Creating Results-based Content with Judi Harrington

If you create results-focused content it can feel pretty daunting. Not only are you trying to get information across, you are also hoping to engage your readers, reinforce your brand, and inspire action.

In my our conversation with author and entrepreneur Judi Harrington, Judi shares lots of practical advice for turning dry, technical content into persuasive writing that your audience will enjoy reading and will act on.

Learn more about Judi Harrington on her Substack, Judi 411.

If you find the Marketing Root Work podcast valuable, please become a subscriber!

My mission is to change the way small business owners market themselves and it’s very important to me that I reach as many people as possible.

Transcript

Marketing Root Work Podcast - 
Judi Harrington

TRANSCRIPT

Judy Murdoch

Hello and welcome to the Marketing Work podcast. I am Judy Murdoch, and today I am so happy to be talking to Judy Harrington. Judy, I'm gonna ask you to introduce yourself. I think you are fabulous.

Judi Harrington

Oh, thank you. But that makes two of us.

Judy Murdoch

Aww, Judi. Right? I know the meeting of the Judy's, right?

Judi Harrington

I am Judy Harrington. I am a copywriter and content creator known as Judi 411. And I like to say that I bring boring topics to life and make people wanna give you money.

And I do that for largely professional services businesses at the verticals of real estate, finance and law because I have learned from having traveled in those lanes myself that. They have a really tough time getting their message across. And I spent most of my career prior to copywriting, we'll get to my journey in a bit, but being the bridge between lawyers and clients and financial experts and their audience and, um, you know, realtors and their audience.

So like, I'm, I'm the Bridge. People love to talk in their own, you know, nomenclature with their own acronyms and their own alphabet soup. But then when they're trying to explain that to other people, they're like, what are you even talking about? 

Judy Murdoch

Right. Oh man, I, I just want you to know, like, I just so resonate with what you said.

Judi Harrington: 

Like, I see you. Yes.

Judy Murdoch

I don’t consider myself to be challenged in terms of my own writing and communication. But because my background is being a technical writer, so I wrote with the coders, like I wrote with people who code with the subject matter experts. Again, people who, they have their language, they know how to communicate what they do.

The coders would, I would come to them and I would say, what does this do exactly? And they would say, well, isn't it obvious? But not to the housewives who are using your software to get their jobs done. Your beautiful code is a means to an end from their perspective.

Judi Harrington

It's amazing to me, and it is funny because, and I, I was talking with a client about this in a different context yesterday.

She's a change management expert and we do a monthly LinkedIn newsletter out to her community and, we were talking about, you know, change and strategic change and like it's New year, new me, everyone's coming out with their strategic plan for the year and all these organizations are like, this is a great idea.

And the employees like, what are you even talking about? Do you even work at the same place?

Judy Murdoch

Yeah, totally. Yeah.

Judi Harrington

And the term that she hears a lot, isn't it self-evident? And I've been guilty of it too, when I was an executive, I was, I was guilty. Isn't it clear what we're doing here? Yeah. And it, was it clear to you?

I'm like, okay, well, you know, I'm certainly not immune to this problem. I'm not. I never say that I am faultless in it.

Judy Murdoch

And you approach it from a space of humility, which I also appreciate.

Judi Harrington

Thank you. Yes.

Judy Murdoch

So I wanted to ask you a little bit about your journey. It sounds like you've done a lot of different things. So kind of how did you end up doing what you're doing? 

Judi Harrington

So, I like to joke that I've had all the jobs except mercenary, but the day is young, and I could have an offer by the end of the day. We don't know yet. Um, so I, um, I was an English major in college, and my goal as an English major was to graduate and not ever have to say, do you want fries with that?

I, you know, one typical, I was going, I was an English major, I got a lot of, you know, a lot of pushback, a lot of flack, and they're like, well, you gonna become a teacher? No. Whatcha are you gonna do? I'm like, I'm not sure yet, but I know I can use this degree in ways that maybe people haven't really thought about.

