Stop letting writers get your brand voice wrong
Warning: Brand Ventriloquist® Voice Guides may cause writers to mirror your style in minutes without you having to edit their work for hours. Please raise your expectations accordingly.
Imagine receiving perfect copy on the first shot.
The words don’t need editing, the files are formatted properly, and the work is ready to go live the minute you get it.
Most importantly, the copy sounds like you.
All the little nuances are there — and you know it’ll resonate with your best customers who read everything you send.
And the language is 100% on brand.
It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Makes your job easy.
But that doesn’t always happen.
Sometimes it’s a mess.
The writer misses the mark on how you want it to sound. It’s miles away from being publishable. And you’re wondering if you’ve even hired the right person.
Now you’ve either got to send it back for revisions (which could take weeks) or…
Fix it yourself.
Either way, you’re in for a long haul. You may even have to delay your launch.
So how do you avoid this?
How can a writer emulate your style and nail your content every time?
Simple.
You give them your voice guide.
As your need for content grows, it becomes essential that any writer you bring on your team can mirror the voice of your brand.
This way, as your customers move along your content trail, every piece will remain consistent. There’ll be no confusion over unexpected messages that make your readers scrunch their nose, crinkle their eyebrows, and wonder where the hell those words came from.
You need your personality on every page.
All your content needs to sound like it came from you — no matter who wrote it.
“But my voice is unique! Nobody can sound like me.”
Just because your voice is different doesn’t mean it can’t be replicated
“We are all over the moon excited about it and I love everything about what he did for us. This makes on-boarding new writers a snap, and it was so interesting to learn how my voice comes across. All these little nuances make such a big difference and this guide is absolutely golden!
THANK YOU for an incredible tool for our biz.“
Brands I’ve worked with:
“WTF is your voice?”
WTF is your voice
WTF is the foundation of the Brand Ventriloquist® framework.
This is how you scale your content.
Sounding like you is no accident. And it’s certainly not luck. It’s a practiced skill learned by breaking down and analyzing these three pillars:
(W)ords
Your language & lexicon
What vocabulary do you use? Even more importantly, what words do you avoid? This includes local slang, industry terms, your products, and signature dialogue you drop into conversation.
(T)one
The way you say things
Are you happy, witty, confident, snarky, arrogant, blissful, techy, or funny? Maybe you’re a combination of each. (Tone is how people used to convey emotion before emojis were born.)
(F)requency
The rhythm of your writing
Short and choppy? Or long, flowy, wordy-bird sentences that paint wonderful pictures, draw you in with their splendor, and engage your eyeballs with their ever-flowing length. This is your cadence.
Words, Tone, and Frequency
These 3 elements are the foundation of your voice.
Nail them, and everything else is just gravy.
Then we document it all in a pretty little guide.
A brand voice guide lays out how your copy should look, sound, and read in every format
So everything your team creates will remain consistent
(and even your best customers won’t know it’s not written by you)
“Smarter companies treat brand voice guidelines as a living, breathing, evolving asset that helps writers and content creators communicate with similar (but not identical) styles.”
– Ann Handley
Digital Marketing Pioneer
“When we were working on one of our biggest client projects and needed a true brand voice expert, we brought in Justin and it was one of the best things ever! Our situation was unique — the client was launching an all-new brand and product and needed a voice to define that brand.
The collaborative “voice clinic” that Justin organized for our client was interactive, engaging and immensely insightful. Each exercise built upon the other and then, Justin whipped it all up into a voice guide that brought their brand to life.
Seeing Justin at work is an exceptional experience and the results are just as mind-blowing. The brand voice guide he created for our client’s brand-new business was spot on and so helpful for us. It was a guide we referred to all the time as worked on the launch and it helped immensely with the entire launch and copywriting process.“
I’m Justin Blackman.
I keep your writers on brand without you having to train them yourself.
So, what does a Brand Voice Guide actually look like?
“Justin’s voice guide and process is world-class.”
“I have a very difficult voice to write for, and our last three writers we’ve hired have all nailed their first drafts of content, copy, and ads. What was a typically frustrating, costly, and time-wasting experience is no more. Projects now come in on time and under budget.
The voice guide is the ultimate leverage point when you no longer want to touch all content.”
What do I know about brand voice?
(AKA: How I became THE BRAND VENTRILOQUIST®)
“Justin adapted our voice for 12 different brands so we could produce more work in-house without paying extra agency fees.”
