I took Copywriting for Creatives: was it worth it?
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Since 2015, I’ve bought around 30 different courses for my business as continuing education.
😳
I’ve also spent WAY more time DIY-ing things without them, piecing tips together from freebies, blogs, videos, and more.
To be 100% honest, most of those courses have absolutely been worth every penny (& often much more), –BUT not all of them.
The courses which made my ‘not worth it for me’ list, either weren’t the right fit for the stage of business I was in at that time, the educator’s teaching style wasn’t a good fit for the way I learn best, or I bought it and just flat never made the time to finish it –but that last one is on me, not the educator.
My experience taking Copywriting for Creatives*
One of the educators and course creators I DO believe in wholeheartedly is Ashlyn Carter of Ashlyn Writes, The Copy Bar copywriting template shop, and of course her signature course, Copywriting for Creatives.
This was one of the first big purchases for my business, outside of needing a new computer.
I was really nervous about it, I had no idea what to expect, –but I took the leap anyway, back in 2019.
My thoughts on Ashlyn & CfC
Ashlyn talks FAST and she has a very southern, somewhat high-pitched voice with a sorority-girl twinge. Being more of a Daria girl myself, at first, I honestly wasn’t sure I could listen to all the video lessons. But I powered through the first couple of lessons and when I started hearing her LESSON content, rather than her voice, and learning so much that I whipped out a notebook and started taking copious notes… I realized I didn’t care and it didn’t actually bother me at all. In fact, –had she been a Daria-type like me, it would’ve been far less interesting.
Lesson 1: don’t take things at their face value without giving them a second chance because you might just change your mind completely!
Diving into the course, I was admittedly a bit overwhelmed by the content itself. There were so many videos, a giant-ass workbook (which I actually printed out & wrote on), and navigating the modules felt a bit foreign to me at first –being new to online courses in general and completely new to Kajabi which is where Ashlyn hosts her course. (Teachable is usually more my jam, from a student perspective).
BUT, I took the time to look around, go through the intro modules where she explains where everything is, how it all works, what to do, etc, and asked questions in the group when I needed help –which I always got, whether from Team Ashlyn or other students.
This isn’t a course that boxes up a perfect process that always works and all you have to do is take these exact steps….
She teaches proven concepts that can be tweaked and applied to your business, your audience and your specific situation, but she can’t do or tweak it for you. You have to think about it, research it, and do the work which can take time and you might need help.
That’s why she has the tear-downs, hot seats, coaching calls, etc in the group. Take advantage of them! You will get the chance to have expert eyes on your stuff, but ONLY if you show up & ask for help.
Lesson 2: be patient and willing to explore/research; don’t be afraid to tell someone what you think or if you’re stuck and ask for help!
Ashlyn is an actual wealth of knowledge. The information she has inside her brain has got to be flowing like Niagara falls, and it’s all got PROOF. Ashlyn will tell you she’s not a “math girl,” which I can so relate to being a creative that also struggled in math classes, but she IS a “numbers girl” and she hoards data that can back up everything she’s learned and is teaching in that course. I loved how analytically-minded she can be when applying these principles.
Lesson 3: she’s teaching “word science;” the data is our friend, we just have to know how to test and then apply what we learn.
If we pay attention to the data, to the numbers and analytics, we can LEARN from anything that doesn’t work, and tweak it until we reach a solution that works better. This means there’s no such thing as failure because you can’t succeed until you find all the ways that didn’t work before the success.
Lesson 4: true “failure” doesn’t exist, because there’s always a lesson to be learned from anything that doesn’t work & without the “fail” you wouldn’t have had the chance to learn that lesson.
Honesty Hour:
Did I actually finish Copywriting for Creatives?*
Not yet. 😂
Not what you were expecting? Didn’t think so!
This is such a common problem for course creators! So I think it’s an important part of the conversation, both as an educator myself and as a course-collector. 😆
I also think it’s worth being completely honest here for the simple fact that I didn’t finish the course BECAUSE I got so busy after applying what I learned as I moved through the program that I literally didn’t have time to complete the rest of it.
In fact, now I’m so busy that I will have to purposefully block time off in my calendar in order to finish it.
Do I plan to finish/retake it? HELL YEAH!! It’s literally been on my calendar as a constant reminder because I know that however awesome things have been since I’ve applied what I’ve learned so far, –my success would be THAT much better if I keep learning and applying until I finish the curriculum.