And sure enough, I left college and I went immediately to work in the financial services industry, mostly because it was the early nineties and that was the job that was available. Um, not so great then, but, um, and I, I, my suspicions were confirmed right away that, well, we have a lot of really smart people here who can't communicate their way outta a paper bag.

And so that's where it started and that's where it continued. So I started at Putnam Investments and then I moved on to, um, Thomson Reuters, and then I was at Fidelity. And Fidelity. I was really tilting the fund meter. I worked in the legal department reviewing shareholder communications.

Judy Murdoch

Oh wow.

Judi Harrington

So, for those of you following along at home, that is basically all the, you know, literature that you get in the mail, that you tend to throw in the trash. I make sure that it meets all the SEC rules and regulations.

Judy Murdoch

Right, right. Just in case somebody is paying attention, right? 

Judi Harrington

Exactly. Exactly. So I did that for mutual funds. I did it for, um, annuities, term insurance, um, 5 29 plans. And, and then when I had my kids, I left corporate life for a while and then I reinvented myself as a paralegal.

Judy Murdoch

Oh wow.

Judi Harrington

I had the legal background in corporate and so I started working in law offices in real estate, estate planning.

I did a lot of personal injury, which was really interesting because I was able to like sort through lots of medical information and kind of tell the story of what happened to the injured party.

Judy Murdoch

Right.

Judi Harrington

And when you tell the story well, you get a good settlement, right? So that was kind of, that was the niche I built for myself there.

And then I went back to corporate for a while in, in the, in around 20 20 17 for, I, I joked for about two years, which was five years too long. And I said, I can't do this. I can't ever work in an organization like this again. Like corporate life was just not for me. And I once again said, I'm gonna quit and figure out what I'm gonna do next.

And people are like, like, well, I've always wanted to, you know, write, be a self-employed writer. Yeah. And people laughed and I was like, well, you just watch. And sure enough, I I, I'd realized the same businesses that I've been really working in my whole career 

Judy Murdoch
Mm-hmm. 

Judi Harrington

Existed at different scales.

Judy Murdoch

Yes.

Judi Harrington

So I started, you know, I, I started by writing for my yoga studio and then it kind of spiraled from there. Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

That's so cool. 

Judi Harrington

Yeah. It's just been so much fun. I, I'm so, I'm, I always say I'm so lucky to get to do what I do because.

Judy Murdoch

Yeah.

Judi Harrington

It doesn't, it doesn't really feel like work. I mean, being self-employed is its own journey, but like the, the work I do itself is really enjoyable and I have a lot of fun doing it.

Judy Murdoch

Yeah, I have a lot of fun reading the post that you write on Substack.

Judi Harrington

Thank you. Yeah.

Judy Murdoch

 I think we, I think we actually might have met through a class. 

Judi Harrington

I think we met through Karen Cherry.

Judy Murdoch

I think we did, yes.

Judi Harrington
I think that's where we, I was thinking about that when I came to this call today. I was like, who did Judy and I meet? And I think it was in Karen Sherry's Substack class. 

Judy Murdoch
Right. I mean, her thing was about, was it about growing your substack or?

Judi Harrington
It was about growing your list.

Judy Murdoch
Okay.

Judi Harrington
And I love substack. I think of Substack as my playground for my personal writing, you know, my passion project writing.

And then my copywriting business is very niched to real estate, finance, law, technical topics, website copy, newsletters, email campaigns. I also do writing coaching. With entrepreneurs who have a book idea related to their business. 

Judy Murdoch
Cool. 

Judi Harrington
Uh, so that, that's kind of a, that grew out of having written my own book a few years ago.

So, um, get Ready for Salty Language. Oh, okay. Is called Fuckery the Life and Times of a Legend in Her Own Mind. It is a humorous memoir and essay celebrating my wild and crazy family. After this, Judy, I'll get your snail mail address and send you, thank you for your time today.

