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Hello and welcome to this special festive episode of the Hot Copy Podcast. Belinda and I have come back together to roast some chestnuts, neck some egg nog and talk all things copy.
So if you’re ready to put up your stockings with us and wait for Father Christmas to slip down your copy chimney, this is the episode for you.
Did you know we've been creating this podcast since 2015 -- never missing an episode?
Well, not until 2020.
2020 has been the year of "the surge" for us both.
In this special episode, we go through how we've handled working through the pandemic and what's happening with the Hot Copy podcast.
Spoiler alert: we're mixing things up in 2021!
Have you ever felt cooped up in a corporate office, staring outside at the trees, wishing you could leave the hustle and bustle of city life behind?
Waking up mid-morning, taking a coffee onto the veranda, and staring out at wide-open pastures with birds chirping?
While it’s a nice daydream to have, many of us stick it out and stay put.
Others, like our guest today, put in the tough hours to make it a reality.
It’s not all lazy sleep-ins and fresh country air, but it IS freedom from the constraints of the city, and as far as copywriting goes - it’s a whole new demographic.
We’re excited to find out the difference location can make to your writing strategies from The Rural Copywriter herself!
Tune in to learn:
- How Sarah Walkerden became The Rural Copywriter
- Common misconceptions about country-living
- City VS Country copy
- The secrets of writing in a “down to earth style”
- The challenges of working with rural businesses
- How Sarah’s workday changed.
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and/or comment over on iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher. Thanks!
Oh and big hugs to Kate Crocker for her lovely testimonial.
“I love the Hot Copy Podcast. It's engaging, funny, and informative. It covers a huge range of copywriting topics, always with practical tips.
Belinda and Kate also interview some legends of the biz and obviously enjoy themselves.
This podcast is a must for any copywriter.”
About Sarah
The Rural Copywriter helps rural and regionally based businesses (including the agricultural and equestrian industries, boost their Google rankings and win over scores of adoring customers, through effective digital marketing messaging and strategy.
Specialising in writing SEO-friendly website copy and sales funnel copywriting, Sarah also helps businesses to develop effective content marketing strategies for blogs and social media.
Fun fact: Sarah also loves the smell of leather and horse sweat!
Useful links
Figuring out what makes you unique is a tough but essential part of marketing your copywriting services.
What if you’ve written for every type of business?
What if you’ve seen it all and written the copy?
Can oodles of experience be your USP?
The answer is yes and we’re excited to talk to a copywriter who celebrates not only her age and experience but her knack for reinvention… and how that’s shaped her copywriting business.
Tune in to learn:
- Life and writing experience – when you’ve seen it, done it, made it work (even when ‘it didn’t’)
- The process of reinvention and how to know if you need one
- The new dimension of imposter syndrome (aka ‘how can I possibly still be here doing this at my age?!’)
- Wrinkles and grey hair in the era of Facebook live
- Advice for grey-haired word nerds contemplating freelance copywriting
The joy of nailing your brand
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and / or comment over on iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher. Thanks!
Oh and big hugs to kazzaround from Australia for this lovely testimonial.
An old dog learning new tricks and really enjoying this podcast. Presented so well by Kate who is engaging, entertaining and informing on all things on copywriting. This is the best podcast in a while and I can’t get enough.
About Mary
Mary Cameron is an SEO Copywriter, Kiwi with Scots roots, now living ‘la vie bretonne’ in regional France.
A writer of clear, convincing words for exacting humans for over 40 years.
Distance runner turned endurance cyclist. Saltwater enthusiast. Bossed by a ginger cat. Wife to darling husband and mother to a lovely lad. Grumpy loser of board games.
Useful links
SaaS copy, is it a super sexy sassy form of copywriting?
No!
It’s Software as a Service copy.
Huh?
Well you know big brands like Stripe, ConvertKit, Slack - well yes they need copy.
And a particular type of copy.
When we write for SaaS companies we’re writing easy to understand words for potentially highly technical products.
We need to write copy that shows that this software, that you've never heard of, is absolutely essential for your life.
We’re digging deep into the world of SaaS today.
