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Welcome to the third and final installation of the mini series on what to prep before you write a SINGLE word of copy. This series is ESPECIALLY important for sales pages, so if you’re planning to launch a course or group program or a new product, listen up. Over the past two episodes, we covered two other elements to prep before you start to write your copy, and those were Voice of Customer and Core Transformation. Today we’re going to talk about benefits versus features. Chances are that if you’ve been in the online business space for more than a minute, you’ve heard people say, talk about the benefits of your product, not the features. But what does that MEAN????? Well I like to think of features as the NOUNS. So, if you’re selling an online course with live coaching calls and a 300-page workbook, the FEATURES might include: --8 weeks of prerecorded calls that can be consumed in video, audio or transcript format --Starts September 1, new videos released every week --You have lifetime access, so you can watch at your own pace --Live calls every Sunday at 2 p.m. Eastern in our private Facebook group --Each participant will be mailed a 300-page workbook in physical and e-book format, which contains all the exercises and resources you’ll need to follow along --Price, refund policy, size of cohort if that’s relevant, length of videos, length of coaching calls, etc So that’s all the important information that you’ll need to know. Coz if you’re never available on Sundays at 2 p.m. and the live coaching is crucial to the success of the course, maybe you won’t purchase it this round. Or if you’re in a different time zone and want to know if they’ll be recorded so you can watch them at a time that’s more convenient to you, this list of features will be important to answer your questions. So they’re pretty vital to know, right? The list of features? So why is everyone pooh-poohing them all the time? What’s WRONG with listing all the features? The short answer is—nothing. We want and NEED to know the nitty-gritties to help us make a decision. But whether the calls are held at 2 p.m. Eastern or 2 p.m. Pacific is not the make-or-break factor when you’re just encountering this program. First you wanna know if this can help you with the particular problem you’re having. And the timing and length of the calls isn’t going to tell you that. For that, you need the benefits. Listen to the episode to understand the difference between benefits and features, with real-life and made-up examples for services and products. PLUS how to supercharge your benefits so that potential clients can see that your offer is exactly right for them. Also mentioned in the show are Cathy Heller and her podcast, Don't Keep Your Day Job, as well as Harry Dry's website marketingexamples.com. Both are invaluable sources of information for me, I highly recommend you check them out. Finally, the content of this mini series on what to prep before writing a single word of copy (ESPECIALLY your sales or landing page) came about as a result of a question by an email subscriber. I take conversations with my subscribers seriously and respond to each one. Want input into subsequent episodes? Have a question you haven't seen answered anywhere else or that you want my take on? Sign up for Chai in my Inbox at https://www.cuttingchaistories.com/subscribe and then hit reply to any of my emails to say hello!

If you're just joining in, this is the second episode in a three-part mini series answering the question: What do I need to prep BEFORE I write a single word of copy? Last week's episode on Voice of Customer was the first; if you missed it, you can catch up here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s4-ep-5-what-to-prep-before-writing-a-single-word-hint-voc/id1504011822?i=1000565705402 Today we're talking about nailing our core transformations. Your product or service may have several benefits and even more features, but what's the ONE change that your customers will experience when they buy it? Listen for two examples of a product and a service, plus three exercises that'll take you through crafting a brand transformation of your own. There's one more episode to go in this mini series; subscribe so you don't miss it! And if you liked it, if you found it useful, come hang out with me in my email newsletter, Chai in my Inbox. I send it out twice a week, with copy inspiration, writing tips, and funny stories from my life. You can sign up through this link to get a free checklist of the 12 things to do before you send your next email: https://www.cuttingchaistories.com/12emailcomponents

There are a BUNCH of ducks you need to have in a row before you can start writing your copy (if you want it to be successful, that is). The list is too long to cover in its entirety in one episode, so this is the first of a short series about what to prep before writing your very first word. Today's episode of Cutting Chai Stories with Jayati Vora focuses on "Voice of Customer." What is it? Why is it important? And how do you as a fledgling marketer figure out what the voice of YOUR customer (even before you have a single one). Thank you Yana, Angela, and The Cupcake Carriage for asking me this question and sparking the idea for this episode! If you want to see real-life examples of marketing in the wild, hear zany stories from my life and the business and copy lessons I draw from them, and generally be in touch more often, sign up for my twice-a-week email newsletter, Chai in my Inbox. No spam, easy unsubscribe, and a shot of my signature masala every Monday and Thursday. Subscribe here: https://www.cuttingchaistories.com/subcribe

