Copywriting is often the thing that trips up small business owners & entrepreneurs when they need to start creating marketing content.

It can feel pushy, market-y, or manipulative.

Sometimes it can even feel like you’re “dumbing down” your words & writing when you “try to write in marketing language”.

The good news is copywriting

a) Can be learned

b) Does not have to be gross or pushy

c) Can convey your personality and work with your strengths!

But it feels hard and complicated, which is why I brought copywriter Rachael Weaver on today’s episode of Content Creation Made Easy!

Rachel infuses Human Design- which is simply a framework to help you understand your strengths & energy better - into her work as a copywriter…

She teaches her clients how to use their authentic personality in their writing, content, & branding through the Human Design approach!

You’ll walk away from today’s episode

Understanding how to use your noise to cut through this noisy algorithm-driven world.

Knowing how your human design can you stop the self-judgment & Comparison-itis that may be holding you back!

With strategies to improve, clarify, & ease-ify writing, copywriting, and content creation!

If you dislike pushy marketing, then this episode is for you!

Learn more from Rachael over at Instagram https://www.instagram.com/iamrachaelweaver

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Full Transcript

Jen Liddy

Hello, hello, and welcome to this week's episode of  Content Creation Made Easy. 

This week I have a guest who is talking about something I've talked about before, but we are going to go so much deeper. I think you're going to get a really great experience in learning about copywriting and how human design relates to copywriting. 

We're going to wade into the area of websites, which I've actually never been able to talk about on the podcast before. I'm so excited to have my guest today, her name is Rachel Weaver, and she is a copywriter who works specifically with spiritual entrepreneurs, and she infuses human design into it, so there's a lot to cover today. 

You might not know what any of the hell those things are, so we're going to dive in. 

Rachel, thank you for being here!

Rachael Weaver

Thank you so much, Jen. 

I know it's been a few hurdles to get here, but I'm so excited for our conversation.

Jen Liddy

Yeah, there's always tech issues. 

Why don't we start - I usually like to find out how people got where they are. I'm so curious, how did you wander into human design and copywriting? And what is human design? I don't even know where to start.

Rachael Weaver

I'll start with what human design is. 

It's based on your birth date and time - it's basically a map of what your energy is, how to use your aura, how people receive your energy, things like that, and really, it's how to be your authentic self. 

The whole reason I got into it was I am a serious self-development junky. I love all things, spiritual development, understanding who I am better, all the things. I discovered human design about eight years ago, and five years ago, I started dabbling in copywriting. I had a photography business prior to, and I really wanted something that was online that could serve a greater audience than my little town. 

I started writing copy for people and discovered I was fairly decent at it, but I always felt like something was missing. There was an authentic piece that was missing - you could ask somebody who they were and what they wanted to do, but it always felt like it was a little bit forced. I'm selling this thing because I think it's going to sell, or it's because somebody else is selling something similar, and it always felt contrived to me.

Human design really was that layer that I was looking for because when I could run my client's chart and go, well, this is really what you want to talk about, and they were like, oh, that's so cool, yeah, I do want to talk about that - can we put that in the copy? I'd be like, yeah, let's put that in the copy.

Jen Liddy

When I figured out the human design, and I found it in 2017 or 2018, I felt the way that I always say it is. I feel like I came home to myself. I finally understood why I was the way I was, and the thing about human design is it sounds a little woo-woo, and it sounds a little crazy the first time you hear about it because it's based on your date and time of birth and where you were born. 

I have found that it is so dead on, and it helps you know... It's just like any other personal inventory. You get to know yourself more clearly, but human design is about energy. I think I didn't really understand that until 2017, how different all of our energy is, like with the different energy we bring to a room or our business or whatever.

If somebody is listening and they're thinking, this sounds wacky. This sounds a little woo-woo. This sounds ridiculous. I know - I wanted to say, I know, and hang in there and check it out because it really just makes you so much clearer to yourself.

Rachael Weaver

It does. 

It gives you a permission slip to be and do all the things that you wanted to, but either shamed yourself, told yourself that it wasn't good enough, or whatever. I think we put ourselves into a box because of the way we grew up or because of things that people said when we were younger or even as young adults, and human design really is that permission slip to be like, oh, that's why I want to do this thing all the time. 

Myself as a manifesting generator, I used to give myself so much shame and guilt over changing my mind all the time. And to me, doing something for my entire life literally feels still like death. I don't want to do the same thing the rest of my life, and I understand that as a manifesting generator, I'm probably not going to, and that's perfectly okay. That's what we're meant to do. We're meant to do lots of different things and dive into lots of different passions. 

