Tag: content writer

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7 tips to help you write a headline that gets you noticed

Me at my computer, creating content and trying to write a headline that'll get my marketing noticed.
Image by Julie Grant Photography

Good content marketing headlines can mean the difference between your content being read or totally ignored. (Find out why here.) Here are my tips on how to write a headline that will help you attract the right audience.

Make sure your headline reflects your content

A good headline lets your audience know what to expect. If people start reading only to find that your post wasn’t what they were expecting, you’ll lose their trust, and that’s fatal to a small business. So write a headline showing them why your content is worth your time, and ensure your post sticks to the point.

Write your headline last

If you’ve planned your post, you’ll have a good idea about what you’re going to cover, but things can change as you write. You might come up with an interesting analogy or a take on the subject you weren’t expecting. If you write a headline before you start, check it at the end. Does it still work with the finished piece?

Use numbers

If you can use a number when you write a headline, do it. Several studies have shown that using a number in your headline can increase engagement by anything from 15% to 73%. Readers like numbers because they’re specific and show you roughly how long a post will be. However, please don’t shoehorn a number in if it isn’t relevant. Your readers will smell a rat.

Write lots of different options

Writing several different headline ideas gives you options to choose from and can help you to create a headline that fits your content. Change the structure of your headline and use different synonyms. You can also think about the results your readers will get and why they’ll be interested in what you have to say. Then, when you’ve finished the piece, you can see which one is the best fit.

Put keywords at the start

Putting your keyword or phrase at the start of your headline means that your subject is clear from the start. That’s great for your readers and your SEO. However, it isn’t always possible; I think it’s better to have a headline that reads well than to put your keyword at the start and end up with a clunky sentence.

Use power words

Power words are words and phrases that encourage people to pay attention. Sometimes these can be as simple as using ‘you’ or ‘your’ in a headline. It makes your reader feel that you’re speaking to them personally. Power words are often emotional but can also create a sense of urgency. CoSchedule’s list of 180 power words will give you an idea of the kind of words that work.

Test your headlines

A good headline lets your audience know what they’re going to read but also creates an emotional connection. You might not think you can test that, but you can. If you’ve got a few different options, a headline analyser can help you to pick the best one. There are a few to try, but my favourite is the Advanced Marketing Institute’s headline analyser.

Do you want to grab your audiences’ attention and create content that speaks your customers’ language? I can help with that. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

You can also sign up to receive monthly emails packed with useful content writing and marketing tips using the form below.

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Why are good headlines important?

A newspaper with good headlines

You might associate the word ‘headline’ with a newspaper or online article, but you use them everywhere in your marketing. They’re the title of your blog posts, the subject line in your emails and even your social media posts have a line at the top that’s the first thing your readers will see. Good headlines can determine whether your marketing hits the spot with your audience. Read on to find out why…

Headlines catch people’s attention

OK, this is the most obvious reason for creating good headlines. They’re designed to intrigue potential readers so that they want to know more. That could be because you’re offering the solution to a problem or because you’ve teased some juicy secret they must know about. It makes them look twice and tempts them to read the rest.

I have one important caveat – a good headline isn’t misleading. This brings me to…

Good headlines let your readers know what to expect

Clickbait may work for some businesses, but small businesses like ours need to build trust. A clear headline that lets your reader know what they’ll get from your content helps you do that. It also allows your audience to decide whether it’s worth their time. That way, when they click through, they know that you’re providing tips or advice they can use.

Even if people don’t read the whole post, it gives them a clear impression of what you do and what your business offers.

They can express a particular mindset

Have you ever stood and looked at a newspaper and magazine display in a shop? Each publication could be talking about the same subject or news story, but they all do it differently. The headlines they use help you understand their political viewpoint or the issues they care about.

Your headlines can do the same; they can help you attract customers with a similar worldview to you or tell them something about your personality, so they’ll know whether you’re their kind of person.

Headlines are great for SEO

Headlines work to boost your search engine rankings in two different ways. Firstly, the fact that you have a headline tells Google that your content is well-organised and likely to be helpful.

