I made it The Way Joanna Wiebe created a massively successful ebook on stellar messages |

Discover Joanna Wiebe's creative process to write a complete book, and how she keeps her creative work current and practical.

They say you can make any item by writing it down -- C.S. Lewis said that, anyway.

However, if you're not a writer with a lot of experience, but rather, a creator who wants to release your work into the world for your viewers to consume How do you best to compose your offer messaging?

And how do you write content that is resonant with your audience?

Whether it's your sales page, unique value proposition, call-to-action button, or headline, using the right wording can be difficult.

There's a pro who can help in this regard. And she'll work on your time, too.

Who? Joanna Wiebe, of course she is the queen of copywriting, and founder of Copyhackers  One of the world's most popular copywriting websites.

We had the pleasure of sitting with Joanna on our third episode of I Made It , a podcast for creators who are looking to do something, where she walks us through the process of creation that went into making the Where Stellar Messages Come From ebook.

In the usual way, we'll have to begin this tale at the beginning: how Joanna became an entrepreneur. And "fell" really is what we are looking for here.

How Joanna fell into entrepreneurship and wrote an eBook

Joanna's journey into entrepreneurship and the writing of an ebook did not begin with a plan.

In fact she worked for Intuit back in 2010 and planned on staying at Intuit till she "accidentally ended up quitting".

The essence of her accidently resigning is this:

Joanna tried creating an "I I am quitting" message to her manager as a venting mechanism whenever she was feeling upset at work. Then, one Friday afternoon rather than the normal deletion of the email she accidentally sent it. (She might or may not have drunk an alcoholic drink that afternoon, she notes.)

But that's not how she fell into entrepreneurship. It was her natural desire to aid other entrepreneurs in the process of learning how to write copy for their websites.

Due to the fact that Joanna proved so adept at whipping up web pages to promote Intuit that she was able to have extra time, which she spent perusing websites for entrepreneurs.

While exploring one such site, Hacker News , Joanna came across a small business owner who needed help with his new website. Joanna sent him a document filled with copy and messaging ideas. He thanked her for publicly in an article on the platform.

This is when Joanna got flooded with requests for help from others with their site positioning and copywriting. She pledged to help 10 individuals with their websites without charge.

Her plate was full with the 10 tasks, and she needed to say "no" to people who suggested she make an ebook to assist people on a larger scale.

Not a bad idea is it?

Joanna was thinking the same and then -- voila an idea to write her book, Where Stellar Messages Come From  was created.

Joanna decided to package up her knowledge in an eBook format, and use her 10 pro bono projects as case study examples to support her lectures.

"It was based around actually trying things out before learning from the experience," she shares. "And the next step was to teach what we'd learned a book."

Joanna's writing process

Joanna created a process for writing while she was in the university, which she continues to use today that is comprised of three primary components.

The first is to start with the research. In order to create her book, she reviewed other relevant research to determine where the gaps were and then continued to research some more.

After that, Joanna organized her findings in an outline as well as wrote down her thoughts (the the second step).

"I did all of the information and started making a list of what came out . . . And then I just started writing it from that outline form into what turned into," Joanna explains. "I thought it was about 250 pages at the time I was done with the draftand then drafted it into what I ended up with."

It's not a good idea to skimp on the content she uses when it comes to writing her drafts.

The final stage for Joanna is to complete editing, which most writers dislike. Joanna is however, a fan of editing, and is a nerdy geek about syntax, grammar, as well as sentence structure.

To Her, "editing is where everything turns awesome." This is where her creation takes shape and then connects.

If it's going to mean huge changes and parting with pieces of writing she's worked long for and isn't willing to go unnoticed, Joanna still embraces this aspect of her procedure.

"It's when you go through a whole manuscript and realize this whole section can be cut off and it wouldn't even suffer just a bit," she explains. "And the next step is to slice it, and the part you cut dies, but you become stronger . . . [as you] reshape things."

What is the source of her positivity? originate?

Joanna keeps in mind to appreciate making more than the result.

"Getting in there, getting lost and then coming out exhausted, even 6 hours later, thinking it was an hour later -- that's always going to be my favourite element," she reflects. "Even the fact that nobody will care in the in the end, it was amazing and you really liked doing it."

But, even though Joanna enjoys getting lost in her own creative process, she keeps her content up-to-date by taking into consideration the most important part in any creative endeavor -that of the reader. For Joanna, that, is her audience of beta readers.

How Joanna utilized beta readers to form her second book

To keep her ebook pertinent to the readers she was targeting, Joanna bounced ideas off the group of readers before updating and releasing her second version.

Her beta readers consisted of members of the startup community who had previously reached out to her seeking help along with other entrepreneurs from her circle who had launched startups.

By asking for their opinions after they had read the first ebook in her series, Joanna was able to find out "whether the second edition would hit the mark and if it would not."

What was the outcome of her beta-reader feedback? Two Updates.

The most significant change that came from her test readers was to reduce the size of her ebook. The feedback from the readers suggested that it was way too long for them for them to comprehend, so she divided her ebook into four shorter ones.

The latest major change to her eBook was based on the concept to make it more practical. Her audience consumed the content but didn't know what to do with it.

Thus, Joanna added a page at the beginning of her book that clearly clarifies what readers will be able to achieve by the end of the book.

"We would like to make sure that everyone understood that when you've read this and understand it, you'll walk away and actually know how to write a headline or how to write the button, and also when you should change your button copy, and things like that," she explains.

The ability to make her ebook practical is a way to differentiate Joanna's book -- and brand -and brand from other. "Everything that we do at Copyhackers can be implemented," she claims.

"A lot of people have really great theory," she describes. "There's lots of data and a wealth of information of what's to be done however, there's very little in the way of actual skills at this point."

What's more, Joanna even added an interactive feature to her sales page ebook to keep her audience responsible for their actions.

"At the conclusion, and in various places throughout the course the course, we asked you to login online and indicate what you're going to accomplish next, so you would have this kind of commitment" she reveals.

It's crucial for Joanna to challenge her readers to go beyond just consuming theory. The ebooks she writes should help readers "prioritize actually doing that work and figure out how they can do it."

"I keep letting the great work of others get in the way of me making my next greatest thing," she admits.

That's why she's focused on creating actionable work. In terms of doing something after having read her books, Joanna's final suggestion is to take action with integrity and respect.

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Joanna's parting words of wisdom

When it comes to writing, Joanna believes it's important to maintain integrity and be respectful of the intelligence of your readers.

"I most enjoy reading things when the author has some respect for my intelligence," she explains.

In other words, don't fool your audience and write text that fools them into believing it's an unrelated thing.

The purpose of a headline is to grab your audience's attention. However, if you do grab their attention and your message isn't relevant to them, that's a problem -or misuse of writing tools.

"If you're going to use the techniques of manipulation to control individuals, then I'm not writing your book," Joanna clarifies.

However it's a good idea to use the information to create and market good products, that's why she wrote her ebooks.

Joanna says, "If you're somebody who wants to do good things with the product that you're creating for people you trust and trust, then perhaps that's the place where you'll find the right tools to you."

To access Joanna's useful devices, download her e-book, Where Stellar messages come from .

For more great tips from pro creators like Joanna, check out the complete I Made It podcast over here .