Tips for a Better Client-Writer Partnership

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Hiring a writer is like hiring an architect to build a house. You don’t just say to an architect, ‘Great – go build me a house.’ You discuss the style and size of the house, what things are important to you, what local building regulations are, etc.

There’s a partnership of sorts between you and the architect, with both of you bringing things to the table to produce the house you want.

a couple consults with their architect over a set of blue prints

Working with writers is also a partnership. So here are a few tips for clients working with writers and writers trying to address common client concerns – all to help ensure that partnership produces the results you want. Continue reading “Tips for a Better Client-Writer Partnership” →

Prompting – there’s a right way and a wrong way.

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Listen, people can argue and post all they want about the dangers and/or benefits of AI. But whether you use it or not is up to you.

So, yes you can use AI tools if you want but please, PLEASE recognise that you will get out just what you put in. Prompt it in a slapdash way – you’re gonna get slapdash results. And even if you give it the most detailed prompt ever – you still need to check what it throws up in response.

Don’t just tell it to write an essay on… oh I don’t know … challah. “Write an essay on challah” is pretty vague. And you’ll get vague results.

a braided bread, also called challah, with sesame seeds on top.

Give it details:

👨‍🍳 what role you want it to assume: food writer, baker, culinary or social historian, etc.

✍ what the project is: is the essay part of the larger project? Are there existing sections to use as guides? Is the essay for a food website or a social history journal?

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 who the audience: general educated adult reader, bakers, a local food magazine, kids?
📏 how long should it be: 300 words or 1500 words?

📣 what tone or style: is this a formal report or an informal piece?

➕ / ➖ what to include or not: different shapes, recent trends or historical references? Regional differences or focus on a specific region?

✔ Check and challenge the results.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
And then, use it as a jump off point for your own input. If you leave it as is – trust me, people can tell.

No Reason to Run Away from Content Audits

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Mention the word “audit,” and many of us immediately think of stress, scrutiny, and – ARGH!!!! TAXES! Run away! Run away!

Dog running away but there's no need to run away from content audits.

But a content audit is far from a cause for alarm. In fact, a well-managed content audit improves your content management processes and enhances your digital landscape. Especially if that landscape has gotten a bit… well, overgrown.

You know how it is. You intend your content to go up as part of a planned strategy and most of the time it does. But then sometimes content expands organically; you throw something up in response to a last-minute request from sales or an article gets published ASAP in in light of unexpected events.

Over time, this organic material clutters things up with bits that no one really owns or manages. The result is content management that is more challenging than it needs to be and possibly a dilution of your brand’s message and impact.

The solution to these woes is the content audit. It’s a valuable opportunity to take stock of your existing content, understand its strengths and weaknesses, and chart a clear path forward.

Let’s demystify the content audit and talk about how it can be a positive experience for you and a positive process for your organisation.

Looking at the positive experience of a content audit Continue reading “No Reason to Run Away from Content Audits” →

Getting Back To Normal After Being Hacked

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After a very disruptive hacking of our previous website, we’re working hard to get favourite posts we were able to recover restored and a new, improved site up and running.

What will it be about? Anything and everything that catches me eye – exactly as it was before. After all, I deal with content. Lots of content. Creating it, organising it, managing it, managing those who create it. It might be:

  • linked to Modern Parlance, my content consultancy (lessons learned, advice offered, etc.),
  • pieces I’ve done with my freelance writer hat on (Travel especially, & check out Fabulous Foodie for most of the food related content),
  • based on something I picked up indexing (yes, indexes in the back of books are made by people),
  • commentary on the world of social media or MarCom where I spend so much time,
  • the result of falling down the research rabbit-hole, which happens a lot.

I know it sounds a bit like a catch all but the truth is, I’ve got a lot to say on a lot of topics. It’s why I make such robust use of the categories function.

So, be a bit patient while we sort out how to get back the material we want back and make plans for the new material to come.

Being Aware of Awareness Days

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I love a good awareness day. Not just because they are a fun way to flesh out a social media calendar – there’s one for nearly everything – but because I always pick up something I didn’t know every time I draft new awareness day content.

But I know they are not universally beloved. Some people dismiss them as a quick crutch if you’ve got nothing else to say. And I cannot deny that there is some truth in that. You can tell when they’ve been thrown in just because someone has run out of time, ideas, or interest.

But it doesn’t have to be like that. If you use them reasonably, awareness days are great for highlighting your brand and encouraging engagement. Just be sure that you:
Continue reading “Being Aware of Awareness Days” →