Secondly, you can include keywords in your headlines. Then, when search engines look at your site, they can immediately tell what your subject is. That means when someone asks a question with your keywords, they know your content is relevant to that search.

Good headlines = more clicks

When you create marketing, you want people to read it, and a good headline encourages them to do that. That doesn’t just apply to content you created to educate your audience. It can help you to get new sign-ups to your email list and more sales. A headline can make it clear that you’re selling something and give your audience insight into the benefits of your product or service so they click through to find out more and ultimately buy from you.

Do you want to grab your audiences’ attention and create content that speaks your customers’ language? I can help with that. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

You can also sign up to receive monthly emails packed with useful content writing and marketing tips using the form below.

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Where will you find new people to grow your audience?

Marketing has two main goals. The first is to let potential customers know you exist, and the second is to show them how you help them (and that they can trust you) so they become customers. Of course, you need to grow your audience to achieve the first goal, but how do you do that? Where will you find all these new people who haven’t heard about you yet?

Here are a few of mine. If you have some of your own, let me know in the comments!

Your website

Your website can help you to grow your audience in loads of different ways. A good SEO strategy will help them find you on Google and learn about you or buy products from the comfort of their sofa. You can have a contact form so they can get in touch with you quickly or encourage them to sign up for your email list. Even if you aren’t ready to get into SEO, a website can act as a brochure where people who’ve found you elsewhere can check you out.

Social media

This is probably the first thing you think about when you’re trying to grow your audience. Social media can help you to reach people you might never meet in real life or someone who’s just up the road but hasn’t heard of you yet. This could happen because your existing followers share your posts or because each platform shows you new things that it thinks you’ll like.

You must think about what your audience needs, what platforms they spend time on and the content they’ll enjoy.

Networking

The idea of networking can strike fear into the heart of a new business owner, but it doesn’t have to be scary. It can give you a supportive community and new customers if you find the right group. Groups can vary immensely in their approach, so try out a few and see what you think.

The main disadvantage of networking is that it can be pretty time-consuming, but it can also be the fastest way to build a relationship. It can also have other benefits…

Referrals

Your network isn’t just the people you know; it’s also the people who know you. For example, you only have to dip into a community Facebook group to find someone looking for recommendations for a plumber or somewhere to get their nails done.

You could get a referral from an existing client or someone you met networking. That person you spoke to over coffee or in a Facebook group might not need your services but could end up chatting with someone who does.

The real world

How would you find new customers if every social media platform suddenly ceased to exist? I know that isn’t likely to happen, but I’ve seen plenty of people get hacked or banned and lose their business page. The reality is that you’d look to the real world. That could simply be networking or referrals. It could be making your shop front look inviting, so people walk in. Think about where your potential customers spend time offline, and you can expand your marketing horizons.

Do you want to grow your audience by creating content that speaks your customers’ language? I can help with that. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

You can also sign up to receive monthly emails packed with useful content writing and marketing tips using the form below.

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What you need to know about your audiences’ lives

Here I am, getting to know about my audiences' lives.
Image by Julie Grant Photography

Understanding what your future customers need is an essential first step in creating effective marketing, but you guessed it, there’s more to it than that. Any marketing you create has to compete with umpteen other things. First, you need to learn about your audiences’ lives to understand what they are. Then you can talk to them like a human being, not just another faceless business.

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

What will stop them from buying?

Overcoming buyer objections doesn’t mean you have to be a pushy salesperson. It just means that your marketing needs to answer the questions they already have. That could be explaining what you do and how you work, being clear about costs and answering as many potential questions as possible. Sometimes new customers need to do their research before they feel ready to decide.

What demands do they have on their time?

Understanding your audiences’ lives means knowing what they deal with every day. Do they work all day, then come home to cook the kids’ tea and get them to bed before they can sit down? Do they look at social media when they’re still half asleep in the morning? When might they get a minute to themselves? When you know that you can create content that they’ll enjoy and time your posts so your audience will see them.

Where do they spend their time?

It’s easy to focus on social media and which platforms your audience will use. That’s an integral part of your marketing but think about the real world too. For example, if you offer activities for kids or postnatal yoga, consider where the baby groups meet and whether they have a notice board. A co-working space could have room for leaflets that other businesses will see.