In the very first guest interview of this season, I speak to pre- and post-partum fitness coach Reena Parekh, who is killing it on Instagram. She doesn't think of herself as a writer, she doesn't use templates, and she abandoned the "rules" ages ago. How does she do it? Key takeaways of this episode: Have a purpose. Reconnect with who you're doing this FOR. Representation matters. When you become human, you become more relatable to people. It's all interconnected; our businesses are political. You have to be willing to have hard conversations, because when you're putting yourself out there, you're opening the door. Even the best creators take a break. Writing is a skill. The more you share what feels right to you, the more it will resonate with people. Best aha moments: “I had this pivotal moment when I was going through my feed, and I realized everybody I followed was a young fitness professional who was white, thin, able-bodied…they all had that kind of similar lifestyle—it looked nothing like mine.” “That was when I realized I had to diversify my feed. I had to find more people that looked like me, that kind of lived a life that I lived, aligned with my values and my beliefs – that’s when I started talking about why representation matters.” “When we start sounding like everybody else, and talking about the same things as everybody else, you just become part of the noise.” “The more that I started to share what felt right to me, that aligned with who I am and my values and my beliefs, the easier the words flow. And the more I find that resonates with others.” “We have to know what we’re putting out there, WHY are we doing it, what is the purpose, what is the impact that you wanna make, how do you wanna use your voice on social media? We have been given platforms to use our voices—that is a gift.” About Reena: Reena Parekh is a business owner, pre- and postpartum fitness specialist, speaker and mental health advocate. She is a proponent of change in this space, encouraging her clients and community to embrace their bodies and pushback against postpartum bounce back culture.   Connect with Reena: Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/itsreenaparekh (www.instagram.com/itsreenaparekh) Baby2Barbell™️ Core + Pelvic Floor Basics: https://www.reenaparekh.com/b2blevel1 (https://www.reenaparekh.com/b2blevel1) Free Resources: https://www.reenaparekh.com/free-resources (https://www.reenaparekh.com/free-resources)

If you're stumped at the thought of using stories in your marketing, and what's holding you back is the thought that you have nothing exciting enough, nothing worthy enough of sharing, well, I'm about to banish that thought by reading you an email about the most boring thing I could imagine, to the most boring outcome. Listen to this episode for a demonstration of how to use stories in your marketing -- and, this is key -- make them RELEVANT and INTERESTING to your audience. Subscribe so you never miss an episode! And if you listen to this and think, I need more of this in my life, I am taking 1:1 clients for copy coaching, and storytelling is a HUGE part of the work. To see if we're a good fit, email me at jayati AT cuttingchaistories DOT com.

You CANNOT write great copy without this one ingredient. If you try, you’ll sound indistinguishable from the crowds of your competitors. What is it and how do you inject it into your marketing to elevate your copy? Listen to Season 4 Episode 2 of Cutting Chai Stories: Write Copy that Feels Good for the answer. Subscribe so you never miss another episode. If you already subscribe, thank you! Sign up at www.cuttingchaistories.com/subscribe to get my email newsletter, Chai in my Inbox, so you can —learn how to use storytelling to sell your products and services —know when a new episode of Cutting Chai Stories comes out & —be delighted by weird stories from my real life and thebusiness lessons I learned from them

So let’s talk about it. What do you think the word “COPY” means? Because it’s hard to write copy when we’re unclear about where we’re standing. Copywriting ≠ copyrighting Copywriting ≠ journalism Copywriting ≠ content Coz we can't begin to start writing copy (let alone kickass, make-you-sit-up-and-pee-your-pants copy) if we don't know what the heck it is -- and what it isn't. In the kickoff episode of Season 4, a primer for you on what copy is, what it isn't, and examples of where to find it. Think of it as Step Zero on your journey to better copy. If you liked this episode, subscribe so you don't miss another episode.

