Should a trainee copywriter work for free?

I received an email this week.

*cue dramatic music in manner of cheesy quiz show*

It talked of an "exciting opportunity," a "fascinating project" that offered me "amazing experience"...

‘Tis the season to be positive

Positively prickly holly

Do you sometimes feel you’re surrounded by negativity?

Negative stories in the press, ear-bashings from colleagues, ranting and raving posts from friends and family on Facebook. The list goes on…

And some of that must rub off, right?

Put your positivity to the test

How positive have you felt over the last 24 hours?

Take this 2-minute positivity test – you might be surprised at the results.

How we are affected by negativity around us 

Being around negativity has an effect on us.

Use your weapons wisely - Cialdini's 6 principles & a story from Bali

What do you picture when you think of Bali?

White beaches, turquoise seas, mysterious temples?

In 2001, I headed off across the world with a couple of friends, to see for myself. It was indeed paradise, but while we were there something happened that I’ve never made sense of…Until last week!

Here's looking at you, text

I saw this advert on Twitter earlier, with someone noting it contained an 'orphan'.

Can you spot it?

I stared at the advert for a while before I worked out (with a little help from the big G) what an orphan was and indeed where it was on the advert. Having done a little research I’m not sure that this is technically an orphan. But nevertheless once I'd spotted the lone word ‘soak’ on the third line, I couldn’t help but think the paragraph would read better without that unnatural break in the sentence.

It bothers me that it doesn't quite look right, and could so easily have been corrected!

It’s not just me, is it?

Perfectionism is spelled paralysis

Oct 2014 progress update

Month: 7/12 (58%)
Chapters completed: 10 / 21 (47%)
Assignments completed: 6/ 11 (55%)

I know, I know…I need to speed up if I’m going to get through the course in a year.

And yes, yes, rap me over the knuckles again, I have barely updated this blog over the last couple of months. I want to blame all sorts of things like working hard, selling my house and buying a new one, and answering 74 "why" questions from Toddler on a daily basis (no exaggeration)! 

But do you know what? Yes I have been doing all those things, but actually the reason I've been struggling seems to be the  dreaded confidence bug again!

What can we really learn from the 'YouTubers'?

Its difficult to look at Twitter these days without seeing something about the new breed of You Tube stars, how amazing they are and how they're all planning to publish books soon...Oh, and how much they can teach us about branding and marketing! 

I spent a bit of my lunch hour the other day reading this article, Five behaviours marketers can learn from the new YouTube stars from Marketing UK. And then I wished I hadn't, because I spent most of my afternoon staring at spreadsheets with this blog post buzzing around inside my head…

These are the ‘lessons for marketers’ highlighted by the article:

Why attitude is all important

It is often said, when you fall off a bike you should get straight back on again.

Get back on the bike*

Obviously, in reality, if you fall off your bike that’s the last thing you want to do. Your instant reaction is to retreat into a corner to lick your wounds in peace while you wait for the embarrassed red flush to fade. 

To be able to get back on the bike you need to dust yourself down, work out what went wrong, maybe practise a bit, and make sure you do it better next time.

Easy to say. But hiding is not going to help you do that!

Overcoming a crisis of confidence

July 2014 - Copywriting Course Progress

Month: 4/12 (33%)

Chapters completed: 8 / 21 (38%)

Assignments completed: 3 / 11 (27%)

Best bits:

Amazing feedback and lovely encouragement from assignments submitted so far.

Worst bits:

Top 10 tips for beginner bloggers

Maybe it’s just my love of writing a good process document, but I did actually set out a blog strategy (of sorts) before I started my blog – overkill you might think – and you’d probably be right!

I set 27^th June as a date to review the document. So this seems like the perfect opportunity to share some of the things I’ve learned, as well as some of my goals for the next 4 months.

Creative writing exercise: People stories

"I'd like a people story" 

A small selection of 'people'

I don't think it's exaggerating to say I hear the phrase, "I'd like a people story," 20 times a day.

Toddler has become hopelessly obsessed with those little plastic Happy Land characters (I'm sure any parent of children above the age of 18 months will be well aware of these).

Having bought him a few, and unfortunately inherited a whole lot more, we now have upwards of 50, all shapes, sizes and colours, carefully designed to ensure total political-correctness.

Live tweet tips inspired by #DrLisasHen

I've spent the last few weeks helping to organise my friend's hen do.

I tell you this not just because it's the best excuse I have for not updating my blog enough, but it's also relevant (sort of!).

