The Content Byte – Details, episodes & analysis

RE-RELEASE. Continuing with our summer series of re-running our favourite and most popular podcast episodes, we are sharing an episode from August 2022, with agency copywriter Damien Whelan.

If you're as Mad Men-obsessed as we are, you're probably keen to know how copywriting on the agency side differs from other types of writing that copywriters do. 

In our chat, we talk about:

• How did he get into agencies? 
• How does he come up with clever one-liners?
• What's it like working on an ad campaign for a billboard?
• How do pitch meetings pan out?
• Do they often pull all-nighters?
• How can freelancers get into agencies and become indispensible?
• And is there really is a decanter of whisky on everyone's desk?

Connect with Damien via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damien-whelan-14700b51/ 

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au 
Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com 
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: hello@rachelslist.com.au for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co 

This week, we are starting a special summer series, repeating some of our most popular episodes. First up is our most successful episode ever - with grant writer Martina Donkers. 

In an inspiring talk, Martina shares her story about finding her niche, how grant writing works and why she loves being a digital nomad - all from a hammock in regional Western Australia!

We chat about: 

• How and why she decided to specialise in grant writing
• The different sorts of grants available
• What makes grant writing different
• Why the criteria really matters
• How to price this sort of work
• The realities of being a digital nomad

You can connect with Martina (and check out her latest courses) via her website: http://www.martinadonkers.com/

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com

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: hello@rachelslist.com.au for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co 

It's just a few days before the biggest event of the year (in our calendars anyway!). It's time for The Content Byte Summit. Hosts Rachel & Lynne talk about the impressive line-up of speakers and all the panels and presentations they are looking forward to seeing this year. 

Some of the presentations include how to:

→ find new high-paying clients in your niche
→ hear how to tweak your website to make it work better for you
→ find out what editors want (and meet three who commission!)
→ create digital products for an extra income stream
→ map out a freelance marketing plan you CAN stick to
→ write sales pages (and charge serious money)
→ hone your interviewing / storytelling skills (in an AI world)
→ shore up your systems and processes (SAVING you big $$$)
→ get all the pricing + money tips from two of the best in the biz

AND SO MUCH MORE.

And we might both be biased, but it's probably the best thing you'll do for your business this year.

The Content Byte Summit starts on Thursday 12 September, continuing to Saturday 14 September. Snap up one of the last remaining tickets (in person or virtual) at our website: https://thecontentbytesummit.com.au 

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com

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: hello@rachelslist.com.au for the details. 

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co 

Have you ever found yourself just not engaged with your freelance business anymore, sick of the hustle and the invoice-chasing - and dreaming about taking a permanent 9-5 job? Joh Leggatt did - and in our latest episode, she talks to us about why she left her successful freelance business behind to take a full-time role with Forbes Australia. It's a fascinating chat in which we discuss:

• When Joh knew it was time to return to the 9-5
• The challenges of dismantling a 6-figure freelance business
• The advantages and benefits of going in-house
• The bargaining power job-seekers have right now
• How going in-house could benefit your freelance business later
• Why it's a knowledge intensive, taking a full-time job
• How it can help you get a new niche and upskill in tools + tech
• Joh's advice for other freelancers considering going perm
• And much more!

Resources

Want to get in touch with Joh or pitch her a personal finance story? Pitch Joh Leggatt via LinkedIn

Blog A simple strategy successful freelancers use to get work 

In this episode, we delve into the successful freelance journey of creative director Hieu Nguyen, who moved from a busy print publishing career in Australia to working in New York and starting his own design agency. Find out about:

+ Hieu's early years, including coming to Australia on a boat from Vietnam
+ How he got into graphic design and some of the amazing brands he's worked with, including Gourmet Traveller, The Australian Women's Weekly, Amazon Publishing, AT&T and many others
+ His tips for creatives keen to move to New York - from visas and sponsorship to how to pick up clients
+ And much more!

Connect with Hieu

Contact Hieu and check out his work at: www.hieunguyendesign.com

Connect with us

Rachel's List for job-seekers: rachelslist.com.au/jobseekers 
Lynne Testoni's website: www.lynnetestoni.com
Rachel Smith's website: rachelsmith.com.au 

Thanks, as always, to our sponsors Rounded.com.au. Easy accounting and invoicing software, made just for Australian freelancers and sole traders. Don't forget, if you're a Rachel's List Gold member, you'll enjoy 20 percent off an annual subscription plan!