Tune in to learn:
- How Kat got started in copywriting
- When and why she decided to niche into SaaS copywriting
- What kind of copy SaaS clients regularly ask for
- How Kat found her first SaaS copywriting client
- How Kat stays up to date with SaaS trends
- Whether Kat’s clients tend to be one-off or ongoing work
- Kat’s SaaS copywriting process
- Key SaaS copywriting techniques
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and/or comment over on iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher. Thanks!
Oh and thanks to F N AWESOME Game for this great review of the show.
“I’m not even a copywriter, just a marketer, and I can’t stop listening to this podcast! The hosts and guests are amazing and I learn volumes from each episode!
My three other podcasts are on hold until I listen to every episode of the Hot Copy podcast (including the ones on their website too)!
They say this podcast is for copywriters, but in my humble opinion, it’s also for entrepreneurs, marketers, and salespeople too because each episode is packed full of gems of information.
Thanks, ladies and to all the guests for this valuable podcast and copywriting gold. I absolutely love it!”
About Kat
Kat Ambrose is obsessed with stringing words together, especially for SaaS companies.
She’s written for companies like Stripe, Keeping, and GoLinks, just to name a few. After a few years of cutting her teeth in the agency world, she left to pursue her writing career and hasn’t looked back since.
When she's not writing or keeping up with trends in the SaaS space, she's out for a run, paging through a thriller, or trying to pet the nearest dog.
Fun fact: Kat and her middle brother are 364 days apart!
Connect with Kat
Being a guest on a podcast is a fantastic way to increase your reach and boost your visibility and skyrocket that authority. Right? You're a really important person who knows what they're talking about when you're been on a pod.
But getting on a podcast is not quite as easy as just asking the podcast host.
Today's guest is a podcast guesting specialist and we're digging into how to get on podcasts but so much more.
Tune in to learn:
- How Mai-Kee niched into podcasting pitching
- How podcasts rank against other means to boost visibility and authority
- How to get over your own fear of being a podcast guest
- How to choose the best podcast to get on
- The secret of a solid podcast pitch
- Equipment needed if you don’t want to be rejected as a podcast
- Other essentials you need in place
- How to leverage the pods we’re on to get in front of our ideal clients
- The power of intentional podcast guesting
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and/or comment over on iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher. Thanks!
Oh and huge props Lizzie Macaulay for this review on Facebook.
As a mum of 2 youngsters (1&3), I am usually saddled with Wiggles-filled car journeys at every turn. Discovering the Hot Copy podcast has been a game-changer in more ways than I can count. Goodbye Wiggles, hello smart, witty, professional advice that has really shaped how I approach setting up my own service in regional Queensland. We have worked through nearly the entire catalogue in the last month or so, and it is my suspicion Kate and Belinda's tips are shaping two mini writers as well! ;-) Thank you both for all you do, and keep up the fantastic work!
About Mai-Kee
Mai-kee Tsang is a Podcast Guesting Mentor and Trainer who helps purpose-driven entrepreneurs to expand their reach, share their message, and grow their businesses to make a bigger impact on the world.
She does this by training her clients and their teams to build a self-sustaining podcast guesting system in their biz - so they can land brand-aligned podcast interviews without having to outsource to an external agency.
This helps to position her clients as guest experts who focus on Value-Driven Visibility™, intentional relationship building, and creating a loyal audience.
Connect with Mai-Kee
Do you want to know a secret?
Kate never actually wanted to be a copywriter. Her dream was to be a magazine writer. In fact, she was voted “Girl Most Likely To Write For Smash Hits” when she was at school.
But there's more. She was also a feature editor for her uni newspaper interviewing Blur and Bob Monkhouse.
She interned at several sexy music mags in London.
And she was accepted onto a prestigious magazine journalism course. Whaaaat?
But she couldn’t afford it. So she didn’t go.
So she spent the next 10 years wandering in the wilderness of digital production... until she found copywriting.
But Kate still yearns to be a REAL Writer.
(And we're all nodding here, right?)
Today we’re talking about writing for magazines and more specifically how to pitch them and we have a very special guest to give us the lowdown.
Tune in to learn:
- Where to start with magazine writing
- A peek behind-the-scenes with Rachel
- Emailing the perfect pitch
- Whether you should write an article or pitch the idea first
- The first point of contact when pitching articles
- How to hear back from potential writing jobs
- Pay rates in the world of magazine-writing
- Kill fees - what they are and how to obtain them
- Handling rejection as a writer.
