Posts by Angie
what’s in a name?
I’m here to talk about names and taglines. Short writing is probably THE hardest, most time consuming writing there is. How are you gonna compress a complex idea into just three words? By writing a LOT of other words and doing a LOT of cutting until you arrive at the right ones. So today I’m…
Read MoreBeating Back Writer’s Block
One time, I was on a freaking gorgeous hike through a redwood forest, on my way to see my first real in-person waterfall. This was in Northern California, and after years of drought, the rains had finally come. The falls promised to be roaring and spectacular, well worth the 12-ish miles out and back. Somewhere…
Read Morewhy I don’t worry about my pricing
I was talking to a private coaching student of mine when the topic-which-shall-not-be-named came up: It’s a big, bad, ugly one that makes most people cringe: Money. More specifically, pricing. A lot of folks who start a freelance writing business see some of the successful writers off landing big contracts and think, “hey, I can…
Read Morestep up (or step out of the room)
“If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.” I’ve heard this plenty of times over the course of my career – but it finally connected for me just last week. I had the privilege of attending Brian Kurtz’s Titans Master Class in Scottsdale, AZ. The presentations, discussions,…
Read Morebeing your own hype man
Have you ever wondered about this one? Is it possible to go in-house if you haven’t had a copy job before? The short answer is yes. The slightly longer answer is… that’s exactly what I did. And the good news? I didn’t have any kind of magical formula to follow… I was pretty much making…
Read Morethe mummies got me
So I’m currently sitting at the Tampa airport, waiting for my flight home. For the past week-ish, I’ve been in nearby St. Petersburg, FL for the most fun marketing conference I’ve had the pleasure of attending… Copy Chief Live. Lest you think I’m exaggerating, here’s a smattering of happenings: Jonny Vance of the Harmon Brothers…
Read Morewhen it feels “easy”, it’s easy to undervalue
“Technically I’ve been writing my own copy for 2 years. But I don’t have any client work…” I see this kind of statement a lot with folks just starting out in business. It doesn’t have to be about copy necessarily… just swap in the field of expertise of your choice and it still makes sense.…
Read Moregood marketing doesn’t stop at the sale
I see a lot of companies out there focused on the marketing. Considering I’m a marketer, I’d say that’s a good thing. Keeps me in business. I like that. But if you think marketing is going to magically save your company, I’m gonna stop just short of calling you willfully deluded. In reality, marketing is…
Read Morehow to know which mentor is right for you
So in my last post I talked about shortcuts and magic pills, and how they’re rarely the instant boost they claim to be. And then I shared my personal shortcut – mentorship. Now, mentorship doesn’t negate actually showing up and doing the work… but a good mentor can help DRASTICALLY shorten the learning curve (and…
Read Moretaking shortcuts
People love a good shortcut – that’s part of what makes the job of a marketer a lot easier. Unethical? Promising a magic pill? You’ll probably get a lot of sales… followed by a lot of [best case] disappointed/angry customers and [worst case] law suits or even injuries/deaths. Yikes. Not the legacy I want to…
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