Content Etc.

Planning content that feels enjoyable to create and connects with your ideal audience? Yes, please! In this episode, I'm walking you through the process I use to plan out long-form and social content, including the questions you should be asking yourself for every single piece of content you publish.

This is the process you can repeat each month, quarter, or for a set launch period. And don't forget to come tell me on Instagram if you use it to plan out some content!

✏️ Get a short and simple copywriting tip in your inbox every Thursday when you join Notes from the Margin. Plus, you'll get chatty story-led emails sharing lessons from behind the scenes of marketing a small business. Sign up here.

Links to things mentioned in this episode:

• 7 places to find fresh content ideas for your small business

Want to get me on your marketing team?

There are a few ways we can work together to round out 2023.

• Power Hours: for tailored marketing advice and support
• The Copy Edit: for a thorough audit of your DIY copy, with re-writes you can add to your website straight away. Take a look inside an edit to see what's included.
• Custom copywriting: for fresh website words
• Monthly content: for consistent, story-led blogs and emails

Understanding your dream client or customer is one of the best ways to make all the content you create stand out from the crowd. And if you’ve already created products or you’re offering services, then you probably have an idea of the sort of person who is attracted to your offers. 

But in this episode, I want to help you clarify some elements of this that will, hopefully, really help you write content that builds a connection between those dream people and your brand.

✏️ Get a short and simple copywriting tip in your inbox every Thursday when you join Notes from the Margin. Plus, you'll get chatty story-led emails sharing lessons from behind the scenes of marketing a small business. Sign up here.

Links to things mentioned in this episode:

• The DIY website copy prep kit for small business owners
• Is Marketing & Selling To Pain Points Manipulative & Unethical? | Josephine Brooks
• How to Use Psychographics in Your Marketing: A Beginner's Guide

Want to get me on your marketing team?

There are a few ways we can work together to round out 2023.

• Power Hours: for tailored marketing advice and support
• The Copy Edit: for a thorough audit of your DIY copy, with re-writes you can add to your website straight away. Take a look inside an edit to see what's included.
• Custom copywriting: for fresh website words
• Monthly content: for consistent, story-led blogs and emails

Can you have a profitable business if you quit social media? My guest today, Astrid Bracke, explains why it's possible and reflects on more than a year of marketing without any social media. We also discuss why she moved her email list to Substack and what she enjoys about creating community through her marketing.

Make sure to follow Astrid's Substack and learn more at Astrid's Website

✏️ Get a short and simple copywriting tip in your inbox every Thursday when you join Notes from the Margin. Plus, you'll get chatty story-led emails sharing lessons from behind the scenes of marketing a small business. Sign up here.

In this episode, we're talking about:

• How Astrid transitioned from a career in academia to building her business
• The way marketing has changed as Astrid's business has pivoted
• Reflecting on more than a year of marketing without social media
• Why building a community is a key pillar of Astrid's marketing strategy
• Moving to Substack: why Astrid moved to this blog/email hybrid platform and what she enjoys about it
• Astrid's top tips for reducing your time and reliance of social media (if it's not making you happy)

Links to things mentioned in this episode:

• Why I left social media to build community around my business - Astrid Bracke
• Lessons from 6 months on Substack - Astrid Bracke
• One year later: reflections on 16 months without social media - Astrid Bracke
• Better Words Substack - This is the Substack I write with my co-host, perfect if you want regular book recommendations!
• Astrid's hobby Substack: House Plant Journal
• Astrid's Substack: Female Owned
• Substack for small business owners - Astrid Bracke | small business mentoring

Want to get me on your marketing team?

There are a few ways we can work together to round out 2023.

• Power Hours: for tailored marketing advice and support
• The Copy Edit: for a thorough audit of your DIY copy, with re-writes you can add to your website straight away. Take a look inside an edit to see what's included.
• Custom copywriting: for fresh website words
• Monthly content: for consistent, story-led blogs and emails

There's something about social media that helps us relax a little. But blog posts and emails? It just starts feeling like you need to be a bit more 'professional'. Well, I don't think marketing needs to feel like that, so I'm sharing some simple techniques and tips to help you share more personality in your content.

The goal? To help you feel like your blog posts and emails reflect your unique brand voice, values and personality. Hopefully, that makes it feel easier to create *and* helps nurture connections with dream clients.

✏️ Get a short and simple copywriting tip in your inbox every Thursday when you join Notes from the Margin. Plus, you'll get chatty story-led emails sharing lessons from behind the scenes of marketing a small business. Sign up here.