Scared your web developer might mention search engine optimisation? Don't be.

You sell homemade jewellery and gifts.

You wrote your website all by yourself and you’re really chuffed with it.

Your Granny said, “Wonderful darling,” but you’re not convinced anyone else has seen it.

Meanwhile...


...in an office just up the road, Mr Perfect-Customer is online. He’s in a hurry. He has 5 minutes, between meetings and he’s searching for a birthday present for his wife.

Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, is about getting your website in front of Mr P-C.

Starting a distance-learning course? What's the first thing you should do?

Buy new stationery of course...

But after that? 

You need to write a study plan.

A brief history of me and study plans

Whether doing GCSEs, A-levels, or uni exams, my routine was always the same:

1. Browse through the rows of stationery in Staples. Buy a pack of different coloured pens, a folder and some post-its.


2. Take them home


3. Lay them out neatly on the desk...Any-one with me here? No? Just me then


4. Make a cup of tea


5. Set about writing a study plan

Comma Confusion

It's amazing, isn't it? As soon as you know that you are being assessed on something, it throws up a massive question mark in your mind as to whether you actually know what you think you know.

Take the pre-course assessment essay I have to write to get onto the copywriting course I chose here. Never have I doubted my use of common punctuation quite so much!

And what was the source of my little punctu-breakdown?

CA - Copywriters Anonymous

Hi,

My name is Nicky and I want to be a copywriter - there we go I've done it, I am OUT!!

Now for the caveat! I am actually quite happily working part-time in a job in IT Project Support,  and I don't want to give that up.

So I guess what I mean to say is my name is Nicky and I want to learn to copywrite...see where it takes me...and then who knows...

The wuss' guide to career option exploration(!)

Why writing?

From as early as I can remember I wanted to be Enid Blyton - OK so I guess that's not entirely realistic, but having spent my childhood writing short stories and poems, work experience at the local newspaper confirmed to me that I wanted to write. 

So how did I go about following this dream?

Ahh.

Well after some pretty good GCSE results and let's face it some pretty shoddy career advice I studied A-levels in maths and science, had no idea what to do with them and eventually embarked on a degree in business! Various project roles later I'm still spending more time looking at spreadsheets than writing sentences...

Since then I have continued to do a little creative writing, but my dreams have been overtaken by life, love and a very lively toddler.

But why learning to copywrite?

I don't profess to know everything  much anything about copywriting, but what I do know fascinates me! It would allow me to stretch out those knotted up writing muscles, yes, but it is more than that! 

Copywriting is somehow more scientific, less subjective...and that appeals to the logical side of my brain - is that the left or the right? 

There seem to be a lot of different areas that you need to get to grips with to be really good at it...And let's face it what's the point in starting something if you're not aiming to get really good.

I covered enough marketing in my business degree to understand a little bit about branding and image, as well as the obvious importance of conveying these consistently online, but what hadn't occurred to me whilst 'liking' my friends' statuses, sending 'Pins' and devising witty hashtags, was the over-riding importance of social media for the businesses of today.

These platforms allow even the smallest start-up to get themselves out there without breaking their advertising budget.....But can it really be that easy? 

A quick 'refresh' of Google+ on the smart phone whilst sat on the loo floods today's consumer with more links than they can possibly click. To cut through all the crap your message has to be the best, the most noticeable and, I believe, the most sincere.

I have recently noticed a number of brands using social media to engage in a different way, not just responding to queries and logging complaints, but actively seeking out conversation.....And what can be better for business than improving the way you talk to your customers?

First Direct Bank is one of a number of companies using
Twitter to seek out dialogue with their customers

So as well as learning the skills of writing good copy from a sales perspective it puts an emphasis on understanding and utilising these social media platforms, keeping up with new technologies and developments, understanding SEO & google algorithms, as well the psychological aspects of modern buyer behaviour...it was at this point that I was hooked!

I bought a couple of books and started reading.....

And why blog about it?

I have numerous reasons for setting up this blog: 

1. To plan and document my journey
2. To motivate myself to continuously learn and progress
3. To meet and converse with like minded people...including perhaps experienced copywriters who might be so generous as to offer me some advice and guidance... :-)
4. To learn to blog

But mostly it's about writing.....As I keep being told, the best way to learn to write is to write, write and write some more.

So where better to start....

If you have any pearls of wisdom or encouragement then I would love to hear them below. 

Check back to follow my progress...