But I wrote that book in 2022 and what came out in 2020 started already in 2021 and, was a kind of a happy accident. Like I wrote this book, I'd had all these stories kind of collected together as writers do, right? 

Judy Murdoch
Yeah. 

Judi Harrington
Yeah. And in the early pandemic, my husband and I split after 22 years of marriage and I chose to move out and our teenage children were being very ally and so things were a little rough for us for a while.

And I said, okay, the only way I know how to get through this is to continue being who I am, which is a writer. 

Judy Murdoch
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 

Judi Harrington
And I say, right, being a writer when you're in the throes of any kind of emotional turmoil is probably the greatest gift you can have.

Judy Murdoch

Right. That's true. No, that's right. True.

Judi Harrington
So I said, okay, well now it's obviously time for me to write this book.

And so I chose that was the, that was the time. And what was so great about it was that it was so cathartic. 

Judy Murdoch
Yeah. 

Judi Harrington
And it really, I, I often say that's the reason I can still stand in a room with him today and not wanna rattle him. But, and and then when the book came out, it introduced this whole other branch of my business.

People started coming to me looking for help with their own book ideas. 

Judy Murdoch
Oh, that's so cool. 

Judi Harrington
Yeah. So, since then I've edited books on sleep. I've edited bonus chapters on, you know, wealth management books I've consulted on functional medicine books. And the topic like people like you really love boring stuff.

I'm like, I really love granular, detailed things that I don't wake up thinking about every day. I just like to hear what's going on in people's lives. That's what makes me a good writer is that I'm nosy. 

Judy Murdoch
Yeah. Well, curious, right?

Judi Harrington
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Judy Murdoch
Yeah. You and I, before we started the recording, I was telling you I used to be a tech writer.

Judi Harrington
That's right. Yes.

Judy Murdoch
And I got my start in tech writing in consumer products. I wanted to consume products as a research person. So one of those people who writes surveys, analyzes results, those focus groups, all that stuff. And I got this job 'cause I loved research and I wanted to do research.

It was my thing. And as they, as they do in corporate jobs, sometimes they give you like something that you might consider to be like your dissertation. It's like the dissertation project. It's the project they give you to see like, does she have the stuff or not, right? So they, they put me in charge of implementing a new product forecasting system. Yeah. Has zip nothing to do whatsoever with customers. It has nothing to do with clients. It was largely actually observing the continual fight between production. The guys who like made the stuff

Judi Harrington
Yes.

Judy Murdoch
Were responsible for inventory.And then the sales force who were rewarded by

Judi Harrington
I was just say, and of course the sales force is in there somewhere, right? Oh, and they're, they're making all these great promises and then production's like, we can't do that. What are you talking about? 

Judy Murdoch
Yeah, exactly. Or sales will say like, well, well, that's what they said they want.

And production will say, yeah, but we already have like excess inventory of these little displays or something like that. And yeah, yeah. But, but. You know, like I know they're gonna put an order in, and so if the order doesn't happen, right? Production gets their butt kicked and sales can just walk off and go la la la la.

Judi Harrington
Right. Exactly. 

Judy Murdoch
It's a freaking nightmare. And the other thing that was really awful was that we got this new production forecasting system specifically because it was supposed to be really easy to use. And the kind of like the brand assistance, like kind of the entry level brand management people were responsible for putting in the forecast.

And so this idea was like, oh, it's gonna be really easy for you guys, because that was something that a lot of them complained about, like Right. I didn't get into brand management to like, you know, basically be inputting production forecast.

Judi Harrington
Right, right, right.

Judy Murdoch
Well, the system wasn't easy to use and it, I mean, everything they promised.

It didn't happen. The forecasting system that we purchased was really created for pharmaceutical companies, which it's much easier to predict, because it's so regulated. With consumer products, it's just all over the place.

Judi Harrington
You don't know. It's like whichever way the wind blows, whichever way, you know, whatever, whatever security we wake up with today, it's the new product that we need.

