If you’ve not read Richard Shotton’s The Choice Factory, you’re in for a treat. I was lucky enough to hear him speak at last year’s ProCopywriters’ Conference and his energy is infectious.
Pulling together a host of his own and others’ behavioural science experiments from around the world and across the last century, The Choice Factory explores how we decide which brands to spend our money on.
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Fewer distractions? Less on my plate? More time for myself?
Sign me up, please.
Promising to uncover the essential truths that’ll boost my productivity, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller The ONE Thing: The Surprising Truth Behind Extraordinary Results seemed like a cracker to start my 2020 reading list.
The book’s suggestion of letting “what matters most to drive your day” sounds deliciously simple. But what does matter most?
Here are 8 things I took from The ONE Thing to get my work and life challenges in order. Continue reading
Season’s Greetings, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanza and good wishes to the wonderful clients I’ve worked with this year and to my fellow copywriters, content writers and marketing whizzes.
I know it’s not environmentally friendly but I send client cards each year. In the frenzy of picking and choosing and buying and wrapping, putting pen to paper to say “thanks” seems to matter even more. Continue reading
I’ll admit it: I have an unhealthy obsession with checking my WordPress stats. OK, not as unhealthy as when I was a newbie, desperate to know I was reaching someone (anyone?). But I peek most days.
And that’s how I spotted an odd referrer to my site. I clicked it and at the other end was…. me. An exact replica of my site in every detail, but with a fake name and logo.
A web designer had scraped not just my website content, but my whole identity. It looked like I worked for them, or my alter ego did, anyway. My copyright, my testimonials, my insurance details, my ProCopywriters membership. All stolen.
I Googled the fake name to see if they’d indexed yet and found a second site almost the same. The only differences were these guys had swapped the fake name for my name in the web content and were asserting their copyright.
WTAF? I’m all about the words. The back end of my site and the technical details bring me out in a cold sweat. Where to begin?
This article covers the free, low-tech things I did to squish the stolen content. Plus a bunch of links to people far more expert than me. Continue reading
Another Tuesday, another chance to put my questions to the wise and generous #ContentClubUK.
If you’re not familiar: every Tuesday at 11am UK time, some lucky person gets to ask three questions of an ever-expanding audience of content marketing stars. Over the next 30 minutes, copywriters, designers, marketers, social media experts and others from the content world pile in with their advice, experience and ideas.
It’s tons of fun and I frequently leave with something that changes the way I do business.
Because the sun’s shining and a break might be on the cards, we talked about vacations: Continue reading
I recently got the chance to host the fabulous #ContentClubUK for the first time. Listed at number 5 in Awario’s “10 best Twitter chats for digital marketers”, it’s my favourite way to start Tuesdays.
If you’re a copywriter, designer, marketer, social media expert or anyone else working in content marketing, in-house or freelance, you’ll find something to love.
It’s pretty simple: beginning at 11am UK every Tuesday, a different content pro poses three questions on Twitter with the hashtag #ContentClubUK. And all kinds of smart and talented people from the world of content post replies.
As a freelance copywriter, I often don’t meet or even speak to clients, so I decided to ask the group how they handle time and their clients’ expectations. Here you’ll find the ton of ideas, tips and thoughtful conversation that followed… Continue reading
In celebration of International Women’s Day, I got to have a chat with the fabulous Katherine Wildman, Creative Director at Haydn Grey, for her blog series on writers and creatives.
There’s Snow Patrol, my go-to podcasts, lots of praise for Sarah Turner, excellent pens and cold tea. Donnie Wahlberg features too, but I probably shouldn’t draw attention to that… Read it here.
What’s the best way to let potential customers know you understand their pain and you’ll solve it far better than your competition?
Tell them?
Far better is to grab them with content that talks to their worries, concerns and questions.
An article is the perfect place to showcase your strengths and experience, without doing anything as tacky as selling yourself. And they’re brilliant for talking about the tough stuff your clients might not want to ask in person.
Here’s the how and why of hiring an article writer to write quality content for you… Continue reading
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanza, Io Saturnalia! and Season’s Greetings to all the amazing clients I’ve worked with in 2018 and to my fellow copywriters and marketers.
This year’s client card is a simple one. My brief was to use as few visual cues as possible and still create a festive feel. And it didn’t prove too hard. Continue reading
I’m a freelance copywriter. Being my own boss, setting my own hours, choosing the projects I work on… It’s all brilliant. But the big thing I miss is colleagues. Specifically, senior colleagues whose desks I can swerve by to ask dumb questions on my way to something new.
And that’s the rub as a freelancer. How do you keep learning when you’re on your own? Here are all the ways I’ve found to make every day a school day. Continue reading
