80. Email Marketing Secrets for Service Providers: From Burnout to Strategic Scaling with Joanne Homestead

In this episode of Soulpreneur Scaling Stories, I chat with Joanne Homestead, an email copywriter and copy coach who helps service providers create compelling email content that builds genuine connection and drives conversions.

Joanne shares her journey from being a teacher for 15 years to discovering her natural talent for storytelling in the online business space. She reveals how she transitioned from virtual assistant work to specialized email copywriting, and eventually to copy coaching—helping others master the art of engaging email communication.

This conversation is packed with practical insights about why email marketing remains essential for service providers, how to overcome common mindset blocks, and Joanne's comprehensive STORIES framework that transforms email strategy from overwhelming to manageable.

Key Points Covered:

✨ Why email marketing remains one of the most effective tools for online service providers

✨ The importance of building an email community you own versus relying solely on social media

✨ Joanne's complete STORIES framework for creating engaging emails:

• Set the vision
• Tell stories
• Own your messaging
• Release mindset blocks
• Identity as a writer
• Ethical copywriting
• Sequences that convert

✨ How to navigate business transitions and trust your intuition when scaling

✨ The power of embracing systems even when they're not your natural strength

✨ Why quality connections in your email list matter more than quantity

Connect with Joanne:

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

Free Guide: "Three Simple Steps to Irresistibly Entertaining Emails that Sell"

Thank you for being a part of the Soulpreneur Scaling Stories community!

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Andrea Elibero: Andrea here, your host and passionate business coach and scaling strategist for soulful service providers and coaches. Welcome to another episode of Solepreneur Scaling Stories. Have you ever wanted to look behind the curtain of your fellow entrepreneur's business to see what actually went into scaling it?

[00:00:22] Well, you are in for a treat 'cause that's exactly what we are doing here. In each episode, we will be uncovering the truth of the lessons and the stories behind what it truly takes for sold entrepreneurs to scale their businesses intentionally. I'm hoping that their stories will help you to unlock the true potential of your business so you can create your own soulful, abundant, and aligned laptop lifestyle through intentional scaling.

[00:00:46] So whether you're just starting out on your scaling journey or you're a seasoned entrepreneur seeking inspiration, this episode has something incredible in store for you. Are you ready to rise, grow, and create a business that fully supports your dream life? Well, let's [00:01:00] dive in. Before we begin, make sure to hit that subscribe buttons.

[00:01:03] You never miss an empowering episode filled with real stories and soulful insights.

[00:01:10] Hello, hello, and welcome to Soulpreneur Scaling Stories. I am here with Joanne Homestead, who is an email copywriter and copy coach. Welcome, Joanne. Nice to have you here.

[00:01:22] Joanne Homestead: Thank you for having me on Andrea. I'm so glad to be here.

[00:01:26] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, so we connected like a couple of years ago, I believe. And at that time, the coaching aspect was something that was in development. So I would love to hear a bit more, well first of all, a bit more about what it is that you actually do. So what does it mean to be an email copywriter and copy coach?

[00:01:47] Joanne Homestead: Okay. Yeah. Let's start there because I like to say there's no like eight year old girl going like I'm going to become an email copywriter when I grow up.

[00:01:58] Andrea Elibero: Can you imagine what a strange role that [00:02:00] would be if like, I was like, I really want to write emails all day.

[00:02:03] Joanne Homestead: Right. Yeah. I just want to write emails. That's all I want to do.

[00:02:07] So basically I, I, I have two, two main offers. One is the email copywriting. So I have the done for you. I write the email sequences for my clients. And then the other main offer is the copy coaching piece. And that's what I like to say is

[00:02:24] I'm teaching you to fish.

[00:02:25] I'm teaching you how to Use email strategy, email sequences, how to use copywriting and storytelling get more engagement and get more conversion through your emails.

[00:02:40] Andrea Elibero: Mmm, there are okay, so I'm gonna go into before we get into your story into some email copywriting things so It's really funny because I've noticed that a lot of people will say to me when I tell them That no, you need to have an email [00:03:00] list like let's do that and they'll say but I hate reading emails And do people actually read those and I wonder if you get something similar

[00:03:09] Joanne Homestead: I would say, okay, good question. I would say for For some clients I have worked with, they're, they're like, yes, like I like the emails. I like getting emails from other people.

[00:03:25] There's usually more like nuanced mindsets for them going on,

[00:03:29] Around, Ooh, I, I am subscribed to these emails, newsletters, not because I actually interested in learning, but. Just to support another entrepreneur. But then they're getting, they're realizing they're kind of like begrudging getting the emails at that point then. And so being able to kind of dig into that, um, there is the other camp of,

[00:03:53] I don't, I don't even read my own emails and all that. And that is something to also look into [00:04:00] the mindset around what's going on there.

[00:04:02] What's,

[00:04:03] Just because. don't read your emails. Does that mean your ideal clients aren't reading emails?

[00:04:08] Andrea Elibero: Right, right.

[00:04:10] Joanne Homestead: to, like, what's,

[00:04:12] that's a bit, that's a big piece of what I do with my stories framework, which I'm so excited to be able to share because it was from one of your podcast episodes that inspired me to finally okay, I'm making my, my stories framework, uh, my

[00:04:28] Andrea Elibero: Stop it.

[00:04:30] Joanne Homestead: Yeah.

[00:04:30] Andrea Elibero: like the highest compliment. Thank you.

[00:04:32] Joanne Homestead: So first I had a visual framework and I just was, it just wasn't, I wasn't feeling it.

[00:04:38] And I listened to your podcast and I was like, okay, I'm doing, I'm going for the acronym, the stories framework.

[00:04:44] So that is a part of the stories framework is. Really releasing. That's the R in the stories is releasing mindset blocks that all the mindset blocks that come up.

[00:04:55] Like, I don't even read my own emails. I don't want to bother people in my emails.

