Sara | Website Copywriter

BTL PRESENTS: Squirrel’s Guide To Business 🐿️ Well, more specifically, Squirrel’s Guide to running an online business with AuDHD as a single mom. (Because Lord knows I’ve got lotssss of practice and — duh! — lots of tips to share.) Like every good idea in the world of a single mom squirrel does, the idea for this guide came to fruition while I was scrolling through a day’s worth of missed DMs, while laying on about 1/8th of a twin sized bed, waiting for my child to fall asleep. I had a few more messages than usual… and, to my surprise, a lot of them were story tags: “Throwing my phone in a ditch a la @btlcopy !” “Did all my tiny tasks before ten today like BTL!” “Just watched the videos in @btlcopy (aka Squirrel)’s website copy guide, it’s like she talks on 2x speed and I love it” …and I was like wow, my little (big) ADHD brain is famous! It’s always so cool to see people paying attention to my little squirrelisms & trying out some of my tips, and I get questions about them alll the time, soooo — CONSIDER THIS UR SQUIRREL GUIDE. Swipe all the way through to see a few of my strategies for managing your ADHD as a business owner 😏 bonus points if you’re also a single mom doing everything on your own! You’re welcome 💋 and make sure you’re subscribed to my podcast @pointofthestorypod AND my Squirlie newsletter for ADHDers — both linked in the @btlcopy bio 🩵

swipe for my non negotiable website copy rules with zero context 👉🏽 feel free to debate with me, but… I’m not budging 🤪

IT’S NOT JUST YOU. your brain may or may not be betraying you. if you have ADHD, one thing’s for certain: THERE’S SOMETHIN GOIN ON UP THERE !!!!! and it’s not (always) pure laziness, even though sometimes it feels like that this week’s Squirlie was all about the reasons WHY we struggle so hard to get started, even when we LITERALLY WANTTTT TO DO THE THING! so! 🐿️ if you’ve been feeling like a POS for procrastinating — or, as I call it, squirreling all over town — you’ll feel a hell of a lot better after reading this article comment “SQUIRLIE” and I’ll dm you the link! or you can just go to the L in the @btlcopy B and click on my ADHD newsletter :)

It sounds stupid when I put it this way, but… I didn’t think anyone would notice me saying this. Like, I know I’M the one who chose to say it out loud, but — and this is the “sounds stupid” part — I don’t always remember that ppl are actually paying attention when I say the things I say. When I really stop and think about it, of course I’m logically aware that, when you post something online, the people who follow you see it… But, apparently, that’s not something I really think of in practice, because when I said “I hate working with photographers” it did not occur to me that perhaps a photographer might be privy to that statement. Oops! Luckily, I DID share that statement with some context. The full sentence was: “I hate working with photographers who want to say the same thing as everyone else + think ‘loving love stories’ counts as a differentiator.” As Website Girl, something I tell my clients allll the time is that people will look at your website right next to someone else’s website. Your tab will be open immediately next to theirs, while they price shop or compare offerings or stalk you and your competitors simultaneously. In the photography industry, this is even more rampant than normal, bc people are spending $$$ on their weddings / events, and they have TONS of photogs to choose from. So, if you say the same damn thing as someone else, IT’S GONNA BE WICKED NOTICEABLE. & also I’m so sry but “capture your love on camera” cringes me out bc it’s on every photographer’s website ever. …aaaaand that’s why I (normally) hate writing photographer websites, and why I’m (usually) okay with confidently saying that out loud. UNTIL !!!!! I got an inquiry from @maddybethunephoto — this really cool photographer in my area that I’d been following since she started her business — and then started to worry she thought I might hate her. AND SHE CHANGED EVERYTHING FOR ME. <3 (JK I’d still never work with someone who didn’t want an original, personality-forward site, but ykwim.) Scroll through my case study on Maddy’s site if you’re curious. I love it with my whole heart. & lastly: consider this my public apology to all (cool) photographers everywhere xox

it be like that sometimes 🤪 #adhdinwomen #ADHDcreator

god forbid I let someone finish a thought! seriously though did you guys know ADHDers are always interrupting bc our brains are actually several steps ahead??? we’re constantly working at 10x speed in our lil squirrel brains, imagining every possible scenario and predicting every ending and moving everything along to keep up with our brain’s quick scampering… it’s not actually bc we’re rude! we’re excited about contributing to the convo! and our brains move faster than the person we’re yapping to can talk! it’s hard to be chill in a sitch like this — I always give a warning along the lines of “sorry, I’m a serial interrupter” — but you’re not the only one struggling to stay focused in a convo… ESP if you’re also not the best auditory processor bc SAME !!!! just reminding my fellow squirrels that this is normal when you have ADHD + if you, too, have to pinch yourself on your hand to keep from cutting someone off every 13 seconds, you’re in good company. xo

