A window onto my personal world in copywriting and creative work.
General comment
How did you find the summer? For many, as the months got hotter, business got slower, but for others the heat only seemed to turn up the pressure. The past couple of months have required doing a lot more outreach, and I’m still pushing on that front, but in the end it’s been a pretty good time.
What I’ve been working on
Have had the chance to work with some great new clients over the summer, and recent projects have included:
- Brand propositions for a civil engineering consultancy
- Online, London-specific ad for property developer
- Landing page, video script, press release and marketing deck for a new sports management app
- Landing page for an Aerial Fitness listings service
- Case studies for a charity
- Poster campaign copy for a major train operator
- Brochure copy for various property developers
- Service & info pages for an Australian home design portal
Personal writing
Currently editing the second book in the ‘Bug Squad’ series, and starting to think about putting together an amazing pitch/query letter to agents and the best synopsis the literary world has ever seen 🙂
Also making adjustments to the Creepy Christmas Show For Kids theatre script ahead of more development later this year.
Learning
In August, I decided I needed to up the ante with accreditations and took the Hubspot Email Marketing Course. It deals with all aspects in a very intense way, but allows all the key facts to firmly implant themselves in your brain.
They allow two hours for the exam, but (own trumpet-blowing alert) I completed it in an hour and passed first time with a 90% score. Happy with that.
So, this helps me to improve my offer to all clients – building relationships with customers through email can be vital to your business, and I can help you to create a campaign that builds trust, adds value and gets people to see you as a friend and authority.
Oh – and by the way, do you want to track who opens your emails on Gmail? The wonderful people at email address finder Hunter have come up with this cool new tool for you to see who is opening your emails and how often – check it out at: https://hunter.io/mailtracker
Diary – out and about
Networking – Although I didn’t get as much chance to attend as usual recently, the morning meetings with everyone at Chelmsford Business Breakfast Club are always fantastic (as is the breakfast) and make the 6am start worthwhile! Business Biscotti (great informal group hosted by the amazing Jo Clifton) was fun in July – looking forward to seeing everyone there again on the second Wednesday of the month.
Also finally made it to one of Aaron Desmond’s Networking Essex events at Chelmsford City Football Club on Aug 23rd – was great to see a bunch of friendly faces there and meet some new people too!
Colchester Digital – The July meeting focused on the initial stages of planning for the ‘Process’ conference the group leaders are planning for May 2019. Exciting times, and was proud to have written the proposal document. The group took a break in August, and back for more in September.
WriteNight – Insightful sessions over the summer, with yours truly giving a quick presentation on agent query letters in July, while August saw Wivenhoe author Helen Chambers talking about her work and winning the Fish Short Story Prize last year.
What I’m reading
‘Save The Cat!’ by Blake Snyder. Billed as the ‘only book on screen writing you’ll ever need’, it really lives up to its own hype. Essential advice for crafting stories for films that can be carried over to books, plays and more.
Favourite article of the month
So many to choose from, but this article on how to deal with tricky clients tickled my fancy more than most: https://www.liveyourmessage.com/nightmare-clients-how-to-deal-with-crazy-clients
On the headphones
Now, you can all laugh about this, but I’ve moved into listening to a lot of ‘mind-focus’ music with binaural beats, in particular the Magnetic Minds YouTube channel. Yes, there’s a lot of ‘woo’ stuff on there, but the Quantum Focus and Brain Power tracks in particular really hit the spot when it comes to helping productivity. Give it a go!
With people now back from holidays and the schools starting up again, everyone and every business will feel a renewed focus on moving projects forward. At least, I hope so!
Until next month – 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.