[00:04:59] Andrea Elibero: [00:05:00] Yeah,

[00:05:00] Joanne Homestead: know. I don't want someone to unsubscribe. That's just I'm going to die if that happens.

[00:05:05] Andrea Elibero: Oh, I don't want to send too many emails. Oh, yeah, right. Like a lot of things, a lot of these things do come up, which is really interesting.

[00:05:12] And the thing that, and I believe the statistics still stands, but let me know because you are the expert, that

[00:05:19] email marketing is, you know. still remains to be like one of the most effective marketing tools.

[00:05:27] Is that accurate?

[00:05:28] Joanne Homestead: Yeah. And you, I mean, it, it really depends on, obviously this is a generalization,

[00:05:34] Andrea Elibero: right, right, right, right. Yeah,

[00:05:39] Joanne Homestead: is And it's really about, I think that's a piece of like,

[00:05:46] getting the aligned people into your email community, which, which helps them with the, with the ROI and conversion piece of it.

[00:05:54] Andrea Elibero: right. Yeah. And that's a really good point because, you know, people think like, oh, I need to have this email [00:06:00] list of 10, 000 people or something. But it's like, and especially when you're an online service provider, You're not going to serve, you know, your goal, you're not a digital course or maybe you have one, but like, you know, like most of the time you're working with a handful of people.

[00:06:13] So you don't need some big gigantic email list. Like this is not the goal, right?

[00:06:16] The goal,

[00:06:17] So the goal is actually to, like you were saying, right, have the aligned people, not the number, but the quality.

[00:06:23] Joanne Homestead: Yeah.

[00:06:24] Andrea Elibero: when you can do that, There's nothing better.

[00:06:27] Joanne Homestead: Yeah. Yeah. Quality.

[00:06:29] like to say quality over quantity, but also quantity is not a bad thing either. It's quality as well.

[00:06:40] Andrea Elibero: Amazing. Okay. And the last thing that comes to mind is, can you talk about your vision or, or maybe like anything in particular, if there is anything for online service providers and like specifically, like the VAs, the OVMs with regards to having an email [00:07:00] list, because a lot of people don't. And so is it like, no, I recommend you have one or like what it just, what comes to mind for you when you're thinking about email lists in regards to this specific niche?

[00:07:10] Joanne Homestead: I think that it is so helpful just to start, start building your email list. I like to call it your email community. You're building another email community. Another area, another circle for your community, and

[00:07:23] Andrea Elibero: Mm

[00:07:24] Joanne Homestead: an email

[00:07:25] and

[00:07:26] your future self will thank you for starting your your email list, even though you're just not even sure what what to do with it or When to start writing like what's what's the right number of subscribers to start

[00:07:40] to start to start building it up? because especially like right now with the

[00:07:46] Everything with social media and, you know, Tik Tok is.

[00:07:52] Andrea Elibero: hmm. Mm

[00:07:55] Joanne Homestead: know, don't know if it will get shut down or closed. Um, people are leaving, leaving Facebook and [00:08:00] Instagram and meta in general.

[00:08:03] Andrea Elibero: hmm.

[00:08:04] Joanne Homestead: and anything with like LinkedIn, social media is like, you don't own the followers there.

[00:08:10] So if you get shut down your, your account could,

[00:08:14] I knew someone who recently his account was. Closed on LinkedIn,

[00:08:20] not because of anything he did, but there was just, they just have tech glitches and it happened to him twice and he wasn't

[00:08:26] Andrea Elibero: wow.

[00:08:27] Joanne Homestead: you know, even access his account.

[00:08:31] So with email marketing with your email community, um, when you collect the email addresses, you, you own the email addresses, which means

[00:08:40] if you migrate to another email service provider, like if you're going from like

[00:08:44] MailChimp to convert kit, you can take all those. email addresses with you. They, they go along with you and you can still contact them and communicate with, all your ideal clients in that way versus social media where you don't [00:09:00] own it and it can get closed down and it's just, it's another safekeeping you could say for

[00:09:07] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, and, and it's true, right? Because it feels like, it doesn't feel like a security blanket. I don't know, that's the wrong, the wrong analogy. But it is, yeah, like, it's yours, and that feels nice, you know, to be like, okay, this is mine, and we're good. And I don't have to pray to any, you know, social media gods that they will favor me in the algorithm or whatnot,

[00:09:30] because these people actually elected to hear from me.

[00:09:32] Joanne Homestead: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:09:33] Andrea Elibero: yeah.

[00:09:34] Joanne Homestead: yeah, I'm,

[00:09:35] Andrea Elibero: hmm. Mm

[00:09:37] Joanne Homestead: based marketing and email marketing specifically. Like when people join you in your email community, they, uh, they are saying, yes, I want to, I want to be here. I want to join you. And so that's another big piece of the, another big piece of it. I think too is that they have decided to join you here. So when you email [00:10:00] them, they want, they want to hear from you.

[00:10:02] Andrea Elibero: hmm. Mm hmm. Amazing. And, okay, so your STORIES framework, can you go through and explain what that is?

[00:10:10] Joanne Homestead: Yeah, sure. Okay. So it's a seven part stories framework.

[00:10:17] And, uh, the, the purpose of having the framework is I've worked with so many one to one copy coaching clients at this point that I have been able to see exactly what it is we're doing together to get them the results they're looking for, which is generally, um, Um, wanting more engagement, more, more opens, more engagement. not like you're talking to a brick wall when you're writing. It was like you're talking to the other people on the other side and building that bridge for them, but then also, um, getting more clicks and being able to get clients through your email campaigns and email sequences. So the seven parts stories framework is [00:11:00] The first one.

[00:11:00] Okay. Let's see if I can remember. It's so new.

[00:11:04] Andrea Elibero: It's not a test, it's okay. It is hard, though, sometimes, right, to be like, wait, what does this stand for again? Yeah.

[00:11:11] Joanne Homestead: I got it. Yes. The, the first S is set, set the vision. So, and we, this goes right into what we were talking about.