Season 4 trailer: Hello hello, and welcome back to Cutting Chai Stories!   I’m your host Jayati Vora, and I’m a recovering journalist turned copy coach.   I got my writing and editing chops during my decade and a half of being an editor in two different countries.   And built on that foundation with a WHOLE lot of ethical marketing and copywriting techniques.   So that YOU, the online business owner, can get the benefit of all those skills in this concrete, practical, bite-sized podcast,   Now renamed Cutting Chai Stories: Write Copy That Feels Good.   Who’s this podcast for?   It’s for business owners who are looking to upgrade their copy—their website copy, their email marketing, their social media presence, heck, even the way they’re introduced in podcast interviews!   Cutting Chai Stories: Write Copy that Feels Good is conversational, comes with a shot of masala, and is as much about creativity and bringing that energy and personality that is yours alone, as it is about frameworks and case studies.   There are no fill-in-the-blanks templates here.   There ARE, however, interviews with business owners who have learned to harness the power of copy for themselves—business owners just like you, course providers, coaches, service-based businesses run by entrepreneurs who didn’t graduate with a degree in writing but EARNED their writing stripes over the years.   If YOU are a business owner like that and want to be featured on Cutting Chai Stories, send me a DM on Instagram.   New episodes drop on Thursdays. The next season is about to launch next week, but if you can’t wait that long, you can visit www.cuttingchaistories.com/podcast to binge on the last season, OR subscribe to my email list at www.cuttingchaistories.com/subscribe, and I’ll send you my mini course on how to get more engagement from your audience using your copy. Make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast wherever you listen, so you don’t miss an episode, and I’ll see you back here next Thursday!    

Welcome back to the fourth and final episode of this fiction mini-series by Cutting Chai Stories with Jayati Vora, which features two fractured fairytales. A fractured fairytale is a retelling of a story with some important parts changed, like the setting, or the reversal of the hero and villain.   In today's episode, authors and voice actors Kimaya Desai and Anika Gursahani integrated real historical characters into their fractured fairytales of Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel. This mini series is the result of a six-week writing and podcasting course taught by Jayati Vora in November and December 2021. The children collectively decided on a theme, wrote their stories, with some editing help, and performed them. If you enjoy it, please do share it with the children in your life.  We'll get back to the copywriting tips in Season 4, coming SOOOONNN!

Welcome back to the third episode of this fiction mini-series by Cutting Chai Stories with Jayati Vora, all about objects that come to life and surprise a podcaster trying to record an episode about traveling to Paris!  This series is written and performed mostly by children: Samika Kapadia, Samaira Parikh, and Riaana Bajaj. This mini series is the result of a six-week writing and podcasting course taught by Jayati Vora in November and December 2021. The children collectively decided on a theme, wrote their stories, with some editing help, and performed them. If you enjoy it, please do share it with the children in your life.  We'll get back to the copywriting tips in Season 4!

Welcome back to the second episode of this fiction mini-series by Cutting Chai Stories with Jayati Vora, all about children who discover magical portals inside their closets and go on an adventure in fictional and real story books!  This series is written and performed mostly by children, who also star in their own stories. Our heroes are Amay Maller, Aanya Somani, Sejal Bansal, and Samyra Chaudhary.  Additional voice talents include Jack Berengarten, Agastya Patel, and Suraj Andra. All the children, including Aadhya Guruprasad, helped make several of the sound effects.  This mini series is the result of a six-week writing and podcasting course taught by Jayati Vora in November and December 2021. The children collectively decided on a theme, wrote their stories, with some editing help, and performed them. If you enjoy it, please do share it with the children in your life.  We'll get back to the copywriting tips in Season 4!

Yes, this is Cutting Chai Stories with Jayati Vora, but this, the very first of a four-part fiction mini series written and performed mostly by children, is not about copywriting. In this episode, a meteor lands on earth and a cave full of mythical creatures is revealed.  Our heroes, Agastya Patel, Jack Berengarten, Aadhya Guruprasad, and Suraj Andra, each star in their own episodes. Additional voice talents include: Aanya Somani, Sejal Bansal, and Amay Maller.  This episode is the result of a six-week writing and podcasting course taught by Jayati Vora in November and December 2021. The children collectively decided on a theme, wrote their stories, with some editing help, and performed them, including some of the sound effects.  If you enjoyed it, please do share it with other children. 

In this break between seasons, stay tuned for a mini-series by my students, ages 7-12, of fictional narratives written and voiced by them. 

