The Santa Barbara Web Design and Marketing Blog

One of the most common challenges entrepreneurs, small business owners, and even seasoned professionals face is writing the content for their own website. As someone who has worked for decades in the web design and marketing world, particularly helping clients across Santa Barbara and beyond, I have seen how many people freeze up at the keyboard when it comes time to craft web copy—even though many of these very same people are excellent in-person communicators.

Maybe this describes you: You walk into a client meeting or a networking event, and the words flow. You’re relaxed, personable, and, if you’re being honest, you’re pretty darn good at getting the business! You know how to read the room, highlight your value, and address objections. But stick you in front of a blank web form titled “About Us,” and suddenly you’re stuck. The confidence you had in the conference room seems to drain away when it's time to build your online presence.

If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. In fact, I often tell my clients: "If you want to know what to write on your website, start with what you say in person."

Let me break down why this approach works and walk you through practical steps to turn your in-person sales magic into engaging, persuasive website copy.

The In-Person Advantage: How You Already Sell

When you speak with a potential customer or collaborator face-to-face, you deploy a set of skills you might not even realize:

- You assess their needs as the conversation progresses.

- You identify cues to adjust your pitch or your story.

- You answer questions naturally and address objections with empathy.

- You build rapport, drawing on shared experiences, humor, or kindness.

- You tailor your language and stories based on your audience, whether it’s a room of executives or a table of local business owners.

These are all elements of top-tier salesmanship. Many businesses (especially solo entrepreneurs and small teams) are built on the strength of these human-to-human interactions. Yet, when it comes to the web, there’s a tendency to discard this instinctive, effective approach and replace it with rigid, robotic copy that sounds nothing like the real you.

Why does this disconnect happen? Often, it’s because we view “writing for the web” as something formal—technocratic, or abstract. But your website shouldn’t be a barrier; it should extend your presence online, amplifying what already works offline.

From Spoken Word to Written Word: Bridging the Gap

So, how do you capture your in-person magic and transpose it onto your website?

1. Start by Recording Yourself

Grab your smartphone or use a cheap digital recorder. At your next networking event, business lunch, or client pitch, record yourself (with permission, of course, if you're recording others). Even better, take time immediately after the meeting to record a voice memo on what you just said, recap the conversations, and observe what resonated with each person you spoke to.

Transcribe these recordings. Most smartphones now come with tools to do this automatically. Services like Otter.ai, Rev, or even tools in Google Docs can turn spoken words into text.

By reading your own words, you can identify turns of phrase, points of emphasis, and persuasive stories that work in person. These nuggets are the foundation of web copy that sounds real and resonates with your audience.

2. Notice Your Repeated Themes and Stories

Do you always end up telling a particular story about how you solved a unique client challenge? Do you find yourself drawing analogies ("It's like when you…") that help people see the value of what you offer? Are there questions you always answer, pain points you address, or misconceptions you clear up?

Chances are, the clients and leads you meet offline share the same concerns as those browsing your website. By capturing—and then polishing—the stories and explanations you give in person, you can craft copy that helps future clients see themselves in your customers’ shoes and build trust right away.

3. Observe Your Tone and Presence

In person, are you direct and to the point, or do you take a more conversational, storytelling approach? Are you energizing, calm, humorous, or inspiring? Your personality and style are a huge part of why people choose you over your competitors.

When writing for the web, retain that personality. Don’t be afraid to break up the text, add humor, or use casual language—if that’s who you are. Your website should introduce visitors to the true you, not a sanitized, generic brand voice that blends in with everyone else.

4. Address Objections and Questions Up Front

During conversations, you’re constantly fielding questions and objections. These moments are gold for your website. Use your FAQ section, product pages, or even your homepage to anticipate and answer the doubts or hesitations that come up most often. Give clear, empathetic responses—mirroring the way you reassure and guide people in real time.

This does more than just provide information—it demonstrates credibility, transparency, and a proactive approach, all of which build trust.

5. Map Out Your Visitor Personas with Real Interactions

I’ve spoken before about visitor personas, customer journeys, and stakeholder mapping—important concepts in advanced marketing and web design. But ultimately, much of this “research” can be grounded in the real conversations you already have. Who are you usually speaking to? What motivates them? What are their pain points, aspirations, anxieties, and knowledge levels?

By replaying (and perhaps even charting out) the types of people you meet, the questions they ask, and the solutions you provide, you can better shape your site’s navigation, information hierarchy, and calls to action.