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and/or comment over on iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher. Thanks!
Oh and please leave us a review and we'll read it out on the show!
About Rachel
Rachel Smith is a freelance journalist and copywriter with over 20 years' experience (most of that in isolation by choice, ha). She writes for magazines, websites, and corporate clients and has been published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Good Health, Woman’s Day, CHOICE, Foxtel Mag, TV Week, Inside Out, and many others. Rachel is also the founder of Rachel's List, a jobs board and community for writers – and she co-hosts The Content Byte podcast with fellow journo Lynne Testoni.
Connect with Rachel
As copywriters, we get to hide behind our keyboards – writing the words that put our clients in the spotlight.
And for many of us, it’s just where we want to be.
But are we doing ourselves a disservice?
Today we’re going to be talking to Mike Kim about building a personal brand and what it can mean for us as copywriters and business owners.
His own podcast Brand You is where he talks about all those things and more..
But today, he’s all ours.
Tune in to learn:
- The surprising start to Mike’s career
- Whether having a personal brand means we have to be a celebrity
- The elements of a strong personal brand
- How to start building your personal brand
- How a personal brand will compete or complement your business brand
- How a copywriter can develop a personal brand that genuinely stands out in an internet of copywriters
- How to communicate core brand values through content
- Mistakes most people make when it comes to their own brand
- What we need to get over in order to have a strong personal brand
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and/or comment over on iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher. Thanks!
Oh and huge props Lizzie Macaulay for this review on Facebook.
“As a mum of 2 youngsters (1&3), I am usually saddled with Wiggles-filled car journeys at every turn. Discovering the Hot Copy podcast has been a game-changer in more ways than I can count. Goodbye Wiggles, hello smart, witty, professional advice that has really shaped how I approach setting up my own service in regional Queensland. We have worked through nearly the entire catalogue in the last month or so, and it is my suspicion Kate and Belinda’s tips are shaping two mini writers as well! 😉
Thank you both for all you do, and keep up the fantastic work!” – Lizzie Macaulay
About Mike
Mike Kim is a speaker and marketing strategist who specializes in brand strategy and copywriting.
He’s been hired by some of today’s most influential thought leader brands including John Maxwell, Donald Miller, Suzanne Evans, and Catalyst.
For years he was the Chief Marketing Officer of a successful multi-million dollar company near New York City.
Nowadays you’ll find him speaking at conferences, looking for the next great place to scuba dive, and sipping a glass of Macallan 15 — all while teaching everything he knows about branding, entrepreneurship, and life through his hit podcast, Brand You.
Connect with Mike
Human-centered design is an approach to interactive systems development that aims to make systems usable and useful by focusing on the users, their needs and requirements, and by applying human factors and usability knowledge and techniques.
The point? To create a better experienced for real-life people.
On today’s podcast, we have a veritable whizz at all things human-centered, Anita Siek.
She’s going to explain what Human-Centred design is, how it applies to content and copywriting, and how we can use it to help our clients. Thank goodness!
Tune in to learn:
- Anita’s journey to where she is today
- How she grew Wordfetti and the challenges that she faced
- Human-centred copywriting and content
- Creative vs strategic copywriting
- Diverse income streams and not scaling by humans
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and/or comment over on iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher. Thanks!
Oh and big hugs to ANITA ASHLOCK for her lovely testimonial.
"This podcast has truly changed my career. There's zero fluff, 100% personality, and actionable advice. I've learned more from Hot Copy than anything else––grad school, previous jobs, online courses, etc. The hosts always talk about defining how you add value in your business and that's exactly what they do here. Added bonus? Now, this American knows what "whinge" means."
About Anita
Anita Siek is an ex-lawyer with a background in psychology who did a 360 in her career by becoming a brand strategist and copywriter. She's the founder and director of Wordfetti, a human-centered brand strategy and copywriting studio specialising in helping brands stand out through the power of psychology and words.
She is also the host of Brandfetti the podcast, a no-fluff weekly podcast dedicated to sharing bite-sized content marketing, verbal branding, and value-bombs on the science of words, as well as stories of brands who are creating a dent in their industry through the power of words. Some of Wordfetti's clients include Australia's largest insurer brand IAG, Lack of Color, Luna Bronze, Libby Trickett, and Mia Freedman.