For all those times you have to send an email to your list or post on social media, but you don't know what to say... you'll want to take notes for this one. In it, I cover 3 prompts each for if you're planning a launch; if you're announcing a sale (hello, holidays!); if you're writing a welcome email; or if nothing much is going on and you're fresh out of ideas. Also, this is the last episode of Season 3, but not to worry, I have some bonus episodes coming your way to tide you over. They're performed by the little humans taking my creative writing + podcasting class, and are fictional narratives that feature storybook portals, mythical creatures, objects coming to life, and fractured fairy tales. So if you like the Wright Brothers and want to see an alternate ending to Cinderella, stay tuned! Finally, you may have noticed I've been playing with the description to this show every now and then in Season 3, and I came up with something new again. Here it is, and if you like it, or hate it, would you drop me a line and let me know? I'd love to know why you keep tuning in to Cutting Chai Stories, what has you coming back, and what you find here that you don't find anywhere else. Here's the reworked intro: Hello hello, and welcome back to Cutting Chai Stories, the delicious and bite-sized copywriting podcast full of writing tips for business owners who want to elevate their copy and attract more customers. I’m your host Jayati Vora, and I’m here to be your editor in your pocket, your guide to the written word, and your shot of confidence that you can show up, as imperfectly perfect as you are, and attract your dream customers using ethical marketing tactics and getting your masala on. ------ In the meantime, if you want to stay in touch and get more writing goodness like this, subscribe to my email newsletter at cuttingchaistories.com SLASH subscribe. I send out emails twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, and bring more writing prompts, writing tips, and funny stories from my life and the business lessons I draw from them. Come hang out!

Let's talk about mediocrity. What do you do when creativity takes a hiatus, when every single word you write seems trite, when your music is lame, when your art is uninspired? How do you coax your creativity out of hiding? Creativity ebbs and flows. And as creators, we feel the need to share our creations with the world. How do you live with creations that aren't your best work, and ship your work anyway? Listen to this episode for my top tips on how to trigger your creativity and how to keep up with it when it's uncorked. And if you liked this, and want more writing tips like this, plus a free four-video mini tutorial on how to uplevel your writing right away, subscribe to my email newsletter at: https://www.cuttingchaistories.com/subscribe

Hello hello and welcome back to Cutting Chai Stories, the only podcast that gives solopreneurs concrete and practical copywriting tips in just 15 minutes or less -- most of the time. I'm your host Jayati Vora and today I'm in the hotseat, because this episode contains an interview with me by Lizzy Tanguay of the talk.write.done. podcast. Listen here for our conversation, which covers  >> the stylistic elements of emails >> candy versus broccoli in your email marketing >> your next step when you make mistakes >> juicy stories for your emails and how to find them >> the perfect length for your emails (1,872 words)  >> the Netflix show we both binged recently If you'd like that free download on the 12 elements every robust email should have, you can grab it here: https://cuttingchaistories.com/12emailcomponents/ More about Lizzy Tanguay and how you can connect with her: Dr Lizzy Tanguay brings her 20 years of writing, language and applied linguistics experience to help coaches, consultants and academics get writing done and share their expertise with the world. Her approach combines mindset, message and craft to motivate and inspire tomorrow's thought leaders to their next level of achievement. As well as running her own writing consultancy, Lizzy is Coordinator for Postgraduate Research Provision at Swansea University’s Centre for Academic Success, and she's taught and researched at universities in the UK and Europe. Lizzy currently works with writers both privately and in group sessions. You can find out about her latest offers at www.http://lizzytanguay.com/ (lizzytanguay.com). https://open.spotify.com/show/2bVtmTYKz88tjlcDXNbX4d (Listen to Lizzy’s writing podcast for coaches here): https://open.spotify.com/show/2bVtmTYKz88tjlcDXNbX4d https://mailchi.mp/ddabfcb89bc2/blogposts (Download Lizzy’s free pdf on blog post titles to engage here): https://mailchi.mp/ddabfcb89bc2/blogposts