[00:11:21] A lot of entrepreneurs,

[00:11:23] um,

[00:11:25] and this is including like VAs, OBMs. Start an email list,

[00:11:31] but they have no idea what they're, what they're doing with it. And so

[00:11:35] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:11:35] Joanne Homestead: writing and when they start writing, it's, it's frustrating that just, they don't know, what am I talking about?

[00:11:42] What am I writing? What is, what is the whole, what's the whole purpose? What's, what's the

[00:11:46] Andrea Elibero: Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm

[00:11:51] Joanne Homestead: consider when you're setting the vision,

[00:11:54] the other, you have to consider all the other purposes for your email list, your email community. What [00:12:00] do you want your email community to do for you in your business? So we really dig into that, really setting the vision and then creating action goals that then align and are realistic to um, what it is you want your email list to do for you.

[00:12:18] That's the S. The T is telling stories, which is an obvious one because the framework is called stories.

[00:12:25] And this is my absolute passion is how to use storytelling for your business, for marketing, for selling. In emails.

[00:12:36] Um, and so there's, uh,

[00:12:40] a whole module on, you know, types of stories to tell how to tell a compelling story, how to hook in, you know, all the storytelling techniques. Because that's really where you're going to compel. We are not creating any boring emails. A emails are [00:13:00] engaging and people want to open them.

[00:13:02] Andrea Elibero: hmm.

[00:13:03] Joanne Homestead: they know, um, through the storytelling. And again, storytelling doesn't have to be a whole novel. It could be a couple sentences. Um, it's really just helping them create a context. for what you're talking about. So that's the T. The O is own your messaging. So generally speaking, my clients have their messaging. They have their ideal client avatar. They have for that. Um, but what they haven't written down yet is the more of the psychology and emotions

[00:13:36] Andrea Elibero: Mm hmm.

[00:13:37] Joanne Homestead: clients.

[00:13:38] Andrea Elibero: hmm.

[00:13:39] Joanne Homestead: They have it in their head. you write it down on paper, we, we reference it. I, I tell my clients all the time, you reference that all the time.

[00:13:50] work that you're going to use you are copywriting all the time. You're going to go back and look at that, um, as a reference point. So that's the O on your messaging. Okay. I'm [00:14:00] doing pretty good here.

[00:14:00] R is, uh, I already mentioned this one, release mindset blocks, release emotional blocks that are standing in your way. I can give you all the strategies and skills that you want, but it's not going to get you anywhere. you're having mindset blocks around like, Oh, I don't want it. Like, I don't know about sending, you know, two emails in a week, things like that.

[00:14:26] And that's okay. We all have them. We're all human. And we just, we're going to get curious about it and see what's, what's really behind it to help you move forward. the I in the stories is,

[00:14:41] Andrea Elibero: Oh, we caught her. We caught her.

[00:14:47] Joanne Homestead: Identity as a writer or identity as a content creator,

[00:14:51] Andrea Elibero: Mm

[00:14:52] Joanne Homestead: because you are, you are good at what you do, like OPMs and VAs. good with the [00:15:00] systems. They're good with the admin tags, the tasks, the whatever that is.

[00:15:08] So really embracing your identity as a writer and a content creator. And even for myself as a copywriter, I had to embrace my identity as a writer.

[00:15:21] And when you do that, you start, you're, you're able to start creating habits and actions that align with identity. So that's the I. The E is ethical copywriting.

[00:15:34] Um,

[00:15:35] no manipulative marketing tactics, FOMO, no magic pills. It's really about writing in a way that is. your terms, is authentic, that is not creating shame, I work with a lot of, um, in wellness and well being.

[00:15:54] Andrea Elibero: hmm.

[00:15:54] Joanne Homestead: Not capitalizing on other people's vulnerability.

[00:15:59] So [00:16:00] that's the ethical copywriting piece. Uh, and then, and that one I, I really love because that's really like where the, Okay, I'm terrible with expressions. Where the rubber meets the road. Is that

[00:16:12] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

[00:16:13] Joanne Homestead: yeah.

[00:16:13] Andrea Elibero: job. Amazing.

[00:16:21] Joanne Homestead: Um, so the ethical copywriting is really where you're you're You're, you're writing, and I'm, I'm really there to, I have my eyes on your writing to see like what needs to be tweaked, what needs to be adjusted, how do you change your language here, and I talk about why, like why you want to do that, and to write in a way that does that.

[00:16:44] Convert. And the last one, we made it, the S. This is, um, the most popular one of them all. So save the best for last is sequences. [00:17:00] Having email sequences, how email sequences I like to imagine is it can be automated like a welcome nurture sequence, or it could, it could just be a sequence that you,

[00:17:10] you just send and publish and you can, you can create it to automate at some point if you want. But really an email sequence is just going from

[00:17:19] your, um, your soul mate clients are at point a, how do you get them to point B to C to D you're guiding them along the journey. And so email sequences that I focus mainly on are like the welcome nurture sequence, pre launch nurture sequence, and a sales sequence.

[00:17:42] Andrea Elibero: Thank you for sharing all of that. There's so many good juicy bits in there to consider about email marketing. So now I would love to transition into your journey, because if we hear you talk today, right, it's like, oh Joanne, she has it all together. Obviously, she's been doing this, [00:18:00] you know, out of the womb and she has her copywriting business, she has a framework for her coaching, like, but how did we get to this place?

[00:18:09] Because I feel like so many people get discouraged because they see all of these people who have it all together, and they're like, my business is nowhere near that. Right. So I would love to hear about your journey. And one, so basically, okay, so how do we get into email copywriting in the first place?

[00:18:27] Joanne Homestead: Yeah, that, thanks for asking that. Have it all together. I like to put in quotes, who truly has it all together.

[00:18:38] Andrea Elibero: This is what we all portray online, right?

