In this episode of The Content Byte podcast, Rachel and Lynne dive into the art of niching down in freelance copywriting with guest Nikita Morell.

Nikita, a copywriting and messaging strategist specialising in architecture, discusses the value of finding a niche, the benefits of having a focused clientele, and her journey from big brand marketing to freelancing for architects.

She shares insights on:

• managing projects
• using AI tools for copywriting,
• strategies for building and maintaining a strong client pipeline. 
• the importance of storytelling in newsletters
• and leveraging technology such as Clickup and ActiveCampaign to streamline workflow

Connect with Nikita via LinkedIn, or through her website at https://nikitamorell.com/ 

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au

Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au

 If you have questions you'd like us to answer in our next Q&A episode, just send them here.

Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co 

 

In this episode, we explore the world of freelancing with successful journalist and media commentator Melissa Hoyer. Melissa shares her career journey, from her early days in newsrooms to her success as a freelance professional. It's a great chat, covering the impact of social media on celebrity culture, and the challenges of maintaining multiple income streams.   Melissa also chats about:

• How she grew her Instagram following to 80k
• Why she feels it's important to be authentic on social media
• Staying visible in the industry
• Her experiences with TV commentary and event hosting
• The evolution of celebrity culture
• The reality behind the glamour
• Navigating multiple income streams
• Competing with free labour
• The hustle of freelance writing

Connect with Melissa on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/melissahoyer/

or via her website: https://melissahoyer.com/ 

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au   If you have questions you'd like us to answer in our next Q&A episode, just send them here. Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details.   Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co

 This week on The Content Byte, we have something a little different, but hopefully still useful. This episode was originally recorded as part of Austin Church's Growth Without Burnout Summit held recently. This virtual event was inspiring and useful and featured speakers from all across the world talking about how to grow a thriving freelance business without burning out.

As part of his amazing summit, Austin asked Rachel and I about our friendship and how and why we started this podcast. We first met Austin when he was the keynote speaker at the Content by Summit in 2024. We felt honoured and flattered that he asked us to be involved with his summit.

It was a great chat so we thought we would share it with our listeners. It’s almost our origin story. We talk about how a friendship-turned partnership evolved into a thriving podcast, the summit, and an unexpected SEO goldmine. From dividing tasks based on complementary strengths to navigating conflict without contracts, we share how we found success - and still remained friends.

Connect with Austin L. Church through his Freelance Cake website: https://www.freelancecake.com/

And his community at: https://www.freelancecake.com/community

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com 

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au 

Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au 

If you have questions you'd like us to answer in our next Q&A episode, just send them here.

Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co 

 

 

In this episode Rachel and Lynne discuss the intricacies of freelance finances with Julia Newbould, an editor, journalist, and author with extensive experience in financial reporting. Julia shares insights on transitioning from spreadsheets to accounting software, the importance of financial literacy, and strategies for effective money management for freelancers.   She also talks about:

• Her journey in journalism
• Her efforts to increase female representation in financial advising 
• Setting up multiple bank accounts for effective cash flow management
• The significance of emergency funds
• Superannuation for freelancers
• Plus tips on raising prices and handling financial anxiety

Connect with Julia via LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-newbould-44454712/ 

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au 

Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au

If you have questions you'd like us to answer in our next Q&A episode, just send them here. Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co 

This week on the podcast, Rachel & Lynne are chatting with Lee Elwood, an accredited editor, content writer, and copywriter.

Lee shares her freelancing journey, emphasising the value of professional networks and accreditation through the Institute of Professional Editors (IPED).

During our chat, Lee talks about:

• Different types of editing, from copy edits to structural edits and proofreading
• What IPED accreditation is and how you can achieve it
• Why she is a huge fan of networks and being active in the editing community
• How the type of work she does has evolved over the years
• Where and how she finds her clients
• How she has grown her business, without losing focus
• The impact of AI on the field

Connect with Lee via her website: https://ellwords.com.au/ 

or on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lrellwood/ 

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com 

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au 

Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au 

If you have questions you'd like us to answer in our next Q&A episode, just send them here.

Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co 

 

 

This week Rachel and Lynne's guest is Jenny Valentish, a journalist, author, and writing coach, joins the conversation to share her career journey from fanzines to freelancing for The Guardian. She also talks about her new book, The Introvert's Guide to Leaving the House. 

Jenny dives into the importance of structured feedback in writing groups, the challenges of memoir writing, and the value of teaching practical writing tools. She also shares why she likes to be quite strict about her weekly schedule and how her six-week writing workshops provide a supportive environment for writers to improve their craft and form important connections. 

Connect with Jenny via her website: https://jennyvalentish.com/ or look at her courses at https://www.valentish.net/ 

Details about her book: https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/The-Introverts-Guide-to-Leaving-the-House/Jenny-Valentish/9781923135109 

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au

Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au

If you have questions you'd like us to answer in our next Q&A episode, just send them here. Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co 

This week Rachel and Lynne are chatting with Michelle Newell, a narrative strategist based in Melbourne/Naarm who shares her expertise on using storytelling for content strategy and branding. During our chat, we talk about:

• How freelancers can transition into thought leadership – and why they should
• Why you need a unique point of view 
• How to leverage personal branding
• How to handle a fear of visibility and trolls
• How to secure speaking gigs, enhance visibility, and charge premium rates for your services

Connect with Michelle via her website: https://thestorytelling.biz/ 

or on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-newell/ 

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com 

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au 

Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au

If you have questions you'd like us to answer in our next Q&A episode, just send them here. Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au ), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected]  for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co 

This week our guest is Toby Schmitz, actor, screenwriter and now novelist.

It's a fun chat, talking all things books, reading and writing.

Toby shares insights into his upbringing in his family's second-hand bookstore, his motivations for writing, how his debut novel 'The Empress Murders' came about and why he chose such an amibitious work as his debut. He delves into the creative process of adapting a play into this novel, the challenges and rewards of publishing, using palm cards to plan his novel and what he is writing next. 

The Empress Murders is out in bookstores now. Follow him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tobymschmitz/ 

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au

Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au

If you have questions you'd like us to answer in our next Q&A episode, just send them here.

Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co 

This week we are trying something new - which might become a regular episode.  We are answering questions from our listeners, using our years of experience and some of the knowledge learned doing this podcast for the last six years (thanks to all our amazing guests).

This week's questions include:

• The ethics around including past clients in future articles or commissions
• How to break up with a client
• How to pitch to a new editor or client
• How to avoid procrastination

We hope you find this discussion helpful and thanks Tracey, Stephanie, Ros and Natalie for these questions. If you have questions you'd like us to answer in our next Q&A episode, just send them here.

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au

Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au 

Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected]  for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co 

In this week's episode, co-hosts Rachel and Lynne chat with Georgia Rickard, an award-winning journalist turned content strategist.   Founder of the popular Georgia's Media Circle on Facebook (a great group for writers and PRs), Georgia shares her journey from being a travel writer to becoming the youngest magazine editor in Australia at 23. She discusses:  

• the importance of building a personal brand
• the challenges of making oneself visible online,
• and the evolving landscape of freelancing with the rise of AI

  She also talks about how and why she set up Georgia's Media Circle, and her upcoming event, Brand Camp, which is designed to help creatives build and monetise their personal brands. It's all about the value of authenticity, confidence, and adapting to new industry trends.   Georgia's Media Circle is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/georgiasmediacircle Georgia's agency website is: https://wearegeorge.co/   Details about Brand Camp are here: https://www.georgiarickard.com/brand-camp And if you use the code RLIST100 you can get a $100 discount on the cost.   Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au   Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected]  for the details.   Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co