In this episode, I'm talking about:

• Why adding personality and storytelling to your blogs and emails is so important
• How to start adding personal stories
• The power of examples from your world, tailored for your audience
• Why we need to shrug off some of the writing 'rules'
• The importance of consuming good content critically

Links to things mentioned in this episode:

• Email story example: the messy desk
• Email story example: Visiting the portrait gallery
• Email story example: working out at home

Want to get me on your marketing team?

There are a few ways we can work together to round out 2023.

• Power Hours: for tailored marketing advice and support
• The Copy Edit: for a thorough audit of your DIY copy, with re-writes you can add to your website straight away. Take a look inside an edit to see what's included.
• Custom copywriting: for fresh website words
• Monthly content: for consistent, story-led blogs and emails

In this episode, I'm sharing six small things that might help you if you're ever feeling a bit 'behind' in business or comparing your progress to other people. I wrote it as much for myself as you, but I really hope it helps.

Before that, though, I'm sharing a pretty raw, kinda unplanned and probably rambly little chat about how I've felt since immersing myself in the online business world again.

✏️ Get a short and simple copywriting tip in your inbox every Thursday when you join Notes from the Margin. Plus, you'll get chatty story-led emails sharing lessons from behind the scenes of marketing a small business. Sign up here.

Links to things mentioned in this episode:

• How to work with your energy levels to avoid overwork and burnout with Jo Hooper
• Better Words podcast

Want to get me on your marketing team?

There are a few ways we can work together to round out 2023.

• Power Hours: for tailored marketing advice and support
• The Copy Edit: for a thorough audit of your DIY copy, with re-writes you can add to your website straight away. Take a look inside an edit to see what's included.
• Custom copywriting: for fresh website words
• Monthly content: for consistent, story-led blogs and emails

Hands up if you're sick of relying on social media for every sale. If your screen time is out of control and yet you feel like you're getting zero traction, then it's time to focus on building your evergreen marketing strategy. This week, I'm joined by Josephine Brooks to talk through how we can set up a marketing funnel to help us unchain ourselves from the social media marketing beast.

This is part two of my chat with Josephine. In part one, she shared the messy reality of burning out from the launch cycle and rebuilding her business to encourage more freedom. Scroll back in your podcast feed or click here to listen.

Make sure to follow @josephinepbrooks on Instagram.

✏️ Get a short and simple copywriting tip in your inbox every Thursday when you join Notes from the Margin. Plus, you'll get chatty story-led emails sharing lessons from behind the scenes of marketing a small business. Sign up here.

In this episode, we're talking about:

• The main components of an evergreen marketing strategy (discovery, nurture, inviting the sale)
• Where to start with your evergreen marketing
• The difference between a marketing and a sales funnel
• A breakdown of how Josephine's marketing funnel guides people to work with her
• Three reasons to start evergreen marketing this year
• Replacing launch cycles with evergreen approaches – does it mean you're selling all the time?

Want to get me on your marketing team?

There are a few ways we can work together to round out 2023.

• Power Hours: for tailored marketing advice and support
• The Copy Edit: for a thorough audit of your DIY copy, with re-writes you can add to your website straight away. Take a look inside an edit to see what's included.
• Custom copywriting: for fresh website words
• Monthly content: for consistent, story-led blogs and emails

Links to things mentioned in this episode:

• How to write blog posts FAST & create a blogging habit You Can Stick To | Josephine Brooks
• Building An Ethical Sales Funnel | Josephine Brooks
• Marketing Without Social Media (Or Just Less Reliance On Instagram)! | Josephine Brooks
• Sign up for my Notes from the Margins with weekly copy tips & marketing stories
• Sign up for Josephine's emails

Launching every few months was the main source of revenue for Josephine Brooks. Until each launch started to feel harder, and bouncing back took longer and longer. Then Josephine hit complete business burnout.

In part one of our chat, Josephine shares the messy reality of rebuilding her business and explains why she's said goodbye to the launch cycle in favour of evergreen marketing.

In part two, we'll be diving into how to build your own evergreen marketing strategy.

Make sure to follow @josephinepbrooks on Instagram

Sick of wasting time trying to think of what to post on Instagram? Feel like everything you try to write has been done to death? I've got you! Get months of ideas in your inbox for free. Sign up here.