Judy Murdoch
Competitor, right? But in the story where I'm getting to is that because it was so hard to use, what I did was I went in and I said, okay, I'm gonna create a training guide, because I knew how to use it.

Judi Harrington
Right?

Judy Murdoch
But I did, they had no training at all. So I went in, I created a guide, I did classes, I worked with everybody, and in the end I thought, Hey, I like doing this.

This is kind of fun. You know, I kind of like getting, like you said, getting into that nitty gritty and then making it so that a brand assistant who has zero interest in production forecasting can do it. So I was like, oh. I'm good at this.

Judi Harrington
Yeah. And it's funny, like these accidental skills that we uncover on earth from not so great circumstance. Like the beautiful oops, right? It's like, oh, well look at that. What a happy accident. 

Judy Murdoch
And somebody said, you know, they'll pay you to do this. And I was like, really? So needless to say, I quit the job. Couldn't wait to get outta there.

Judi Harrington
For sure.

Judy Murdoch
I had a long career in tech writing. I still love it.

I still love doing the translation. I still love making things fun and engaging for the people who actually have to use the software. 

Judi Harrington
Yes. 

Judy Murdoch
I stopped during the.com bus because I literally had, I'm not joking, I think I got six contracts and I got fired from every single one of them for all those reasons.

The Denver office closed in one case. In another case, the company like literally went out of business over the weekend.

Judi Harrington
Oh gosh.

Judy Murdoch
Yeah. So these smallish, yeah, they weren't like really, really large companies. Um, and I just kind of thought like, well, I can keep doing this, but I also felt that in the world of tech writing, there's a lot of focus on, well, you gotta, it's, it's technically accurate, right? You didn't make any errors in terms of like how to do something or how it works.

Judi Harrington
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Judy Murdoch
You have fulfilled an obligation we have, which is to provide documentation.

Judi Harrington
Yes.

Judy Murdoch
But I didn't necessarily feel like I was making a difference. 

Judi Harrington
Yes, exactly. I mean, it checks the box.

But it really, is it really helpful, or is it just meeting the bare bones requirement? Because I mean, I know the last three times I've had to search for help with a consumer product and went to like a manual or some kind of FAQ whatever. 

Judy Murdoch
Yeah. 

Judi Harrington
Is not helpful. 

Judy Murdoch
I was on Microsoft's user help or whatever they call it. And it was completely useless.

Judi Harrington
Yeah.

Judy Murdoch
Doing a Google search and I found out what I needed. But anyways, but that was what bugged me. 'cause I thought like, well how are you guys measuring my effectiveness? If I do this well, what difference have I made? And you know, technically you could say, well, we're getting fewer support calls.

I mean, to me, that's very legitimate. 

Judi Harrington
That's certainly a metric.

Judy Murdoch
Right. It's a metric. But they weren't, most companies were not thinking that way. So that kind of the long and short of it, that's why I ended up in coaching. And I still love to write, right?

So Judi, one of the things I really wanted to talk to you today about was you've put out a few posts recently about copywriting, and they've been really good. They've been really, really good. Man, I hate to put it this way, but there's just so much writing I experience on the internet and in my e email box.

It's like I know that the person who wrote it, generally, these are people who care deeply about the topics. They care about what they're talking about. They're very passionate about it. But they are so difficult to get through.

Judi Harrington
Yeah. Yeah.

Judy Murdoch
I get a lot of offers, right? You probably do as well.

Judi Harrington
Mm-hmm.

Judy Murdoch
You get a lot of offers in your inbox. We are in the entrepreneur world, and so there's a lot of offers and things. Again, even if I really, really, really want to take this course or this program or whatever, I just feel like they make it so hard for me. It's just like, dude, you know, like, my head's gonna explode.

So I would love for you to share the main issues you observed. As a writer, as an expert that you see people doing and then share too, like how do you help your clients with those things?