Connect with Anita
Useful links
We are surrounded by art every day. And artists struggle with many of the challenges that us copywriters do…
- How to create a sense of perceived value around their work.
- How to market their work to audiences who will not only appreciate it but pay for it too.
- How to create a successful business without disrupting their creative process.
That’s where today’s guest comes in.
We’re talking to Ali Strachan, digging into how artists can create a successful business and how copywriters can be successful in this niche.
Tune in to learn:
- What an Arts Advocate does
- The big struggles artists face, and how Ali helps to overcome them
- How important strong personal branding and storytelling is for artists
- The kind of copy an arts copywriter writes
- The conflict between art and marketing: the artist and the customers
- Whether artists care about SEO, blogs, and mailing lists
- What gets Ali cross about arts marketing
Question for you
Have you ever written for an artist? Share your thoughts on Twitter (@hotcopypodcast) or our Facebook page!
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and/or comment over on iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher. Thanks!
Thanks to thatsmekq from the UK for a fantastic review of the show.
“Really enjoying your podcast and am going to be putting a lot of these tips to use in my new marketing manager role. I listen to a lot of marketing-related podcasts and this is my new favourite. Thanks for your high-quality content. Kay (Glasgow).”
Who is Ali?
Ali Strachan helps visual artists promote their work, make an impact, and earn more from sales and commissions.
She’s a passionate, knowledgeable, and honest advocate of the arts, who supports her clients to achieve success on their creative journey.
She regularly works with arts organisations and local council to promote and educate local artists and engage them in events to give them every opportunity to build their profile within the community.
As a fellow creative, she understands the challenges artists face when building their business – and has the tools, experience, and know-how to help artists be more profitable, so they can keep doing what they love.
Connect with Ali
Did you notice we missed an episode?
You’ve probably got bigger things to worry about right now. Like the C-word. We’re talking about COVID19, of course.
The truth is, we’ve been a bit scrambled too. Belinda is surviving on wine and 80s music.
Lockdown with memberships, communities, courses, launches AND managing the kid’s online learning.
It’s a bit bloody much.
We wanted to talk about that and what we’re doing to stay sane. We also got some questions about writing copy during this time.
We don’t know how useful this will be but we’re talking about it anyway.
Tune in to learn:
We’re revealing our lives right now including:
- How different lockdown is to school holidays
- How we’re managing our workload, relationships, homeschooling and screen time.
- Where our heads are at and how we’re managing our mindset
- Our coping strategies as time goes on
- Avoiding overdone content topics
- Whether you should be giving stuff away for free right now
- Guilty COVID pleasures
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and/or comment over on iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher. Thanks!
Oh and big hugs to Mejsh87 from Australia from Austraila for this lovely review.
“Am loving the podcast episodes and can’t wait to get through them all and implement the learnings! Just finished #62 and as always it was super practical and interesting with a touch of humour and lightheartedness. Thanks ladies and keep up the great work - it’s appreciated!!”
Some industries have a very straight-forward process to buy. I have a problem. I research alternatives. I choose one. I give them some money and I get something in return.
All very simple.
Other industries have a much more complex process. Very big (and expensive) projects often begin with a tendering process. Writing tenders for civil engineering and construction industries might seem like a dry idea to some but that’s what our guest today specialising in… and it’s way more interesting than you think.
Tune in to learn:
- How different tender writing is from other copywriting
- What are the different types of tender documents and the most common ones
- What goes into a tender and how long the average project takes
- How to charge and manage a tender writing project
- What the tender writing revision process looks like
- Where Estelle finds her clients
- The Do's and don'ts of tender writing
- Why Estelle chose this niche and how others an get started in it
- What kind of copywriter tender writing suits
- Estelle’s number one tender writing tip.
About Estelle
Estelle is a tender and SEO Copywriter who's been trying to find the Words That Fit for business for over 20 years. She cut her teeth on tenders and proposals for the recruitment sector before finding her absolute love working in the civil engineering and construction industry. These days she combines the two and has a lot of fun taking businesses through the tender process and beyond: from tender ready to web-ready to award ready.
