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Lessons from 2024: The power of owning your voice

A previous client of mine was big on retrospectives; they would hold a retrospective meeting after every project and a retrospective at the end of the year. Watching how they worked, I learnt from them the value of looking back. We’re often told ‘don’t look back, you’re not going that way!’, but there’s a lot to gain from reflection. Knowing what worked and what didn’t, what you want more of and less of, what you can work on.The end of the year naturally brings an urge to refl...

How to overcome self-doubt and share your voice

When we think of writers' block, we often picture staring at a blank page, waiting for ideas to flow or searching for inspiration. The usual advice is all about generating ideas or finding ways to get words on the page—“take a walk,” “try freewriting,” “change your environment” or “take a shower” (and honestly, that last one always works a treat for me).But for many, writers' block isn’t just about struggling to come up with ideas or stressing about sentence structure; it’s...

How the ‘curse of knowledge’ is sabotaging your marketing

You’re an expert. You know your industry inside and out, and you’re used to navigating complex details every day. But here’s a common trap many experts fall into: the curse of knowledge – a cognitive bias that could be holding you back from sharing valuable ideas because they feel too basic, obvious, or unoriginal.When I chat to business owners and solopreneurs about their challenges when it comes to creating content for their brand, a very common response is that they don’t know what ...

Creating alignment between brand photography and copy

Our brains are primed to process visual information with incredible efficiency. In fact, we can process images 60,000 times faster than text, and 90% of the information our brain consumes is visual.And as much as it pains me, I have to concede that around 80% of the copy on most web pages doesn’t even get read. And of what we do read, only 20% is processed.[Can you hear that? That’s the sound of copywriter hearts breaking at the thought of our pored-over subhead not getting the recognition i...

Add weight to your words: How to be taken seriously, without being serious

If you’ve spoken to me lately, you might know I’m on a bit of a mission to bring some clarity to the term ‘personality’ when it comes to brand voice.You might have been swayed into believing that “personality sells”. Personality doesn’t sell. It gets attention and it can differentiate. But the selling part takes more than some snazzy lines. There has to be some substance behind it.And really, you don’t just want attention, you want to influence.Your brand needs a defined personal...

Introducing Collectively, the podcast

Introducing... COLLECTIVELY the podcast: Purpose-led business and marketing for ethical entrepreneurs and their teams 🎙️Collectively is a podcast about building better businesses, and the journey all of us as business owners and entrepreneurs have along the way. We share our experiences of building our own purpose-led businesses and the trials and tribulations, actions and results of our clients, as well as some of the most memorable and successful ethical and sustainable brands we admire.C...

Mark My Words is a Sustainable Business Network Impact Investor

There is so much happening in the world, to people and to planet, and I've noticed that plenty of people are worried about it, and yet plenty of people are - still - doing nothing about it.*Someone* should, but apparently, that someone is not them.It's lead me to think about the assumption we make: that we are, individually, too small to make a difference.As someone rolling solo in business, I admit I often think I'm too insignificant to really have any impact.I do my bit, I measure my outputs; ...

Tapping into audience intuition

Gut feeling. Intuition. A hunch. Vibes. How often have you made a decision based on something feeling either ‘right’ or ‘off’ and hindsight has proved that feeling in your belly was spot on? Some might be inclined to call it woo-woo, but this is less about consulting tarot cards and more about recognising that not every decision we make is based purely on logic.We often use the science of selling psychology to back up what we do as copywriters. Science has its place, sure. But there is s...

How to recession-proof your content marketing strategy

I’m no economist, and I don’t own a crystal ball. But, like you probably are, I am seeing a lot of media chat about impending tough times.As a business owner, it can be kinda stressy hearing these reports. You’re rejigging budgets, cutting back and wondering whether every quiet patch is the start of the end. ‘Riding it out’ is not a game plan, and it’s definitely not wise to pull back on your own marketing efforts. After all, the world doesn’t stop spinning; people still spend...

What chatGPT means for copywriters and content creators

Am I looking for a new career in 2023? Here’s my take on what chatGPT means for copywriters and content creators. Reality is, we knew this day was coming. And those of us who saw the writing on the wall (intended), have been evolving our value into messaging strategy, brand voice direction, sales psychology and UX content design, a research-based approach to understanding audiences, and services that extend beyond simply putting good-sounding words in the right order on paper. That means AI (c...

My 2023 content marketing trend predictions

What’s ahead for 2023? Well friend, here’s a peek into my content crystal ball. If you’re thinking of where to put your marketing budget when it comes to content marketing, then here are 5 trends I’ve been spying… Organic inbound. Organic inbound. Organic inbound. I’m seeing more businesses switching off paid advertising campaigns and focusing more spend on high-value, optimised blog content. I’m not saying paid advertising is dead (it works), but playing a long game with good con...

How to write subject lines that scream ‘Read me!’

So, you’ve just spent a whole lot of time writing a top-notch customer newsletter or marketing email full of great info, tips and giveaways to send out to a supposedly interested audience – they’ve signed up, so they should want to read your words of wisdom, right? But how come your open rate stats are looking so glum? Quick pause here – take a sec to think about your own inbox behaviours; do you delete the excess junk while you’re on your commute to work? Do you leave subscription ema...

Hey Siri, why should I care about voice search?

Already 20% of Google queries on mobile are done using voice and it’s on the up. But voice search isn’t just for mobile. We also know that people are increasingly using smart devices in their home. (72% of people who own voice-activated speakers say that their devices are used as part of their daily routines) That means your business website copy needs to be optimised for voice search....

Copywriting tips for cash-strapped startups

I know exactly what it’s like when you’re starting up your new business; changing from your ‘sales person hat’ to your ‘bookkeeping hat’ to your ‘marketing hat’ and many more throughout the day is exhausting, overwhelming and often daunting. While I’m (obviously) a cheerleader for outsourcing to specialists, I also know what it’s like to be on that new-business budget, and I myself had to quickly upskill on previously uncharted aspects of business until my admin time decrease...

Creating ethical brand personas fit for a diverse world

Who are you talking to? If your answer to this question is: anyone and everyone, we've got some work to do. It's a statement I hear a lot. After all, if you can help everyone, why wouldn't you? But here's the thing: perhaps you could work with anyone, but will you always do your best work? Is there not a type of client you prefer over another? Even if your service or product can benefit any type of human, if you drill down a little deeper into where your heart really lies, you'll realise there i...