Judi Harrington
Yeah, so I would say probably the biggest struggle that I observe with clients is that... probably what resonates with you is I use a lot of metaphors.

So like you can't read the label when you live inside the bottle, right? That is like fundamentally the biggest problem that we encounter.

Judy Murdoch
Too close, right?

Judi Harrington
They think it's one thing and it's really another.

Judy Murdoch
Yeah.

Judi Harrington
But the good news is that I would say that's why mirrors were invented and I serve as the mirror to what they're telling me.

We've talked a little bit about this before we hopped on on the podcast, was that, um, I have a client who's a financial planner and he specialized in working with government employees, and he, um, this the, the first time he's really digging in deep to his messaging. 

Judy Murdoch
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 

Judi Harrington
So we have been, you know, I draft stuff and it's also, it been a bit of a learning curve for me because the audience that he speaks to is very, it's like just the facts, ma'am.

Like, he knows his ideal client really, really well. 

Judy Murdoch
Okay. 

Judi Harrington
I don't have any experience really speaking to that audience.

Judy Murdoch
Okay.

Judi Harrington
But there are times where I'm like, okay, I hear what you're saying, but have you considered this? And he is like, oh, yeah. You know, and I'm like, well, I get that, you know, the audience here resonates for that, but you also don't wanna forget to mention X, Y, Z to them. You know? 

Judy Murdoch
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Judi Harrington
Like, yeah, you're right. You know? Mm-hmm. And sometimes they just need to hear back and forth like what it is. What I'm hearing you say is X, Y, Z. Is that what you intend or do you mean something else? Or, we get into the nuances of words, and from there they, it really kind of opens up their eyes to how they are actually being perceived in the world.

Judy Murdoch
Right. And I'm gonna say here, I think if it's a good client, sounds like this is?

Judi Harrington

Mm-hmm.

Judy Murdoch

They will appreciate what you're saying.

Judi Harrington
They do.

Judy Murdoch

Wow. Well, I really appreciate you picking up on this. A not so great client is gonna say like, what's the problem? I don't get it.

Why? Why can't they? I, I mean I work with people like that, right?

Judi Harrington

And people are welcome to disagree with me. I also joke they're welcome to be wrong, but that's when I remind 'em like, okay, well in my expert opinion, I think this is the choice. I always tell my clients, my job is to give you the options.

Judy Murdoch

Right.

Judi Harrington

And I can tell you from my experience as an expert, what I think, what my recommendation is, is 1, 2, 3.

Judy Murdoch

Right.

Judi Harrington

But if you decide it's gonna be something else, that's fine. Let's be clear that this is a decision you've made. 

Judy Murdoch

Right. 

Judi Harrington

And if you wanna sit and think about it, it's fine.

Sometimes they'll dig their heels and they'll say, no, it's gonna be this. And I'm like, okay.

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. Yeah. 

Judi Harrington

And it ends up working out fine. There's only so many hills I'm willing to die upon.

Judy Murdoch

Exactly.

Judi Harrington

That's probably the biggest challenge is that whole, like, seeing how you're seen is, is tough for people to wrap their head around.

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. Yeah.

Judi Harrington

Like, I write for a lot of CPAs. They're just caught up in, they're caught up in the numbers.

They're caught up in the stuff, right?

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. Yeah.

Judi Harrington

And then they're asked to come and think about messaging, and they're partly like, but I'm gonna defer to you. I'm like, yeah, but it's your message and you have to live with it after. I'm only in your life for this fixed period of time. Your message is on the internet for a lot longer, right?

Judy Murdoch

Right, yes. Yes. So this brings up a question for me. This is related to what you just said. So for your financial person, just using him as an example, is this copy, like, is he wanting people to take action? Is this more of a, I'm doing this because it's helpful for my clients, it's added value for them. Like what's his intention?

Judi Harrington

So most of the intentions, people who are coming to me are people who already have a really well -established business that is basically running largely through referrals. And they're also exhausted. Because they can't be in all the networking rooms all the time and get their work done. So they realized there's the opportunity to leverage a digital presence. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. Okay. 