Question for you
Is tender writing something you'd consider after listening? Share your thoughts on Twitter (@hotcopypodcast) or our Facebook page!
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and / or comment over on iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher. Thanks!
Oh and big hugs to GINA GODEEN from the USA for her lovely testimonial.
Kate and Belinda are always so fun to listen to (and not just because of their accents!). They have tons of great advice and are always willing to share their best copywriting tips. Great show.
Connect with Estelle
How many times have you Googled a symptom? Hands up. We all have. The need to make complex medical information accessible and readable has flourished with the advent of Google and the prevalence of internet access.
WHO NEEDS DOCTORS?
We do. Of course.
But as patients we’re more informed than ever and who writes the content we use to research the latest thoughts on medical science?
Medical copywriters!
Today we’re talking about medical copywriting -- accurately representing clinical data in a way that is clear, concise, and engaging. And we’re got specialist Nerissa Bentley to shed some light on this for us.
Tune in to learn:
- How Nerissa found her medical copywriting niche
- How she built her client-base in beginning
- Why understanding the rules and regulations is vital to medical copywriting
- The role research and referencing plays in medical copywriting
- The potential risks and hazards of medical copywriting
- Authority v approachability – how to nail the patient voice, and have authority without clinical jargon.
- Where Nerissa finds her clients now
- Whether medical copywriting is more lucrative than other forms of copywriting
- Whether writing medical copywriting takes longer
- The peaks and the pitfalls of working with international clients
- The quirkiest medical topic Nerissa’s ever written about
- Nerissa’s number one tip for newbie medical copywriters
Question for you!
Share your thoughts on Twitter (@hotcopypodcast) or our Facebook page!
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and / or comment over on iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher. Thanks!
Thanks to Traceluke from Australia for a fantastic review of the show.
Connect with Nerissa
The truth is most copywriters write solo, alone, with no one around but perhaps a farting dog, or keyboard obsessed cat.
We need silence and solitude to rouse the creative muse.
But can working with another creative brain be a good thing?
In agency life we’re often paired with designers (shudders) to work on concepts as a team, but how about being paired with another copywriter, and writing pages of copy TOGETHER!!
Dun Dun Der.
Is that even a thing?
In this episode, we chat about the challenges of writing together, the highs, the lows and some tips on how to make this a viable and enjoyable option for your business.
Tune in to learn:
We’ll be sharing our top 7 tips including.
- Know your personality flaws
- Match personality types
- Divide and conquer
- Stay open
- Work out your process
- Expect challenges
- Enjoy the adventure
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and/or comment over on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks!
Oh and big hugs to Steve Melbourne from Australia for his lovely testimonial.
Does cold emailing get you in a cold sweat? Is it something you’ve put off because you don’t want to be accused of being a spammer… Or face rejection, over and over again?
Many of us will find anything to do aside from sending a cold pitch email. We create and share content. We go to networking events. We participate in forums and FB groups where our ideal customers hang out.
All great marketing strategies but there comes a time when we need to get proactive about our lead generation.
Today’s episode features special guest, Laura Lopuch, and it will empower you to get on the front foot and start sending emails to bring in more work.
Tune in to learn:
- The career Laura left to become a conversion copywriter
- How she uncovered sending cold emails as her superpower
- Whether cold emailing is just a numbers game (and how to win)
- Tips on preparing to send an email to someone who you don’t know
- The structure of an effective cold email
- Surprisingly simple follow up tips
- How to get your mojo right to send a great cold email
Question for you!
Do you embrace proactive lead generation like cold emailing? Or does it terrify you?
Share your thoughts on Twitter (@hotcopypodcast) or our Facebook page!
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and/or comment over on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks!
Thanks to Kgb_kgb from Canada for a fantastic review of the show.
About Laura
Laura is an email conversion copywriter + strategist for startups, service professionals, and SaaS companies who want to send those infamous, money-makin’ emails you’ve heard so dang much about.
Her expertise lies in cold emails. Which are the hardest email marketing channel to master. Laura’s work has been seen on websites like Kissmetrics, Crazy Egg, Get Response, Copy Hackers, and MailShake. One of her cold emails brought in $20,000 in revenue.
Thanks to her work with many clients (including online biggies like Joanna Wiebe and Selena Soo), she’s seen firsthand that being ultra-relevant to your email reader is pure magic for getting sales.