In this episode, we're talking about:

• How Josephine's business evolved and the impact of burnout
• Josephine's experience with the launch cycle and why it's so exhausting
• Coming back from burnout and building a business again
• What marketing looks like for Josephine and how she gets clients now
• What to look out for in your business to avoid marketing burnout

🤔 SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS 🤔

Something on your mind? Use this form to ask a question I can answer on a future podcast episode.

Got a sticky marketing issue? Need some content ideas for a launch or your brand building? Pick my brains for an hour in a 1:1 blend of feedback, mentoring and strategy. By the end of our session, you’ll have more clarity and a practical plan of action to keep you motivated. Book your spot here.

Figuring out a price for your services sometimes feels like picking a number at random and hoping it works out. In fact, it fills me with fear – and I'm willing to be I'm not the only one. That's why I invited freelance mentor Susie Jackson to join me and explain how we can make service pricing a little less scary.

Make sure to follow Susie @the.organizedfreelancer on Instagram.

Got a sticky marketing issue? Need some content ideas for a launch or your brand building? Pick my brains for an hour in a 1:1 blend of feedback, mentoring and strategy. By the end of our session, you’ll have more clarity and a practical plan of action to keep you motivated. Book your spot here.

In this episode, we're talking about:

• Why it's so hard to set prices, especially for services
• How to raise your prices
• How to communicate price rises with current clients
• The most common outcomes of a price change and how to approach each one
• Top tips for raising your prices

Sick of wasting time trying to think of what to post on Instagram? Feel like everything you try to write has been done to death? I've got you! Get months of ideas in your inbox for free. Sign up here.

Links to things mentioned in this episode:

• How to Increase Your Prices - Susie Jackson | Pricing Mentor
• Raising Your Prices - Susie Jackson | Freelance Mentor
• Free resources — Susie Jackson
• Working with our energy levels so we can run a sustainable business - Content Etc.

🤔 SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS 🤔

Something on your mind? Use this form to ask a question I can answer on a future podcast episode.

Christmas is the biggest sales opportunity for product-based businesses, but that often means it can also feel like a stressful whirlwind. We want to avoid that and still make it a profitable season for your small business. In this episode, artist and small business owner Lucy Carter joins me to reveal how her Christmas preparation has evolved, what's worked (and what hasn't), plus super useful tips for IRL market stalls.

Make sure to follow Lucy @leaflanestudio on Instagram

In this episode, we're talking about:

• How Lucy's Christmas preparation has evolved since 2020, including an advent calendar in 2021 and hand-painted baubles in 2022.
• Getting featured in Stylist Magazine (and why it wasn't the boost product-based owners hope for)
• Lucy's top tips for making the most of small business/handmade markets
• Creating a luxurious customer experience through packaging and extra touches
• A review of Lucy's 2022 sales and what she's planning to continue in 2023
• Tips for product-based businesses as they plan for Christmas sales this year

Once you've planned out your product launches, check out these prompts to help you promote it across social media and emails. Unwrap your free prompts.

🤔 SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS 🤔

Something on your mind? Use this form to ask a question I can answer on a future podcast episode.

Links to things mentioned in this episode:

• SMALL BUSINESS TIPS | MARKETS AND IN-PERSON EVENTS — Leaf Lane Studio - Lucy's reflections on the market season and what small business owners can do to make the most of them

Got a sticky marketing issue? Need some content ideas for a launch or your brand building? Pick my brains for an hour in a 1:1 blend of feedback, mentoring and strategy. By the end of our session, you’ll have more clarity and a practical plan of action to keep you motivated. Book your spot here.

Welcome to a new season of Content Etc. In this episode, I'm explaining where I've been and the work I've been doing as a journalist outside Word By Word Storytelling. I'll also share the ways we can work together to improve your website content and copy for the rest of 2023.

Links to things mentioned in this episode:

• A month of creative content prompts for small business marketing
• The DIY website copy prep kit for small business owners
• Creative SEO copywriting and content marketing services
• My ABC News portfolio
• The Great Australian Camel Race promised adventure — but some nearly didn't make it through alive - ABC News
• The Great Australian Camel Race (part 2) - ABC Radio National
• The Great Australian Camel Race (part 1) - ABC Radio National
• Listen to Better Words - The bookish podcast I co-host with my friend Caitlin where we chat books and interview authors.

Sick of wasting time trying to think of what to post on Instagram? Feel like everything you try to write has been done to death? I've got you! Get months of ideas in your inbox for free. Sign up here.