There's no shame in that, and it was a permission slip to be like, oh, okay, I can go off and go do this other thing then.

Jen Liddy

Yeah. 

So you're a manifesting generator, and there are five different types, right? So you're a manifesting generator, and I'm a projector. 

What else is there? Can you tell us a little bit about each kind?

Rachael Weaver

I'd love to. 

So let’s start with the manifesters - they are the big visionaries. They're the ones that are really outside-of-the-box thinkers. They really shouldn't be doing marketing in any way that someone's telling them to. The standard way is not the way for them, and they need to really almost reinvent the wheel in some ways and go out and try different things and really work with their creative urges to discover new ways of being, new ways of doing things. 

Manifesting generators are the next one, and they're similar to generators, but manifesting generators have a defined throat, and a motor to the throat, so they also can speak and be heard. And that's... I'm sorry, I'm getting a little tangenty, but manifesting generators, we're multi-passionate, we want to do lots of different things, and we're going to combine our passions within our messaging. 

You're going to pull different things together that seemingly don't necessarily go together, but the way you put them together makes sense, and it helps people skip steps. 

I've heard these five types described many times, and every single time, I learn something new about myself and the people around me. And so that's why I think these kinds of, I call them inventories, but these kinds of ways of self-knowledge are so vital because it helps us judge ourselves less, but it also helps us stop comparing ourselves to other people and judging other people. 

And so step by step, this is how you do something type process, A to B processing. The projectors are the guides. They're the ones that are here to really help us understand our own energies better and go. This is how things could work better if you're paying attention to these things. They're the guides, really showing us how to maximize our own energies. 

Then the reflectors are the barometer - they have all open centers, so they can really feel what someone's feeling. They're here to say, hey, I can really see that this needs to be changed in order for you to fulfill what you need to fulfill. Their messaging is really around community and pulling people in and creating safe spaces for the people that they're with.

Jen Liddy

I've heard these five types described many times, and every single time, I learn something new about myself and the people around me. 

That's why I think these kinds of, I call them inventories, but these kinds of ways of self-knowledge are so vital because it helps us judge ourselves less, but it also helps us stop comparing ourselves to other people and judging other people.

Rachael Weaver

Yeah, totally. 

I mean, it's helped so much in my understanding of other people and having compassion for them and going, Oh, well, they're not meant to work the same way that I am. Even telling them like don't compare yourselves to me. Our energy is so different, don't try and keep up with me.

Jen Liddy

Yeah. 

I think. Personally, I'm always surrounded by manifesting generators. They're like the energizer bunnies, and they are just visionaries. And that is... I mean, ever since I've been in my 20s, I have beaten myself up. That is not a strength of mine. I am an implementer, and I can strategize, but I am a tactician, and I can explain anything to anybody, and I can make you understand. 

I really judged myself because I wanted to be a visionary, I wanted to be a big thinker. I realized when you know that you're a projector, you can stop beating the hell out of yourself and just work your magic and lean into it. 

That's where I really wanted to talk about this today because, first of all, when you're comparing yourself to everybody else online, it makes you feel bad. It makes you feel like you're not keeping up. Then also, how does this affect our writing and our copy, and our content? And that's where I'd love to head, so let's talk about what copywriting is and how we can infuse what you know about human design and copywriting.

Rachael Weaver

Yeah. 

Copywriting is really any written thing in your business, so it's your content, it's your website, it's your emails, it's your sales pages. All of that is a copy because, in essence, it is selling whatever your services or your product is.

 When we're looking around and copying or really looking around and comparing ourselves to what other people are doing, we run the danger of trying to imitate them. I'm guilty of this - I think we're all guilty, especially in the beginning, because we're like, oh, well, that person's success, and I just need to do what they're doing. 

That's really a very masculine old way of thinking. Do what I did, and you'll have success. I really feel that that's not the case because it is really our energy. We're coming into a time where we really do need to know who we are and what our strengths and gifts are to be able to communicate in an authentic way that doesn't feel pushy. 

This is why I love working with spiritual entrepreneurs because they're the ones that are like, I don't want to be pushy. I don't want to be persuasive. I just want to sell my service. I just want people to show up in my inbox or on my calendar.

I get that, but you do still have to sell, but we can do it in a way that feels really good, that feels like you. Offering your service and saying, “Here's what I do, why I'm really good at it, and how it can help you.” When you clearly communicate that to people, then they're like, oh, well, you totally can help me. I want your session or whatever it is you're selling.

Jen Liddy

Can you talk a little bit about how you work with people? 

