Be prepared for business growth: a case study with Untamed Creative

Today I am talking with Jennifer Curfman of Untamed Creative. We did her website a couple of months ago, and she's a copywriter, so she wrote her own copy for this site and it's super fun, and we used that as the design inspiration to really bring out her personality.

So I'm excited for you guys to listen to this episode and hear how she is super excited to have a website that represents her, but that it's also much easier to use than her original WordPress website.

[00:00:33] Hi Jennifer. Thanks for joining me today.

[00:00:36] Jennifer Curfman: Hello. Good afternoon.

[00:00:37] Samantha Mabe: We had a previous episode of the podcast where you talked all about voice of customer research, but today we're talking about your website. So I'd love if you could just give us a really quick overview, introduction to you and who you work with and what you.

Jennifer's offer and clients

[00:00:52] Jennifer Curfman: Yes, I can absolutely do that. So, um, I'm Jennifer. I'm the owner of Untamed Creative and uh, that's where I do a lot of copywriting, um, for websites, sales pages, um, and the like. And that has been so fun, so amazing, um, and I'm obsessed with it.

[00:01:15] I help, uh, service providers and like online coaches, online business owners in general, um, who are just kind of like, not a fan of blending in and they don't wanna sound like everybody else. They wanna have mean girls memes in their sales pages. They wanna have, you know, uh, references to like the things that make them human in their copy. And um, so that's what I like to bring out in my client's work.

Wrestling with a WordPress template

[00:01:43] Samantha Mabe: Awesome. So can you tell us a little bit about kind of your website journey, what you had before, how you started, how all of that has progressed.

[00:01:57] Jennifer Curfman: Yes. I started , um, fun fact. I used to be, I went to fashion school and I was gonna be a fashion designer. That was over 10 years ago. And, um, I realized that I shouldn't, I shouldn't be doing that because I'm not a designer.

[00:02:16] Started this business, I thought, oh, you know, maybe I could do, like, maybe I could do the web design and I could write the copy, you know, and I know that, that, that does work for some people. Um, it just, it didn't work for me. It felt forced. So, um, I was like, I'm, I would much rather just be really good at one thing, so I just threw all of my energy into, um, becoming the best copywriter like I could possibly be.

[00:02:44] Therefore I got a template for my website. I bought a template for WordPress and, uh, I, I can't tell you how many hours I spent tweaking that thing. It like I, I spent probably more time than friends was on the air, like , you know, figuring out how to make this template look like it wasn't a template and also the like tiny little tweaks that I wanted to make. Uh, it was just, it was a disaster. Anyways, I think that the time that I put into. Um, I don't wanna say with a waste, but it was excessive.

[00:03:28] And then, um, I was pretty happy with how it turned out. Like it, I think it looked good. I got compliments on them and I was like, happy with it because it at least like got the job done. It gave people a place to go . So that was great.

[00:03:41] But if I, I just, I knew if I ever like, wanted to add something to it or like when I designed the sales page for my first VIP day offer, again, that took me forever because I just was like, I, who hurt you? WordPress? What do you try to do to me? Like, it's so, it's not user friendly. So that was, so that was my, before, that was my before journey.

Moving to Squarespace for ease of use and new features

[00:04:07] Jennifer Curfman: We decided to work together. And you were like, "do you wanna use Squarespace?" And I was like, "yeah, I do." because as an employee, I used it in my previous job, and it's just like, it's just, it's just easier. And when you don't have the skills slash energy to spend, like messing with WordPress, it just, it's just the right choice. Like, it just, it's just the logical choice.

[00:04:35] Samantha Mabe: Right. Yeah, I mean, when I started my business I did a WordPress template and I had some experience doing website design and I still couldn't get it to do what I wanted. So I think it, some of it's just like, it's just hard to use.

[00:04:51] And when you move over to Squarespace, it just, it makes more sense for people who don't wanna be like in the back end of their website trying to code things and figure out how to move things two pixels over.

[00:05:03] Jennifer Curfman: Yeah. Well, and, and you and I, um, did this project, like right when Squarespace did its whole, like rebrand or whatever. It's reboot of, of um, new features and stuff. And so I was really, that was really appealing to me because I was like, I love, um, I love the like layered look. I think it's just very cool. And um, so it was just really good opportunity for me to get that and not have to like pay for Showit or whatever. so yeah, I was, I was into it and I still am.

The process of working with Lemon and the Sea

[00:05:40] Samantha Mabe: So what was the process of working with me like. Yours I know is a little bit different cause you're a copywriter, so like you wrote your own copy and your, you didn't have to like use all of my templates and stuff, but what was the rest of the process like?

[00:05:56] Jennifer Curfman: Yeah, it, uh, well, when I went to write it, this is 100% true. I went to a hotel for two nights and I locked myself in there and I just like wrote everything for myself, which was partially a vacation for myself, away from my like family.

[00:06:17] But, um, another part of it was because I just knew that I wanted it to be exactly what I wanted it to be. Like I didn't wanna half it, you know? So I wrote everything, um, You know, fairly quickly. And I felt really good about that. So that part was easy for me.

[00:06:38] But the, all the questions that you had me, um, fill out, like the Pinterest, um, research or, you know, whatever that I had to create was easy. You know, Pinterest is easy to use. Um, and it was also pretty fun to see like, what else is out there that I like? Cause I just had never really done any kind research. I just grabbed a template I thought was cool and I, you know, tweaked it. But now, um, having that opportunity to just like look at what other people are doing that are kind of in the same like energy of what I was looking for. Um, so that was really fun.

