeline.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
Darian Chavez: There are only a handful of tasks we repeat daily (collaboration outreach, social media engagement, and email), everything else has its own day of the week or month to help us focus. Once we’re done with our daily tasks, we chip away at a weekly or monthly project and spend the rest of the day with our son. Because I’m active duty Air Force in addition to running Copy Identity with my husband, my time is even more limited. This means we plan months or even a year in advance on certain projects. Because our copywriting service is more of a coaching model, we’re able to schedule client work completion to an exact date and time; which means we can add more to our plate (teaching classes, creating digital products, designing sales campaigns for our own offers). Traditional copywriting services leave more room for back-and-forth and make it difficult to see the end of a project. This makes it difficult for a traditional copywriter to focus on their own business. Because of our clear schedule, we’re much more productive and prolific.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Darian Chavez: I’m a pen and paper kind of person. I can’t visualize something unless I write it down or draw it out. I also like to learn from others. When I have a new idea, I’ll research to see if and how others have done it and how I can do it better or do it differently. Then, depending on what it is (course, workbook, membership, service), I’ll draw it out on paper or do what I call the Brain Vomit exercise – throw all my ideas down without stopping or editing. From there, my husband and I spend a lot of time talking it out, finding the gaps, and playing devil’s advocate. Then we’ll run a test with our current customers and followers. We’ll put up a short term testrun and make changes based on feedback and interest. If it’s well-received, we’ll develop a sales campaign behind it and go live.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Darian Chavez: We’re very interested in the messenger and text message sales strategy right now. Especially for those starting out who don’t need more than a handful of clients, it sounds like a very promising sales style, but we’ll have to get back to you on how it goes for us.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Darian Chavez: Focusing on one thing at a time. I get overwhelmed when I see a long to-do list or a very full calendar, but if I can schedule out projects so that we’re focusing on one project a quarter, one objective a month, one task a week, and one to-do a day – BAM! It’s done quickly and with less stress.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Darian Chavez: Be more confident in your abilities. Especially in the beginning of our company, I held my breath with every client waiting for them to come back angry at the work I delivered, but that never happened! It was usually the opposite, sometimes resulting in emotional responses of gratitude. If I hadn’t tip-toed for so long out of fear I wasn’t good enough, I might have skipped a lot of growth frustration with the company.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
Darian Chavez: The vast majority of my clients think they don’t have a story to share or that no one would care to read it, but every single time I dig into a client’s background – there’s an incredible story; and once we share it they see an immediate increase in audience connection and sales. Everyone has a story, and when you share you give others permission to share too. It’s why I love what I do and could never stop. We’re bringing people together, liberating women business owners, and helping them find happiness as well as success.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Darian Chavez: Focus on one thing at a time. You’ll end up with hundreds of ideas, and all of them will seem better than the last. See one idea through to the end before starting the next. You can make money if you keep restarting.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Darian Chavez: We focused on less saturated markets. You hear a lot about B2B Copywriters, but E-commerce Copywriters aren’t as common. When we opted to work a little harder in a less saturated area to serve a mostly neglected group of entrepreneurs, we found our path and started growing.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
Darian Chavez: Early on, we tried to be everything to everyone and it cost us $30,000 in ad spend to learn that was a mistake. It’s scary to start saying no, but there are benefits to specializing in both skillset and target market. You’re able to actually reach the people who need you.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Darian Chavez: We’re looking into flipping businesses. You can find lots of businesses for sale, including their sales metrics, at https://exchangemarketplace.com/.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
Darian Chavez: I’m going to give my husband kudos for this one. He recently purchased a year subscription to a yoga app for me. I love yoga (and, honestly, need it to stay sane most days), but can’t always attend classes. Now I’ve got an unlimited supply on my phone that I can fit in at any point of the day.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?
Darian Chavez: We love https://answerthepublic.com/ to see what questions people are asking online about the topics we’d like to cover. This helps us stay SEO-relevant and answer questions our clients are actually interested in.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
Darian Chavez: High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard. It’s a manual in reaching the next level personally and professionally whether that’s in business or your personal life, and helps you sustain as a healthy entrepreneur.
What is your favorite quote?
Darian Chavez: It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us… Your playing small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you… It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, Our presence automatically liberates others. —Marianne Williamson
Key Learnings:
Darian Chavez:
- Focus on one idea to completion before starting on another
- Be confident in your abilities and put yourself out there with the knowledge that what you offer is valuable and wanted
- Being an entrepreneur includes taking care of yourself and your family. This is a marathon, not a sprint so pace yourself
- You can’t be everything to everyone, so focus on the people, topics, and offers that motivate you the most and keep you moving forward
- Ideas don’t just come from you, they come from the people you serve, so find out what they’re asking.
Originally published on Ideamensch.com