Practical Steps: Turning Your In-Person Brilliance into Web Content

Let’s take this from the theoretical to the concrete. Here’s a suggested process you can use today:

- Record and Transcribe: Choose several recent sales conversations, a networking chat, or even a phone pitch. Record yourself recounting how those went, including your main talking points and how you handled questions.

- Highlight and Organize: Review the transcriptions. Highlight key sentences, stories, or explanations that felt authentic or moved the conversation forward. Organize these into themes: About You, How You Help, Key Services, FAQ, Testimonials, etc.

- Draft Website Sections: Using your best “real world” lines, begin drafting website sections. It’s perfectly fine if the first draft is rough—what matters is that it is rooted in your genuine voice.

- Edit and Refine: Streamline your copy, polish the grammar, and edit for flow. But resist the temptation to remove all trace of personality or to “over-corporatize” the language. People buy from people—even online.

- Collect Live Feedback: If you have trusted colleagues or customers, ask if your web copy sounds like you. Solicit honest opinions: “Is this how you’d describe what I do, having met me in person?” Make tweaks as needed.

Case Study: From Networking Star to Web Page Pro

Let’s illustrate with a real-world scenario.

Samantha is a solo HR consultant in Santa Barbara. She’s a regular at local Chamber of Commerce mixers. Live, she has no trouble winning clients: she candidly shares why she left corporate HR to work one-on-one with small businesses, she chuckles about her “MS Excel addiction,” and she always tells the story about the time she helped a business owner navigate a sticky compliance audit with heart and humor.

But her original website was filled with stiff, jargon-heavy language: “Samantha Smith Consulting offers comprehensive end-to-end human resources solutions specializing in compliance, employee development, and strategic workforce optimization.”

With a nudge, Samantha started recording herself at networking events, and the difference was stark. Her personality, her simple explanations of complex topics, and her case study stories all came to life in audio form.

She transcribed, edited, and adapted her most compelling stories and plainspoken language into her web pages. Her About page became a blend of her journey and values; her services pages used real client scenarios. Within months, the change was measurable: more visitors were inquiring through her site, complimenting her “voice,” and telling her that “it just felt right” to reach out.

And the best part? Samantha said she finally felt confident steering people to her site, knowing they’d get a real taste of what working with her was actually like.

Bonus: Turning Web Copy into Automated Outreach

Now, let’s talk about making your web presence work even harder for you. If you’re starting to use automation tools or AI (like ChatGPT or other chatbots), your real-world, conversational style becomes even more valuable.

Chatbots, automated email sequences, and even simple FAQs should sound like you. Drawing from your own spoken words means that, even when a client first connects with a bot, they get a sense of your approach: friendly? Direct? Solutions-oriented? Approachable?

By feeding your most effective lines and stories into smart automation, you’re ensuring consistency and authenticity across every point of engagement, whether that’s a landing page, a chatbot, or a drip email.

Common Questions: Should I Hire a Copywriter or Do It Myself?

This method can work for everyone, but especially for solo entrepreneurs or small teams with tight budgets. Copywriters are valuable (I work closely with many!), and you may want their polish and SEO acumen. But by giving them a foundation that’s true to your voice—using the process above—you make their job easier, and the results will ring true for your prospects.

If you do write your copy yourself, the recording-and-transcription approach will get you further, faster, and help you avoid staring endlessly at a blank page.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome and “Blank Page” Fear

Many struggle to write about themselves, often out of fear of “getting it wrong.” But you’re not starting from scratch—you’ve already proven your value in every handshake and every successful deal.

By harnessing what works for you offline, you sidestep the paralyzing fear that often comes with web copy. You’re not inventing an identity; you’re spotlighting the best of you.

Final Thoughts: Let Your Real Self Shine Through

As someone who’s guided countless people across the digital divide, I can promise you: the best websites are those that sound and feel like the person (or people) behind them. Templates, design trends, and SEO come and go, but authenticity and transparency never go out of style.

So next time you’re stuck on what to write, don’t look outward—look inward. Pay attention to what you say and do so well in person. Record yourself. Transcribe and reflect. Then let that voice—your real voice—shine on your website, your social channels, and wherever you meet your audience.

That’s your marketing minute for today. Take the first step: record your next meeting, distill your own story, and discover just how much you already know about successful online sales—even if you didn’t realize it.

Remember: your website is just another room where you get to meet and win over customers. Make sure it sounds like you.

See you next time!