Thorough prework means your design will better than you imagined

[00:07:19] Jennifer Curfman: And I mean ultimately, like everything was simple. It was very thorough so I felt very confident that like, you were gonna understand what I was going for because it was, it was very thorough. Which, um, I liked how you said like, take the time to do this because it helps. And I, as another service provider, like I totally understand, it totally helps to have, um, as much information as possible before you even start. So, um, yeah, so I, I really appreciated that and understood it.

[00:07:54] And then the, the day of, I was just, you know, ready for you to say, "Hey, take a look at this". And I, I loved how it was so easy for me to be like, okay, this is giving, you know, this part right here, I feel like needs X or whatever, and then you're like "done." So that was, that was really cool. Um, and I felt like very comfortable saying like, okay, what if this had more, you know, whatever.

[00:08:23] So ultimately it was wonderful. Five Star, would recommend, you know, it was very fun and easy on my part. which I think is what you're looking for when you, you know, are, um, hiring a service provider. Like it's a, it's a teamwork situation, it's a collaboration, but at the same time, you don't wanna be fully stressing that, like it's not gonna go the way you planned. I never, I never felt that way. I always felt like we were on the same page.

A VIP Day means getting your website launched fast

[00:09:03] Samantha Mabe: So what was your favorite part of the VIP day itself?

[00:09:09] Jennifer Curfman: Well, the fact that it was done so fast, you know. I started the day with this weird WordPress situation and then by the end of, you know, the weekend or whatever it was like ready to roll. I would just say like the speed was the best part because I just didn't have to worry like, okay, two months later here we are still working on this and I'm just an impatient person in general. So it worked out.

[00:09:43] Samantha Mabe: Yeah. I think the longest part of the process for most people is once we connect the domain, like that switchover can take up to three days. And like you're just waiting, neither of us is doing anything. We're just like waiting for an email confirmation and that's what, that's what takes the longest, and you're just kind of letting it, letting it go in the background. So you do have to plan for that a little bit. But other than that, you know, everything gets done that one day.

[00:10:12] Jennifer Curfman: I also don't have like a lot of traffic, so I didn't, it wasn't really an issue, um, for me. But at least now, the thing that I like about us doing this when we did was I now have a place where, when I'm ready to like start writing more content for myself because, I don't really do what I do for other people, for myself. Um, but when I do that, I have a place to put it. And I don't have to worry about like, ugh, is it gonna be, you know, a struggle to like, put this where I want it to. Like, I at least know, okay, when I'm ready to write some stuff or when I need to add a new page or when I whatever, whatever, I can just do it and it's not gonna be a whole thing.

Jennifer has more confidence in sharing her website and making changes as she grows

[00:10:57] Samantha Mabe: So, have you seen any results from your new website since you launched it?

[00:11:03] Jennifer Curfman: I don't really look at the data or the stats. It's not really my thing, but I, I mean, of course people have been like, "oh my God, you got your site redone. It looks great." So, I mean, besides like compliments, um, I haven't noticed any like, conversions or anything like that. Um, of course I could look and let you know.

[00:11:26] Internal results are, I just feel more at peace about this whole situation because I just know and, and, oh, I forgot to say this too. And knowing that someone who's actually. Like design inclined did this for me so I didn't have to question, or, you know, second guess myself all the time is such a relief because that's, I mean, like I said in the beginning, that's why I didn't really offer, and I don't offer, any graphics or web design or anything like that because I know my limits and I'm not supposed to be doing those things.

[00:12:00] So, um, that was a huge benefit for me, just knowing like, okay, someone who smart enough to do these types of things are um, like puts their stamp of approval on it. So that, that was perfect. That's what I needed.

[00:12:18] Samantha Mabe: And I think for so many service providers like you and me and a lot of my clients, we get our clients through referrals. So they're coming, they're looking at the website, like that's building trust and helping them want to hire us, but it's not necessarily like their first point of contact.

[00:12:36] Jennifer Curfman: Yeah, that's absolutely true. I get mostly referrals and I, uh, but like I said, I know once I start writing content for myself and like blogs, then it will be, um, it will eventually be like a top of the funnel situation. Um, so yeah, I mean, we'll talk again in a year and I'll let you know how it's going.

Advice for anyone considering a VIP Day with Lemon and the Sea

[00:13:00] Samantha Mabe: So do you have any advice for somebody who's gonna do a VIP day with me? Because it's a little bit of a different model, so I think people aren't sure exactly what to expect. What would you tell them?

[00:13:14] Jennifer Curfman: I would say hire a copywriter.

[00:13:16] It doesn't have to be me, but it can be, um, somebody that you trust to, you know, get your voice and everything like that because it's a, that's a huge part of the project that's just so much work, um, upfront. And so I just highly recommend, um, anyone doing a website to at least have somebody audit what you write, um, just to get a second pair of eyes on it.

[00:13:42] And then, um, as far as like expectations for the process and the design and everything. Take the time to fill out all of the questionnaires and do all the stuff, give you as much information up front as possible because it will pay off. Like if you front load all the stuff you're gonna do for you, the designer, it just makes the rest of the process so much smoother.

[00:14:06] As far as expectations. Be prepared to put in some work at the beginning, and then once you submit everything, you're just leaning back, like you're just doing whatever you wanna do.

[00:14:18] Um, and then you can just like, you know, move on with your life. So, um, definitely do it. It's very, it's very nice and a huge relief to know that, um, you have somewhere to send people that looks legit.

[00:14:41] Samantha Mabe: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming and chatting today, and I'll check back with you in a year when you're blogging and see how things go.

[00:14:49] Jennifer Curfman: Yeah, hit me up in one year.

I loved chatting with Jennifer about her website, and if you have a WordPress website that is just driving you nuts and makes you want to cry in a corner every time you have to make updates, apply for my VIP day. I've got spots open in Q1, and we can get your website launched in just a couple of days.