Yoh. Content gets prettier every day. Back in 2008, when I started blogging, my highest priorities were capital letters, full stops and paragraph spacing. Today, we’re not in Copy Kansas anymore, Toto.
The words that accompany your YouTube videos, once you’ve created them*, are a big part of how hard your channel, video and/or YouTube community at large will work for your brand or message. So never discount, half-arse, or rush the writing part. Every YouTube video can, and should be, organically optimised to derive the most value.
You should know, to start with, that I’m a hard-ass about most things when it comes to business writing:
• The phrase “I trust this email finds you well” (I hate it)
• The incorrect use of the verb “revert” (this makes me itch)
• Two spaces after a full stop (which should’ve vanished when women got the vote).
But, in a development that surprises many people, I’m no hard-ass when it comes to emojis.
First things first: You have to tell us stuff.
Ever heard the expression, “Garbage in, garbage out”? If your writer doesn’t have solid, accurate facts to work from, the job’s gonna be a #fail.
A client of mine got very cross today. Not with me, thank goodness… But because her firm traditionally addresses its own clients as “Dear Sirs”.
Even when they are female or when they have not specified a preferred gender.
In 2021, this won’t do.
I’m on very good terms with myself.
I don’t have many confidence issues. I’m good and I know I’m good. I am the only child of a single mom who genuinely believed that one day I would either a) marry royalty or b) be President. I failed to achieve either. But she still loves me.
“We all have the same 24 hours in the day”? Nope. I was told today that anyone can achieve radical productivity. That we all, and
Why use descriptive writing in the first place? Because your readers are busy. Distracted. Overwhelmed with messaging. And it’s incredibly hard for your writing to stand out amidst the clamour and racket.
Everything! This is the bit people usually obsess over when starting something new. As it happens, I didn’t.
What I’m about to say is unlikely to shock you.
In 2018, we hit the point of “content shock”; i.e. the moment when more content is published each day than there are humans alive to consume it.
Do you consider yourself to be woke? If you do, you probably know that this term for being enlightened or aware, particularly about racism and social justice, is a political byword of African-American origin.
I went to a school that was, shall we say, lenient in the comportment department. We greeted corridor-strolling teachers with a jaunty high five — or not at all. We were more rowdy than respectful. More passionate than polite.
You’ll have seen in your own life how overall judgements about a person often inform our perception of their specific traits. This is called the ‘halo effect’. When we look at pretty privilege from a macrocosmic level, we find that it is interwoven with many aspects of our society. In our social circles, we can easily identify ‘the pretty one’, and we can recognise the privileges that he or she may be afforded as a result.
As service professionals, we’re programmed to say “Yes” to pretty much everything.
If you’re reading this and you’re a creative, odds are you’ve seen a couple of bad briefs in your time — as in, “I dunno. Maybe make it blue? No, a less-blue blue.”
Money, money, money.
We all need it, but not everyone has to manage it as meticulously as freelancers do.
Children’s books and poetry have a lot to teach us, as adult content marketers, about what works and what doesn’t.
They take a lot of research and a LOT of brain power. They may be small, but they can’t be dashed off in an hour, or in the shower.
I’m a words person, not a numbers person, and yet I’ve seen how the strategic inclusion of numbers makes the copy that I write and the training that I offer that much more powerful.
I was all set to pen a scathing indictment of mission and vision statements; items I occasionally refuse to write for my clients unless doing so culminates in a refusal to pay me. I hate them. And I’m not shy to say so.
Okay, so let’s agree that writing matters because every manifestation of your professional brand, except for what comes out of your mouth, requires writing.
Dear Apostrophe,
You and I have come a long way together. And now, as the rest of the world conspires to violate you, I hope you’ll accept this token of my love, understanding and support.
Only one in nine people is a natural salesperson. The rest of us hate selling. Because, when it doesn’t work, it feels a lot like rejection. And rejection brings emotional pain. So let’s equip ourselves with better selling tools – especially in the age of COVID-19, when panic is everywhere, times are tough, friends are not few but hiding at home, and no-one needs more emotional pain.
My business policy is not to compete on price. Now I get that sometimes budgets are small. But what I don’t get is clients who pretend that small budgets aren’t small. That annoys me. Here’s why.
In an ideal world, most people – and all clients, especially those who are not trained writers – should not edit their own writing. Here’s why.
A bodyguard in the Ethekwini municipality who usually earns around R20 000 a month before tax, claims R70 000 a month in overtime. A security
By Delilah Nosworthy
There are many ways of becoming more organised. First, figure out what “being more organised” means for you and how to order your life so that you feel like you’re in control of your day and not simply a victim of circumstances or running around like a headless chicken. Here are some personal tips you may find useful.
My ‘must-read’ story On the edge of madness He was ugly. No doubt about it. Yet an intangible, subtle something drew me to him. He
Networking can be make or break for the small business entrepreneurs. These tips are easy to apply and put into practice.
Emigrating, whether for a short-term job opportunity or a long-term change can be a stressful process. Pets are part of your family unit and your vet’s goal is to help you through the process of exporting your pet so that they can at least help carry some of the stress for you. Below are some useful tips from the lovely Somerset West, Teva Clinic Vet, Dr Karin Wilson.
About my experience of Antjie Krog’s teaching back in the late 80s, my discovery of her first collection and translation of Geslote Hek (Locked Gate).
Collagen is the main protein in our bodies, which is responsible for skin elasticity and healthy joints. It exists in the structural and connective tissues, including bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, blood, and skin. Its rubbery structure provides these parts of the body with their strength and form. Believe it or not, it covers about three-quarters of your skin and comprises a third of the protein in your body.
By Delilah Nosworthy
Reflections on the intricate history of the bicycle and the freedom and joy it brings to both big and small humans, and in some cases, even little fluffy four-legged beings.
We are all so over Covid-19… I know. But here are a few reading suggestions for solitary pastimes and escapes to Covid-free worlds. Have fun!
Overcoming restrictions in these uncertain times to hold an in-person and virtual launch of an off-beat history book.
But this isn’t about the failure of a relationship. They happen all the time. That fact is almost a cliché. This is about what happens when you rise from the futon, this is what happens when you move and attempt to make a new life for yourself, this is about you stumbling to your friend’s kitchen on that August morning.
The Safrea MediaHub is a place where members of the Southern African Freelancers’ Association showcase their talents, while providing interesting, entertaining and thought provoking content for readers and viewers. The Safrea Chronicle is a newsletter that draws subscriber’s attention to the best of that content. Subscribe by completing the form on this page.