IAM565 – Web Copywriter Provides High-quality Content

Alexandria is a 29-year-old web content and copywriter. A graduate of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Alexandria is a former best-selling author on Amazon and Top Rated Upwork Freelancer. She currently operates ADS Copywriting, which provides high-quality content writing for the travel, tourism, and hospitality industries.

• CEO Hack: Book – Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• CEO Nugget: You can achieve anything with the right balance
• CEO Defined: A mindset and being a leader

Website: http://www.arisims.com/

Facebook: Facebook.com/adscopy

Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. Alexandria Sims of ADS copywriting. Alexandria, It's awesome to have you on the show.

Alexandria Sims 0:40

Thank you. It's great to be here.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

Yeah, super excited to have you on, and what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Alexandria so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Alexandria is a 29-year-old web content and copywriter and graduate of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Alexandra is a former best-selling author on Amazon and a top-rated Upwork Freelancer. She currently operates ADS Copywriting which provides high-quality content writing for the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry. Alexandria, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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Alexandria Sims 1:13

Yeah, let's do this.

Gresham Harkless 1:14

Let's make it happen. So to kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what like to get started with your business.

Alexandria Sims 1:22

Okay, so writing is my natural talent. When I was little, my grandfather used to read to me every night and that's how I learned to read. By the time I was four years old. My talent for writing really began to excel when I was in the second grade. And the end of the year comment from my teacher on my report card told my parents to continue to encourage me to keep writing. So during my childhood, I used to write a lot of imaginative stories. I went through a screenwriting phase between the seventh and eighth grades. In high school, I did a lot of filmmaking and poetry. I had a YouTube channel and everything during college, that's when it really took off.

That's when I wrote and self-published two fiction novellas, and I actually ranked in the top 10 Best Selling free Horror category on Amazon for one of my books. After I graduated college, I continued to work at Burger King, which is where I worked throughout high school and college. And I ended up getting promoted to a shift manager. So I had a situation in my life where I had to move out of my house. And I ended up living in this flop house with a bunch of my other co-workers. And I knew it couldn't be a permanent situation. And with my Burger King salary, I couldn't afford to live on my own.

So one of my friend's mom knew that I enjoyed writing and she sure she turned me on to a freelancer website that was called oDesk, which is now Upwork. So one night when I was off work, I decided to check it out. To make a long story short, I filled out my profile and got a $600 gig to write an internet celebrity autobiography. And within hours, I was officially addicted to being a writer for hire. The only thing with the only thing with freelance writing is that work and pay is never guaranteed. So I continued to be a part-time Freelancer while I switched jobs and I ended up becoming a shift manager at the grocery store. My freelance writing career really took off when I was about 24 and I generated at least $10,000 during that time.

That's when I really hustled and it was during that time that I learned a lot about content marketing, SEO, copywriting, and basically any online digital sales tactic regarding content. I stopped freelancing for a while for multiple reasons, the money was good, but it left me with little to no free time to enjoy my life. I had no confidence in myself and my ability to network or maintain a professional image. So I stopped for about a year and I eventually left the hospitality sector and took on a job as an in-house web content writer for a travel agency. And that's when I rediscovered my passion for copywriting and digital marketing.

I also started to focus more on self-care, such as building my confidence and learning how to love myself and be proud of who I am. So I started surrounding myself with online influencers like Tony Robbins and Dean Graziozium. And I started to learn how you can package your knowledge and sell it. So I decided that I wanted to restart this whole copywriting business thing I wanted to start enhancing it. So I could share my passion still enjoy my freedom, and help others with their content marketing.

My business went through a lot of names over the years but I finally settled on ADS copywriting, which I got by putting my initials together because I think that putting my initials in the business name really is reminiscent of my pride and my confidence regarding who I am and what I can offer to the world.

Gresham Harkless 4:29

Nice. I definitely appreciate that. And I think that I appreciate it so much just because I think so many times that we find what our gifts are the things that we do better than others but a lot of times we don't necessarily know how best to kind of showcase them with the world and I appreciate you for one you know starting out as a freelance freelancer and then of course, realizing that that wasn't necessarily I guess fulfilling to that degree that you wanted it to. So then you decided to pivot into creating ADS copywriting and being able to kind of adjust from there but not lose the thing you do the best.

Alexandria Sims 5:06

Oh, yeah, I definitely took it to the next level, and it's just continuing to grow.

Gresham Harkless 5:11

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So I know you touched on it a little bit, can you drill down a little bit deeper, and tell us a little bit more about exactly how you work with clients and the services you're providing?