[00:18:42] Joanne Homestead: Let me say, I do not have it all together. I'm just going to start there. Wherever we are in our business, we're just, we're continually growing, you

[00:18:49] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, and also wherever you are in your business is where you're meant to be right now

[00:18:54] Joanne Homestead: Right.

[00:18:55] Andrea Elibero: cherish that because The funny part is that there's no end point ever. [00:19:00] So the more you chase something The less you're enjoying what you're actually doing and then you might as well just go back to a nine to five That is a lot less stressful in some time, you know in certain ways than it is having your own business So enjoy where you are as you grow and as you go on your journey Um Oh,

[00:19:19] Joanne Homestead: getting better at what I'm doing.

[00:19:22] That's it. I'm getting better at what I'm doing. And yes, at the, every, it doesn't matter what level you're at. Cause it's true. It's like, you don't, you don't ever reach a level where you're like, I've got it all together.

[00:19:33] It's

[00:19:34] Andrea Elibero: right,

[00:19:34] Joanne Homestead: all beautifully packaged up in a beautiful ribbon.

[00:19:38] Andrea Elibero: right. Because you always also find somebody ahead of you. You're like, Oh, I just want to be like this person. And then you get to that point. You're like, Oh, no, not that I want to be like this person. And so, yeah, it's a never ending thing. So, right.

[00:19:51] Joanne Homestead: levels.

[00:19:52] Andrea Elibero: completely. So, okay. So how do we get into email copywriting?

[00:19:57] Joanne Homestead: um, I was a teacher for 15 [00:20:00] years and I, um, when I started my business, I actually had no idea what a copywriter was. And I started as a virtual assistant

[00:20:12] and I intentionally did that because I wanted to figure out what I wanted to do in the online business space. I had just learned about it.

[00:20:21] It's very newbie. And I also wanted to see how my clients. business in the back end.

[00:20:29] Andrea Elibero: We had the same exact reason for getting in and starting as a virtual assistant, which is so funny. I didn't realize that. I didn't realize that.

[00:20:35] Joanne Homestead: that either.

[00:20:36] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, where it's such a good place to start when you're like, I don't know exactly what I want to do

[00:20:42] Joanne Homestead: Yeah.

[00:20:43] Andrea Elibero: have this whole window into how businesses are run and you get exposed to so many things.

[00:20:49] So, uh, and some people stay there and that's amazing. That's what they end up loving. And then, yeah. And then some people don't, right. You switch out and you're like, okay, now I found a thing that I really like. And so that's really cool. Yeah. [00:21:00] Hmm.

[00:21:00] Joanne Homestead: Oh, I love that. Okay. I love how we share that. So, yes, I, um, in that first six months, I did all the things, all the tasks. I just, you know, I told my clients like, what do you need help with? I will go

[00:21:13] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:21:14] Joanne Homestead: Um, which funny enough, the first task I had with my first client was she, she, she, she started by saying, I'm so sorry.

[00:21:23] I'm going to make you do this. Like, Oh God.

[00:21:29] She said, um, could you cancel my Comcast business account for me?

[00:21:38] And I said, okay, sure. We can try that. I have no idea. It would be like almost an impossible task. It's really hard. It's really difficult. And that's why she started by saying, I'm so sorry, but once I was able to do that, took a couple months, but I saved her tens of thousands of dollars.

[00:21:57] And I said. [00:22:00] I was just like, I was doing like fist pumps. I told my husband, I was like, I can do anything in the world. If I can do this, I can do anything.

[00:22:10] Andrea Elibero: I love that you changed your life. You got all the confidence from a canceling a Comcast business account. Wow. Okay.

[00:22:20] Joanne Homestead: That's it in

[00:22:21] business

[00:22:23] So in that in that process I started to write email campaigns for some of my clients They they said like oh, could you you know, could you help with this this thing and I started I started writing for them and I was getting a lot of really positive feedback from my clients They're saying, like, I don't know how you do that, but you, you, like you weave in the storytelling so seamlessly.

[00:22:50] It's just so natural.

[00:22:52] And I'm, you know, I'm getting so many responses back to my emails. Like I've been writing to my email list [00:23:00] for, I don't know how many years and don't get responses back. Like people are responding back. They're really resonating and they're saying things like, I, I had, I've heard it. I've heard other people talk about X, Y, and Z. So many times, but the way you just said it right there clicked and now I get it now

[00:23:19] Andrea Elibero: So let me ask you a question. Before this time, did you know that you were a really good writer? Okay. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

[00:23:33] Joanne Homestead: I didn't see myself as a writer at this point Even though now I can go back, I can go way back into when I was a kid, I did, I loved writing, and went to a summer camp, my, my parents let me go to a summer camp one summer in middle school, and I picked creative writing, so, but [00:24:00] I never saw myself as a writer, and

[00:24:02] Andrea Elibero: So

[00:24:02] Joanne Homestead: it's,

[00:24:04] Andrea Elibero: this is so cool because I have found that this so you talk about, you know, your stories framework. I have my own framework for doing things, obviously, because I'm a framework lady. But in part of that, part of when I work with my clients, the one of the first things we do is uncover what I call their unique magic, which is another way of basically saying like your zone of genius.

[00:24:22] And the interesting thing that I find so many times, like time and time again, is that when We dive into these questions. I have a whole bunch of questions from the answer to do some self exploration. And when people dive into these questions, they find that, Oh yes, I am good at, Oh, people have said that.

[00:24:39] And they don't realize that it has something that has been with them for so long. And the reason is, is because when we're good at something or when something comes easy to us, you kind of like, Oh yeah, you don't pay attention to it. Right. You're like, Oh yeah, of course. Like you think everybody can do it, but that's not true at all.

[00:24:55] So I find it so, and I just had a call actually today with a one on [00:25:00] one client who were creating a new core offer. And, And it was so amazing because, you know, everything that kind of came out when you do these explorations is like, Oh, wait, I am really good at this thing. Like people have told me this, or I really, you know, it really comes easy to me.