What do they value?

It can get disheartening when there’s a cost-of-living crisis, and everyone you know is talking about being skint. What’s the point in marketing when no one’s buying? The truth is that people will still spend money on the things they value. Ask yourself what’s important to your audience and how your product or service ties in with that, and then tell people about it.

What stage of life are they at?

Sometimes the things your audience value most relate to where they are in their lives. A student or someone looking for their first job has very different priorities from a newly retired person. Even if you sell to parents, their needs will change depending on whether they have a newborn or a teenager. That will influence what they care about and how you need to talk to them.

What do they expect from you?

My expectations of a business vary depending on who they are. If I buy from a small business that sells handmade goods, I don’t expect next-day delivery like I would from Amazon. Likewise, the level of professionalism your customers expect might change depending on the type of business they’re looking for. You can influence their expectations through the language you use in your marketing. This works incredibly well if you work in an industry with a stuffy reputation, like law or finance, and want to turn that on its head.

Do you want to create content that reflects your audiences’ lives and speaks your customers’ language? I can help with that. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

You can also sign up to receive monthly emails packed with useful content writing and marketing tips using the form below.

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Case study: writing a blog for Goldfinch Marketing’s client

Image shows a pile of magazines and a laptop with the kind of project that Goldfinch Marketing got to work on when I started writing a blog for their client.

One of my favourite things about my work is the chance to learn about the different ways that creative people work. I loved art at school, but I know that there are artists and designers out there that are far better at creating visuals than I am. Hand me a pen and a notebook, and I’m happy. I don’t panic in the face of a drawing pad and pencil, but I might not show the results to anyone. It makes me happy when I see work from people who can make stuff look beautiful.

This means that I was thrilled when I met Christina from Goldfinch Marketing. She creates gorgeous designs, and she’s also brilliant at techy stuff. It all comes together in beautiful websites that Google will love as much as your customers do. She’s also very good at writing; in fact, she’s so talented I would hate her if she wasn’t also lovely.

This may have you wondering why she’d need me, a writer when she’s already good at writing. Read on…

The pandemic

I met Christina during lockdown when everyone was virtual networking; some of us were home-schooling too. She’s based in Dorset, so the chances of us running into each other in person were virtually non-existent. Like many of us, Christina had taken some time during lockdown to evaluate her business and work out what she wanted to spend her time doing.

She’d started Goldfinch Marketing to help her clients with all their marketing needs, whether that was a new website, graphic design or content writing. Her review told her that she loved web design and graphics work but didn’t want to do content writing anymore. That’s where I came in.

The project

Christina had gradually reduced the amount of content writing she took on, but she still wrote blogs for one client. She told me they were lovely people she enjoyed working for and didn’t want to let them down. At the same time, she wanted to free up some time for other projects, so she wanted to see if I could take over writing a blog for them.

Of course I could. Writing their blog was right up my street; they’re a business offering a professional service, so they needed to share their expertise but didn’t want to be stuffy. I read the posts that Christina had already written to follow the same style and suggested some new topics. I also wrote social media edits for each blog post so that the individual paragraphs would work as standalone posts. The client was still happy, and Christina had time for other things.

If you need a new website, I recommend checking out Christina’s work here. Alternatively, if you want to outsource your content writing, either for yourself or one of your clients, let’s have a chat. You can book a call with me here.

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Do you need a website to write a blog?

The short answer to this is that no, you don’t. The question is, will a standalone blog help you to achieve your goals if it isn’t part of a larger website? Here’s my rundown on the reasons why you don’t need a website to write a blog and why you might want a website after all.

What’s the difference between a blog and a website?

When you visit my website you’ll find lots of different pages about my business, products and services. My blog is just part of a larger whole. The reason I do it this way is that my blog is part of my marketing strategy, not a business in itself.

If you run a business, your website is your virtual shop window. The blog is part of the content that helps your customers to find you.

What do you want to achieve?

If you want your blog to be a business, you might not need a website. However, if you want a site that lets you offer products, build your email list and offer affiliate links you almost certainly will. Some brands will only offer affiliate links if you have a website rather than a standalone blog or social media presence.