It’s worth noting too that I have –and you would too– LIFETIME access, so I can go back any time, and retake it as many times as I need to, each time my business evolves and I know many other students who have done exactly that. So the pressure is OFF. Or on. Depends on how ya look at it. 😂
Also, I’m a project finisher, so it’s emotionally killing me that something like this has been left unfinished.
Do I think you should do what I did and apply what you learn in bits as you can get to them? Ideally? No. I mean, if that’s all you can do, then that’s all you can do and I respect that –after all, that was my exact situation– BUT it will take you A LOT longer to make this investment back (& thus find your successes) if you do it this way. Trust me, I know from experience! What’s that saying? Don’t do as I do, do as I say? (ie: learn from my mistakes!)
If you can make the time to go through it, finish it, and apply it in one of Ashlyn’s suggested 30, 60, or 90-day paths, it’s a safe bet that your business will NEVER be the same again, in the best possible way.
Things to consider when deciding whether to buy an online course
With that out of the way, how do you decide if it (or any online course) will be a good fit for YOU?
❶ Look for reviews
Well, first of all, reading reviews like this one can definitely help you gauge what other people think, especially if the reviewers are in the same industry as you because you’ll understand their comments about applying what they learned to their own business.
You might also get some insight into what they were struggling with before they took the course, why they decided to go for it, what changed after they implemented what they learned, and whether or not they recommend it for other people like themselves.
But that’s not the only way to judge; if this course is brand new, there might not be any reviews quite yet. So, that leads me to the second option…
❷ Study the sales page –all of it
Next, read the sales page from TOP to BOTTOM. I know, they’re long AF nowadays, but if the educator and/or their team is worth their salt as a course creator then there should be tons of gold nuggets sprinkled throughout that are literally designed to help you decide this exact question.
Written reviews & screenshots of comments about the course can tell you a lot. Or if the course is new, reviews on people buying from or working with that person in a slightly different capacity –ie: maybe the educator boxed up their 1:1 service and made it a 1:many course & the first reviews are from their 1:1 clients!)
Video testimonial reviews can give you tons of insight into students’ takeaways from the course, often sharing their exact journey as they decided whether to invest or not, why they decided to, and how they feel now that they’re on the other side. Yes, they’re usually only positive reviews, but they took time to carefully pick those testimonials to take up valuable real estate on their sales page for a reason, so it’s still worth checking out!
Sales pages often have FAQ sections, so look for that and read every single question/answer. Course creators often address this exact question in that section, with answers they give most often to the questions they hear most… well, frequently.
Look for a breakdown of course module details about what it actually covers. A good sales page will also have info about what will actually be in each module, what will be covered in and what you get with each topic, such as workbooks, templates, coaching sessions, etc.
While you should never go into a course expecting to ask for a refund, it’s always good to know what the refund or money-back guarantee policy is. Reputable course creators will display this on their sales page, likely both around the pricing area &/or in the FAQ section.
I will tell you that smaller, lower-ticket ($200-ish & under) products and courses tend not to have a refund policy because they can be finished very quickly and that protects the educator and their content from getting stolen by “bad apples” who quite literally pay, save or copy everything they can, then request a refund… I know, that’s probably not something YOU’D ever do, but there are some bad apples out there that make this their mission in life to get everything they can for free –even at the expense of someone else’s hard work.
Higher-ticket products & courses tend to have some kind of guarantee related to the cost, whether it’s a 7-day, 10-day, 30-day, 90-day (etc) money-back guarantee, or a refund policy. Often, refund policies may hinge on proof that you 1) tried to implement the material & it just wasn’t working for you or your audience, 2) the content isn’t actually applicable to you, or 3) a feedback call with a company team member to ask you what you think could be improved in the course.
❸ It’s okay to ask questions!
Finally, if you’re still not sure, reach out to the team & ask them more questions! They likely became educators because they WANT to help you cross a specific finish line, so they won’t have any problem answering any/all questions you may have, including telling you whether or not they think their course will help you/r business.
Course creators I’ve purchased from in the past have had some sort of chat box or VideoAsk or something along that line embedded right there on the page, and despite what you may think for the week the course enrollment is active, there are people manning the submissions on those, ready to help you make a decision that is best for you.
While courses are made to sell –and yes, make money– reputable educators don’t want a high refund rate, so these folks won’t tell you to take it if they feel like it won’t help you.
❹ Look for red flags
Do a gut-check! Trust your own intuition. If something feels off, –wait & listen to that feeling.