[00:25:13] I didn't realize that. So I just love highlighting this because it happened exactly to you, right? That you have always been a good writer, but you didn't realize that like, Oh, yeah, I just like doing that, but didn't realize that was your unique magic.

[00:25:27] Joanne Homestead: Right. Yeah. And that was a really big, that was a really big shift for me. It's like

[00:25:32] Andrea Elibero: Mm

[00:25:32] Joanne Homestead: that identity

[00:25:33] Andrea Elibero: hmm.

[00:25:35] Joanne Homestead: and then going back and seeing, yeah, like connecting the dots. Like, Oh wow. Yeah. Okay. All along the way, I've been a writer. I just didn't see myself as

[00:25:45] Andrea Elibero: Mm hmm.

[00:25:46] Joanne Homestead: true. Like when you're, when you just love something. You don't even think about it. You're just like, Oh, you know, everyone else must just be really good at this too. And

[00:25:55] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:25:55] Joanne Homestead: have to say, like having taught for those 15 years, being able [00:26:00] to hone my storytelling skills,

[00:26:04] Andrea Elibero: Mm hmm.

[00:26:05] Joanne Homestead: um, and really grow in my skills as a teacher and how that transfers into business.

[00:26:12] Sometimes, um, it can like, don't like don't invalidate Don't invalidate the skills that you've built in a different career or a different

[00:26:26] Andrea Elibero: Oh yeah,

[00:26:26] Joanne Homestead: role.

[00:26:28] Andrea Elibero: right, completely. Mm hmm. Mm

[00:26:30] Joanne Homestead: of that 15 years is how I'm here right now as a copywriter.

[00:26:34] Andrea Elibero: hmm. Yeah. And, excuse me, even though the skills might not transfer one on one, like in my case, so I was to add to that.

[00:26:44] Joanne Homestead: Mhm.

[00:26:44] Andrea Elibero: I was in grad school for seven years for clinical psychologies. Obviously, I used that in coaching and whatnot. But after that, I was a nurse. And when you're a nurse, you can do not get well, okay, like I some do, but like things happen and you don't get you know, flustered and, [00:27:00] and, you know, like, you learn to stay calm in an emergency situation.

[00:27:04] So that plays in business, especially when you're a service provider, and you're working with clients because they're freaking out. And You know, my skill was that there, and I've told, had so many people tell me that like, Oh, you ground me. Oh, you're so grounding and you keep me calm. And it's like, cause I'm, cause something's happening, but I'm not freaking out.

[00:27:20] Right. I'm just like, okay, like, we're going to solve the problem. Like we're good. So it's really interesting how these random things, you know, that you've built up throughout other careers, you get to pull into this.

[00:27:31] Joanne Homestead: Yeah. Yeah. That is such a, that is so valuable to have someone who's grounded when you're freaking out. And that goes back to like,

[00:27:40] do we have it all together?

[00:27:42] Andrea Elibero: No. Yeah.

[00:27:44] Joanne Homestead: I definitely still have freak out moments. I had a freak out moment. I just, this was just a couple weeks ago

[00:27:49] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:27:51] Joanne Homestead: were able to ground me back.

[00:27:52] Like, okay, you know, here we go Like let's

[00:27:56] Andrea Elibero: Everything's okay. Yeah, completely. Okay, so let's, [00:28:00] I want to fast forward a little bit. So you discover you're amazing at email. So then I imagine you dove into this aspect

[00:28:09] Joanne Homestead: Mm. Okay. Sorry. Ask, ask that

[00:28:11] Andrea Elibero: of the, um, so going back to your story. So you were like, I want to fast forward a little bit. Or else we're going to be here for like 10 hours and, you know, as much as I would love to chat with you for 10 hours, I'm going to move the story along. So, you are

[00:28:27] Joanne Homestead: Fast forward.

[00:28:28] Andrea Elibero: Fast forward. So, because the, the key pieces that I want to really, really uncover are when you're in these transitions, whether it be from a virtual assistant to email copywriter and then email copyrighted to copy coach. There's a lot that happens in these transitions that has to happen. So these are the pieces that I want to dive into more in terms of internally what you had to go through or uncover or get through and also, you know, strategically how you're shifting from one to the other.

[00:28:59] So you can [00:29:00] take that however you want and whatever comes to mind with you, I leave it open.

[00:29:03] Joanne Homestead: So much, so much, so much inner work. Let's

[00:29:07] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:29:07] Joanne Homestead: definitely say that. So I started, um,

[00:29:11] doing done for you

[00:29:12] Andrea Elibero: hmm.

[00:29:13] Joanne Homestead: email sequences and I loved, I loved it. I loved writing. I love using my client's stories. I love using their voice to write.

[00:29:23] And then I, and then I, and then a Kate, a coach came along, those coaches. Let me

[00:29:29] Andrea Elibero: Damn coaches. Yeah.

[00:29:32] Joanne Homestead: a coach came along,

[00:29:33] um, and she said, have you thought about doing copy coaching? And I said, no, no, no, I can't, I can't, I can't do that. doing my done for you. I write, this is, I'm in my happy place. I get to sit in my corner. I'm just like fiercely typing away.

[00:29:54] Andrea Elibero: Mm.

[00:29:54] Joanne Homestead: Um, and she said, I, I want to, I like, I want to learn how to do what [00:30:00] you do. Did for me, cause

[00:30:01] Andrea Elibero: Ah.

[00:30:02] Joanne Homestead: you,

[00:30:03] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:30:04] Joanne Homestead: she's just was blown away.

[00:30:05] She's just like, how did you do that in three days? And you created this whole thing and it's in my voice. Um, and so she said, want to learn how to, how to do what, what you did. Um, and I still was still was refusing. No, I'm not at that point yet.

[00:30:27] Andrea Elibero: Mm.