Useful resources
- The 2 x cold email templates Laura made available to Confident Copywriters
- Laura’s FB live on the 7 Types of cold emails
- Boomerang (email scheduler and more for Gmail)
- Streak (CRM for Gmail)
Find Laura
SEO is a topic we've often see discussed in copywriting Facebook groups and across the web.
And most copywriters either seem scared of it, confused by it or just overwhelmed by how to package it and sell it to clients.
The question most often asked? What does an SEO copywriter actually do?
And can you even call yourself an online writer if you don’t have mad SEO skills?
In today’s episode, we walk you through what we think SEO copywriting really means, how to do it, and how it can become a valuable arrow in your copywriting quiver.
Tune in to learn:
- What is SEO copywriting
- What SEO copywriting involves
- Can you really be an SEO copywriter if you don’t understand the big picture?
- Essential SEO know-how for copywriters
- How to package your SEO copywriting service
- The trick to making sure keyword research doesn’t steal all your time
- Kate’s keyword research strategy
- How to set client expectations of your SEO service
- Some rough guidelines on times for SEO packages
Question for you!
Do you think SEO copywriting is an essential skill? Do you feel confident about offering it?
Share your thoughts on Twitter (@hotcopypodcast) or our Facebook page!
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and/or comment over on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks!
Thanks to GinaGodeen from USA for a fantastic review of the show.
Useful links
Christmas is a great time of the year to take a break from your business as your clients are on holidays. It’s also a great time to knuckle down and get some strategic work done… because your clients are all on holidays!
In this episode, Kate and Belinda share their own plans for Christmas 2019 and how they’re setting themselves up for success in 2020.
Did someone say INTENTION WORD?
Then, we go into infomercial mode because the Hot Copy Mastermind is 100% happening in early 2020 and we want to tell you all about it.
(You can actually hear Belinda chirping with excitement).
If you’re not interested in the Mastermind, you’ll still get a lot of great tips in the first half of the ep.
Dig in and enjoy!
Tune in to learn:
- How Belinda and Kate are spending their time off this year
- How they’re making sure school holidays don’t catch them by surprise (AGAIN)
- The word/s they’re using to focus their work in 2020
- Why a good wall planner is essential
- How YOU can tick off some strategic projects in 2020
- The benefits of planning personal time into your 2020
- What the Hot Copy Mastermind is all about including how it will work and who it’s for
Question for you!
How do you approach the end of the year? Do you take time off or work through? Do you plan the coming year or let it unfold as it happens?
Let us know on Twitter (@hotcopypodcast) or our Facebook page!
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and/or comment over on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks!
Thanks to Evan Postier, Minnesota, USA for saying that we’re funny in his fantastic review of the show.
Useful links
Today, Kate is talking to Glenn Fisher, from All Good Copy. He’s an Author, Copywriter, Podcast and Speaker.
His book ‘The Art of The Click’ was shortlisted as the business book of the year in 2019. And his podcast - The All Good Copy Podcast - has had a string of awesome guests on it, including me. He has a dog called Pablo, a Crime podcast loving partner called Ruth and lives in merry old England.
But as well as being a copywriting celebrity, Glenn is also a working writer, and he specialises in direct response. He’s worked with a string of sexy clients helping them drive sales and win over clients and today he’s sharing his secrets with us.
Tune in to learn:
- When you talk about being a direct response copywriter - what do you mean by that?
- A lot of people assume direct response is all about long copy. Is that true?
- How do you go about writing a 10,000 word long copy sales letter?
- Should you handwrite out letters?
- How can people study direct response?
- What mistakes do most direct copywriters make?
- Who have been your biggest influences in your career?
- What’s the one book you’d recommend all copywriters read?
- Who was Glenn’s favourite podcast guest?
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and / or comment over on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks!
Oh and big hugs to thatsmekq for their lovely testimonial.
