A window onto my world in copywriting and creative work.
In general…
Outreach continued this month – apologies to all those who received surprise pug unicorn pictures. If you didn’t get one, and would like one, feel free to let me know.
In general, this has been a good month for getting things done – to-do lists have been ticked off, tasks planned and completed, and promises kept.
It’s also been a good month for doing new work for old friends – thanks to you all for coming back. Glad I can help!
Was it only three months ago I was writing about snow? It’s a weird old world sometimes.
What I’ve been working on
Some exciting new projects this month that felt like a welcome jolt of new energy:
- Landing page, values page and promo video script for an innovative new sports management app
- Copy for several brochures for new property developments
- Some quick website copy tweaks for a design agency
- Web pages for a new online home design & build service
- Newsletter and internal release for a crop nutrient company
- Discovery meeting with a structural engineering firm
Personal writing
Good news – the last chapter of the second Bug Squad book is finished! Both books now in editing phase, and I’ll soon be getting my query email ready!
The final chapter of another book, ‘Father & Son: Ghosthunters’, was also done and dusted too – so that’ll be in editing later this month I hope.
Diary – out and about
Networking – great morning meetings as ever with the good people at Chelmsford Business Breakfast Club (sorry I only made the first and last Thursdays of June), EBN (had to miss the last one for a meeting, but looking forward to next week) and Business Biscotti (really good turnout in June, lovely bunch of people, hosted by the amazing Jo Clifton). Also had a very positive first visit to the Pivotal group on a Friday (great to see a couple of familiar faces) – looking forward to seeing them all again!
Colchester Digital featured two in-depth presentations this month about all things to do with data and machine learning from Darren Cook, and on data breaches and how to avoid them by Luke Oliff. I admit my brain kind of melted at some of this, but again it was well worth going along.
WriteNight – A much simpler session in June, picking apart ideas around the short story format, but it provoked some great comments and conversations during the evening.
Watch out – in July it’s my turn to present, and I’ll be going through what to you need to consider in a query letter to agents.
On the headphones
This month, I’ve been getting into some brain-hacker type sessions. I’m not sure they boost my mood or IQ as they claim, but like any good background music they’re great for zoning out distractions and focusing on the task in hand. Much better than simply using noise generators for rain, wind, trains, etc.
I’m on a couple of mailing lists and so got a bunch of sample sessions for free, but can’t find any useful links to post as all audio is now behind a paywall. Sorry about that!
What I’m reading
In June, I read nothing apart from the numerous blog posts and copywriter newsletters I get sent. Perhaps in July I’ll try getting into ‘Building A Storybrand’ by Donald Miller.
Favourite article of the month
Another bunch of gems from the blogosphere, but my top marks for June have to go to Gill Andrews’ utterly comprehensive website content checklist article on her website:
https://gillandrews.com/website-content-checklist-small-business/
A very close second is Brian Dean from Backlinko’s equally all-encompassing article on SEO techniques:
https://backlinko.com/seo-techniques
Until next month – be prepared for this heatwave to break, but for the summer mood to truly start to kick in. Getting decisions made and projects to move along quickly is probably going to be tricky. But stay productive!
Do you have any questions about what I could do for you? Drop me a line via my Contact page and I promise to respond within 24 hours, if not 24 minutes.