Judi Harrington

And have their digital presence do some of the work for them. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense.

Judi Harrington

They're mostly professional services people. So the call to action is generally, let's book an intro call. A consult call, discovery call, whatever. But usually that's the call to action is to get them on your calendar.

Judy Murdoch

Gotcha. It's kinda like a little sales person for them, right?

Judi Harrington

I'm developing an online sales person for you. And this way, when you're in a networking room, you could say, I work for such and such insurance company and, you know, we do commercial and personal alliance, and to learn about how we do things differently, here's our website. As opposed to having to give what feels like a doctoral dissertation in a room, right? But then I also work with clients on the verbal messaging too. Like, a lot of clients come to me, they start with their LinkedIn profile. They're like, I just don't feel like I'm standing out in the crowd.

I wanna have a really clear message that differentiates me. So I do what I call a voice clarity session with folks that, that's the gateway to working with me. It basically is a 90 minute interview of me interviewing you about your business, how long you've been doing what's on your desk right now? What do you like to do other than your job?

Like, do you read books? I get whole host of information about them and I'm like, oh, okay. And here's how we can help you stand out in a room so people remember you. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. What is your opinion about LinkedIn from the perspective of how much of a difference do you think LinkedIn makes for people?

Judi Harrington

Well, I think it's a great tool for people who are regular networkers, right? So I network a lot with improvisors, which is a network for trusted advisors, largely for real estate, finance, and law professionals. So I'm, they're my people. That's where my people hang out. That's where I go. And the cadence that happens there, I don't think is exclusive to them, but it's really about like, you're in a room, you're not working with people. And I think LinkedIn has enough street cred now that after I meet you, I'm probably gonna go to your LinkedIn and see what you're up to. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. Okay. Okay.

Judi Harrington

In my marketing life and in my copywriting world, that's what happens. People, they will meet you and then they go find you on LinkedIn 'cause they wanna keep up with you in some capacity there. Here's where the problem happens.

If I see you in the room and I think that you're this, you know, I've painted this picture based on what you've told me in the room, and then I go to your LinkedIn and it's nothing like... there's like a disconnect. Like, some people say there's a break of trust. It is not a moral failing. Yeah. It's just, it's not something people are thinking about.

Judy Murdoch

It's dissonance, right? 

Judi Harrington

It's like, you know, the first date is like in the room and then, then they just kind of do intel on you and they say, okay, well okay, I'm gonna connect with 'em on LinkedIn and then they might go to your website.

But you wanna make sure that what you're seeing in person and on LinkedIn and on your website all look the same. And let me be clear, LinkedIn's not for everybody. Like I've written for some artists and they're like, LinkedIn's not my place. I like their visual medium. Instagram's their playground, right? 

Judy Murdoch

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 

Judi Harrington

I have worked with some people who do work in the ultra high net worth arena. LinkedIn's not for them. Everything in ultra high net worth happens behind closed doors. Sure. It's like, it's a very who -you -know, underground kind of environment. Yeah, not every platforms for everybody, like I am technically on Instagram, but it doesn't do anything for my business. Instagram for me is like the gateway to Substack. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. So you, I feel like you did a really good job of explaining some of the issues that you see with your clients, and you did a really good job of giving me a sense of who you work with. I know a lot of these people, so I have a very good sense of who they are and where they struggle. So if you were to give somebody one piece of advice. Just one! No, it can be more than one. Um, what, what, what kind of advice would you give 'em? Like, just to kind of get them thinking. 

Judi Harrington

In terms of their messaging or?

Judy Murdoch

In terms of, well, I mean, like we talked about their messaging in a specific context, right? Which was a particular outcome that they're hoping to get. I had a conversation with somebody about this pretty recently where I was asking them like, do you talk about what you do? Is there a way for me to learn more about you and stuff?

