Messaging Strategy & Copy Direction
Bring clarity to your communications, ease friction in the sales process, & align your entire team on how to describe your business.
When your message is clear, the right people find you
If you’re tired of explaining who you are and what you do on every sales call…
If you don’t want to start over every time you create a new asset…
If you know different teams are creating their own content, but you have no idea how to unite them under a single message…
It’s time to build a new messaging suite that gets everyone on the same page.
That way, you can feel more confident in your communications, focus on meeting your business goals, and experience more ease in day-to-day content creation.
diagnose what isn’t working
Messaging misfires show up in business metrics. In slow sales cycles, lost deals, & internal friction. We’ll work to close the gaps between what you solve and what you say.
define your direction
Clear messaging starts with strategy. We’ll spend our Story-Driven Strategy Session discussing your business goals and desired outcomes, before I ever write a word.
build internal alignment
It’s not enough for your messaging to be strong and clear. It has to be adopted internally to make an impact. I use workshop-style sessions to help you build internal alignment and buy-in as we go.
create & sell with more ease
Ready to worry less about everything from content creation to sales calls? Messaging grounds you in consistent talking points about your expertise, the problems you solve, and why customers choose you.
Packages & Pricing
From Brand Book to Launch
Get out of the book & onto the page
Starting at $7,000
Brand books offer foundational messaging guidance, but rarely help your team build compelling narratives on a web page.
When it comes to getting new pages out the door, you need structural advice and support as much as you need messaging and copy.
Because without a strategic goal mapped to your page structure and narrative, your copy won’t land—and your page won’t convert.
In this one-week sprint, we’ll leap over the gap between your brand book and an updated site together.
In one, deeply focused workshop, we’ll identify page-level narratives and hierarchies for three pages. After the workshop, you’ll get three strategic wireframes that reflect your goals and our conversation—with copy that’s ready to go.
Just plug into your CMS and hit “Publish.”
This service includes:
One 90-minute workshop devoted to page-level narrative and hierarchy
3 pages of wireframed copy ready for prime time
This package is perfect for…
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Applying existing brand messaging
When you have the foundational pieces of your messaging in place, we can move faster to create pages that will help your customers make decisions and take action.
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Creating more bandwidth
Whether you’re creating a new offer or an entirely new site, it’s not easy for teams to juggle their daily to-do list and a major launch. Give them a thought partner—and some breathing room.
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Supporting team alignment
High-value pages up the stakes. Invite a small team of stakeholders to our strategy session to provide feedback, align on direction, and guide decision making before I write a word.
Message Detective
You’ll know when your message doesn’t connect.
Your bounce rates start creeping up.
Your prospects don’t quite fit.
And sales calls that may have once closed easily drag on or fizzle out.
Great messaging reflects how your customers see you and what they come to you for, as well as where you are in relationship to your top competitors.
If your message isn’t landing, it’s likely because it doesn’t capture why your customers really come to you, how you help them, and why they should pick you over their other options.
In this four-week sprint, I’ll identify how to improve your messaging and provide a clear, actionable plan for transformation.
We’ll go directly to the source—your customers—to capture how they think of their challenges and where you fit in as the solution. I’ll also analyze your competitors’ messaging and audit your high-intent pages to identify how you can improve—and where you can differentiate.
Armed with real customer feedback, competitive analysis, and a messaging diagnostic, you’ll better reflect the needs of your customers, communicate your value, and find new ways to stand out.
Uncover why your messaging won’t stick
Starting at $14,400
This service includes:
Up to 5 customer interviews
Messaging audit of up to 5 high-intent pages, including Home and Services
Competitive analysis of your top 3 competitors
Strategic recommendations & action plan
This package is perfect for…
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Evaluating an existing framework
Endless cycles of tweaking and testing your copy aren’t delivering results. You want targeted, research-backed direction before you invest more in your brand.