About Glenn
Glenn Fisher was born in Grimsby in 1981. After a number of years working in the local council, he left to become a copywriter and founded AllGoodCopy.com, a free online resource for direct response copywriters and marketers. For over a decade, he worked with The Agora, a multi-million-pound international financial publisher and in 2018, having helped launch and grow Agora Financial in the UK, he left to write copy on a freelance basis, focus on coaching aspiring copywriters and publish his first book, The Art of the Click. He now regularly speaks at industry events and hosts The All Good Copy Podcast, where he interviews some of the biggest names in the business. He lives happily with his partner Ruth and dog Pablo on the east coast of England.
Connect with Glenn
Useful links
Ghostwriting is pretty much what we do as copywriters. We write the words that others get to claim as their own.
But have you ever been asked to write something more substantial than a blog, web copy or brochure? Have you ever been asked to write to someone else’s BOOK?
That’s the kind of ghostwriting we’re talking about today. What you need to know to add it to your portfolio of services.
Tune in to learn:
- How Cindy went from a Ph.D. in English to a ghostwriter
- Her favourite type of book to write
- Her favourite books to read
- How she approaches the task of writing someone else’s story
- The challenges that led to the creation of her Write My Book BlueprintTM framework
- How to package a ghostwriting service
- Warning signs that your client isn’t ready for their book
- Tips to get into writing books for others
- Cindy’s best resources
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and / or comment over on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks!
Thanks to Mike Sullivan (or Sully) from USA for a fantastic review of the show.
About Cindy
Dr. Cindy, The Expert’s Ghostwriter, is a ghostwriter and book editor for coaches and consultants that go on to achieve Amazon Bestseller status, book TEDx Talks, build coaching businesses, and create nonprofits.
She developed her Write My Book BlueprintTM framework to create reading experiences that encourage reviews and turn readers into lifelong fans of the author. Her best clients want to publish books that make an impact, and she’s committed to write and edit their books to look and feel like any other bestseller at a major bookstore.
Dr. Cindy holds a Ph.D. in English and teaches creative writing classes at Writespace Houston and is a foster mom with Citizens for Animal Protection in Houston, TX. She most recently fostered three underweight tortoise-shell kittens that are now awaiting their furrever homes.
Connect with Cindy
Useful links
- Ingram Spark (self-publishing)
- Jen Freedman
- The Creative Penn
- Writer's League of Texas
Steve Follard is the host of the ‘Being Freelance’ Podcast and the ‘Doing it for the Kids’ Podcast. He’s also a video and audio freelancer.
He’s talked to countless freelancers about the challenges of our strange rollercoaster life and he wanted to share the biggest lessons with the Hot Copy listeners.
Just a note this episode was recorded as a Masterclass for my Clever Copywriting Community, so if you hear anything strange that’s why.
Tune in to learn:
- Why you shouldn’t freak out
- Why it’s important to understand your finances
- The lesson of Knowing yourself.
- How to be Yourself
- Why nice guys get paid last
- How to stop being so available
- How to Learn to say NO
- Why Steve schedules life first
- How to make opportunities for yourself
- Why Other Freelancers are NOT the competition.
Question for the listeners!
What’s your biggest freelance lesson?
Share your thoughts on Twitter or our Facebook page!
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and / or comment over on iTunes or Stitcher.
Thanks! Thanks to urban_wanderer from the USA for a fantastic review of the show.
About Steve
Steve is a video & audio creator. Usually for businesses, but as you can tell, he has a habit of doing it for the freelance community too.
That’s what he does now. For years he worked in radio.
In 2013 he swapped early starts for a life being freelance: to be his own boss, to be with his two kids, to be more awake.
He’s always freelanced alongside ‘full time’ jobs though: radio producer, presenter, scriptwriter, voiceover or copywriter.
He started the Being Freelance podcast in January 2015.
In 2016 he started documenting his freelance life with the Being Freelance vlog.
In 2018 he started speaking at events on the subject of freelancing and finding work-life balance.
2019 saw him launch the Being Freelance Community and become the co-host of a second podcast for freelance parents: Doing It For The Kids podcast.
He loves cake.
He runs because he knows he should.
Sometimes it’s past a bakers.
Find Steve
Have you missed us? If you’re a regular listener to the Hot Copy podcast, you may have noticed that we’ve been AWOL for a few weeks.
In this episode, we explain what we’ve been up to, how it derailed our podding schedule and the lessons we’ve taken from the work we’ve been doing.
We’re also announcing a VERY exciting new project in 2020. If you’re a copywriter and you’d love to work with us more closely, tune in.