And that they said, no, there was not. And I thought like, mm-hmm.

Judi Harrington

Oh, okay, so you don't wanna talk to me. All right.

Judy Murdoch

No, I mean, really lovely person. It's just that she's busy.

Judi Harrington

But that's the implicit message is all I'm saying. Yeah, yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah, yeah. And I was just like, but you really should write about what you do, because actually what she does is really interesting. But for somebody who is not quite ready to hire you... if you could just give them a few words of wisdom to get them moving in the right direction, like what are some things that you would suggest they do? 

Judi Harrington

I'm gonna take this from a slightly different angle, but I'll answer this question... I work with a lot of financial planners and insurance agents and CPAs, and then, so someone's like, well, I mean, how, there are so many people like, what, what could you possibly say about me that's gonna be different?

Judy Murdoch

Ah.

Judi Harrington

Everybody is different. Every takes it from a different vantage point, right? I've heard people, well, being a CPA is being a cpa. I'm like, you are right. You know what? I'm not going to argue with you about what is to be a cpa. I come from a long line of CPAs. I know what CPAs are like, but tell me who your favorite clients are.

And they're like, what? I bet what your favorite is isn't the same favorite as a CPA down the street.

Judy Murdoch

Right. Yes.

Judi Harrington

And if there is, I bet that those favorite people that you share won't think of each of you as their favorite person.

Judy Murdoch

Amen.

Judi Harrington

That's really what it comes down to. Good copywriting. It's about helping people see themselves as truly different than everyone else in the room.

Judy Murdoch

It's hard. It's hard to do that when it's you. Right.

Judi Harrington

And that's why I say you have to get them to see it. 'Cause once you get them to see it, then the rest of it, they're like, oh, okay. Well yeah, we do it this way. Okay, well, great. Let's go tell people. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. 

Judi Harrington

No one knows if you don't tell them.

Judy Murdoch

Exactly.

Judi Harrington

Like it's not, if you build it, they will come.

Judy Murdoch

Right.

Judi Harrington

You actually have to tell them about it. 

Judy Murdoch

No, you're right. That's fantastic advice.

Judi Harrington

Thank you. Thank you. Yep. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. How would you say like you are different?

Judi Harrington

How am I different? 

Judy Murdoch

Like how would you speak to your own distinction? 

Judi Harrington

I say that what makes me different is that I am willing to talk in all of those verticals. Like, I don't know many other copywriters who specialize in real estate, finance, and law. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah, yeah.

Judi Harrington

They don't. But also, one of the things that's different about me is that in the experience of working with me, people find out I know a lot about a lot of stuff. So then I become like that go-to resource for them.

Judy Murdoch

Got it.

Judi Harrington

People are like, oh, Judi will know and that's why I'm calling Judi 4 1 1. Oh, gotcha. That's how that started is because I've always been this natural born networker and I always knew a butcher, baker, a candlestick maker, and you know, which has served me beautifully 'cause today I have a painter working, I am doing a small renovation in my rental unit upstairs and people are like, oh my God, how'd you find all those people? I'm like, it was nothing. I've known these people for years.

Judy Murdoch

So you felt like that natural sort of connector 

Judi Harrington

I've always been a connector.

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. 

Judi Harrington

And, um, and I love to make sure I'm, I wanna see people connect with the right people and copy does that. It's just one way that I help connections. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah, same. I'm exactly like you in that way. And there's great satisfaction, right? When you put a couple people together and it works out really well, that always feels good.

Judi Harrington

Yeah. It's like I created more good juju in the world, right?

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. Something I very much appreciate is you have a lightness. You have a lightness in your personality, some playfulness.

And you're really funny, Judi, you've got a great sense of humor because initially, when I was reading some of your stuff, most of what you were writing about was about grammar and punctuation, which to me are like the most boring things. But you do it in a way that is so fun and fresh.