[00:30:28] Joanne Homestead: have enough business experience. I've been in business for, I don't know, maybe two years, maybe a little less.

[00:30:36] I don't have enough business experience to become a copy coach. I'm not a, I'm not a coach. a, I'm a teacher. I do not do any of that mindset work stuff. At the time, I didn't even believe in mindset work. Yeah, I was like, just give me a strategy. Give me the skills. We're good. Then I, then I burned out. when I realized mindset work is really [00:31:00] important. So there was, there was, yes, there were so many for me, like internal beliefs

[00:31:07] Andrea Elibero: Mm hmm.

[00:31:08] Joanne Homestead: were, that were causing me to say like, no, I can't do the same. But my, my coach was very, she's very adamant. She's like, let me be your first copy coaching client. And I'm going to train you as you're training me. to train you in the coaching and you're going to train me in the, in the, the, the copywriting and the

[00:31:30] Andrea Elibero: Wow.

[00:31:31] Joanne Homestead: sequences. It got very meta. So we worked together for, I think, seven, think it was seven months. Um, and I, yeah, it was a really amazing experience because she did basically as she was, we sat on the zoom together through things and these blocks are coming up before her and then she'll say, okay, so, because I said this thing, Joanne now, now you can say this [00:32:00] thing. This to me to help me get through with this. She's basically

[00:32:05] Andrea Elibero: this

[00:32:06] Joanne Homestead: herself

[00:32:06] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, but that's really fascinating that she it sounds like she believed that you had this gift And she wanted to learn it and she's like, well, like she wanted to learn it from you. So she's like, well, I'm going to teach this girl how to teach it to me. And that's really fascinating. And on your end, my question here is, okay, so you're talking about how you're like, no, no, that's not me.

[00:32:27] But a lot of times the first thoughts that come up are the thoughts that are like the limiting belief type thoughts, the imposter syndrome, all of that. But underneath it, if you sit with that. then you do have your own intuition that's like, Ooh, actually, like, this does sound really cool. And I'm wondering if that was what happened to you?

[00:32:47] Like, why did you decide to say yes?

[00:32:50] Joanne Homestead: Yes, definitely the intuition and the gut

[00:32:53] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. Mm

[00:32:55] Joanne Homestead: to Listen to my gut and my husband asks me all [00:33:00] this all the time Like how did you decide to do that thing? How did you decide

[00:33:04] Andrea Elibero: hmm.

[00:33:05] Joanne Homestead: How did you decide to go live in Shanghai for a few years after college? How did you like decide all these like things that seem so random?

[00:33:13] And I

[00:33:13] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:33:15] Joanne Homestead: my gut,

[00:33:16] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:33:18] Joanne Homestead: I just knew my gut was saying yes to this. And I'm just, I'm going to go, I'm going to go follow it. So yeah, it really is about. Like peeling back those layers of limiting beliefs, but also, um, something for me too, is, and especially as a business owner and all the online noise you can hear is tapping back into your intuition and your gut because you're the only one who knows

[00:33:46] Andrea Elibero: Yes. Yes. And it's so funny, because I also had and with the same client today had this similar conversation when she We were having this discussion, and we were having a discussion just about, you know, [00:34:00] recreating her offer, her new offer, and we were talking about coaching because she is a VA, she's really new.

[00:34:09] And the thing that came up was that she already, because she was doing some market research calls and she realized from all of this that she has the skill to, to

[00:34:19] simplify and like she's suggesting things to business owners, you know, like she has the mind for, for this. And she, um, it's just kind of like this natural born coach in a way.

[00:34:30] So we created this really cool offer that is This, I won't spoil it, but it's kind of like this like hybrid thing that's like doing stuff slash like strategy slash like coach, anyhow, it was really amazing. But the thing that was really cool is that what she was saying was that, you know, she had, we were talking about something like she had had people previously tell her, well, this is the exact way to do something.

[00:34:50] And um, You know, you have to follow like this way. And so in our work together she's like, well, should I be on this or that? And I was like, well go on Express. Like she's talking about LinkedIn. So for instance, [00:35:00] versus Instagram, she's like, I don't know, they told me I should do this. Like, you gotta go on Instagram, then go on LinkedIn.

[00:35:05] And then I was like, well just go play on LinkedIn for a little bit and see how it feels. And then she went and she's like, no, I hate it. I was like, okay, great. And so like, but previously somebody, you know, she was told that this is the way to do it and. If you don't listen to yourself and be able to make your own decisions in a way that obviously there's like strategy behind it, but like be able to listen to your intuition and trust yourself and just follow blindly what other people tell you that you have to do, then you probably won't be in business for very long because you're gonna end up doing things that you hate and that you start resenting and that don't work well for you.

[00:35:39] You know what I mean?

[00:35:40] Joanne Homestead: The resentment is real.

[00:35:42] Andrea Elibero: The resentment can be real. Yeah, like a thousand percent.

[00:35:45] Joanne Homestead: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And I tell the same thing to my clients too, as I'm like teaching them to fish. Okay.

[00:35:51] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:35:52] Joanne Homestead: always saying like, okay, I'm going to give you the strategies, the

[00:35:56] Andrea Elibero: Mm hmm.

[00:35:57] Joanne Homestead: and I give you the best practices. [00:36:00] And I want you to be able to follow what What feels good to you.

[00:36:06] Andrea Elibero: Mm hmm.

[00:36:08] Joanne Homestead: I want you to bend the rules

[00:36:12] Because that's what I do I Find the parameters and then I start bending it to fit to fit to fit me to fit my

[00:36:19] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:36:20] Joanne Homestead: all

[00:36:20] Andrea Elibero: Yes. Yes.

[00:36:23] Joanne Homestead: And so it's, it's like, I, I encourage my clients to like, don't need to follow exactly whatever comes out of my mouth does not mean it has to happen way.

[00:36:36] I'm creating parameters for you, creating systems and frameworks for you to then be able to decide, like, okay, I'm going to go, like you say, going to go play around in there.

