The life of a Copywriter… and tips on how to write great content

Guest blog post by Collette White

Juggling, plate spinning, and creating content …. currently, it’s more like a circus in my house than a workplace and I know I’m not alone!

I have had the joy of having two children (9 & 12) at home to try to “home-school”, whilst trying to clean, work, shop and feed them, oh, and run a business.

Actually, I’ll let you into a secret, I gave up a few weeks ago on home-schooling, it’s more like free flow education (I’m pretty sure baking cakes, playing games and bouncing on the trampoline are perfectly good educational skills for them).

What I should be getting on with, of course, is running the business – sourcing clients, networking and actually getting down to writing. Blogs, articles, social media content and website content for businesses that struggle to articulate what they need to or would prefer to let someone else do it for them.

Whilst I’m getting on as best I can, am I alone, I often wonder, in marvelling at these fabulous Mumpreneurs who manage it all perfectly and have such polite children too. Whilst I struggle with fitting in a shower, working and ensuring my youngest doesn’t leave the house in just his pants.

But flexibility, adaptability and rocking-it (whilst zooming) are some of my new found skills and traits and I’m sure that they also form part of all work at home Mum’s. Something we should all be proud of.

So how do we do it? I’d love to know your secrets for success… Me – well coming up with content to fit the style, topic and needs of a business can be tricky. For example, I’ve been working with a plumber. A dryish technical kind of subject.

What I do is take a peek at client’s social media. This helps me to appreciate how my client likes to write, as style is very important too, you’ll need to make sure you know what their voice is like ie. corporate, fun, jokey, serious etc.

Next, it’s all in the research by understanding your topic, you can turn it something interesting, bite-sized and easily digestible. Keep your audience in mind, if you don’t understand it… they won’t.

Keeping it simple and not overloading – if there is a lot to cover then consider a teaser piece as your social media content and then bulk it up to make an article or blog. Make sure it solves your client’s problems or helps them in some way. Ideally, if you can show that what you do, can take away their pain and save time and money – you’re onto a winner!

Getting a sense check. Quite often I’ll get my husband to have a quick read of my work, as it’s good to have a second opinion, if he nods off half-way through or his eyes glaze over, I know I’m going to have to start again. Adding a sprinkling of humour to a piece as well as looking for audience give back (asking a question) on social media content is also a great way of creating engaging.

Just to break the illusion of me pouring over a desk whilst the midnight oil is burning…I’m not that bad, but I do find myself rapping something out at 5am if I can’t sleep and have lots on my mind. Alternatively, I’ll spend 30 minutes on getting something done and then give the kids some attention. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about getting it done and fitting it to your life-style.

Enjoying what you do, actually makes it not a chore. If you feel that it’s hard work (don’t get me wrong there are times I struggle to get started or to finish a piece), each and every time, then maybe consider outsourcing. If you enjoy it, relax, remember it’s about helping others and don’t get hung up on other’s approval. Be your own voice, stand strong, you own it.

One last thought… Using keywords is important to ensure that my audience gets to read it. By keywords I mean those that people will use in a search. Such as ‘plumber’, ‘DIY bathroom’ etc. These are just the basics and I would highly recommend, when you can, getting a super SEO specialist to help you (they work wonders for your business).

Collette White is Owner of CF3 Creative, and has oodles of experience in marketing, events and writing. She is a professional juggler (only kidding) and can be found trying not to eat her own body weight in chocolate, when faced with all trials and tribulations that life throws at her!!