Year in Review: 2020 for Comma Copywriters
Face masks and toilet paper runs. WFH and all events on Zoom. Disneyland closed and NBA games cancelled. 2020 is a year we’ll all remember the rest of our lives. With tens of thousands of businesses needing to close their doors, we gratefully share Comma is still in business after such a turbulent year—and we’re growing quickly.
Crystalee Beck here, founder and president at Comma. (Feel free to connect on LinkedIn.) We’ve all faced challenges we never expected this year. May I be real with you?
I believe in being human, especially in a year when all of humanity has been tested. This is Comma’s first public year-in-review, and while I’ll share our shiny side, I won’t gloss over some behind-the-scenes struggles and lessons for Comma, which you’ll see in italics.
Q1 2020
We started 2020 with big hopes and dreams. We wrapped up our first video for Comma, sharing our team culture, and felt ready for anything (ha!)
In January, I represented Comma at Utah’s premier tech conference, Silicon Slopes Tech Summit, where Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg keynoted on the big stage. Later that day, I presented for a few minutes (on a much smaller stage) about Comma.
We launched our own blog! After rebranding to Comma in 2019, it was time. We wrote consistently about timeless topics for marketers like how to be a good interviewee, 10 creative ideas for promoting your content, and effective SEO tips from ClemSEO.
March 2020 hit and several potential clients who had been ready to sign on for our content marketing services walked away in the same week, their budgets uncertain with the COVID-19 global pandemic spreading panic. There were several “oh crap!” moments for the whole world, and me too.
Comma was uniquely prepared for the pandemic: We’ve always been a remote company, with low overhead, and the need for marketing only increases during a crisis. (We wrote about how staying relevant with content marketing was the best bet for marketers.) We rolled up our sleeves and got to work.
Q2 2020
We launched an Instagram account. Find us at @commacopywriters.
More and more clients signed on to work with Comma for outsourced content marketing. We got to the point that I knew I needed help to field all of the interest and I started putting together plans for hiring a Business Development manager.
We invited Sara Jones of InclusionPro to speak to our team about diversity and inclusion in late June as part of our commitment to being part of the solution during the Black Lives Matter movement. (Black lives do matter. Very much. I felt so much for my Black friends and wrote about how white women can speak up here.)
Q3 2020
Comma teamed up with a talented videographer to pitch in a large storytelling RFP. We put dozens of hours into our pitch, and it was beautiful. After several weeks, we found the potential client was still not ready to make a decision and the opportunity crumbled. This was a huge learning experience in managing expectations, being clear on decision makers, and understanding true timelines.
We expanded the Business Development team, adding not one but two new reps to bring on new Comma clients. I’ve been the solo salesperson since the company’s inception, along with wearing many other hats, and it feels really good to have trusted professionals who are passionate about Comma’s mission to write content worth reading and give writers freedom.
Flop: I pitched in the RevRoad Entrepreneur Competition and was not selected as a finalist. After waking up at 4:30 that morning to polish off my deck and feeling sick I was so nervous, I stumbled over a judge’s question afterwards. But I do believe in expanding my comfort bubble.
However, Comma won an award as “Fan Favorite” and walked away with a record-breaking number of votes and $1,000 check! This was my favorite business moment of 2020 for Comma.
Q4 2020
I joined an incredible group for business owners, EO, where I’m learning a lot as an entrepreneur.
We hosted the second annual Comma Retreat. It was a lovely half-day on Zoom with 24 team members tuning in from Hawaii to New York City.
Ouch. I made the decision to walk away from an opportunity to partner with a big company that needs writers. While it started off as a good idea, it became clear we weren’t a good fit for them. So I had the hard conversation and learned it’s better to disappoint someone with a “no” upfront than burn out my team. This taught me to stick to my guns on our Comma culture (see more here — we’re hiring!)
We officially doubled our Comma revenue and number of team members from this same time in 2019. We plan to double again in 2021!
We sponsored 27 girls to send to school through our program Comma Cares with non-profit partner Kurandza. It’s my favorite check of the year to write.
We made it through 2020, zooming all the way. Thank you for being part of our year.
Are you looking for content support for 2021? We’d love to help.You’re welcome to contact us here to chat content.