It’s also a good idea to think about your brand and the kind of image you want to create.

You can use a free blogging platform

Some platforms let you choose whether to create a self-hosted website or a free blog. WordPress is just one example; you can create a website and pay for hosting. Alternatively, you can have the free version to create a blog.

If you choose the free version you’ll have WordPress in your website URL, which might not look all that professional if you’re trying to build a brand that goes beyond blogging.

Third-party selling sites

If you create products your main source of income might be a third-party platform like Etsy or Not on the High Street whose brands let small businesses reach a wider audience. Building your own website could let you make sales at a lower cost, but you’d have to do the work to promote it and attract visitors.

If you’d prefer to start by creating a blog, you can use it to send visitors to your shop even if it’s on a third-party platform.

You can use another blogging site

There are blogging sites that operate in a similar way to social media platforms. You can create a profile and attract followers who are interested in the topic you cover or who’ve searched for specific hashtags. For content that’s heavy on visuals, Tumblr could be a good option. Alternatively, if you create in-depth written content Medium is a great platform and there’s an option to monetize your content too.

Microblogging

Microblogging is short-form content (like a longish social media caption) that helps you to share your expertise and tell your story. It’s a great way to start if you’re trying to find your voice. The only disadvantage is that you don’t get to share as much detail as you would in a standard blog post.

I tend to create this kind of content by writing a longer blog post and then breaking it down into individual sections.

Wherever you choose to blog, the quality of your writing matters if you want to build a following and promote your business. If you want some help writing in a way that speaks your customers’ language, let’s have a chat.

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Does grammar even matter anymore?

The image shows a woman in a black t-shirt writing on a notepad, probably wondering if her grammar is OK.
Photo by picjumbo.com: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-blue-ballpoint-pen-writing-in-notebook-210661/

Every so often, a conversation will crop up in my social media feed about grammar. The person writing the post wants to know how much we all care about it and whether mistakes bother us. Aren’t we all talking more informally now? Does grammar even matter anymore? Here’s what I think.

Your audience matters

When I write my content, I’ll be thinking about you. Not in a weird way, of course. I’ll think about how you balance running a business with everything else in your life and the marketing challenges you might face. It’s the same when I write for my clients. The type of language I use depends on who we’re talking to.  It’s not so different to having a conversation when you think about it.  A chat with your friends is very different to a meeting with the bank manager.

Think about the kind of person you’re talking to and what image you want to put across. Do you need to be professional but approachable? Could you have a chat with your customers over a cuppa?

Speech vs writing

It can be easy to get the right tone when you’re speaking but writing it down can prove a bit more difficult though.  I’ve often advised people to record themselves speaking if they’re struggling to write. The trouble is, they often find that their sentences suddenly look wrong on paper.  We start to wonder whether that word is spelt right or if there should be an apostrophe somewhere.

I’ll admit that I’m a grammar pedant. Even if my clients are relaxed about grammar, I want to get it right. Having said that, there are times when bending the rules can make your message more effective because it’s the sort of language your audience would use. At the same time, I’m not going to judge anyone for getting it wrong. I know some highly intelligent and creative people who struggle with grammar and spelling. In the grand scheme of things, it’s more important to get the message across. 

When does grammar matter?

There are forms of communication where every comma matters.  Legal and financial documents must be precise.  They have a language all their own.

It’s important to strike a balance.  Say, for example, you’re a financial adviser who wants to start a blog.  You need to create the right impression.  You’re intelligent, experienced and (most importantly) you know what you’re talking about.  However, none of that will matter if your potential customers don’t understand a word you’re saying.  Your tone needs to be formal but accessible.

If you’re a mum making baby clothes to sell to other mums, they’ll still want to hear about the quality of the product but your tone can be much more conversational.  You’re having a chat with someone who shares your experiences.

Listen to people talk

Conversations are going on all around you.  Some involve you, others don’t.  If you want to start tailoring your language to your audience, start listening to how people speak.  You can start with your customers and the people you meet at networking events but eavesdropping can help too. Think about how the language you hear in a business-focused setting differs from the conversations you overhear in coffee shops or on public transport.  Ask yourself whether the person you can hear could be a potential customer. Different groups of people have very different speech patterns and learning about them can help you to write for your audience.