I'm guessing spiritual entrepreneurs; they're not all one type. You probably have spiritual entrepreneurs who show up as generators and reflectors and projectors. They're all over the place. Even though they're spiritual entrepreneurs, they still reflect all the different vibe types.

You said that for spiritual entrepreneurs, it's really important for them to lean into their voice. I actually also agree that leaning into our voice is so important, especially in a world where AI is so prevalent and we're being fed things by algorithms. The world is so noisy that being noisier and louder isn't the tactic that's going to work. 

Can you give us a couple of examples and how can people do this work?

Rachael Weaver

I think the big thing to keep in mind is that when we are our true authentic self, we're not worried about what other people think. 

We're not concerned that what we do isn't good enough. We're not overthinking what we do. That's why I love human design because it really starts to show you where those limiting beliefs are. Because I've had my own journey with these types of thoughts, Is what I write good enough?

When you see that, you're like, oh, well, I do know that I'm good at this because of both my human design chart, what people have told me I'm really good at. I can show up and be me, and I don't have to compete with anyone else. It really shows that when you are your authentic self, when you are just coming out and saying. 

This is what I have to share; that's what people really want. They want someone that is there to help them and not persuade them or try and make them buy something that they don't actually want. We want people that are true. That's the whole no, like, and trust factor is that we want to buy from someone that we trust and that we feel is going to look out for our best interest. 

If you can show up as your authentic self, you know with integrity that you're not going to try and screw someone over. They feel that, too. There's this energy exchange. Even if you aren't aware of energy and how someone makes you feel, you are at a subconscious level. You can tell when someone is showing up as themselves or if they're trying to pretend to be someone else - you can feel that in them.

Jen Liddy

This has me curious because, given the last three years, I was just recording a podcast today about 2020 when TikTok exploded, and all of the creators were really encouraged to use other people's voices and mimic their voices, use their audio, lip sync. 

It was just there was nothing authentic about that at all. You couldn't get to know somebody. I was so angry about it, and I was just like, I am not doing that. That's not my personality. I feel like an idiot. But also I thought it was really boring because you've already got enough of a veil with the computer screen. 

Now you're going to put somebody else's voice over your voice. Now that you have stepped into a 2023 world and we're seeing people come out of that repetition or lip-syncing, what struggles are your spiritual entrepreneur audience struggling with now?

Rachael Weaver

It's overthinking. 

I feel like a lot of the things that I struggled with myself of overthinking what you have to write. Overthinking, trying to go, okay, what's my niche? What are their pain points? How do I talk about what I do? You're spiraling into overthinking so much that you're not connected to yourself, and you're definitely not connected to your ideal client.

You're just overthinking then that's when I think when you also fall into the trap of, oh, so and so just wrote a post about this. I should write a post about that, too. You're not in your zone of genius - you're in influence mode. Instead of being blinders on, I know what I'm good at; I know what I do. I'm just going to talk, and I'm connected to my ideal client, and I know what I'm here to do and serve, and I'm speaking from that energy.

Jen Liddy

At this point, it's time to really lean into letting go of sounding like your mentor, sounding like the guru, sounding or using other people's audio, and trying to look like somebody else, which I've been yelling about for a long time. 

I'm glad that other people are finally coming along to this. When you have a session with somebody, and you're like, we need to figure out what's your human design, and then what does that mean for you in terms of your voice and your word choice? Do your people struggle with, like, I don't even know? I don't even know who I am. I don't even know what authentic means, I think.

Rachael Weaver

There's a little bit of that, but I think most of my clients have been on some type of spiritual journey of understanding themselves, at least some. They know who they're not. They know that they don't want to be pushy. 

Generally, they are on the more feminine side, so they're more like, I just want flow. I just want clients to come into my inbox. I hate social media. A lot of them hate social media, and they don't want to show up every day to sell things like that. They have an idea of who they are, but they don't know how to translate that idea to online.

Jen Liddy

You're saying that most of your clients come to you already knowing who they are?

Rachael Weaver

They just don't know how to translate it to social media and their website and things like that. They're trying to make that look like the old way of doing things, the more masculine, like, oh, I just follow this formula.

Jen Liddy

Like the template, just give me a template. 

Let's wander into the world of your website, which is still really important, and people are still going to check out your website. How can we start to know ourselves, our human design, and then how can we start to do this, especially on our website? What are your thoughts about that?

Rachael Weaver

Well, I really encourage people to look at their... Your website is your core message. Yes, it's offers on there and things like that, but it's really what you want to be known for. There are different ways of talking about this. It could be your unique selling point, your USP. I call it your core messaging. It's basically the thing that you want to be known for. 