Alexandria Sims 5:19

Sure. So we provide high-quality copywriting and content marketing services to businesses all over the world, which is the beauty of being a freelancer, you start to make connections, not just in the United States, but France, Germany, Australia, anywhere you can think of. So I've recently begun the process of narrowing our specialization to the hospitality industry. Because as I mentioned earlier, you know, I worked in fast food, I worked in grocery retail. So I figured I could leverage all the knowledge that I gained from those experiences but we welcome any kind of project.

Our main services, our web, copy, landing pages, and blogs are written for a long-term on-page SEO strategy, which is basically organic free exposure, as time goes on, Google will rank the content higher and higher up. So we also provide lead magnets and ebooks for marketing services, you know, you see a lot of that it's really becoming popular. We're also in the process of creating an affordable Do It Yourself copywriting and content writing course, where small businesses who don't want to pay the high ticket price for the done-for-you services, can actually learn my techniques and learn how to do it themselves at a fraction of the cost. So I'm really excited for that to launch. And of course, my done-for-you services will also still be available for professional production.

Gresham Harkless 6:41

Nice, I definitely appreciate that, because it kind of seems like you have different options. For those, you know, different people in different businesses that are at whatever stage that they're at whether they want if they want to learn how to do it themselves and be able to leverage the strategies you've used, but at the same time can still pick up the phone or spill the phone, so to speak, and then give you a phone call and connect with you to be able to have the services.

Alexandria Sims 7:05

I would say we're very accessible in that sense.

Gresham Harkless 7:08

Absolutely. I love that. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And you might have already touched on this. But what do you feel is kind of the thing that sets you apart and makes you unique or your business unique?

Alexandria Sims 7:18

Well, when I first started freelancing, my original tagline was high-quality content or writing that anyone can afford. And my specialty was a really fast turnaround. That works well with more of my lowballing clients. Interestingly, as I worked on growing my courage, I began to realize, you know, I'm really, really passionate about copywriting. And once I started demanding more of myself, I found that I could attract more high-paying clients, which kind of just works out for everybody. So now for ADS copywriting, our new slogan is “Content without complication”. We are a giant step up from job boards freelancers.

We offer powerful and proven content marketing services without the hassle of dealing with third parties such as Upwork, Freelancer, and Elance. And you don't have to work with inexperienced freelancers. You don't have to worry about getting ghosted. We take all of that out. And it's just quite simply content without complication.

Gresham Harkless 8:15

Nice. I love that tagline. And I love to again, the evolution, of the business and everything that you've been doing because I think so many times we don't sometimes associate, you know, how we value ourselves with the pricing that we're doing the types of clients that we're attracting, but I think that as we evolve through business, we realize, sometimes we have certain clients, we don't necessarily want to have him over and over again. So we have to make an adjustment and change. And some of that starts with how we value ourselves and the value that we're providing to our clients.

Alexandria Sims 8:46

Yeah, definitely. It's so interesting how that's related.

Gresham Harkless 8:50

Yeah, absolutely. I would definitely agree with that. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I want to ask you what I call a CEO hack that could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Alexandria Sims 9:05

I believe that any entrepreneur, not just anybody who wants to be a writer, but anybody who wants to be in business or simply just even be successful in life, I believe that they should read and reread, “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. It's not only like basically the entrepreneurs' Bible, which is what I call it, but I also think it's almost like a success Bible to life. If you want to do amazing things, use that book as your foundation.

Gresham Harkless 9:30

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call an SEO nugget. And that could be like a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It could be around copywriting itself. But what's something that you would say is a piece of advice or if you can happen to a time machine, you might even tell yourself or even maybe a client.

Alexandria Sims 9:47

I would tell anybody, entrepreneurs, clients, anybody that wants to work with me, literally just like the guy on the street, I would say this too, but with the right balance of mind, body, and spirit you can achieve anything you want in life. Like how the book, “Think and Grow Rich” is the foundation of being successful. These are kind of more like personal foundation principles of being successful. You can nourish your mind with podcasts, audiobooks, and YouTube videos, and challenge your physical limits, like, if you can do 25 Push-ups, you know, just push yourself to do 26, the next day, 27 the next. Even if you're so busy, and you can't find the time to work, go, take a quick walk around the block, you know, anybody can find time for that.

