Case Study

From Food Hero to Sponsorship Superstar

Coaching/Mentorship with Eleanor Goold

Katie’s story

Katie Jones is a solopreneur, food industry expert, freelance content strategist and copywriter AND creator of the popular Food Heroes Podcast.

When she contacted me for help, she was not only experiencing the typical ups and downs of being a freelancer but nearing the dreaded ‘burnout’!

Even though she had single-handedly built an engaging and growing podcast to attract her ideal clients, she was still not seeing the positive results she desired to maintain and grow a sustainable business.

"I was creating tons of content and nearing burnout. I was not seeing the results I needed."

The Challenge

Katie sorely needed an expert second pair of eyes for some additional guidance and encouragement. She was feeling pulled in too many directions. What’s more, she was receiving mixed messages and conflicting advice.

"There is a lot of advice out there on how to have a successful business, but nothing I was doing was creating consistent income. I wondered how everyone else was making a living and I was barely scraping by from month to month – yet I was busier than ever!"

The Quest

Katie wanted to work with someone who could help her cut through the nonsense and focus on projects that would help her better market her skills. 

She was looking for someone who had experience of being a copywriter so knew the challenges she faced, and could help her take the content she was creating and turn it into a manageable marketing funnel.

Katie already knew me from LinkedIn, where we had regularly engaged with each other on different posts:

"I found you to be very present and knowledgeable. When I knew I wanted to take my copywriting and my business to the next level you immediately came to mind. I didn't even know if you coached early career copywriters but I knew I wanted to learn from you."

My Approach

I provided Katie with support and accountability via our regular 45 minute coaching calls.

From the information Kate provided I was able to identify the key issues she was facing and from there we developed actionable tasks and strategies for her to implement along with steps she could take to generally help improve her marketing. 

I also helped edit and critique her sales funnel copy where necessary.

Katie found the sessions not only helpful, but therapeutic. 

"I got more than I expected. I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. I was thinking – why are all the other copywriters making 6 figures and I’m stuck at 5? Do I suck? So having you edit my copy and talk me through business strategies helped me feel more confident both as a writer (no- I don't suck!!) and a business owner."

"You took all the information from our coaching sessions and turned it into an actionable list. From this list I could work on creating copy and content that would help me move my business forward. That accountability helped me finish projects that I’d had on my TO DO list for ages."

The Results

Following our sessions together, Katie secured her first paid sponsorship for her podcast.

"I think the biggest win was getting my first sponsorship. I had put together the sponsor package and an email letter but lacked the confidence to actually send it!!  A few tweaks to my copy and a pep talk resulted in a paid sponsorship for the podcast."

I also assisted Katie with her email sequence sales funnel. I helped make the emails more compelling so they would convert leads and start getting her the results she wanted, but still kept her unique voice. 

"We worked through my copy to put some soft pitches for my services and opportunities to work together. What I like about it is that it still sounds like me. It’s not pushy in an obnoxious sales way."

Key Takeaways

1) If you are stuck, or need to level up your business, get help. Or in Katie’s words:

“If you want to level up your business find someone you admire and ask them to coach or mentor you. Then do everything they tell you to improve.”

​2) You need to know how to best market and promote yourself no matter what level you are at. You need to be visible. Marketing and sales are key to the survival of any business. 

“People can’t become your customers if they don’t know how to work with you.”

3) It’s perfectly natural to feel under confident or overwhelmed at times. There is nothing wrong in asking someone in your profession for help – in fact, it’s a no-brainer. If you want to level up your business you need to take action.

​“Even though I write for a living and produce content every day I wanted to get better. I liked Eleanor’s writing style so it was a no-brainer to ask her to work with me to improve my writing. Unexpectedly she did much more than help me improve as a copywriter.”