Every time we run a major campaign for our hotels, the language changes for each brand. Different audiences, different tones, different styles. Justin understood the nuances between them and modified every voice to fit. Being able to keep the work in-house saved us thousands of dollars per project.
The Brand Ventriloquist Voice Guide:
Your writers will have all the information they need to nail your voice, slash your editing time, and hammer home your copy on the first try
Choose the guide that’s write right for you
$2,650
Voice Guide Lite
The “fun-sized” version. Best for solo-entrepreneurs and small businesses with occasional freelance writers
Your brand overview: Biographies, values, visions, and history
Your voice: A report of your words, tone, and frequency
Your audience: An overview of who you’re writing to
Biography: Historical facts to keep your story straight
Content examples: Samples of work to emulate
Products & courses: A guide to your work
Lexicon: The unique language of your brand
Style choices: The subtle nuances that make you you
Light voice analysis: A general proprietary breakdown of your exact writing style
$5,997
Voice Guide (Standard)
Best for mid-sized businesses, brands upgrading their websites, and established entrepreneurs with teams
Your brand overview: Biographies, values, visions, and history
Your voice: A report of your words, tone, and frequency
Your audience: An overview of who you’re writing to
Biography: Historical facts to keep your story straight
Content examples: Samples of work to emulate
Products & courses: A guide to your work
Lexicon: The unique language of your brand
Style choices: The subtle nuances that make you you
In-depth voice analysis: A deep proprietary breakdown of your exact writing style
Templates: Custom frames for your email, landing pages, social posts, etc.
Brand Comparisons: Sample content from competitors rewritten in your voice
Custom video walk-through: Personalized demonstration of how to measure and analyze copy using your new tools
Copy submission & review process: Step-by-step instructions of how you want your assets delivered
Style tips & resources: Tools to make your writers’ submissions perfect
*In-person training option available
$12,000+
Voice Guide + Training Program
The nitty-gritty full-shebang & training course for large companies, content teams, and industry gurus with multiple writers
Your brand overview: Biographies, values, visions, and history
Your voice: A report of your words, tone, and frequency
Your audience: An overview of who you’re writing to
Biography: Historical facts to keep your story straight
Content examples: Samples of work to emulate
Products & courses: A guide to your work
Lexicon: The unique language of your brand
Style choices: The subtle nuances that make you you
In-depth voice analysis: A deep proprietary breakdown of your exact writing style
Templates: Custom frames for your email, landing pages, social posts, etc.
Brand Comparisons: Sample content from competitors rewritten in your voice
Custom video walk-through: Personalized demonstration of how to measure and analyze copy using your new tools
Copy submission & review process: Step-by-step instructions of how you want your assets delivered
Style tips & resources: Tools to make your writers’ submissions perfect
Scoring rubrics: A checklist to measure each piece of new content against your brand & voice standards
New writer training & on-boarding program: A custom 30-day training program built specifically for your team
*In-person training option available
“This guide has paid for itself so many times over, it isn’t even funny.”
“Justin’s voice & style guide has been the go-to for our entire team. And when you have so many bits and pieces moving around like we do, it’s incredibly valuable to have something you can turn to time and time again.
The level of detail he puts into his guides is actually mind blowing. It’s become such a huge part of our writing process and I find myself referencing it so many time a day that I now just keep the tab open all the time.”
“I’ve never seen anyone put as much thought into the process of voice and tone guides as Justin.”
“Audience avatars, lexicons, examples, practical tips, customer considerations…
I TRIED to find a hole in his documentation, and I absolutely couldn’t.
Whether you’re a company scaling up your content efforts with multiple writers, an international team struggling to keep voice and tone consistent, or even a small company trying to define what makes your voice your own, I have every confidence Justin’s voice guide will help you meet those goals.“
Use this shiny red button to schedule a live analysis of your voice and demo a sample guide
Just like a style guide helps designers, a voice guide helps your writers
Because you can’t google your voice. But you can document it.
“It’s so clear to me how useful this is for clients to on-board new writers much, much faster.”
“I’ve honestly never seen anything like this. No other voice guide even comes close being to as robust and practical. It’s so clear to me how useful this is for clients to on-board new writers much, much faster. I’m happy to recommend this to anyone I’ve dropped off work for and who’s now struggling to replicate it. I think you’ve really landed on something stellar here and it makes me happy that my clients will have this consistent level of support moving forward.
I’m so impressed by this.”