CROSS-OVER EVENT! last week I recorded with @btlcopy between the lines of our london trip, and I absolutely GRILLED HER on her long-form content processes. you’ll learn how she maintains three (absolutely fire!) email newsletters, three (!!) substack publications, a blog, a podcast, a pinterest account… and the tea on ALLLL the systems that support her in showing up for ‘em. we also chat about how to be a good long-distance bestie, and the things we attribute to our ability to stay close even when we live far. COMMENT “BTL” BELOW TO GET THE EPISODE (and let’s see if my first attempt at an automated DM link actually works 🙂‍↕️)

just squirrel things ✨🐿️🩵🙂‍↕️ If you’ve ever felt dramatic for a random ADHD hack you’ve tried, just know I’ve tried something WAYYY more bizarre 🤚 To a neurotypical person, some of the shit I’m doing to manage my own brain would seem really fucking strange, or completely unnecessary… But to me? Brother that’s just how I get through a regular old Tuesday! I was diagnosed with ADHD two decades too late, which means I’ve spent the vast majority of my life masking, figuring things out on my own, and trying to do what works for everyone else (and wondering why it never worked for me). So, the second I finally got to use the Squirrel Excuse, I embraced it: weird hacks and all. When I tell you I’ve tried almost everything to combat the symptoms of my squirrel brain’s wanderings, I’m not kidding. As an unmedicated ADHDer, you can bet your ass that everything from “change your environment” to “chew neuro gum” to “put sticky notes everywhere” has been crossed off my Try This! list at some point. I’m sure there are still plenty for me to test—feel free to share yours, if you have some!—but I’ve gathered a list for YOU to try out, based on what works for me… Comment “SQUIRLIE” to read it & see if some of these freaky lil tips work for you 👀

shoutout to my birthday bestie !!!! for real though — everyone who knows me knows that I looove an excuse to celebrate a friend, especially if it means hosting something or giving gifts hehe (and that would be true even if the gift were a $2 ice cream instead of a whole ass ice cream maker) having great friends starts with being a great friend just like having a village starts with being a villager… and usually that’s just as simple as: 🩵 texting someone when you think of them 🩵 offering support before someone can ask 🩵 being the one to make the plan 🩵 asking for help yourself, so they feel comfortable asking YOU when they need it down the line I have a whole podcast episode about this on @pointofthestorypod if you’re curious 👀 link is in my bio to listen!

*flies across the pond to teach a room full of creatives how to fix their fuck ass copy* speaking at Brand Blitz was a DREAMMM and I loved every second of London 🩵 when @eleanor_mollie asked me to be part of this event, she had no idea she was personally aligning so many stars for me right before the start this year, I made a list of “31 things I want to do at 31” and spent a lot of time thinking about what I hoped this year would be like both personally and professionally… and this trip helped me cross a lot off of BOTH of those lists I got to fly to London for work — check! I got to spend my bestie’s birthday with her in person — check! I got to get paid to speak at another conference — check! I got to meet and spend time with work friends I never get to see — check! and beyond all of those checked boxes, there are SO many more reasons this trip is one I’ll always be grateful for 🩵 there is not a single day that has gone by in the last 7 years that I haven’t stopped to recognize how blessed I am to have a business that allows me to build the life of my dreams — but when things like this happen, I have to pinch myself what do you MEANNNN I get to stand up in front of a crowd and teach them about something I’m passionate about? and they all loved it and laughed and clapped?? and spend days frolicking around one of my favorite cities with my bff??? I love Past Me for googling “what is copywriting” all those years ago 🥹 she’d be really proud of me right now.

reporting live from heartbreak hill !!!! 💙💛 imagine the level of self discipline and self trust you have to have to run a marathon — let alone a course as tough as boston! it really makes you think what’s possible when you put your mind to something cheering on these incredible runners will never get old, but we’re especially proud of @lauren_balestrieri for working so hard to quality for her dream race!

TODAY’S SATURDAY SHIFT FEATURING BIG BEN AND @btlcopy !!!! seeing the sights before we say “see you soon” 🥲