Hello Reader, How do you promote yourself and find clients? I've been doing quite a bit of research on this lately, which includes watching videos from other people talking about it. One of the videos threw me for a bit of a loop. The person teaching it didn't start with networking, referrals, LinkedIn, cold outreach, content, lead magnets, discovery calls, or any of the other things we usually associate with client acquisition. She started by asking something along the lines of: What do you...
about 3 hours ago • 8 min read
Hello Reader, There’s something a little ridiculous about telling people who write for a living that the answer to growing their business is more unpaid writing. Starting a blog, posting on LinkedIn, and publishing a newsletter are all good tactics, though. The question is which ones deserve your time. I like newsletters, obviously. You’re reading one. But I also think “you should have a newsletter” isn't always good advice. Before you add another publishing commitment to your business, sit...
13 days ago • 7 min read
Hello Reader, When the brief doesn't make sense Recently, I had to make a trip to the emergency department (it's okay, I wasn't dying) and spend a bit of time in the waiting room. The unfortunate thing about waiting rooms is that you have to actually sit there and (wait for it) wait. Usually for hours. Fortunately I knew what to expect so I'd taken my iPad with me so I could at least try to get some work done. The operative word here is "try" because the other thing about waiting rooms is...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Hello Reader, I looked at the email and gritted my teeth. I should have known that the text I had just received was not the prelude to good news. And it wasn’t. Nope. For the 3rd time in as many weeks, I now had to go into the post office and get them to take another set of photos. And all because the first two times I’d gone through this process, I’d gotten a message back saying that my expression needed to be “neutral”. Of course this implied that the expression on my face when the photos...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, I edged my way over to a market stall that was overflowing with books and plants. The plants were all cuttings that had been artfully arranged in water-filled glass containers, their roots floating freely. There were two ladies chatting at the stall next door and before I could blink, one of them scooted over and said with a laugh, "Can I put the hard sell on you?" Her laughter was contagious. I grinned back and said yes. She blinked in astonishment. "Now I don't know what to...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, I love referring people. When someone comes to me and says, "Hey, I need a writer for this project. Who would you recommend?" I almost always have a name in mind or a person in my contacts who does that thing. How do people get on that list, you might ask? I think the more important question is, "How do you know who to recommend for which project?" I usually know if someone might fit because of one of two situations: We've talked about what they do and what they love to do, and...
about 2 months ago • 10 min read
Hello Reader, "I think what we need is more human-first content." I had someone say that to me in a conversation a while back, and it honestly had me scratching my head. I had to ask, "What do you mean by human first?" I was thinking about it from a content strategy perspective. Content written for humans instead of AI and SEO. Audience-centered content. To me, that makes perfect sense, and I thought that's where they would go with their response. Nope. They said, "You know. Content you know...
2 months ago • 6 min read
Hello Reader, "I wanted to let you know we're ending our contract at the end of this month. Our CEO wants us to use AI to write the content instead." Way too many of us have heard those words in the last couple of years, and they never get easier. They hurt, and if you're like me there's more than a little anger too. How can a client expect a machine to put the same care and attention into the work that we do?! It's a case of good enough in their eyes, unfortunately. AI can imitate a writer...
3 months ago • 7 min read
Hello Reader, Her glare was strong enough to melt stone. I was sitting at one of my favorite parks, overlooking the Katherine River. I was sleepily listening to the bird song and the breeze and just generally soaking in the calm peacefulness. I knew that eventually I'd have to buckle down and focus on the work that I'd brought with me to my outdoors "office", but for the moment it was enough to just sit there and relax. And besides, it was fun to watch the tourists visiting the park wander...
3 months ago • 3 min read