Is grammar important to you? If you want some help writing in a way that speaks your customers’ language, let’s have a chat. Alternatively, use the form below to receive writing and marketing tips straight to your inbox every month. I won’t share your details with anyone else and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.

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6 tips to make planning your Christmas marketing a breeze

Christmas marketing - the adventure begins!
Photo by Simon Migaj from Pexels

Your Christmas marketing could be all about gifts, but it can also give you the chance to show your customers what you’re about and to have some fun. You can find some ideas for things to talk about in your Christmas marketing here. When it comes to sharing them there’s more to it than social media…

Email your Christmas marketing

You might think that email marketing went out with the dinosaurs, but it’s alive and well, with 99% of email users checking their inbox every day and businesses in the UK reporting an income of £42 for every pound they spend on email marketing. The key is to be helpful, entertaining, or both. Give your subscribers easy-to-buy gift options, helpful tips, discounts or something that will cheer them up.

Gift guides

Gift guides are a brilliant marketing tool because you can use them as a lead magnet to encourage new sign-ups to your email list and send them out to your subscribers.

When you use them in your Christmas marketing you can split your products into different categories and highlight the best gift ideas. Write a short and catchy description of each product, put them into a PDF with a gorgeous image and you’re ready to go.

Put a gift page on your website

Adding a new page on your website might sound like a lot of work, but it really isn’t. It’s just another way of sharing the information you put into your gift guide. That way, if someone doesn’t follow you on social media but finds your website on Google, they can still buy from you. Just make it easy for them to search by category or price so visitors can find exactly what they want.

Social media posts that show behind the scenes

You can help your customers get to know you by showing them what’s happening behind the scenes. If you’re celebrating Christmas jumper day or are supporting a charity, let your audience know. Talk about what Christmas means to you or share a festive joke. You can build engagement by asking your customers to share a picture of their tree or what their favourite Christmas film is. You can get more ideas from this book.

Run a competition

I don’t mean something that everyone and their dog would enter, like ‘win a bottle of fizz’ (unless you’re a wine merchant, then it’s ideal). Offer something that your ideal customer would value. You can use it to attract new email subscribers or social media followers and it’ll help you to create lots of posts as you can talk about the prize itself, the build-up to the prize draw then go live to choose the winner.

Don’t forget about print

When you were a kid, did you ever go through the Argos catalogue circling the stuff you’d love to find in your Christmas stocking? Print works because it cuts through the social media noise. Your customers can keep a gift guide on the kitchen table or pin a leaflet to their noticeboard. You can hand them out at Christmas fairs or put them in the post.

Send your customers a Christmas card and you’ll give them warm and fuzzy feelings and remind them that you’re here when they need you.

Do you need some new ideas for your Christmas marketing? Would you rather just hand it over and get on with running your business? I can help with that. Book a call here and let’s have a chat. You can also get ideas for Christmas posts from 1st December to Christmas Eve by snaffling a copy of my book here.

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Do you ever feel you’re pulling yourself in different directions?

A woman going in different directions.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

I don’t think I’m alone in having a lot of different things in my life. We’ve all got those metaphorical balls (the ones we juggle, but occasionally the other kind too). There’s all the life stuff; the home, partner, kids, family and friends. Delete or add as applicable. I keep finding myself saying ‘let’s have a catch up soon’, then organising a coffee takes about a year. That’s even before I get to the bit where I run a business too. You’ve heard all this before, I know. The only reason I’m talking about it now is because I seem to have had an influx recently. There’s been more paying work, which is extremely lovely. Conversations about self-care seem to have become a thing too. As I write this the words of a wise woman telling me I’m hearing it for a reason are floating at the front of my brain. There have been new ideas that I can’t seem to make a decision on. Then there have been people asking about my book. Have I told you about the book? Maybe I haven’t, so let’s start there.

