Sarah McVeigh and Copywriting
Three months ago Sarah McVeigh brought her skill and passion for writing to Bluewire Media. Coming from a journalism background, Sarah is interested in many areas of the media, and wants to eventually take her career to radio or print journalism. For the time being though, Sarah’s taking her talents online in the position of Bluewire’s Copywriter.
When I interviewed Sarah about what she does, I found that she has great insight into the world of copywriting, but also that these skills can be applied to any area of writing.
What is so good about Copywriting?
Sarah has always loved writing of every kind and found throughout her schooling that it was a skill that came fairly naturally. There are lots of different areas of writing to master, so it’s always suitably challenging and you can move smoothly across a wide variety of media and careers. The mark of a good journalist is that you can write well about a whole range of things.
For Sarah, writing is all about taking an idea and then figuring out how to communicate it to an audience in the best possible way. Writing for web is just a new challenge and an exciting new area to tap in to.
How did you get involved in Copywriting?
When Bluewire was looking for a candidate for a Sales and Marketing position, Sarah applied because she had some marketing experience and was looking for a job that wasn’t hospitality. During her interview Sarah revealed that her passion was not so much for marketing, but for writing. Adam and Toby were so impressed that they created the new role of Copywriter.
Sarah set to work reading up on writing for web and SEO and steadily worked her way through her first project. And from there continued to grow in skill and professionalism.
What are the top 3 things that someone should know in order to be successful in Copywriting?
- You need to have a direction in mind before you start writing – it’s important to know what you want your work to achieve.
- Use language and tone which is suitable for the topic and the audience.
- Edit your work a million times.
What is the best way to get started?
Keep a blog. This is a really good way to practice writing work that can be openly scrutinised. A blog is also a great ready-made example of your work that you can show to people.
Can you think of anyone who has set a good example or given good copywriting advice?
Glenn Murray, the author of SEO Secrets, is a Copywriter who managed to work his way to the top of the Google listing for search terms “seo copywriter”, “website copywriter,” “advertising copywriter” and very impressively, “copywriter.”
His book and his blog are great resources for writing search engine optimised web content specifically, but also general copywriting tips.
If you had one secret to give about Copywriting, what would it be?
The secret is that there are no secrets – everything you need to know is easily (and often freely) available on blogs etc.
Success in this area all comes down to practice and a certain amount of natural ability.
What sort of things can someone do to stay on top?
The most important thing is practice. Also keep on top of what other people are doing – blogs, books, workshops etc. Having a mentor is a good idea as well.
Can you recommend any further reading?
Content Marketing Sales Funnel
Your content marketing sales funnel is all about getting people to know, like and trust you by nurturing them with the right information at the right time.