[00:36:46] Andrea Elibero: Mm hmm.

[00:36:47] Joanne Homestead: play and see how it feels. And then go from there.

[00:36:51] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. And that's such a important lesson. And I think that a lot of times people feel like, Oh, I have to do X, Y, Z, or especially because of this person did X, Y, Z. So this is the [00:37:00] thing that I have to do. And these are the rules and you have to do that. But the people who are honestly the most successful are the ones who make their own rules and do their own thing.

[00:37:10] It's because they're brave, they do something different, they stand out. So all of it's a big experiment anyways. So go and do what makes you feel good. Because if you're excited about it, then you're actually going to do it and stick with it. And then you'll be successful, you know, because you'll be consistent.

[00:37:28] So yeah. Okay, let me ask you, so I'm going to ask like one or two more questions.

[00:37:35] Joanne Homestead: Mm

[00:37:36] Andrea Elibero: So, in terms of. And especially in these transitions, right? So what was the biggest hurdle that you feel like you encountered? I heard you talk about burnout a bit And you know this assuming these new identities and things like that So i'm curious if you had to pick like one big hurdle what that would be

[00:37:55] Joanne Homestead: that is a hard question.

[00:37:58] Andrea Elibero: We ask the burning questions on this podcast[00:38:00] 

[00:38:01] Joanne Homestead: What's the one, what's the one like biggest hurdle?

[00:38:07] Andrea Elibero: Or a big hurdle it doesn't have to be the biggest yeah

[00:38:10] Joanne Homestead: Ooh, that's a hard one. There's so many hurdles. So

[00:38:15] Andrea Elibero: There's so many to choose from

[00:38:17] Joanne Homestead: many to choose from. let me think. So, I, I definitely think that. Okay, what's, like, what's coming up for me right now

[00:38:34] Andrea Elibero: Hm?

[00:38:34] Joanne Homestead: is the self trust

[00:38:38] Andrea Elibero: Hm.

[00:38:41] Joanne Homestead: Uh, trusting myself like I, I, I can do the thing that I say I'm, I'm going to do. And I don't know, that's just been like a really big theme for me at this moment currently, um, right now. And so it is, it [00:39:00] is just like doing little exercises. that prove that I can trust myself. I'm but one of the is going to sound silly. One of the things that I do here in my house, because I work remotely. I can work from my laptop at home. Is I will say, okay, I'm going to go to the bathroom. And then. I don't go, I end up in another room. I'm like suddenly seeing like, Oh, this bed needs to get made.

[00:39:31] I need to

[00:39:31] Andrea Elibero: Oh,

[00:39:32] Joanne Homestead: curtain. Oh, I need

[00:39:33] Andrea Elibero: yeah. Hm.

[00:39:35] Joanne Homestead: all that. Like, I don't go to the bathroom and it's like, okay, that was the one simple exercise I decided I'm going to do to show like, I can trust, you can trust like what I say I'm going to do. I'm going to the bathroom. I'm not going to get distracted. Going to the bathroom. I have two small kids. It's not an [00:40:00] easy process to, like, have time in the bathroom to myself, so this is, like, a very big deal. Like, yes, okay, I'm doing the thing. and so I feel like that, that has definitely been for me, that, that self trust piece. And I think that really has

[00:40:15] come from what you said, the transitions.

[00:40:18] Andrea Elibero: Mm hmm. Yeah,

[00:40:21] Joanne Homestead: transition phases is when that self trust starts to kind of poke at me it feels like

[00:40:32] Andrea Elibero: and I think that's totally normal and natural, right? Because it's very ungrounded if I stay on that same theme, right? You're in transition. Things are up in the air. You don't quite know. It's a, it's a scary time. It can feel like a very scary time. So it makes sense. And you know, you, you described your example as silly, but I can see how you're like, Oh no, I did it.

[00:40:55] And then you get that little, when you're, when you're aware of doing these things and you get that [00:41:00] little dopamine boost of, Oh, Oh, guess what? Like I can, I did the thing that I said I was going to do.

[00:41:05] Joanne Homestead: yes, I went to the bathroom

[00:41:10] Andrea Elibero: It's very important. We all need to do that.

[00:41:12] Joanne Homestead: very

[00:41:12] Andrea Elibero: And I can't even imagine my, my, you know, dog distracts me. I can't imagine having the kids and like get out there and like, no, I'm just going to the bathroom. Hold on.

[00:41:22] Joanne Homestead: Yes, yes, I'm going to the bathroom. I'm not going to distract you. Do not distract me.

[00:41:26] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. Hi. Okay. And okay. I lied. I have another question. I can't, because I think that's something, an additional thing that, People struggle to understand is so you're doing two separate things, right? So you're talking you have your done for you email writing and you have the coaching So is there a specific way that you have found in terms of marketing that works well for you when you have these two?

[00:41:51] vastly different offers

[00:41:54] Joanne Homestead: I would say that I'm, speaking, it's, how do I say this? [00:42:00] It's like the two offers are, um, there's a, there's the same, they're different vehicles, but they're the same. I'm talking about the same thing,

[00:42:12] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, mm hmm

[00:42:14] Joanne Homestead: really have to shift too much of my, my language and my messaging because I'm, I'm basically talking about my stories framework

[00:42:24] Andrea Elibero: either way yeah,

[00:42:26] Joanne Homestead: one

[00:42:26] Andrea Elibero: yeah

[00:42:27] Joanne Homestead: done for you is also, also very much a part of that seven part stories framework, even though it's done for you, like meeting with clients, they still have mindset blocks, even, even if they're not writing it.

[00:42:42] Andrea Elibero: yeah

[00:42:42] Joanne Homestead: things come up, they're like, Oh, why have you not, why have you not, like, implemented the email sequence yet? What's what's what's going on behind that?