- Consistency between all your messaging — to create a balanced experience for readers every at every step
- Less editing time (often none at all) — to save you from all those unprofitable hours when you’re pulling your hair out
- Measurable and specific feedback — so if changes need to be made, they’ll be done right and ready to go
- Faster on-boarding for new writers — stock them with everything they need from day one (without constantly repeating yourself)
- Accuracy of file naming — all your docs will be easy to find, easy to tag, and easy to upload
- Streamlined submission process — outline how you want every piece delivered so it’s easiest for you
- Quick reference for relevant content — no more diving into the messy black hole of your C: Drive to look for examples
- A glossary of brand terminology & idiosyncrasies — which keeps your content looking, sounding, and reading right across all platforms
“I didn’t think anyone else could capture my voice. Justin proved me wrong.”
“Until recently writing copy has been MY thing. I didn’t think anyone else could capture my voice. Justin proved me wrong. He put my writing under a microscope and created a guide that any good copywriter can use to sound like me. I thought I wasn’t duplicatable. Wrong again. That makes me really happy. Justin sees what nobody else can. This is going to make onboarding new team members MUCH, much easier.
Duplicating myself means I can duplicate my revenue, which makes Tarzan very happy.”
“Pretty much everyone has said my voice is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, which used to make it impossible for someone to write for me.
Enter Justin… who managed to untangle it all and distill it into an amazeballs voice guide.
My team now has a blueprint for how to write like I talk. Not sure if that’s a good thing for humanity… but it’s damn good for my brand!”
FAQs
Do I really need a voice guide?
Will a voice guide help me create my brand voice?
Is this the same as a brand guide?
Can I incorporate my existing brand guide into this?
Yes. I’m happy to add your existing information into your guide.
Can you create my brand guidelines?
Maybe. Many copywriters underestimate the true depth of a great brand guide. While I understand the elements of branding, I am not a branding expert. I’m a voice expert. But…
I know several branding geniuses who may be able to help. We can dive into this during our initial call. It’s possible they can create this section of the guide for you.
How do I train my writers to use this?
Your guide comes with crazy-simple instructions. The first section will outline exactly how it (and you) work, so all you need to do is pass it along.
For the Training Package, we’ll develop a custom program based on your team’s needs. It could be a video series, emails, or in-person sessions.
How long does it take to create my voice guide?
Depending on the amount of content you have, most voice guides take 3-5 weeks to create. I’ll be able to give you a more accurate timeline when we speak. Please note that I often have a brief wait list before starting any project.
Can you create a writing rubric for me? (Also, what's a rubric?)
Yes. A rubric is a scoring guide used to review and critique submitted copy. It allows you to measure a writer’s accuracy and provide actionable feedback. Rubrics come standard in the Training Package and are available as an add-on to any service. We can talk about this when you book your demo.
What if I don't have a lot of content yet?
Analyzing your voice only takes a few pages, posts, emails, or videos to process. The more you have, the more detailed I can get, but we can build a very solid foundation with even just a little bit of copy. And if you’re looking to develop a certain style, I can incorporate elements to steer your writers in that direction. (You want your tone to be lighter? I’ll lay out specific steps to make that happen.)
What makes your guide better than anyone else's?
Can't I just do this myself?
Yes—much in the same way you can take the engine out of a car yourself. You can do it if you follow a specialized process (like the one I’ve developed over the past three years), take expensive training courses, and thrust yourself into eight months of analyzing as many voices as possible. Oh, and good luck creating an actually usable template. And even then, it probably still wouldn’t be as good as mine. So why do all that when I can just knock it out for you in 28 days?
Interested in seeing one?
I’ll measure your voice, research your content, and document everything for you.
So, whenever you need to create something new, bring in a writer, or update your pages, they just open their guide and start.
“Justin literally said all of the things about myself and my brand that I hoped were true but never really believed I was communicating.
Just seeing him describe my voice, my values, and my message immediately made me feel like less of a fraud. The voice guide made me cry, it was like someone putting all of the best things about you down on paper so the whole world can see it. Aside from all the mushy, watery eyed shit, this has made my life so much easier!
Need someone to write me an email? Boom, send them the link. New social media content writer? Boom, link. Podcast Manager? Link. Writing a podcast pitch? Link.
Basically, I get content and copy that sounds exaaaactly the way I want it to with zero micromanaging or editing. Don’t tell him this, but I would have paid 3x as much.“
The last few hours of editing are the longest — and those are the hours you’ll save
Click below now to book a live analysis of your style & a walk-thru of a Brand Ventriloquist Voice Guide
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