Continuing on with our successful freelancer series, we're chatting to journalist and editor Grant Jones, a former TV producer and newspaper section editor who now runs his own content agency and communications company. He’s also cowritten the recent book, A Caring Life: What fifty years in nursing has taught me about humanity, compassion and community, by Keith Cox with Grant Jones. Find out how Grant had to reinvent himself during Covid, the skills he's picked up since starting out as a journalist so many years ago, and his tips for freelancers starting out.

Connect with Grant

• On LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/grant-jones-content-media-marketing/
• On Instagram - www.instagram.com/grant_jones_sydney/ 

Connect with us

• Rachel's List for job-seekers: rachelslist.com.au/jobseekers
• Lynne Testoni's website: www.lynnetestoni.com
• Rachel Smith's website: rachelsmith.com.au 

Many experts say podcasting is still in its infancy for brands, but they're waking up to the huge potential benefits of audio content and using it to connect with their customers. In this episode, we talk about why journalists and content writers are in a great position to offer podcasting as a service to clients - and why it's a good time to upskill in this area. Tune in to find out:

• the transferrable skills you have that are great for podcasting (and the ones you might want to learn)
• why it's easy to outsource the bits you can't do (and how to do it)
• an actual breakdown of costs so you can see what to charge a client
• And more!

Resources
Blog post - Your guide to starting a podcast
Blog post - "I write scripts for true crime podcasts"
Lynne's client podcast: Building Better with CSR

This week Rachel and Lynne chat with successful freelancer Martina Donkers, who is a specialist grant writer. In an inspiring talk, Martina shares her story about finding her niche, how grant writing works and why she loves being a digital nomad - all from a hammock in regional Western Australia!

You can connect with Martina via her website: http://www.martinadonkers.com/

Lynne's website https://www.lynnetestoni.com/

Rachel's website https://rachelsmith.com.au/

Rachel's List https://www.rachelslist.com.au/

Many thanks to Rounded for sponsoring this episode! Rounded offers user-friendly accounting and invoicing software, made just for Australian freelancers and sole traders. Visit https://rounded.com.au/

If you're as Mad Men-obsessed as we are, you're probably keen to know how copywriting on the agency side differs from, say, what other types of copywriters do. (And if you're like Lynne and Rach, that may mean sitting at home, writing everything from web copy to lead magnets.) So we're getting the goods from agency copywriter Damien Whelan. We ask: how DID he get into agencies? How does he come up with clever one-liners? What's it like working on an ad campaign for a billboard? How do pitch meetings pan out? Do they often pull all-nighters? How can freelancers get into agencies and become indispensible? And is there really is a decanter of whisky on everyone's desk?

Where to find Damien

Connect with Damien on LinkedIn

If you're setting yourself up to write copy or content for clients, it may be tricky to figure out the most important templates you need to have in place and why. These will be things you'll learn about, tweak and hone as you go, but in this episode we save you time and hassle by distilling it down to five templates we recommend you have from the start - and why they're so useful.

Many thanks to Rounded for sponsoring this episode! Rounded offers user-friendly accounting and invoicing software, made just for freelancers and sole traders.

The 5 templates and where to find them

• The rate card www.rachelslist.com.au/toolkit/product/rate-card/
• A client brief template www.rachelslist.com.au/toolkit/product/client-brief-template/ 
• A quoting template or statement of work www.rachelslist.com.au/toolkit/product/freelancer-statement-of-work-agreement/ 
• An invoice template www.rachelslist.com.au/toolkit/product/freelancer-invoice-templates-4-pack/ 
• Belinda Weaver's copy deck template www.copywritematters.com/copywriting-copy-decks/
• Kate Toon's copy deck template www.clevercopywritingschool.com/product/copy-deck-updated/ 

More about Lynne and Rachel

Lynne's website www.lynnetestoni.com 

Rachel's website rachelsmith.com.au

Rachel's List rachelslist.com.au 

Starting out - Rachel's List for job-seekers rachelslist.com.au/jobseekers