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 ..read more

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 wha ..read more

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.]So, yes, that leaves a measly amount of copy that is actually remembe ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more