Get in touch with the universe, grow your spirituality, and practice gratitude, kindness, and the law of attraction. I firmly believe what you've put into life is what you're going to get back. So, from my experience, I think that only prosperity can come out of doing these three things. And best of all, it can literally cost you nothing to get started, you can go out, you can buy the audiobooks, and you could join the gym and take a spiritual class. But really, like at the very bottom line, you literally don't need a set, you can go on YouTube, find the topic on anything, you know, just get on the floor, start doing push-ups, sit-ups, get in touch with the universe, just sit there and close your eyes and just like let your thoughts quiet down, say a prayer.

Think about what you're grateful for. It's so easy, literally, anybody can do it.

Gresham Harkless 11:23

Yeah, absolutely. And I think so many times we overlook, or maybe, maybe over, I guess, estimate the amount of things that we need to do. Like you said, you know, if you just want to make sure that you're working out a little bit more, you don't necessarily have to go get a gym membership. And of course, there's nothing wrong with that but a lot of times, maybe just walking around the block will help you do that. Or if you want to pick up a new skill, you don't have to go and you know, go to a university in our role in the creative course, and all those things, you can sometimes just hop on YouTube to do that, as you said to so I think so many times where we over kind of value the steps that we have to take in order to get in a sea change in our lives.

But in reality, we can just do these small things. And a lot of times that value in that change will come from there.

Alexandria Sims 12:08

Definitely, there's so much information out there that it's so easy. And I think the fact that it's so easy might be why a lot of people actually don't do it.

Gresham Harkless 12:17

Interesting. Why did you say that?

Alexandria Sims 12:19

Cuz I'm personally for me, I know, this is how I feel a lot. And I'm sure it's true for others. If something seems easy to me, then I think like, okay, this is way too good to be true. And I think that's actually a myth. I think if something is easy, then it really just is easy. You know, you don't really have to overcomplicate it, just try it and see what happens.

Gresham Harkless 12:40

Yeah, that makes so much sense. I appreciate you for saying that. Just because I think yes, we do sometimes, you know, see that it's so easy. So it's not possible for that to happen. But I think I guess what separates the people who are successful and have been able to reach their success has been the consistency of being able to do that. So even though it is easy, doing it on a day-to-day basis, rounding regular basis is really what kind of separates people. So even though it's easy, that consistency is where people really create separation.

Alexandria Sims 13:09

Definitely.

Gresham Harkless 13:10

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEOs on my show. So Alexandra, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Alexandria Sims 13:21

To me, being a CEO means being a leader, but I also believe it's a mindset, you never want to stop pushing your limits and exceeding expectations for being a CEO. It's like, for me at least it's not like, Okay, I'm a CEO. Now, I don't have to do anything. It's more like a living and breathing mindset. If I decided tomorrow that I was just gonna, you know, stop with my mind, body, and spirit stuff, you know, stop constantly keeping up to date with all the copywriting techniques and digital marketing strategies, then, I'm not going to be a CEO for much longer. So I believe that it's definitely like something that is a continuous practice.

Gresham Harkless 14:05

Absolutely, no, I think that's an incredible definition and perspective. And I think a lot of times, again, we overlook some of those things that are right in front of us, namely our mind and how we're thinking about things, how we're approaching things. And I think that a lot of times, the fruits of our labor, or lack thereof, a lot of times will come as a product of our mind. And as we talked about, even with thinking to grow rich, you know, that will manifest itself in our in our lives. So I definitely appreciate that definition. I appreciate your time even more.

What I want to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you can let our readers and listeners know and of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

Alexandria Sims 14:43

Awesome. Well, um, I think that's as much as I had today. Of course, I would say, you know, my advice that I would give anybody is just follow your dreams, go at your passions. Because if you're not happy doing what you're passionate about every day you know, you're not going to enjoy life as much as you can. So if anybody was interested in getting a hold of me for doing your copywriting services, even if you had questions I'd be more than happy to answer. My website is www.ericksons.com. You can also find us on Facebook @facebook.com/adscopy. I have not really gotten on other social media platforms yet, although I do plan on doing that in the future. And of course, anybody can reach me at my personal email, which is ari@arisims.com. And I will be happy to answer any questions and queries, comments, suggestions, or anything you want, even if you just want to say hello.

Gresham Harkless 15:51

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Thank you, I definitely appreciate you. And I think he definitely hit the nail on the head with all the ways that we have to get a hold of us. So we will have those links and information in the show notes. But I definitely appreciate you for reminding us to continue to kind of chase our dreams and make sure that we have that fulfillment and that happiness in our lives. Because if we don't then nothing good will probably come from all the actions that were taken. So I appreciate that Alexandria and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Outro 16:20

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo. co. I am CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us a five-star rating. Grab a CEO Gear @www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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