HOW TO FIND YOUR

BRAND VOICE
A GUIDE FOR CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURS

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 By now, you’ve realized ...
... that good branding doesn’t just stop
at your imagery: Imagery and photos
juxtapose with clear copy to commu-
nicate your story. The truth is though,
while you may have a “mood board”
for your brand’s color palette, photo
direction, and logo, you may not have
a moldboard for your brand voice and
sound.

THAT’S W HY I CR EAT ED T H I S G U I DE.

I want you to have a nailed-down brand voice that helps you write copy that lets your reader or
target dream client “hear” you before they hire you. And just who am I? I’m Ashlyn, a calligrapher
and copywriter for creatives. If it’s gotta do with words and paper, I’m your girl: Most days, you’ll
find me tucked at my desk, scribblin’ a line, thriving on the Oxford comma, Hunt 101 nibs, an occa-
sional French 75, and hugs from my dreamboat husband.

I TEACH CREAT I V ES LI K E YO U H OW T O
SELL MO RE WI T H YO U R WOR D S .
Simply put, copywriting keeps the lights on. And this is why I think it’s really, really important you
learn to DIY it well. Copy isn’t all about your voice—it’s about marrying that with how your target
audience talks. Research what your clients say and use their language, and combine that with this
list. Let’s do this thing!

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 W H Y VO IC E ( & W HAT I S I T )?

Voice is the impression or tone your readers get when they take in your captions,
blogs, and content.

You know how you’re able to recognize your friends’ and loved ones’ handwriting on
HOW TO FIND YOUR BRAND VOICE GUIDE

a grocery list or notecard? It’s the same thing—seeing a line scribbled in a familiar
handwriting instantly installs trust.

As a creative business owner, it’s important to have a recognizable brand voice, too!
This helps your readers trust you and build authenticity.

The way I learned it, voice is comprised of 3 main ingredients:

• Tone: The personality of voice. We’ll get into that.
• Rhythm: The musical quality or cadence of voice. Is it sharp and abrupt? Is it
flowing and lilting? Do you talk fast? Do you have a slow drawl? Do you speak in
long sentences, or have a tendency to use quick, jabbing quips?
• Vocabulary: The words (and stories!) used by the voice.

HOW TH IS WO R K S:
As a copywriter, I’ve been switching voice from Delta Air Lines to Chick-fil-A, from
Jenna Kutcher to Desiree Hartsock to Katelyn James. When students first asked me
how I was doing that, it took a minute for me to step back and figure out how I was
actually constantly switching personalities—basically playing dress up every day in the
office over here.

I boiled down my process to 6 steps, so you can find your own brand voice.

Before I start though, remember copywriting rule #1: It’s not about you. It never was,
it never will be. Understanding your dream audience’s voice is forever more important
than your OWN voice—when we write for your business, we’ll use a marriage of the
two. Sound good?

Go ahead and print this out— I’m a fan of paperless offices as much as the next mil-
lennial, but pressing pen to paper will help it stick. Let’s go!

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 Step 01:
S OA K U P YO U R OW N C O N T E N T

Time for a trip down memory lane! Set a timer (I like FocusKeeper) for 30 minutes. Scroll back through
your Instagram feed and read your past captions. Have a blog? Re-read some of your content, and if
you’ve got video content or podcast interviews out, go ahead and have a listen into those. Pretend you’re
coming across your content for the first time.

W H AT M E S S A G E S DO YOU HIT A LOT?

W H AT P H R A S E S D O Y O U S AY ? P H R A S E S F R O M Y O U R PA R T O F T H E W O R L D V O C A B U L A R Y ?
I C A L L T H E S E “ - I S M S ” … W H AT [ Y O U R N A M E ] I S M S W O U L D I C AT C H Y O U S AY I N G ?

W H AT P H R A S E S PA C K P U N C H A N D AT T R A C T Y O U R D R E A M B O AT C L I E N T S O N T H E
I N T E R N E T ? W H AT W I L L I C AT C H Y O U S AY I N G O N I N S TA G R A M A N D B E Y O N D ?

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 Step 02:
G I V E YO U R VO I C E S O M E F O D D E R

Story sells. Specificity sells. It’s time for us to give that voice some color! Pour the tea or
pop a glass of wine, and be yourself: see your pair of sassy pants draped over that chair
in the corner? Put ‘em on for this exercise—I want you to focus on telling it like it is for
these questions.

