Do you have certain students who you find way easier to teach than others?
It’s the same for me when I’m writing copy for clients.
Some brand voices just click quicker.
Some topics are more fun to write about.
And some people are a dream to work with because they know their audiences so darn well.
Ola Kowalska is one of those clients.
She’s a super talented business coach for language teachers, so it figures that she knows her people well. But exactly how well never ceases to amaze me.
(If you’re one of Ola’s coaching clients, I’d genuinely be concerned that she lives in your head…)
Because of this — and the fact that I absolutely love her work — every copy project we’ve worked on together has been a total delight.
So when she mentioned that she wanted to redo her website at the end of last year, I immediately offered up my last spot of 2023.
And, just as expected, it was SO MUCH FUN to work on.
About Ola Coaches Teachers
If you haven’t met Ola Kowalska yet, you need to.
She’s the superstar behind Ola Coaches Teachers, through which she offers practical, actionable coaching programs to help language educators build profitable businesses.
Before she became a business coach, she worked as an ELT teacher turned CELTA trainer turned manager turned language school owner (deep breath).
As a result, her clients don’t *just* get business, sales and marketing advice — they also get support with creating better courses from someone who actually gets it.
Now here’s how we translated all of that into website copy…
The brief
Ola wanted her website to clearly communicate her super practical approach to her work and passion for supporting teachers.
She wanted it to speak to a super specific group of people — AKA teachers who have gotten their businesses off the ground but feel stuck with where to go next.
Most importantly, she wanted it to be crystal clear that she doesn’t spoonfeed answers, offer up generic ‘recipes for success’ or promise unrealistic results.
Sounds obvious, I know.
But a quick look at some of the competition proved there’s WAY too much of that going on out there.
The website
After going through my competitor analysis and messaging process, it was clear that Ola’s approach is unique.
And so is her audience.
The ‘work less, make more’ messaging so many others use wouldn’t resonate with them. Especially because many had been burned by that before.
So instead, we decided to hone in on the qualities that showed up time and again on her feedback forms: her authenticity, her action-based approach and her ability to tailor her advice to suit everyone.
Ola didn’t want to lean into the messaging so many coaches use — that they too were once teachers, made tons of money and now teach you to do the same. Because her experience in the language world stretches WAY beyond that.
I felt it was still important to highlight her background, though, since her clients really appreciate her unique insights. So, we did this more subtly through her about page story:
You can view the full website here, and read on for three copywriting lessons from the project.
Copywriting lessons
1) Know your audience
Ola’s insanely detailed understanding of her audience made my job so much easier. But not only that – it made the copy so much stronger.
Because we knew how her audience were thinking and feeling, we were able to go into more specific detail:
In the course descriptions…
On the services page…
And when they first land on the homepage…
This allows us to make sure her ideal clients feel like they’ve found the right coach and show the not-so-ideal ones they haven’t.
2) Settle on one BIG idea
This is copywriting 101, but people often forget about it.
Before you start writing any bit of copy, you should first decide on the one big idea that underpins everything.
In Ola’s case, this is that her practical approach allows teachers to create their own route to success.
We made sure to weave that throughout the entire site to consistently reinforce the message in different ways. This made for a strong message that leaves no room for confusion about what she does.
3) Don’t be afraid to be polarising
The language education coaching world is still in its infancy — but more and more coaches are now popping up. Most with big flashy promises to make silly money in a matter of months.
Ola’s very transparent about the fact that she doesn’t work like that. So we made this crystal clear in her website copy.
And while it might ruffle some feathers, it ultimately sets her apart as a trustworthy and genuine coach who values integrity over empty promises and quick sales.
The lesson? Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion even if it means going against the grain.
Ola’s review
“I’m very excited that after years of having an unprofessionally put-together website that I wrote myself and have tried to perfect over the years, I have a website that looks like me, sounds like me and that I am proud to send traffic to.
In the past, it didn’t really matter that my website wasn’t perfect. But now I’m at the stage of my business where it’s kind of crucial that the website does its job.
I appreciated that you really took the time to get to know me and my business and the amount of detail that you remembered from our conversations, from the way I speak and from the way I want to be perceived. It was mind blowing.
Now, people are genuinely impressed by my website. I already feel like more specific people contact me about my services. It filters out the people who I can’t really help, and it’s just beautiful. It really comes down to how specific it is and how well written it is.
I’m super impressed by the whole experience. Not because we’re friends but because it’s the most professionally done job with a tailored approach that just felt very personal to me!
12/10 stars. 😅”
Do you want a website you’re proud to publish?
I’d love to help! If you’re super clear on who you serve and what you offer, check out my done-for-you copywriting package (the same one Ola chose!)
Or if you’re not *quite* there yet want to learn how to improve your existing copy using the same process I use, then sign up for my FREE webinar on Wednesday, 28th February, where I’ll explain it all.
February 22, 2024
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