That should be front and center on your website because that hopefully shouldn't change a whole lot. It might change a little bit over time, but for the most part, that shouldn't change.

For manifesters, it's like, what is your big vision? Where do you want to take people? That should be front and center. For manifesting generators, what are you combining to help people skip steps? For me, it's all about human design and copywriting. It's like, what is your process? And then what does that process do for people? Why do they need to come to you for this process?

For projectors, it's your system. You're here to master your system as a projector, but really hone in on what that is and then how that system is going to help people get through their challenges. Reflectors it's what community you are building. Why does somebody need to be in your community? And what are they going to grow from or learn from being in your little pod?

Jen Liddy

That is so clear. 

It's, again, that permission slip because it's so funny whenever I talk about anything else other than systems, or this is the way forward, or this is a way you can use it; I just feel like I'm always lost, or I'm just not being myself. 

When you said a projector is going to talk about the system, my whole thing is, we're going to figure out a way forward that works for you. And I take you through the paces and do that with you. But it's just, again, so much freedom in the specificity.

Rachael Weaver

I think it's easy to get lost in all of the marketing advice out there. There's so much different stuff when you think about it. I mean, there's story brand - there's just so many different ways to talk about and do marketing. So how do you know what's the right way for you? 

Understanding how your messaging should be structured is something that I am super, super passionate about because it differentiates you right out of the gate and in a way that you're like, oh, that's what I want to talk about.

Jen Liddy

I have a question.

If you are... Say you know what your human design is, and you're really leaning into it. Are there certain other kinds of human design that are looking for you subconsciously? 

For example, would a detector be attracted to working with a manifesting generator? Would a generator be attracted to working with a projector? Does it work like that, or is it just much less scientific than that?

Rachael Weaver

I think maybe a little bit. 

There are, by and large, more generators and manifesting generators than any other type. I think those types of people will find you most often. 

I find a lot of manifesting generators and projectors in my world, with a few. Some generators, some manifesters, and only a couple of reflectors. The reflectors, they're only 1% of the population. There aren't a lot of them.

Jen Liddy

That is the craziest thing to me

Rachael Weaver

I think it's actually when you are your authentic self, you are attracting people that want that energy. When you're yourself, you're like, I want to be around you because you have such a positive energy. 

When you are your authentic self, you love other people. You are encouraging other people. That's when people want to be around you because you're a delight to be around.

Jen Liddy

Yeah.

It's almost like you're really grounded in who you are, and it brings confidence. I think that's really attractive to people when they're trying to figure out, do I trust this person? 

There's just this sense of you really understand yourself, and it shows through in your copy.

Rachael Weaver

Absolutely.

Jen Liddy

I’m curious about the About page since we're talking about websites. I love what you said about the homepage and the direction or the focus of your homepage. 

How would an About page reflect based on your human design?

Rachael Weaver

I think that one, I mean, it's going to get a little bit more nuanced to what your specific human design is. But the one thing I want people to always remember is that the About page isn't necessarily about you per se, but how your experience is really going to serve them. 

Still, keep that focus on your ideal client and why you really are the most knowledgeable, experienced, gifted person that can help them. It's sharing your story, and depending on what your chart is, there are other pieces that we can add in there as well. It's keeping the focus on your ideal client and why your experience really is the best to help them.

Jen Liddy

While also staying true to the words you would use and the energy you would use to say something, right? 

I have another nuanced question about the website and human design. There's always going to be a service piece on your website. How does human design and how you talk about your services, how does that mesh? Because I feel like it's a very nuanced thing to talk about your services in a way that doesn't feel salesy or pushy, but you really do need to talk about your services. 

Can you dive into that a little bit?

Rachael Weaver

There's a lot of things that go into that.

Your service, I mean, we want to talk about your service in the benefits of it and the transformation that it provides people. But the way that we do that is really rooted in what your full chart looks like. 

This is actually something that I want to do a training on because so many people have problems with pain point marketing. I agree; I don't like pain point marketing; I don't like really driving home what you're stuck on and why you're stuck and that thing. 

We still need to understand who our ideal client is, why they are where they're at, and why they do not have the thing that they want.

We can't serve them if we don't know that information, but we can look at our own human design chart and understand them in a better way. What I mean by that is that with human design, there are defined centers that are dark, that are colored in, and then there are white centers. The white centers are areas that you take in energy from other people and then reflect it and amplify it back.