[00:42:51] Andrea Elibero: Mm hmm

[00:42:52] Joanne Homestead: And so, yeah, it really is just speaking. Okay, you're the framework lady. So, You'll love hearing this. I just [00:43:00] use, I'm using the framework and I'm speaking to that for, for either the done for you or, or the coaching.

[00:43:06] Andrea Elibero: And it probably makes it a lot simpler, I would imagine, to get the idea across and to communicate the value of what you do. Yeah. Ah,

[00:43:21] Joanne Homestead: It's like I'm talking about the same thing. It's all in the same umbrella. Okay. There we go. This is good. I like this analogy here. It's all under the same umbrella. Um, and it's just that the vehicle is different, like, okay, do you want the done for you vehicle or do you want the copy coaching people?

[00:43:37] And I have found that, um,

[00:43:41] my clients who have done the done for you with me then want the copy coaching

[00:43:49] Andrea Elibero: yeah. That makes sense, right? Because they are like, Oh, this is amazing. And I want to learn what she's doing. Because now they have a, they deeply see [00:44:00] the changes, right? In their, in the results that you give them.

[00:44:03] Joanne Homestead: right. They see the value and then they say, oh, I, I want to learn how to do that.

[00:44:08] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:44:09] Joanne Homestead: there is, there is crossover. Okay,

[00:44:14] Andrea Elibero: So if you were, so for this audience, these beautiful people listening, what would be the one thing that you want to tell them about the top tip you have in terms of scaling and what you've learned in your own personal journey?

[00:44:30] Joanne Homestead: so I know I'm talking to a lot of VAs and OPMs in here and my, my, uh, weakest point I could say is, um, the, like the sys the systems. I am about the, the nurturing, the relationships. And the systems kind of come last.

[00:44:56] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:44:57] Joanne Homestead: So, I feel like for me, it was [00:45:00] really being able to embrace that. It goes back to identity again, being able to embrace that side of me and embrace the system side of me to be able to put things into a system, like even like, you know, like using Calendly and having

[00:45:19] Andrea Elibero: Hmm.

[00:45:20] Joanne Homestead: automated way of doing something and realizing that that system or automation is helping me to better do the things I already love doing,

[00:45:33] Andrea Elibero: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

[00:45:36] Joanne Homestead: And so I think that that was a, that was a really big piece for me is, okay, so here it is. Embracing the identities around areas where you feel like it's kind of like, you feel like it's more of your, your weakness.

[00:45:51] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, yeah.

[00:45:54] Joanne Homestead: And realizing, like, as, I mean, as business owners, we, we, we have a lot to do [00:46:00] in our business. We wear many hats. And so, yes. Do what you love doing, but also know that like you can get better at, at areas of weakness to like, just because it's a weakness doesn't mean like, I'm just going to ignore it. I'm not going to,

[00:46:16] Andrea Elibero: Hmm. Mm hmm. Mm

[00:46:19] Joanne Homestead: areas too.

[00:46:19] And I've done that in the last four years of my business is looking at what areas, what areas are my weaknesses and how can I make it better? And that doesn't mean like I can't outsource it. At a certain point, but

[00:46:32] Andrea Elibero: hmm.

[00:46:33] Joanne Homestead: I am I'm just empowering myself in my

[00:46:36] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, that's what I was thinking, that it is empowering, you're building confidence, and because you're just learning this thing, and you don't have to become the master at it, but it is empowering to know that you can do all these things. All these different things.

[00:46:50] Joanne Homestead: Yeah,

[00:46:50] Andrea Elibero: You know? Yeah. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and your journey and your tips and everything.

[00:46:58] Um, how [00:47:00] can we stay in touch with you? Where can we find you? I don't know if you have any freebies or anything like that you want to share. The floor is yours to share all of that.

[00:47:08] Joanne Homestead: Yes, um, if you're listening, you'd love to connect. I am on linkedin. I love linkedin and so can find me there joanne homestead. I'm, the only joanne homestead there or joanne homestead copywriter I'll come up there too. Um, you can connect with me there and then also, of course, in my email community, Flourish, where I love writing stories of all flavors, but also giving copywriting tips, email strategy, email sequence tips as well in there, that is tied to my free gift, which is, okay, my free gift. I'm going to be renaming soon, but anyway. This is it for now. Three simple steps to irresistibly entertaining emails that sell. It's a guide. It's a reference guide for you. [00:48:00] So when you go to write your emails, it has 25 story prompts.

[00:48:06] Andrea Elibero: Hmm.

[00:48:07] Joanne Homestead: has, um, seven types of hooks and 15 plus like segues. So how to segue from the story to your marketing content,

[00:48:17] Andrea Elibero: Oh,

[00:48:19] Joanne Homestead: And that's

[00:48:19] Andrea Elibero: I love that.

[00:48:20] Joanne Homestead: can just plug and play. And as you get, as you grow and get better and you, you find your voice, you're just able to just naturally start segue, segue, but the segues are nice sometimes, even for me, sometimes I, I go back. I'm just

[00:48:34] Andrea Elibero: I love that. Yeah.

[00:48:35] Joanne Homestead: I'm not

[00:48:35] Andrea Elibero: No.

[00:48:36] Joanne Homestead: today. I'm just gonna pick one of these and I'm plug and play it in.

[00:48:39] Andrea Elibero: No, that's super valuable, especially when I'm talking to an audience of a lot of doers and you know, kind of systemy type people. So I'm sure that will be really valuable. So go and grab that and thank you so much for being here with us today.

[00:48:52] Joanne Homestead: Thank you so much. 

[00:48:53] Thank you [00:49:00] so much for joining us today. I really hope you found inspiration and insights from today's episode. You know, scaling your business intentionally and from the inside out is a transformational process, but I'm here to support you every step of the way. Head on over to dancing leaf solutions.com/resources for free tools to help you do just that.

[00:49:19] And thank you again for being a part of the Solepreneur Scaling Stories community. Your presence and dedication to growth inspiring me every day.