Tune in to learn:
- What Kate and Belinda have been up to
- What they’ve learned from sticky business moments
- Why Belinda is so excited about the end of October
- How to work with Kate and Belinda more closely in 2020
Question for the listeners!
Have you ever been on a retreat or been part of a Mastermind? What was your experience?
Share your thoughts on Twitter (@hotcopypodcast) or our Facebook page!
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and / or comment over on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks!
Thanks to Sarah Artis for a fantastic review of the show.
Useful links
Lead magnets have been part of our marketing vernacular for years now. You offer a thing of value and people give you their email address (and permission to email them).
But is there any money to be made from writing these?
Absolutely!
To share HOW copywriters to land some high paying ebook projects, we’re talking to Steve Slaunwhite.
Tune in to learn:
- What we mean when we talk about an ebook
- What an exceptional ebook should include
- How to pick the best topic for an ebook
- Expert tips on structuring your ebook service
- Tips on landing profitable ebook projects
Question for you!
Do you offer ebooks writing services? What tips can you add?
Share your thoughts on Twitter (@hotcopypodcast) or our Facebook page!
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and / or comment over on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks!
Thanks to urban_wanderer from USA for leaving a fantastic review of the show.
About Steve
Steve Slaunwhite has been a copywriter and copywriting trainer for 20+ years.
He’s the creator of many popular online courses the author of “The Everything Guide to Writing Copy” and AWAI’s 2016 Copywriter Of The Year.
In his spare time, Steve likes to paint (poorly), cycle, read and hang out with his family.
Connect with Steve
Check Steve out at www.CopywritingCoach.com
How do you get copywriting clients?
It’s a question we get asked all the time. We even did an episode on it covering some of the most common lead gen tactics.
But there are some platforms and techniques that might surprise you. Like Instagram.
It’s a HUGE platform but many people dismiss it because it’s (gasp) images. And we deal with words
In this episode, Belinda talks to a copywriter who is nailing Instie and picks her brain on how we can too!
Tune in to learn:
- How Ami shifted from craft to copywriting
- Why she loves Instagram so much and her strategy for success
- Why copywriters often struggle with Instie and her tips on nailing it
- How often you should post and what type of content works best
- The hidden power of stories to maximise your reach
- How to make your posts more readable
- Super tips to boost your bio
Question for the listeners!
Do you get leads from Instagram? Tell us about your strategy! Share your thoughts on Twitter (@hotcopypodcast) or our Facebook page!
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and / or comment over on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks!
Thanks to Sharon Well for a fantastic review of the show.
About Ami
Ami is a writer of personality-driven copy, lover of a good laugh and slightly evil genius. She helps brands get clear on their personality so that they can show up consistently, stand out in a noisy marketplace and attract their dream customers.
When we start out as copywriters, obviously the aim is to be successful. But what does that even mean?
In this episode, Belinda and Kate are honest about the upsides and downsides of being successful.
Is it all it’s cracked up to be? Is the grass really greener or are there just different prickles?
Oh, and this is our 100th episode!
Tune in to learn:
- How Kate and Belinda define success
- How their definitely of success has changed
- The upsides of success
- The downsides of success
- What would they do differently?
Question for you!
How do YOU define success?
Share your thoughts on Twitter (@hotcopypodcast) or our Facebook page!
Share the pod love
If you like what you’re hearing on Hot Copy, the best way to support the show is to take just a few seconds to leave a rating and / or comment over on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks!
Thanks to Ngaire Clare from Australia for a fantastic review of the show.
As copywriters and business owners, we seek the warmth and security of financial consistency. Many of us believe if you can wriggle in with agency clients, we’ll have just that.
But what are agencies all about? Are they something you should consider working harder to build relationships with? Are there any downfalls for working with agencies? And how do you even your little toe in the door? Kate Merryweather joins us today and will be answering each of these elusive questions.
Tune in to learn:
- How to approach agencies
- Ways to stay front of mind with agencies
- How to stay visible in an agency
- Management tools to boost your impact
- How agency relationships workHow to charge for agency work
- The pros of taking on agency clients
- The cons for taking on agency clients
- How to get agencies on retainer
- The legalities of working with agencies