Micro-Interview: Joel Klettke, Copywriter

EDITOR’S NOTE: Joel Klettke is a sought-after conversion copywriter and consultant for SaaS and B2B. He's helped companies like HubSpot, WP Engine, and Scott's Cheap Flights turn more visitors into customers. 

He's also the Founder of Case Study Buddy, the only specialized team completely focused on helping B2B companies capture, share, and cash in on customer success stories. 

I have enormous respect for Joel’s work and this micro-interview is no exception. In 618 words, he shares:

• How to make new information stick in your brain… 

• A $5,000 course worth of ideas in four sentences… 

• How to come back from devastating creative feedback… 

• And much more…

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Thank you, Joel.

Let’s get started:

“What’s your work routine?”

I sit down and read 20 pages of whatever book I'm currently working through, taking notes in a snazzy little blue notebook so I don't forget it all. Then, I outline my mission-critical tasks for the day, by hand, in a purple notebook. I prioritize them, identify the one I'm dreading most (or is most time-sensitive) and do it first. 

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I shut down social media, pause my inbox, and do it. I might eat lunch. I might forget to. And when I remember, I'll sometimes raise up my standing desk and try not to die at the age of 40 like all those terrifying articles tell me I will. 

That's how it looks in my head, but in reality? Most days are a little more chaotic. 

“What do you know about your work now that you wish you’d known when you first started?”

The critical importance of making time to up-skill and read books, both inside and outside of your vertical. You will stagnate if you get too comfortable or confident in how much you think you know. There are brilliant, life-changing, business-growing ideas buried in almost every single book I've picked up, but building habits is hard. 

I wish I'd read more books from day one. 

And I wish I'd been more serious about my email list. I'm changing that now.

“What did your biggest professional failure teach you?”

A hugely respected SaaS leader called Case Study Buddy mediocre. I was devastated by it. The project hadn't gone to plan: we'd been ghosted by the team member we thought we could trust. We'd failed to adequately prep a very busy thought leader on how we operated, or fully communicate how much work we were taking off of his plate (and how valuable that was.)

And I also learned? Hugely respected people can be wrong. I mean, he was right in that we didn't do things the way we normally do, like manage expectations or turn out a killer asset on a tight timeline. 

But when I stepped back from that situation, I had to remind myself: we have dozens of clients who are genuinely THRILLED at the work we do. They love our output, they love our effort, they love the way we manage projects, and when everything goes to plan we're a really great company to work with. 

So I had to learn to take critical feedback seriously and make changes on the back of it — but also remind myself that we're doing a ton of things right, and one person's opinion shouldn't overshadow everyone's. 

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“What’s the #1 thing that has helped you shorten your craft’s learning curve?”

Doing the work. 

Reading is critical for new ideas; doing is critical for making them stick and folding them into your day-to-day process. So... it's a bit of a cop-out answer, but being about the work is probably the best way to shorten your learning curve instead of constantly paying for courses, reading blog posts, or asking for advice. 

Those are all good things, but you need to DO the thing.

“What book has helped you the most over your career?”

Impossible to say, because I'm constantly learning new things from books now. Made to Stick, though, is an incredibly helpful reminder of how to make your points hit hard and... well, stick.

Never Lose a Customer Again is a blueprint for building a customer experience that becomes a growth engine. Both were massive for me last year.

“And your parting piece of advice?”

Read books. Make friends. Do the work. Solve problems in public. That's a $5,000 course worth of ideas in four sentences, if you put that all into practice.

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