 It's areas where we can really be intuitive and understand the other person and where they're coming from in a really deep way. I take the example of the head center; if you are open in your head, you can really take in the inspiration of people around you. Inspiration isn't necessarily a consistent thing. When you can understand that center from the highest expression, the highest expression is that you can have inspiration all over that your mind is a playground to explore different things. 

When you're coming from that highest expression, I understand that inspiration is really hard, or that you overthink it, or that you feel like there's a pressure that you have to take this idea and make something of it.

You don't have to, and here's how my thing is going to help you work through that. It's taking your chart and understanding it. It's taking your definition and your openness and really understanding it from a deeper way so that you can speak to your ideal client from a place of integrity and knowing what they are going through and how you can help them. 

Does that make sense?

Jen Liddy

It does. 

It sounds super nuanced, and you have an incredible amount of knowledge that somebody trying to do this on their own is probably going to struggle with this part. 

What I'm hearing and tell me if I'm wrong here, but when you know yourself so deeply and especially if you're a spiritual entrepreneur or somebody who doesn't like to market with pain points, or you hate marketing in general, and it feels pushy. It's going to be really important to figure out how to step into the language that not only feels good to you but that a teacher attracts the person you want to attract. 

This is not a cookie-cutter thing, ultimately, but knowing ourselves, we have to really know ourselves in order to create copy that makes us feel like it's okay to be on social media. It's okay to make our offers because we're coming from a place of, like, I can help you, and I want to help you, and I don't need to be pushy to do it. 

It sounds like the work that you do sounds incredibly nuanced.

Rachael Weaver

It is. 

I really want to make it simpler for people, but it is really nuanced. But you're right; you nailed it in that when you understand who you are, you can help people from a place of integrity. You can help people like, look, I know what you're struggling with because I probably went through it myself, and I can help you get through this and come to the other side so you can have what you want. 

That's really what it is - it's coming from a place of detachment that you can work with me. You don't have to, and I can help you; it's for the mutual benefit of everyone.

Jen Liddy

I know people can follow you on Instagram and learn more about what you do, but I feel like if people really want to lean into this work, they've got to get on your calendar and talk to you. 

So do you work with people one on one?

Rachael Weaver

I do work with people one on one. 

I do deep dive sessions where it's just a single where we go into one topic, or I can work up to four months with people where it's really a deep dive into every writing your website and sales pages and all the things.

Jen Liddy

Amazing.

I want to say before I let you go finding a copywriter is hard. You really have to resonate with that person, and it's a really special skill. So if you are listening and you feel like the stuff Rachel is talking about resonates with you, and you just want somebody to stand next to you and take you through the stuff, please consider hiring a one-to-one copywriter because when you have that copy done and it feels like the, I can express the confidence that it creates for you. 

Would you agree, Rachel?

Rachael Weaver

Absolutely. 

I'm really an advocate for making sure that you can do this yourself. It's not just me writing for you because I do believe that once you understand the real basics of copywriting and how to clarify a point, and then you understand who you are and what you're here to talk about, you don't need a copywriter. 

You can do whatever you want; you can offer whatever you want because you know how to communicate the value of it.

Jen Liddy

Yes. It really is a skill that can be learned, and so I love that you said that. I did want to point out this is something that's an investment, but it is such a worthwhile investment when you have somebody who's got your back like this. 

So, Rachel, you're on Instagram. Are you @iamrachelweaver?

Rachael Weaver

I am, yes.

Jen Liddy

I don't know why I remember your handle, but I see your stuff all the time. I want to say Rachael is a RACHAEL if you're looking for her on Instagram. How can people get in touch with you or see more of your stuff? Other places?

Rachael Weaver

My website is https://www.rachaelweaver.com

I also have a free Facebook group called the Aligned Copy Posse, Blending Human Design and Copywriting - that's pretty much where I'm at.

Jen Liddy

Great. 

I will drop all of those links in the show notes so people have them right from the podcast app. Rachel, is there anything I didn't ask you that I should have asked you?

Rachael Weaver

We could go down so many tangents, but this was a great conversation.

Jen Liddy

So I covered the basics, you're saying?

Rachael Weaver

I think so, yeah. 

Jen Liddy

The projector in me has to make sure that I squeeze every bit out. Well, I am so glad you were here today. I'm so glad that the tech gods finally were on our side and that we were able to record. 

I just want to thank you for coming on and also for everybody listening; thanks for showing up. I know there's a lot of options out there for you to get your information, so thank you for tuning into this conversation. I would love to know what you think, so you can reach out to me on Instagram @jenliddycoach or Rachael Weaver who's @iamrachaelweaver. 

Rachael, thank you again; this was super fun.

Rachael Weaver

Thank you so much, Jen.