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Closing marketing & sales gaps
When marketing & sales teams are siloed, you don’t get the juicy customer details that help your messaging stick. Create messaging that resonates with Voice of Customer feedback.
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Standing out & owning your niche
Discover where your top competitors are diluting your existing message. With competitive analysis, you’ll find new ways to showcase what makes you the better option.
Most messaging isn’t bad.
Instead, small teams struggle because their messaging is built on top of strategic problems that were never resolved.
Or the market—and their position in it—has shifted over time, and their messaging simply never caught up.
My foundational verbal brand and messaging exercises help you make the decisions you may have avoided years ago, so you can narrow your focus and communicate more effectively to your audiences.
This work can also help you articulate what’s changed since your last refresh, so you can communicate where your brand is headed next.
By involving other team members in our work, you’ll generate buy-in as we go and develop documentation and training materials that genuinely sound like your organization.
Over four workshops, we’ll define your target audiences, clarify the value of your services, create new brand messaging, and develop voice and tone documentation that anyone can use.
Once you receive your materials, you’ll be able to align your entire team on messaging priorities that will reach and move your audience.
Map Your Message
Build foundational tools for your team
Starting at $22,400
This service includes:
Four foundational workshops for internal stakeholders:
Mission, vision, values, & positioning
Audience definitions & messaging priorities
Key message exploration
Voice & tone development
Messaging framework
Voice & tone documentation
Custom messaging & story maps
This package is perfect for…
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Navigating organizational change
If you’re in the middle of a strategic change or visual rebrand, your messaging needs to match your new direction. Invest in foundations that will last until your next big move.
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Clarifying who you are, what you do, & why it matters
These foundational workshops uncover the heart of your business story, so you can communicate with clarity and move your audience to take action.
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Addressing inconsistent messaging efforts
Silos happen. If you need to realign your team on a single version of your story, this will help you get on the same page and build organizational buy-in on direction.
Ready to get started?
Step 01
Schedule a 20-minute fit call, where I’ll learn more about you and what you need. If I can solve your challenges, I’ll send along a link to my Story-Driven Strategy Session.
Step 02
Story-Driven Strategy Sessions are 90-minute interviews. Together, we’ll dive into your business, pressing challenges, and desired outcomes. After the session, I’ll follow up with a custom roadmap and next steps.
Step 03
Like what you see? I’ll put the cost of your strategy session toward any messaging package you choose. If our journey ends after that initial workshop, my recommendations are yours to keep and use.
90 Minutes, major impact
Story-Driven Strategy Session
All clients begin new projects with a 90-minute diagnostic interview. Your Story-Driven Strategy Session illuminates the messaging and content challenges you’re facing, so we both feel clear about what you need, where you’re headed, and what type of plan will help you get there. You’ll receive a detailed, custom assessment and an action plan in two to three days after the session. Content woes, begone!
$1,200 investment
The cost of your strategy session is applied to any content package you book
featured project
Raising $60 million for environmental candidates in one cycle
This political fundraising group needed to differentiate from its sister organizations and help both high-dollar and grassroots donors understand the purpose of their work. Better brand messaging was part of the solution.
“Kristen taught our client how to structure and write with intention, then how to scale and protect their efforts through proper governance. Five years later, that content architecture remains the communications spine of a very effective environmental nonprofit."
michael johnson
executive director
of experience
Happy cog
What my clients say
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“Kristen has been an invaluable partner to our team for years. She takes the time to deeply understand our industry's nuances, strategically guides our messaging, and has a remarkable ability to align our ideas with what truly matters to our clients. Beyond her expertise, she's an absolute pleasure to collaborate with.”
Sean Oakes
Principal, Creative Director
Backpack Interactive -
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"My first time working with Kristen I asked her to structure content around a framework she was unfamiliar with. She embraced and improved it, teaching our client how to structure and write with intention, then how to scale and protect their efforts through proper governance. Five years later that content architecture remains the communications spine of a very effective environmental nonprofit."
