All posts by Gina Edwards
Six Secrets Your Copywriter Wishes You Knew
I’m no mind reader, but I bet I know why you’re here.
You’ve recently hired or are thinking about hiring a copywriter for your business, but things just don’t seem to be panning out the way you thought they would. The writer seems frustrated or annoyed by your questions, the feedback you’re receiving is overwhelming, and/or nothing seems to be working on your schedule. Plus, you’re watching dollars fly out of your bank account without really seeing the results you’re looking for.
Or maybe you’ve heard horror and/or success stories from fellow entrepreneurs who have hired copywriters, and you wanna know how to learn from their mistakes/follow their lead.
Even if you’ve got a stellar working relationship with your business’ content or copywriter, there are always ways to make it better or ready yourself for hiring a writer in the future.
A good place to start is by listening to seasoned copywriters.
Shoe on the Other Foot: Lessons from a Writer Turned Editor
I am a complicated person.
One day you’ll find me loftily tossing away the instruction manual for my “much assembly required” bookshelf, and the next I’m picking through search results for “best floss.”
I simultaneously love process, order, structure, and organization, and enjoy sending it all up in flames. (Ask my college best friend about the time I undid his perfectly alphabetized DVD collection when he wasn’t home.)
As a writer, I embraced this Pandora’s box of eyebrow-furrowing paradoxes. “Call it my complex creative spirit,” I probably said, on one of my high horse days (to which there was much eye-rolling in the land). You can usually get away with such woo-woo excuses when you’re a writer because, let’s just say it already, no one really expects you to be super reliable.
You know it’s true. Writers rank up there with dreamcatcher makers, crystal collectors, self-proclaimed animal mediums, and Santa Claus in terms of how much adult people believe in us.
It’s part of why a lot of editors and writers fight.
To Find Your Writing Voice, Accept Your Changing Self
What sets you apart from the fellow writer at Starbucks who is also nursing a cup of joe for six hours in the name of free wi-fi?
Your hustle, industry connections, bylines in fancy places, or superior Moleskine notebook, you might think. Sure, all those things factor into the grand scheme of the #writinglife, but there’s one important piece that you might forget to include: your voice.
Like DNA, your writing voice makes the words you’ve click-clacked out at two in the morning or scribbled into a notebook on a bumpy bus ride connect specifically to you. With any luck, it resonates with your desired audience, brings them to your website, or makes them start buying your books, and BAM! — you become a thought leader, successful businesswoman, or published author.
How to Be a Human When You’re Also a Business
We all know the name Oprah.
Just hearing her name sparks an instant stream of associations: Her talk show. Magazine. Acting appearances. Stedman. Potential presidential bid. Book club. “And you get a car!”
Why do we know so much about Oprah?
Well, she has built the ultimate personality brand.
Over the years, she has savvily leveraged her following of adoring fans into new ventures, from Oprah’s Book Club to O Magazine (she’s on the cover of every issue), and even her own television channel.
$3.1 billion later, Oprah has cemented her spot as a beloved household name.