Judi Harrington

Thank you. That's so funny, because there's a funny story about that whole word Nerd Wednesday thing that I do on Wednesday. So I started my copywriting business in 2019 and I knew I wanted to specialize in like, technical topics. Yeah. And I'm like, how can I show, how can I demonstrate that I can talk about technical topics in a way that people understand? And I thought, everyone comes to me for grammar questions. 

Judy Murdoch

Right. 

Judi Harrington

Okay. I'm gonna just start talking about grammar.

Judy Murdoch

 Yeah.

Judi Harrington

What's the worst that could happen? No one likes it. And then I changed my mind. 'cause I have three will and two legs and a pen.

Judy Murdoch

Right?

Judi Harrington

So I started doing that and Judy, as God is my witness, I got a following based on that word Nerd Wednesday thing, like to beat the man to the point that one week there was a flub up and something didn't post. I got phone calls, emails, texts. Oh, I thought people were gonna send the police to my house.

Judy Murdoch

Oh. 

Judi Harrington

Were like, why Wednesday? Why is it up yet? And I said, oh, it was just a technical difficulty. Sorry to keep you all waiting with bated breath. But, so I had that all, that actually all started on Instagram. 

Judy Murdoch

Uhhuh. 

Judi Harrington

And then after... just before you and I met in Karen Cherry's class 

Judy Murdoch

Uhhuh. 

Judi Harrington

I'd gone back to Substack.

I had been on Substack a while, a few years prior when I started writing my book. And I was keeping people up to date on what was going on with the book. And then I just stopped keeping people up to date. I just kind of fell off a substack. And then I came back and I said, oh, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna bring back word nerd Wednesday in a long form. So I went and I mine all the posts from Instagram. This is a great lesson for the audience on repurposing your content. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. 

Judi Harrington

Yeah. I just took these short form topics and I made them longer form. And that's how it started and that's how it's going.

Judy Murdoch

It's great. It's great. Um, yeah. What comes up for me as you're speaking is I see merch. I see merch. That's so much fun with that. I mean, like, if you have another life devote to it, but like, I just have in my mind like t-shirts and totes and stuff like that.

Judi Harrington

It's funny, because I wrote my first book and then people immediately were like, when's your next one coming out? I'm like, can you let me enjoy the first one? Like, can we just enjoy this process? Please. So what I did instead to kind of appease the masses, I love to joke- probably seven people ask me this question. But I came up what I call book 1.5 and it, so it is a downloadable, it's on my website, and we can add it to the show notes.

It's called things I shouldn't have said, but I did anyway. Or something like that. And it's a lot of my salty sayings accompanied with very funny art.

Judy Murdoch

Love that. You are a joy. You are such a joy. This has been so much fun. 

Judi Harrington

It's been so much fun. I've been looking forward to this for weeks.

I'm so glad we found this time together.

Judy Murdoch

Same. Same. So how do people find you, Judy? If they want, if they want more Judi, Judi with an “i”, 

Judi Harrington

You can get more Judi. The first place you should stop is my website, Judi four one one.com. And it's Jud with an i four one one.com.

That's where the copywriting side of the house lives. And then you can also follow me on Substack and we'll add that to the show notes as well. And, uh, the name of my substack is right, like, you mean It. 

Judy Murdoch

You're great. And I really, honestly, if you're listening and you're thinking, Hmm, I could use some help with my communication, I could use some with my writing.

Look Judi up, man. She's great.

Judi Harrington

Thank you. Thank you. And one of the things, like we all talk about niches, right? And I'm like, I niche at real estate, finance, and law, but those are not the only topics on Earth I'll touch. It's just simply easier to have a niche so people, so you can stand out in a crowd. 

Judy Murdoch

My feeling is if you can talk about those things, you can talk about just about anything. 

Judi Harrington

You can do that, you can do anything. It transcends the topic.

It's about taking something complex and turning it into something understandable and relatable.

Judy Murdoch

Thank you, my friend. 

Judi Harrington

Thank you, my friend. This has been great.