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 constrai...
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, d...
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. T...
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 a...
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 ...
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 care...
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...
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 successfu...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
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 ep...
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 valua...
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 ...
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 ...
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 wri...
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 impor...
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 s...
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 structur...
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 c...
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 ...
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: ...
Are you struggling to run your copywriting business around your family? Do you worry about too much screen time… or (gasp) future therapy bills because you’re meeting deadlines rather than taking your kids to the park? It’s easy to trowel guilt on ourselves when we see copywriters running 6 or 7 figure businesses. Or landing 5 figure projects. What are we doing with our lives? Are we ruining our children trying to grow our copywriting businesses? Are we just THE WORST? We’re going to stop you ri...
We went to a copywriting conference in New York City in March 2019. It was Brooklyn but let’s not facts spoil the glamour. It was TCC IRL (The Copywriter Club In Real Life) and while we had a BLAST hanging out together – you would be surprised how many years it’s been since we hung out in real life – we also took the chance to pick the brains of the speakers. We asked as many speakers as we could grab in the breaks, “What is ONE THING you wish you’d know when you started your copywriting career....
To swear (in copy) or not to swear (in copy) that is the question. As copywriters, we’re always having to change the way we write to adapt to the times. And these days everyone seems to love to eff and blind like a mofo, right? What once packed a punch, is now old school. And some things that seem edgy are not as great as they’re cracked up to be - or make you sound like a try-hard teen. Today, we look at the pros and cons of writing sweary copy. Is it a good tactic to add to your belt or is it ...
Rob Marsh has been a little name and then a big name. He mastered the copywriting world, working with some of the biggest names and wearing many hats, founding communities, conferences, courses and more. He co hosts the second best copywriting podcast too! The golden question is of course “How did he do it? And how does he fit it all in?” Today, we’ll delve into the Whens, Whats, Whys and Hows. Rob will give us a sneak peek into how his career unfolded and how you can leverage his experience to ...
Are you ready for a journey into the past? We're going back in time for a special flashback. In this episode, we're sharing 16 types of copywriting clients almost every copywriter will get to work with. Some are awesome and some… are not. Plus our tips on spotting them and how to work with them (so your copywriting project is smooth sailing). Tune to learn: Our favourites types of clients How to deal with scope creep and requests for free work How to guide clients who can’t tell you what to chan...