Hello hello and welcome back to Cutting Chai Stories. I'm your host Jayati Vora and this isn't a true episode. It's Thanksgiving here in the U.S., which is a pretty major holiday, and I'm taking advantage of the four-day weekend to travel, BUUUUUUT I didn't want to leave you hanging. So here's a writing prompt for you. Take either the word "Thanksgiving" or "November," and make a poem out of all the words you can think of from rearranging the letters. Here's what I wrote from the word "November": Never more. Never ever. No bone nor robe Nor mob or ember Bore reve or roe In November. *reve is a French word meaning "dream" **And ok, fine, I cheated by using the word "in" so you get a pass of one word, too. Now it's YOUR turn! And a PSA: Next week, on Nov 30, Dec 1 & 2, I'm teaching a LIVE workshop over Zoom called Masala Sales Emails. In it, I teach business owners who have an email list they haven't been ignoring how to write a sales email sequence for their next launch, whether it's for a product, a course or a program.  You'll learn what goes into an effective sales email sequence, what to write, how to write it, and in what order to write it. You'll actually get all 5 emails written, in the workshops themselves as well as in an additional 2-3 hours at home. And, best of all, you'll get MY EYES on YOUR DRAFTS on Day 3.  Three days, ~6 hours, and you leave with 5 solid sales emails in your pocket. Pretty neat, huh? For more information and to sign up, please visit: https://www.cuttingchaistories.com/masala-sales-emails/ And if this doesn't seem right for you, but you have a friend who's an entrepreneur who might benefit from it, won't you share this with them?

Hello hello, and welcome back to Cutting Chai Stories, where we are continuing with this theme of preparing for a successful launch of a product, a course, a program.  I'm your host Jayati Vora and last week we talked about a free and fun strategy to suss our market interest in an idea before you invest time and resources in putting something together that your audience doesn't want. This week we're talking about three things you need to do BEFORE you start writing your sales email sequence. The beauty of selling over email is that you don't need fancy tech skills or a website, even. All you need is an email list that's been hearing from you consistently, and a series of well thought-out emails that prime the pump for you to sell your thing. In this episode, I cover three things you'll need to know before you start writing those emails, but if you want more help, I'm holding a 3-day workshop at the end of the month over Zoom, in which I will: 1. Go over the contents of a 5-email sales sequence 2. Have everyone write the damn emails, so you have concrete drafts  3. Give you feedback on your drafts on day 3 so you're hitting send with confidence To learn more about the workshop, called Masala Sales Emails, visit: https://www.cuttingchaistories.com/masala-sales-emails/  And if you have a bestie who's a business owner who might benefit from this, would you do me a solid and send this to them? Thanks in advance!

Hello hello and welcome back to Cutting Chai Stories, the ONLY podcast that gives business owners PRACTICAL, hands-on writing advice, with examples, in only 15 minutes or less. If you’re paralyzed by fear that you won’t sound professional, if you don’t know what to say and how to say it, if you have an email list you don’t use enough or a social media account that isn’t getting the engagement you want, you’re in the right place, because I can help you with that. I’m your host Jayati Vora and today I want to talk about how to build success into your new launch or offer. Which means, I’m gonna be talking about what you do BEFORE you craft your offer or program, before you devise emails to sell it, before you create a landing page on your website. I got this idea from Miles Hanson, who did something similar on his Instagram feed, he’s @milestones_co. And I think *HE* got the idea from @thelizwilcox. You’ll want to take notes for this one, it’s SUPER practical. So what it was, was a series of 11 Instagram story slides that was designed to do in seconds what it usually takes market research calls or surveys MUCH longer—AND it had a better response rate, because it was EASY, and it was FUN. So it’s FREE, it gives you AWESOME engagement, and it helps you shape your current offer PLUS gives you ideas for what you want to offer next. Listen to the episode for a detailed walk-through of the strategy, plus pitfalls to watch out for. ANNNNNDDDD if you want the actual slides I used that produced all this engagement, it's available to email subscribers as a PDF guide, with my notes coaching you on how to replicate this strategy for yourself. (Note: You do not *need* the PDF guide, but if you're a visual learner like I am, they'll be super helpful.) To get the slides for yourself, just subscribe to my mailing list at https://www.cuttingchaistories.com/subscribe and check the entrepreneur box. Then hit reply to the welcome email and ask me for them! That's it!

Hello hello, and welcome back to Cutting Chai Stories, the only podcast to give business owners without copywriting experience practical, hands-on writing advice, with examples, to uplevel your copy right away. I'm your host Jayati Vora and today we're talking about how to inject more fun into your marketing. Because someone having fun is the most attractive thing, ever.  Listen for five ideas to kickstart your fun marketing plan! And if you found this episode useful, I have an email newsletter you might enjoy. It's called Chai in your Inbox, and I send emails twice a week with copywriting advice, writing prompts for your business, and new podcast episodes. Plus, strange stories from my life and the business lessons I learned from them! Sign up here: www.cuttingchaistories.com/subscribe And if you check the "entrepreneur" box, you'll ALSO get a free mini course on how to connect with your customer in your business.