Audrey Chai

Summary:

Audrey earns more than $100K / year by being an expert in one field – "growth marketing". She helps clients convert customers through AI enhanced conversion focused copy, personal branding and AI consulting. If you want to start a marketing agency, check this out...

Tell us about yourself and what your business does?

Hey everyone, my name is Audrey Chia and I’m a solopreneur. I am the founder of Close With Copy where I am essentially a growth marketing lead for startups. I offer my clients 3 core services: 

• Conversation copy (i.e.: copywriting that converts readers to buyers, eg: emailers, landing pages, newsletters etc.)
• AI marketing consulting
• Personal branding & consulting

Prior to starting my own thing, I worked at agencies where I helped some of the biggest brands there is - Nike, IKEA, Samsung etc. But the whole time I was working for this agency, I was hustling. I had one day job and five side hustles. I was working non-stop. When people were out on weekends partying, I was working because I knew I had to put in the reps in order to get ahead. This helped me to pick up so many different skill sets and become an all round marketer and today, I leverage all those skills that I gained while trying to get something going.

What is the specific problem that your business solves?

The specific problem I solve is helping startups grow. Companies need conversation focused content in order to grow and they need this content at scale. I am able to provide that by leveraging growth marketing tactics and the power of AI.

5 years ago, companies needed a marketing team of 10 in order to produce enough assets. Now, with the power of AI, you see companies that have over 200 employees with one marketer internally. I am here to be that one marketer. I have built the skill set to create highly impactful content, at scale, for multiple brands.

How did you find your business idea?

I knew that a day job wouldn't satisfy my desire for growth. That’s a big reason I was hustling so much on the side. I tried, tested and failed a million things. I eventually realized that, through all my failed attempts, I had built up a skill set that I could leverage in order to achieve my desire for growth. That skill set was being a pretty well rounded growth marketer and over time, I have honed in on those skills and been fortunate to be positioned / perceived as an industry expert.

How did you find your first customer(s)?

I did cold outbound initially. This helped me build up a little portfolio of clients while I was still working in my day job. Starting small and getting clients on the side while still working full time helped me do two things:

• Validate my idea: This proved to me and gave me confidence that there is demand for my skills and the services I wanted to offer. 
• Build a portfolio: My rates were a lot lower then compared to what they are now. I didn't have the same authority as I have today, but working for a reduced price gave me a portfolio and reviews which were invaluable. I could then leverage this to pitch to bigger clients with bigger budgets. 

How do you find customers on a regular basis nowadays?

I’ve tried it all. I tried every marketing channel you can think of - I tried networking, going on Upwork and Fiverr, reaching out to people that I know, cold outbound etc. but for 3 or 4 months nothing worked. Imagine this - imagine you have just quit your day job and now you can’t find any new clients for 4 months. This was probably the most frustrating and scary part of my entire journey. I was less than 6 months into my entrepreneurial venture and suddenly, I couldn’t find work (which is ironic for a growth marketer). 

That’s when I tried the whole personal branding thing. It was out of pure desperation. I had nowhere else to go. I was terrified at first. I didn’t have TiKTok, I hadn’t posted on FB, IG or LinkedIn before. This was all brand new to me. Eventually, though, after a little while of posting consistently on LinkedIn I began to see a change. I went from being desperate for leads to becoming a trusted authority and receiving more inbound leads than I knew what to do with. 

Now I get inbound leads consistently, and if I ever want to do outbound, I can easily pull that trigger because people know me. I'm fortunate to have authority in the space, and people trust what I say. Any good sales rep will tell you - doing outbound from a place of authority is 100x easier than doing outbound from a place of desperation. 

What type of life has running your own business allowed you to live?

The most valuable thing I have received from being an entrepreneur is freedom. Freedom doesn't mean more time for myself, but rather, freedom to make decisions, freedom to come up with and implement new ideas, freedom to see how my strategies can lead to growth, freedom to try and freedom to test. These are things you don’t traditionally get if you're stuck in a 9-5 corporate with layers of hierarchy.

When you're working for yourself, there's freedom to play, explore, fail, and grow. I'm very lucky that my clients trust me to make decisions, fail fast, and learn faster.

What piece of advice would you give to someone wanting to start a business?

You need to believe in yourself. It sounds cliché, but you do. Let me explain…

When I work with my clients, we have a mantra that says, “We'll do whatever it takes!” This mindset shows that even if there's a setback, you’ll find a way to make it work and you’ll have the resilience to keep going. No one else is going to bet on you so you have to bet on yourself. There is a way to get over every speed bump, you just have to work it out.

In addition to this, I know it is often daunting, but build your personal brand. This is something that will pay off in the long run. I will most likely never have to send an outbound message again as I have more people reaching out to me for support than I have time to manage. Building a brand is the single most underrated thing you can do.

Where can people find you & your company?

If you are a startup founder or you are running a company and need help with conversion copywriting, AI, or personal branding, you can find me on LinkedIn. You can also check out my website - closewithcopy.co, or my podcast, the AI Marketers Playbook.

Hope you enjoyed reading my story and I am always down for a chat, so feel free to hit me up.