Copywriting Business

The year was 2011… My copywriting business was merely months old, with a client portfolio of 10, when a life changing experience threatened to derail everything I’d worked so hard to build. Having collapsed at home unexpectedly, I awoke to find that I couldn’t remember the last 15 years of my life…

I was 28 at the time I collapsed. I’d just put my 18-month old son down to sleep for the night and went to my bedroom to retrieve my laptop. Without warning, my body seized up, I fell to the ground hitting my head hard on the laminate flooring. Next thing I know, I’m surrounded by paramedics and rushed to hospital.

At the hospital, my dad – who happens to be a paramedic – was waiting to greet me. He’d abandoned his own shift to come and be at my bedside, alongside my wife. However, while lying on the hospital gurney, it suddenly dawned on me that I didn’t recognise the people standing beside me.

Obviously, this bout of amnesia affected so many areas of my life, I couldn’t remember my family, my friends and other important stuff like bank details. Equally, I couldn’t remember what I did for a living or even how to write! As family and friends filled in the blanks, it became apparent that I could lose my business.

Three Months of Uncertainty

I was in this state for three months, but thankfully much of my memory was restored. I won’t go into the miraculous details of my healing, but let’s just say that after months of visiting neurologists and counsellors, they were left baffled and it took divine intervention to restore what had been lost.

How did the Business Survive?

Copywriting Business

Through all this, my business was under threat. Keeping it going was all down to honesty and communication. Now, my wife wouldn’t claim to be a copywriter, she’s more of a numbers person. Yet, she took it upon herself to contact each of my ten clients personally to inform them of what had happened.

Amazingly, rather than jumping ship, my clients appreciated that we – as a family – would share something so personal that they informed my wife they would stick around. This made me realise that my clients not only valued what I did for them, they valued me as a person.

It just goes to show that building a solid rapport with your customer base can go a long way. In fact, it’s this rapport that will keep your business afloat despite circumstances looking bleak.

However, it wasn’t as easy as keeping my customers onside, I had to retrain my brain to get back to a point where I could write again. I would spend hours writing, not for clients, but as a way of rediscovering my skills. I just so happened that I had a life changing experience to write about. So, I documented this experience through a series of blogs.

Not only did this help me get to a stage where I could run my business again, it helped me to channel those feelings brought on by this experience, in a positive way.

Run your Copywriting Business with Customer Satisfaction at its Core

Yes, you’re in business to make money. However, at the end of the day your business is nothing without your customers. If anything, my memory loss experience taught me not to treat customers as a commodity, but as the very foundation on which to build my business up.

Equally, it taught me that if you’re willing, you can guide your copywriting business or any business for that matter through any and all adversity that comes your way. My copywriting company has now served 122 businesses worldwide, and yes, many of my early clients are still with me today.