When you say hello, it could sound like anything from “hey girl hey” to “hey you!”
How do you say hello?

How do you sign off?

Now, for these next exercises, drop and give me ten: Fill in ten statements for each cate-
gory.

This isn’t important about me at all, but I feel you should know ...

This IS important about me—it’s distinct—and I want you to know ...

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Stick in quarter in me, and I’ll talk your ear off about these things, and I’m comfort-
able mentioning them often in my website copy, email newsletter copy, and social
media captions:

Oh, you want me to show up? No prob. Just tell me there will be there.

When emailing with clients I enjoy, I say things like (Oh, and yes, I’m looking through
my inbox right now for evidence):

I wish I could be more , but yeah. That’s likely not going to happen anytime
soon.

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 Step 03:
P I N P O I N T YO U R P E S O NA L I T Y

Let’s start getting adjectives down for tone. Bonus points here if you actually ASK ideal clients and fans
what they think of your brand!

W H AT A D J E C T I V E S W O U L D Y O U U S E T O D E S C R I B E Y O U R B R A N D ?

W H AT A D J E C T I V E V I B E S D O Y O U R F R I E N D S &
D R E A M C L I E N T S S AY Y O U R B R A N D G I V E S O F F ?

These words may get you started if you’re stuck. Circle the words below that communicate how you want
to come across:

Authorative Analytical Casual Formal

Romantic Anti-establishment Calming Nerdy
Innovative Minimalist Cheerful Whimsical Classic
Expensive Dependable Romantic Patriotic Joyful
Shocking Spooky Cool Happy Foolish Funny Flirty

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 Step 04:
C H E C K Y O U R S TAT S

This is a little more analytical, but interesting. Copy/paste a blog or Instagram caption into a word-count
device (I like this one: analyzemywriting.com).

How many words do you usually write per sentence?

What kinds of punctuation marks do you use, and how often?

Record your learnings below:

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 Step 05:
ADD IN THE NITPICKS

When I drafted copy for Delta Air Lines, I can’t tell you how many times I’d be work-
ing with a partner and have to say “it’s three words—Delta, then Air, and then Lines.”
Fast forward to nowadays: when I abbreviate my signature program Copywriting for
Creatives, I reference it as CfC. When I wrote for Southern Living magazine, we had
the “Tales from the Road” blog … not the “Tales From The Road” blog. I once had a
wedding planner that wanted Bride and Groom capitalized in all of her website copy.

Writers have their AP Style books, and magazines/corporations have their guides, too.
Let’s get your style guide going as well!

Do you abbreviate your business a certain way?

Do you have certain names for your packages or offerings?

Do you put your URLs in a certain format every time you type them?

Do you have any other style quirks or abbreviations?

What words do you NEVER say? What are some phrases that are used in your indus-
try or niche that you aren’t comfortable representing your brand? For example, are you
a wedding designer—NOT a planner? Are you a hand-letterer—NOT a calligrapher?
What won’t I catch you saying?

Do you have any go-to phrases you haven’t listed yet?

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 Step 06:
PA S S T H E B F F T E S T

I call it the “BFF Test,” but basically, we need to make sure you SOUND like you. Get some feedback on
what you’re thinking. What do your friends and family tell you your personality is like? What about your cli-
ents? Do trusted business friends think that tone will appeal to your idea audience? Is there anything they’d
do differently?

Hopefully, you’ve learned that your brand voice isn’t just your personality adjectives. It’s so much more than
that.

H OW CAN YO U IN TE N T I ONA L LY U SE T HI S G UI D E ?
Hopefully, you’ve learned that your brand voice isn’t just your personality adjectives. It’s so much more than
that.

• As you get this completed, either scan it in or create a digital version of it: reference it as you write copy
for your website, blog, and beyond—plus, when you grow your team, you have a ready-to-roll sound bite
listing to help communicate your brand.

• Get comfortable that when you speak to everyone—you’re speaking to no one. Finding your brand voice
means having an opinion, and that’s ok!

• When it comes to tone, remember that your personality can come across different than you meant to
type (hello, text messaging woes). Have someone else read or edit your voice to make sure the personality
you wanted comes across.

• Want more? Head to ashlynwrites.com/blog for more copywriting trainings and business tips—I’ll see
you there!

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