Michael Johnson
Executive Director, Design & Experience
Happy Cog -
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“Kristen is a tremendous writer; one of just a few I’ve worked with that I can trust to run with a project and do a great job with very little hands-on involvement. I recommend her without hesitation, and I look forward to continuing to work with her in the future.”
Sarah Gage
Founder
Content Conquered -
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“Kristen approaches her work methodically, with impeccable attention to detail, and with a lot of personality. Together, we wrote more than 50 grant proposals in a year, and our process was effective, productive, and fun. I never worried about typos or mistakes, or that our message wasn’t as clear as it possibly could be. She not only had my complete trust as the last pair of eyes on important documents, but she had the trust of our Executive Director and other staff leadership, too.”
Kristin Barrali
former Director of Advancement
826 Boston -
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"Kristen’s ability to write compelling stories about complex topics has helped us take the magazine to another level. Over the past three issues, she’s produced outstanding pieces on three vastly different topics: a geosciences project, political polling and artificial intelligence. She always hits deadlines while navigating the challenges that come with weighty, multi-source features. This makes our job in the office much easier — and she requires very little editing.”
Chris Karlesky
Editor
Franklin & Marshall College
alumni magazine -
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“Kristen is an exceptional writer with a sharp editorial eye—she understands not just how to craft beautiful language, but how to shape content strategically to meet clear goals and speak to the right audience. Beyond her technical strengths, Kristen is simply a joy to work with: thoughtful, collaborative, and deeply committed to doing excellent work. Any organization would be lucky to have her as a partner.”
Marcy Dubroff
Associate Director
The POGIL Project
Got questions?
I’ve got answers at the ready
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I’ve written B2B content for nearly every industry under the sun over the past decade, from finance to insurance, hospitality, & law. My favorite areas to work in are creative services, nonprofit organizations, higher education, and edTech. I’m a quick study.
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To be frank? None. I’m committed to understanding how my clients use it in their day-to-day, so I can account for it in my operations and governance recommendations. I have too many ethical objections to use it myself; every strategy and piece of content you receive from me is created straight from my own brain. I feel strongly that’s the expertise & care my clients are paying for.
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Almost certainly! The best way to gauge whether we’re a good mutual fit to work together on any type of project is to schedule a fit call. I have extensive experience scoping projects big and small.
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Yes! If you need to break a project fee across 2-3 months, we can arrange the payment schedule in our contract.
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Yes. Strategy sessions are powerhouse diagnostic workshops that give you direct access to my expertise, provide clarity on your desired goals and outcomes, and result in actionable next steps—even if you don’t book a full engagement. It makes the most of our time together, and you can put the $1,200 cost toward a future project fee.
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The short answer: the person in your organization who has decision-making power over changes to messaging, content, & strategy. We’ll talk more about stakeholder facilitation & management in our strategy session, so our engagement is a win for your entire organization.
HI, I’m Kristen
Let’s create copy that connects
I’m an experienced messaging strategist and copywriter who can uncover why your messaging won’t stick and help you course correct, so you can attract the right audience and inspire them to take action.
I also help teams that need strategic clarity—and more bandwidth—to launch new landing pages with less hassle.
Whether you’re fixing a persistent messaging and positioning problem, laying the foundations for a rebrand, or just trying to get new pages out the door, I’ll help you communicate with more clarity and align your team along the way.
Explore more case studies
Raising $60 million IN one election cycle
A political fundraising group’s new brand messaging & website strategy helped grassroots and major donors find common ground in climate action. Read more.
Showcasing expertise to make a mark in edTech
Backpack Interactive’s comprehensive thought leadership program leveraged their team’s expertise in education and edTech product design, attracted and nurtured clients, & generated real revenue. Read more.
winning industry recognition for an innovative nonprofit
The POGIL Project’s innovative approach to teaching and learning translates perfectly to print, where the organization spotlights educators who transform the classroom. Read more.