What are some red flags to look for?
the absence of options 1-3 during the course launch (no reviews, no testimonials, no FAQs, no refund/money-back guarantee, no way to contact them to ask questions, etc)
wild claims that are likely impossible achievements for ANYone, ie: something like, ‘start your business with my course & become a millionaire in 30 days.’
don’t like the way you’re being “sold to” in the sales page? If the selling proposition on that page makes the educator seem like a sleazy car salesman trying to sell you a lemon for double what it’s worth, then pay attention to that feeling!
Does the sales page feel desperate? Does it give you the impression that the MUST sell it to people, –but for their own sake? (not yours
Does it talk down, bash, or otherwise include any negative things that make you take a step back or wonder about their ethics?
Is the price point generally in the same neighborhood as its competitors? (ie: if this course cost $997, and others just like it cost $20 or $20k, something could be off)
❺ You get what you pay for
This could be an unpopular opinion, but you’ve heard it before because it’s often true. If you buy a pair of jeans for $5, it’s not as likely to last you as long as the pair you paid $50-100 for, right?
The rebuttable to this scenario is, “but I can buy 5 pairs for the same price as one pair of the expensive ones.” And that’s an excellent point! If you’re making that argument, then check yourself with these two comparisons.
Look at what you have to gain from that one expense:
saves you time?
helps earn more money, faster?
get “there” faster?
make it feel much easier?
feel much more excited & hopeful?
Then look at how much you have to lose if you don’t invest:
takes much more time?
make less money, for much longer?
get “there” much slower?
make it feel much harder?
feel much more frustrated & hopeless?
This is something my husband and I can’t agree on to save our lives sometimes: yes that drill may cost less than this one for right now, but how many cheap drills have you replaced in the last 10 years & is that amount equal to or more than the cost of buying a better quality option you can purchase fewer times because it lasts longer?
Or, more relatably: if an expensive course can get you where you want to go in much less time, with much less heartache, and earn more money faster, then isn’t that worth the investment in yourself & in your business?
Sometimes the save-a-dollar mentality isn’t helpful, because there IS such a thing as a return on our investments –if they are the RIGHT investments.
This is something I have literally experienced with my 1:1 web design services and to be perfectly honest, it’s part of the reason (only part of it) that 1:1 services can be so expensive.
When you pay “a lot” (whatever you consider “a lot”) for something, you’ve literally put your money where your mouth is and usually it forces you to step up. You pay more attention, you’re more willing to participate and take care of your investment. Right?
The same applies to paying for expert services whether in the form of a done-for-you (one-to-one) or done-with-you (one-to-many) service.
Think about it. Would you take it as seriously if I told you I could build you a custom website for $50? $500? $1,000? –Especially when you KNOW other people are charging at least triple those figures for the same thing?
No. The answer is no. Want to know how I know that (especially if you don’t)?
Because I’ve been working with clients in ALL budgets since 2006 that paid anything from $0 to $20,000+ and the ones who put up or shut up are the ones paying the higher prices. End. Of. Story.
❻ Is it in your (very real) budget?
Can you actually afford this financial commitment? Not every investment is worth being in financial debt, especially if you aren’t confident that you can get yourself out of that debt & pay it back.
A great example of that is student loans here in the United States. College is expensive, but it’s not covered by federal programs, so we take out student loans to pay for it –in the hope that when we graduate, we will get a job that pays us well enough to pay that loan off…
Unfortunately for quite literally MILLIONS of us, that gamble has been a scary one. We either borrowed too heavily, or our education cost too much, and the job we got after leaving our university didn’t pay as much as we expected so we’re saddled with lifelong debt that continues to accrue interest and the total amount owed continues to grow by the year so we never feel like we’re making a dent in our payoff.
Credit cards can work the same way, and often MUCH worse if you’re not careful.
So if you can’t afford to pay it right back within a year, whether from new revenue your business earns as a direct result of what you learn from the course or some other financial gain, you may want to save up and buy it later because whatever the course is, it may not be worth the financial stress or gamble of having the debt.
On the flip side, will what you learn actually pay off? If you feel confident that whatever you learn will save you so much time/money that the price will be worth it, then go with your gut!
Remember entrepreneurship is often just figuring shit out on your own and taking calculated risks that you hope will pay off. 😬 However, you’re much more likely to reach the payoff, if you take action first.
Courses can help you cross that threshold, –if they’re the right fit!
So if you have the budget and want the help –it’s time to stop second-guessing and wasting time trying to figure it out for yourself with freebies and piecing together 1,001 opinions ––and just LEAP. You won’t be sorry ya did!