It’s always been about the book

Before I had the faintest idea that I might write content marketing for businesses, I wrote stories. I know that we all did that at school, but I carried on. Ideas for crime novels pop into my head at regular intervals. The one I’m working on now existed as an idea for a few years before I started making some notes, writing random scenes as they occurred to me. When I was a commuter I wrote on the train. Now I’m editing; it feels as if I’ve rewritten the thing about eleven billion times but I could be exaggerating. It’s a murder mystery, set in Leicester and I’m almost ready to send it out into the world.

I think I might be scared

There’s the problem, you see. I feel as if everything has been pushing me towards this point. Even the self-care conversations, because I know I need to look after myself to deal with whatever different thing comes next. It’s also why I keep getting new shiny ideas. A bit of me wants to get on with it. A much bigger bit is utterly terrified. What if it’s rubbish? (Apparently most first novels are.) There are characters inspired by people I love and tiny snippets of my life in those pages. It feels personal. The other nagging feeling is the fact that being a published novelist is my dream. I don’t know what happens next if the dream comes true. Will my life still be my own if I take it in a different direction? Will I become a magnet for trolls on Twitter? No idea.

What shall I do next?

This is a silly question, isn’t it? I need to finish the two little edits that are bugging me and send my manuscript out for someone else to read. I’ve got friends who’ve offered and I know where to get a reader’s report. An author friend (yes, I have one of those) even got me an email address for a published crime writer who’s happy to look at a couple of chapters for me. So, I know the answer to my own question. I just need to get on and do it.

Why am I telling you this story? It’s because I’m a writer and that’s what I do. I can help you find the right story to tell in your marketing so you can attract wonderful new customers. If I can help you with that, let’s have a chat.

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How bullying shaped me

Bullying makes you stay silent.
Photo by Kat Smith from Pexels

I’ve talked about sharing your story in your marketing so many times, yet there’s one story that I’ve always held back. As I write this, I’m still wondering whether it will end up out in the world for you to read. The only reason I’m even considering it is because I know I can’t be the only one who’s had the same experience. I’ve been bullied more than once during my life. It would be easy to focus on the negative beliefs that come from that (and on a bad day, I definitely do). The years have given me perspective, so I’ve decided it’s time to tell my bullying story in case it helps you too.

The school bullies

I reckon most people must have their own version of this story. I went to a tiny primary school followed by a bigger middle school. The bullies singled me out as I was a clumsy bookworm. Not just a swot but too poorly co-ordinated to be good at either gymnastics or dancing. As far as my peers were concerned, I was utterly useless. I longed for anonymity. Thankfully senior school was better; there were more people like me and became invisible to the bullies. It was the first time I learned the importance of finding your people and I still use it today.

Bullying at work

I didn’t go to university straight from school, but took some time out, did other courses and ended up in the job from hell. I worked as an admin assistant (aka lowest of the low), with colleagues who didn’t like people with A-levels. There were times when my supervisor told me there wasn’t anything for me to do, but in the next breath would go and complain to the boss that I wasn’t pulling my weight. Anything that came out of my mouth was treated as an opportunity for a sarcastic comment or outright sneer. On the plus side, it made me realise that I did want to go to uni.

How it holds me back

Those days are gone, but some of the scars remain. When you’ve been treated as if you don’t belong you start to believe it. You think your feelings don’t matter and you don’t have the right to be considered. It’s easy to adopt a mindset where you don’t try new things or talk to new people because then you can’t be rejected. Yet I find myself here, with a business that depends on me promoting it. I fight the instinct to ‘not be a nuisance’ every time I market my business. It makes me wonder whether I’d do more if I didn’t feel this way.

What it’s taught me

I don’t know what my life would have been like if the bullying hadn’t happened. There are some positives; I’m aware of the mind monkeys that hold me back. Silencing the chatter has become a skill, although not an infallible one. I’m selective in who I trust so I’ve learned to listen. There have been people in my life that others regarded as a ‘good bloke’, when they were anything but. I’ve learned to observe and work out who they really are. That comes in handy when I’m writing for clients and being their voice. In that respect, it could be a gift.

Sharing stories like this one help your future clients to see you as a human being, not just a business. It doesn’t have to be as personal as this. If I can help you find the right story to use in your marketing, let’s have a chat.