Turner Creative

In 2014, James Turner was working as an instructional designer in a small town in Eastern Canada. When his company closed the local office and relocated five hours away to a bigger city, James faced a choice: move or go solo. "I just thought, I've got it. In this day and age, I've got to be able to take this into my own hands." He decided to launch Turner Creative, betting on his skills in copywriting and conversion rate optimization.

Turner Creative started lean—it was just James. His first-year revenue was $36,000, which was actually more than his previous salary. He wasn't trying to build a SaaS platform or scale aggressively. Instead, he focused on replacing his income and doing work he was good at: helping companies optimize their website copy through voice of customer research and conversion testing.

James worked primarily with individual clients on project-based work. By 2015, revenue had edged up to $40-45,000. He gradually increased his prices and by 2016 had shifted to a retainer model: $10,000 for a three-month part-time engagement. "I only want to do two retainers at a time," he explained. "I don't like to overtax that kind of thing." At the time of the interview in June 2016, he was working with exactly two clients, each paying $10,000 per quarter.

James specialized in a specific type of client: businesses that had accumulated customer feedback and testimonials but didn't know what to do with it. He would conduct voice of customer research—interviewing up to 10 actual customers, mining Amazon reviews, analyzing negative comments—and use customers' own words to rewrite website copy and landing pages. This deep-dive approach required time, which is why he insisted on a three-month minimum.

However, James also recognized a market gap: smaller businesses couldn't afford his $10,000 retainers. This led to his second venture.

In June 2016, James was launching Snap Copy (SnapCopy.co) with partner Leanna Patch, a fellow conversion copywriter. The new agency offered "conversion optimized copy on demand" via a credit-based system—a faster, more affordable alternative to Turner Creative's deep retainers. Turner Creative remained his long-term consulting business, while Snap Copy targeted the price-sensitive segment. His personal philosophy remained focused on balance: "You're not going to miss out if you stay home and work on yourself," he told his younger self. At 36, married with a toddler, James was building businesses on his own terms.